The Start of the School Year

What a great last few days in the school district!  As I have toured the different buildings and chatted with different staff members I can feel the positive energy being produced as the schools prepare for the students on Monday.  As one teacher told me earlier today, “This is my best time of year!”  Penn-Trafford has a dedicated, hard working staff and I am very happy that my own children will have the opportunity to be educated in this school district.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been touring the school district engaging in conversations with staff members as they prepare for the first day of school.  The teachers have been back since Wednesday.  They have been engaged in different professional development activities ever since they came back.  As I mentioned a previous blog, these activities centered around PLC’s.  I have sat in on some of these PLC’s and I love the conversations they are starting.  Teachers are talking about their goals for their students for the year and how they can help the students learn.  I am very excited that the high school teachers have made the commitment to incorporate new instructional strategies in their classrooms.  The high school teachers spent Thursday sharing with each other different instructional strategies.  This will allow all teachers to add new tools to their teacher “toolbox”.  I also spent a lot of time with different elementary staffs as they laid out their plan for progressing students through the year.  It has been a great time for me as I listen and learn about the school district.  I am having too much fun!

Finally, the presentation that I gave to the teachers on Wednesday can be found here.  This PowerPoint presentation does not have a lot of wording since I try to use pictures to tell a story.  In other words, you may not find it real informative, but probably somewhat interesting.

Sir Ken Robinson

This is a fabulous talk about the current state of education in our society. The way the lecture is presented is equally fascinating. For anyone that is interested in education, creativity and improving the school experience for all children, this video is a must watch. What he says about the decline of divergent thinking in kids as they move through the school system is very disheartening.

The New Year is Almost Here!

The excitement to start school is building.  One week from today the students will come back to school and in two days the teachers come back.  The custodians and maintenance departments have been working feverishly to get the school buildings ready for the opening day.  I have seen a lot of progress in this area over the past two weeks and the students will find a neat, clean and safe environment.  I am looking forward to meeting with the teachers this week.  On Wednesday I will introduce myself to the entire teaching staff.  This will be an opportunity for them to get to know a little bit about me.  The teachers will then spend the rest of Wednesday and the following day working in Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s).  PLC’s are a time when groups of teachers get together and focus their time together reviewing student data and designing learning experiences that will benefit students.  I have found PLC’s to be a powerful tool to increase student learning.  I am excited to see how they work at Penn-Trafford!