SLO Resources

After our discussion yesterday regarding SLOs, I thought that I would share some resources with you.

• Stark County ESC has numerous music SLOs to review.  Click here to look at examples from a full music curriculum.
• ODE has several items that may be helpful to you.  This page provides examples of SLOs that have been critiqued by ODE.  There is a music example here as well as other content areas that have been reviewed and graded by ODE.  Some of these are a bit intense, but at least it may give you ideas of what to include in your document.
• Finally, this page contains the template from ODE you can type into when creating your SLO.  Scroll down to the 'Student Learning Objective' area of the page and there is additional information on SLOs - probably more than you ever wanted to know!  Click here -  Student Learning Objective (SLO) Template for creating SLOs  for the template to type your SLO into.

As always, I hope this information is helpful to you.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Are we even still using this thing?????

I know, I just get you all looking at this and then I don't update it!  I am trying to get back on track so we can stay on top of everything, especially as we move into the crazy end of the year stuff.

Okay, here is an update from the department chair meeting today.

1. The master schedule is currently in the process of being finalized.  
2. There are numerous courses that will be offered for 'dual enrollment' next year.  This means that students will attend class here at CFHS but earn a college credit through an area university.  There are numerous core classes that are working on this and I am trying to get Music Theory 2 to get in on the action through Kent State.  Paperwork is on going at this time, but I am hopeful that this will happen for next school year.
3. We briefly discussed the reality of the move from a comprehensive high school to an academy based model.  Anne spoke briefly about the fact that this is a 'done deal'.  We have a contract with Ed Works to facilitate the transition to this model and we are absolutely moving in this direction.  What this will look like and what the details of the academies will be are uncertain at this time.  Stay tuned for more information as it continues to become available. 
4. The transition to the academy model is having implications at the middle school level.  There is currently a great deal of discussion about the possibility and reality of offering high school credit to students in the middle school that are ready for that level of instruction.  The concern is over how those students would continue to fit electives in their schedule.  Again, I do not have many more details about this and will continue to share what I know.
5. Anne is planning ahead for next year and Early Release Wednesdays.  She has asked that we inquire in our department about any suggestions any one has for this time next year.
6. Anne feels like our building is in good shape for OTES next year.  She continues to encourage all of us to keep up this work to ensure next year goes as smoothly as possible.

That's all I got . . . . . . . . .

Department Chair and Other Necessary Evils

Here is an update from the department chair meeting today.

• All staff members are encouraged to take a look at the Course of Studies that students are currently using for scheduling.  (Click here to view the document.)  Courses are now identified in "career clusters" to aid students in determining their own career paths.  Take a look, it is pretty interesting.
• Students are currently in the process of selecting their courses for next year.  They are going to turn their green scheduling sheets into their I/E teachers by Friday, February 1.  I am hopeful that we will have preliminary enrollment numbers by the end of the month.  We should all be encouraging students to enroll in the music courses and keep them full! :-)  I will get the materials to work on our department schedule and need to complete that before spring break.  I will keep you all posted as we move through this process.
• Dr. Nichols has removed the credit requirement to pass from grade to grade.  So, you will no longer need to earn 5 1/2 credits to be considered a sophomore.  It is unclear what impact this will have on our students.
• There is great concern over where we are at with PBIS at this point in time.  Please remember that if you are going to give someone an office referral, you need to have documentation of your previous interventions with the student (i.e. parent phone call, detention in your room, etc).  Of course there are circumstances requiring immediate attention from an administrator (i.e. cutting class, insubordination, etc).  Please remember to use the Tiger Stripes to recognize positive behavior or improvement.
• During OGT week, only the sophomore class will come in for testing.  In the past, there had been a pre OGT assessment given to the ninth graders.  However, since the OGT is going away, we will not be administering a test to the freshmen.  Our staff meeting in February will focus on OGT process and procedures.
• Early Release Wednesday will be group meetings for the next two weeks.  January 31 will feature a presentation about OTES and February 6 will focus on Student Learning Objectives (SLOs).  We will meet as best we can as time allows.  We MUST continue to make progress on our assessments.

There was oh so very much more, but that is what I believe to be most pressing to us at this moment.

Please take a moment to look at the Google docs calendar.  I have updated that with all of the information that we discussed this past Wednesday.  There are many, MANY things coming up and I am hopeful that this document can be used to help alleviate some of the congestion that February and March bring.

Questions?  You know where to find me! :-)
 

Exam Materials

I have uploaded two items on to Google docs.  The first is an essay rubric.  I am hoping this will work as we grade the essay portion of our exams.  I found the rubric on the internet and modified it to fit our needs.  The second item is a performance rubric to use for the scale assessments.  This is basically from our band audition materials.    Jesse, this will more than likely need revisions to better fit your needs.

Since this is the first time that we are doing this, I am assuming that we will need to edit both of these items after exams.  Please consider any revisions and share them after exams, as these documents will most likely become part of the assessment and evaluation materials that we ultimately submit to the administration.

Please let me know if you have any problems accessing the documents.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a restful and enjoyable break after a crazy month of holiday concerts!

I am going to apologize in advance for the length of this post.  There are numerous 'irons in the fire' right now and I am going to try and put some issues out there that need attention.

1. First of all, we will not be meeting as a department tomorrow (1/9/13) during Early Release Wednesday.  We are meeting as a full staff in the library to discuss safety issues in our building in coordination with the police department.
2. There is ongoing discussion as to whether or not we will meet next week for Early Release Wednesday because of the exam schedule.  I will let you know when I learn of the final decision on this.
3. Because we are not meeting for the next couple of weeks, please take a moment to check your performance calendars.  Has anything changed or been rescheduled?  Please, please, please share this crucial information with your colleagues so that we can all be on the same page as we head into the next couple of months.
4. The information regarding web-based projects is due in the Google docs by the end of the semester.  (I do not have a specific date for this.)  If you have taken care of this already, many thanks!  If you still need to complete this, please do so as soon as you can.  We are required to complete one web-based lesson each semester, so the next time that we will need to submit this information will be at the end of the school year.
5. I must submit a report to Anne for our department no later than January 22, 2013.  In that report, I must include our collective thoughts on the following issues:
• Goal setting feedback:  The second quarter was our first attempt at this.  What worked?  What didn't?  What needs to be changed/improved?  (Please know that we will more than likely need to input information about this work into a Google doc at the end of the school year.  The administration is working to make this as simple and basic as possible.)
• PBIS:  What is working?  What isn't?  Are we all utilizing the Tiger Stripes?  Are we seeing an improvement in student behavior with the Tiger Stripes?
• Curriculum Mapping and Assessments:  Where are we at?  Where are we going?  Do we need anything from Anne to get our jobs done?  Anne is requesting copies of all the work that we have completed thus far to review and provide feedback on.
6. Hopefully, you have read the email from Deb McNair and Amy Hayward regarding our meeting on February 13, 2013 from 2:00 - 3:00.  This meeting is happening over two weeks later than previously scheduled.  We will need to keep moving forward so that we can stay on track to complete everything necessary for this school year.  According to T&L, we will be discussing where we are at with mapping and assessments and where we are going for second semester. I am hoping we will have prepared and ready to share:
• Curriculum maps for all performing ensembles
• Rubrics to use as part of assessment process for these courses
• Outline of end of course exam

So, what should you be doing right now?  I am glad that you asked!

1. Web-based projects into Google docs
2. Jesse, I need the choral curriculum maps typed and ready to go before January 22.  Can we shoot to get everything done and to me by next Wednesday, 1/16/13?  I need time to put everything together and still meet my deadline.
3. Everyone needs to work to create a quality assessment for the midterm based on our revised curriculum.  All of the maps are posted on Google docs and shared with everyone.  Spending time on this assessment now will definitely help us in the long run, as we are going to need to submit this midterm assessment as one of our items to be included in OTES.  
4. Put T&L meeting on your calendars.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to read all of this! :-)

Early Release Wednesday

Early Release Wednesday is tomorrow.  We will begin our time in the library for work on technology.  My understanding is that this will be a brief discussion.  I would like us then to focus our attention on the topic of assessment.  We need to continue our conversation on how best to implement something meaningful and realistic.  Our goal continues to be piloting something of this nature at the semester exam time.

Additionally, I have posted on Google Docs the completed version of our ensemble curriculum maps.  At this time, the band side of things is complete on mapping.  Jesse, we will not be able to have one ensemble be part of two maps.  So, we need to pick and choose the pieces/parts of the maps that you want to go into each ensemble.  We can do this one of two ways - you print everything out and circle what you want to be in each ensemble.  Or, you create a new document and cut and paste what needs to go where and send that back to me. Either way is fine, I would just like to get this done ASAP so we can move on from here.  I will be meeting with Anne on Friday to go over all of this with her and I would like to be able to giver her some firm details on our timeline.  I also believe that this will help to keep us on track with all that is going on.

Department Chair Update

Here is an update from the Department Chair meeting on Thursday, December 13.

• All departments continue to work on curriculum map, assessments and rubrics.  Each area is in a different place in this process, so Anne is meeting one on one with each department chair to see where they are at.  I will meet with her on Friday, December 21 during 5th period.  At that time, I will share with her our maps and the specific courses that we are considering for OTES.  She continues to be concerned that we may be required to track data in all of our courses and wants an update on our progress.  I will of course update you on the meeting.
• By now you are aware that the dates for the seniors have changed.  There will be no exemptions for senior exams, so all seniors will be required to take their exams May 28-29.  The thinking right now is that a specific schedule will be followed on these dates in order to accommodate courses that have multiple grade levels.  (I will keep you updated on this as well.) 
• There was recently an incident that involved a teacher and technology being used inappropriately.  Please, please, please be sure that you are always keeping student information confidential.  Remarks like "that kid in third period is driving me over the edge" can be viewed as sharing information about a student.  
• The principals continue to work on the mid-term exam schedule.  The hope is to distribute that before we leave for break.
• Next Wednesday, we should be meeting to work on technology issues during Early Release.  Anne was unsure what the topic was going to be and if we were meeting all together in the library.  Be on the lookout for more information on this.

As always, please let me know if you have nay questions or concerns.

Happy Friday!!! :-)