Report Cards

I have finally come out from under the cloud that report card time causes, so now I can blog about it....

I overheard a comment at the arena on Feb. 14 from a parent who did not know that I was a principal.  She said something to the effect that reports were coming out and she'd see "what the teacher slopped on the page."  Slopped on the page???  I brewed about that awhile, but then I came to realize that most people probably don't know what goes into a report card.  So here is the explanation.  This is the explanation for how we do things at Eastdale.  The process won't be exactly the same at every school, but the time and effort involved is the same in every building across the province, I am certain.

Provincial assessment guidelines mandate that marks on the report card must be the most recent, most consistent marks.  That means that teachers must use several pieces of assessment for each subject to find the consistency required.  This assessment takes place over the term with an emphasis on the end of term to be the most recent evidence of student learning.

I estimate that each teacher spends about 1 1/2 to 2 hours per report card to translate the work in their mark books, and student work into comments that reflect curriculum expectations but written so that parents will understand them on the report card.  In a class of 30 that means an additional workload of up to 60 hours, crammed into about 2 weeks. 

Once teachers have finished writing the reports, they email me to tell me they are ready.  Our reports are done on an online forum, so I read each report for each student online.  This way I can fix up any typos or find things that have been missed.  That being said, the odd time things get passed me...  I can usually read a class set of report cards in about 1 1/2 hours.   I send them back to teachers for clarification or editing, if necessary.  I usually have about 3 days to do this.

Once the reports have been edited and revised they get sent to Mrs. Newman who prints them out for us.  She usually spends time having a look at each set to make sure the attendance has been added correctly and that no lines have been cut off etc. 

When she is satisfied she sends them to me.  I do a quick glance over each one and then sign them all. 

I pass them to teachers who also give them a quick glance, sign them and then fold them for the envelopes. 

I am so proud of how my staff recognize and respect the importance of the report card.  I have staff regularly email for advice for how to use the exact right words to convey what they need to say.  I tell them "be honest, but kind," and I think our teachers often agonize on how to do that.  No one wants a report card that crushes a child's spirit but we are also responsible for conveying next steps if the child is struggling.  Often the next steps come in the learning skills areas and teachers are aware that is also often the hardest thing for a parent to hear that their child is having trouble with the basics of character.

Report card time is not my favourite time of the year.  My eyes burn, teachers are stressed and I worry how the reports will be received.  It takes me weeks to catch up on my "other" work -- hence the "cloud" I mentioned earlier. 

One thing I can say for certain is that the information on the reports is placed there with utmost care -- there is no "slopping" what so ever.

As always, if you have a concern or question about the report cards then please contact your child's teacher or myself.  We will be happy to walk you through the comments.

Celebrating Character

There has been much emphasis at this school, in the community and the media around anti-bullying campaigns.  The Stand Up Campaign at Eastdale is an example.
But...
I've been thinking lately that we are spending much time focusing on the few who do not reflect the good character that exists at Eastdale; and I think it's time we celebrate the positive rather than dwell on negatives.
So...
I've come up with a plan.  I'm calling it Fine Dining at Eastdale. This morning I invited 20 students who consistently demonstrate good character at all times, not just when someone is watching.  These are children I've not heard a negative report about from students or teachers, and who generally try to do the right thing.  (There are far more than 20 such students at Eastdale, but this is where I've started.)  I sent personal invitations to these students to join me during nutrition breaks to eat in the "dining hall" on the stage.  We listen to soft music, have dimmed lighting, enjoy each others' company, maybe we'll watch a movie. 
Manners are required at Fine Dining so students must stay seated, use "please and thank you," and ask to be excused before leaving the table.
I think the students enjoyed their lunch times today.  I know I did. 
It's nice to celebrate with deserving little people.  I could get used to this Fine Dining.

This is the massive snowfort my kids and hubby have built in our backyard.  It's a work of art, I tell you.  It's been a week in the making.  My hubby assures me that it is structurally sound....

The "Fort" has caused me to reflect on the many woes of fort building at school....

I am regularly confronted with complaints on the yard the "so and so stole my snow" and "blank took our boulders" and "miss and mr took over our fort when we hard started building it last week..."  etc. etc.

I find by this time of the year I have very little patience for the snowfort battles.  'Cause really, we're going to argue about who owns which snow? 

I see how world wars start.  The need to control and possess property/land/snow is all the same mentality and suggesting that you find a way to share it often doesn't work. 

In the scope of my day, listening to who built which wall with which door often doesn't land very high on my list of daily priorities, but do understand the need to be heard.  Sometimes I am amazed at the solutions the students come up with.  They can be very creative with their boundaries and willingness to "add on" rooms so that more children can play.  These are good lessons on compromise.

And if all else fails?
I say, "I own the snow!"

What's a PLC?

PLC stands for Professional Learning Communities.  The purpose of the PLC is to allow divisions within schools to plan for, and implement and reflect on teaching strategies that are directly linked to specific curriculum expectations.

The first round of PLCs across the Board were based on a Reading Expectation that says, "extend understanding of texts by connecting, comparing and contrasting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them."  Students have been answering open response type questions to demonstrate this understanding. 

The process for the PLCs works like this:
Meeting one -- teachers meet to discuss the expectation, develop a rubric for assessing the learning, develop a diagnostic question to be given to all students in a particular grade or division, develop anchor charts and exemplars to help the students understand what is being asked of them.

Meeting two -- teachers bring the marked diagnostics and discuss trends they have in their class.  For example, in our first round many teachers found that students could either make connections to their own thinking, or to the text, but not to both (which is what we want to happen). Based on the information gathered from the diagnostic assessment teachers plan lessons together.

Meeting three -- schools are paired up with other schools in the area.  This is called a "Networked PLC" because there are multiple schools involved.  We meet as divisions with the Elma and Wallace staffs.  At this meeting teachers share best practice ideas, and brainstorm different resources and teaching strategies to help each other figure out how to best help the students.

Meeting four -- teachers bring their "summative" assessment (that's the final written work) and we mark them cooperatively.  This ensures that a Level 4 in one class is the same as a Level 4 in another. 

This PLC process and the cooperation, research and structured learning is vastly different from how teachers and schools have operated in the past.  Yesterday was the Primary teachers' Networked  PLC.  I so wish that parents could have sat in to listen to the conversations.  To hear teachers so focused on the craft of teaching, and talking about how to reach all students was really inspiring. 

The PLC process is relatively new to education.  I believe that it will change education for the better, for all of our students.  Teacher collaboration and the exploration of learning and teaching strategies is powerful stuff.  I am proud of how our staff works together, always with the question "how do I best help my students."  When you see how learning can change based on such conversations it gives me great hope for our children.  The sky really is the limit!

Gratitude

On January 1, 2010 I started a gratitude journal.  I got the idea from Oprah.  Every night (almost) before bedtime I write 3-5 things that I was grateful for that day. 

I reread my journal yesterday.  It's neat to look back at the year, and all the things that brought me joy.  Here's the thing that has caused me to reflect.  I am surprised at the number of little, mundane things that I was grateful for.  I didn't write any explanations, so I don't have a context to put the entries in.  I wrote things like "new pen," "___ made me laugh," "kids did the dishes without being asked," "it didn't rain" and "found my keys."  This has reminded me that the little things really do add up, and I need to remember to look for them.

Here's the other thing that rings true.  Many, many of the entries are related to my job, my school.  How wonderful to go to work everyday in a place that makes me glad to be there.  I don't know that everyone can say that.

So I start 2011 already grateful that tomorrow I will be back at Eastdale.  It won't be a snowday, and all the little "peeps" I've missed will surely make my day once again.

Happy 2011, friends.

In the mood

This has been a crazy week.  The weather has been brutal.  I've been up at 5:30am every morning expecting the possibility of a snow day (click here for all that entails), I have a bad cold, my own kids have been home for 2 days because of snow days at their school, blah, blah, blah etc.

So, I came into school not particularly in a holiday spirit at all.  Even my licorice tea didn't lift the gloom as I looked at the pile on my desk....

Then, I went to the gym for the carol sing and just listened.  Those little voices filled the soul and lifted my spirits completely.  What a sweet sound.

My favourite part is the wee girl infront of me who changed the words to familiar carols.
For Silent Night "radiant beams from thy holy face...," she sang "radiant TEAMS in thy holy RACE." 
Makes sense.
Made me smile.

Merry Christmas.

Snow Days????

I have been asked several times this week about snow days.  Who decides?  What factors are considered? etc.

So here is the process for Eastdale, and my thoughts (note that these are MY thoughts, not those of other teachers, schools or the board....)

First I get up at 5:30am if it's a potential snowday (as opposed to my usual 6am, when I hit "snooze" twice...)
I check the weather forecast, MTO road information and First Class (our board email system).
I wait for John C. from Newry Coach to call me as he runs the bus that comes to  Eastdale.  John is usually out driving around at 5:30am checking the weather and road conditions.  He has an accurate picture of what it is really like.  John tells me if he will be cancelling the bus routes.

Then I talk to the principals at Listowel Central and at LDSS.  We decide together what will be best for our staff and students.  If we don't have enough staff able to make it into the schools, then we will close.  We also don't want children walking to school on icy roads/sidewalks or in blinding snowstorms. 

Once the principals have decided what is best, the notice gets posted on the ourschoolbuses.ca website and radio stations pick it up from there.  I start a phone chain to call staff, and call the Before School program.  Then I post to the First Class site for staff and the board, and I post to the Eastdale Twitter account (this shows up on the school website). We try really hard to have all of this in place before 6:15am, but sometimes it just isn't possible.  I also try to listen to the radio to make sure that the accurate message gets across the airwaves.

After all the notifications have gone out, I make myself a cup of tea and I pray that everyone who needs to get the message gets it.  I always worry that there will be a staff member driving on treaturous roads, or a little person waiting in the cold for a bus, or a wee one trudging through the snow to a closed school.  These are the moments I wish I lived in Florida, because the worry about "my people" is great.

When my own kids wake up to a snowday, they are overjoyed.  What fun, a SNOW Day!  I tend to appreciate that time seems to "stop" for the day, but it doesn't come easily or without much thought and deliberation.

If you have any questions, give me a call....

Mrs. B