Week+Seven

Week 7!!!! - Home stretch chickie!!! We have gotten this far as a dynamic duo, let's wrap up on a strong "last leg" of this race we've been on... I feel like I've been running a race that I was definitely not properly trained for, but my natural endorphins have kicked in and I see the finish line:) .... Love it! The coach in my admires your determination...as a running partner, I'm afraid I'm lagging. But yes, we will succeed ;)


 * Helpful Suggestions:**
 * (Sigh of relief).... no final paper - more time to wrap up writing our assessment
 * Most of the work this week will be completed as a team
 * We'll have to focus on getting our team project started early to allow for enough time to wrap up by Monday
 * Group Discussion topic for this week should require shorter responses (per Lynne's note) but thorough - should be a little easier to keep up with the group discussion :)
 * USE the TIME that we have been given this week to try to complete our Leadership Assessment (how are you doing?)
 * Should we set a date to meet online and discuss our top three priorities? Do we want to try to knock our team discussion in real time this week/weekend?
 * I have an Elluminate account that we could meet in and record our entire discussion.
 * []
 * (Kind of a simulated School Improvement Meeting)


 * Team Goals:**
 * Have sections 1-3 of our Leadership Assessments finalized and section 4 in draft version by the end of Week 7
 * Take Lynne up on her offer to review any completed portions of the Leadership Assessment
 * Work as an OUTSTANDING School Improvement Team of TWO!!!!!
 * This is probably the point in the class that it would be nice to have a larger team!


 * Looking at Data Team Activity:**
 * **Read the articles on Data Driven Decision Making--they're mostly reasonable in length.**
 * **Look at the data (maybe download to really get a feel as the charts are PDF's not Word/Excel docs)**
 * **Keep Technology in mind ;) see tutorial @ @http://schooltechleadership.org/projects/school-data-tutorials/**

The Calm Waters Middle School staff is in the midst of re-evaluating its mission, vision, and goals. __**TASK FOCUS:**__ developing a first draft of the school improvement goals for the upcoming year. --based on data... develop goals, benchmarks, responsibilities, and measures for success for the next school year. --how technology might be fully integrated into instruction --how technology might be integrated into the school improvement process --how technology can help meet needs of special education students. (see this extra sections: Analyzing Students with Disabilities
 * Team Challenge **

The key to goals setting: affordable, measurable, and realistic Step 1: Read the data and chart it Step 2: Select priorities Step 3: Collaborate and decide on Top 3---does one need to focus on **Special education students**? Step 4: Which admin is responsible? His/her team can use collaborative Tech tools! Step 5: Determine steps--no more than 3...think about a timeline--a good place to use technology? See reading on Action Planning Step 6: MUST Measure! We have baseline data...how will we measure at the end of the year? Will we consider formative steps? great place to use technology!
 * KEEP it SIMPLE and CLEAR **

=School Improvement Plans (SIPs) MUST focus on Improved Student Learning!!!!=

Link to Google Docs for School Improvement Chart

> > >
 * Discuss (to be posted in the ELC - Team Forum): **
 * **//What gaps do you see in student performance, particularly when looking at subgroups?// **
 * //**What needs do the teachers report? ** //
 * **//What are the technology uses and needs within the school?// **
 * ** //Which needs are of greatest concern?// **

Use the Data Driven Strengths and Areas of Concern worksheets to help guide your thinking.
 * 1) **top three realistic and measurable goals based on the data**
 * 2) **prioritize** in order to ensure success.
 * 3) **complete** the chart following the **critical steps** to SIP planning below


 * Responsibilities**: Who is the person(s) that is responsible for making sure the steps to reach the goal occur?
 * Steps**: What broad steps are needed to reach the goals? What has to happen? What will teachers do? When identifying steps for achieving a goal, remember that the overall steps should either have a direct impact on students or be an important step preparing to have impact, such as ongoing professional development and instructional preparations.
 * Benchmarks**: How will you check implementation of each step towards meeting the goal? This can be accomplished in many ways, from teachers’ submitting implementation check sheets to school administrators doing walk through observations to verify progress toward the goal.
 * Desired outcomes:** What are your reasonable and measurable outcome(s) for the goal? In other words, how will you evaluate the effectiveness of your actions? The obvious answer is through improved student performance as evidenced by increased test scores. Remember, while the steps to reach a goal involve what teachers will do, the effectiveness of those actions emerges in changes in student performance.

**//Kellee - This week's plan looks great! I think we have all of our pieces ready, we just need to stay on top of the parts of this larger task.//** **//See you in Skype!//**


 * Weekly Skype Meeting Notes: **
 * We will plan to complete our "School Improvement Meeting" online in an Elluminate virtual room on Saturday evening. We are going to complete our discussion synchronously as a typical SIT would meet. This will also help us to streamline our time this week to allow more work time on our Leadership Assessment.
 * We are ready to celebrate with a glass of virtual red wine at the end of this course!
 * We discussed that our Leadership Assessment did not have to be as complicated or lengthy as either of us first thought!
 * We are looking forward to a break to get working on our Internship assignments.
 * We WILL remain our own virtual team throughout the cohort! We have really relied on one another and our weekly Skype conversations :)