I just love the Grid responses from our staff! Our teachers are so interesting. I've learned some wonderful things about them and I'm sure you've been surprised with some cool facts as well.
Our salute to the Related Arts team this week features Mrs. Chastain, Mrs. Conder, and Mr. Wells. Their answers had to be abbreviated to fit into the Grid boxes and in that abbreviation some of the fun was compromised. Here is a run down on their full responses:
What is your favorite sport?
Mrs. Chastain said she likes to play volleyball and she likes to watch hockey. How in the world did a southern Indiana resident get interested in hockey?
Who is your favorite superhero?
Mr. Wells said he likes Batman and he also said why. He likes Batman because he wears the coolest costume and gets to fight the best criminals. Mrs. Conder said Wonder Woman because she is a true patriot and always fights for her country!
What reality tv show would you be on?
Mrs. Chastain said she'd like to try Survivor. However, she fears for her children that may not 'survive' a full month in the care of their father! Mr. Wells likes Wipeout but also shared that he'd rather be 25 years younger if he had to compete in that show.
We have some very interesting teachers! They are creative. They have likes and dreams. They have families. They have histories. They are stories. We are so lucky that our teachers share themselves and their stories with us every day.
Thank you, SMS teachers. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
The Long and the Short of It
Let's recap.
Winter of 2013-2014:
Sixteen snow days. Seven late starts. One early dismissal.
The Indiana Department of Education waived two days for the polar vortex.
Two days were made up in 'snow make up days' in our calendar.
Five days were added to the end of the year.
Seven days were made up
one hour at a time.
Thursday, May 1st is our LAST day to run the extended hour schedule When the bell rings at 3:55 that day, we'll have finished our 42nd long day. Whew!
Congrats on completing this difficult schedule. Thanks to our teachers and staff for making all of the adjustments for instruction and assignments. Thanks to our cooks for the daily snacks. Thanks to our families for changing the nightly schedule to accommodate more school each day. Thanks to all of our students and staff for doing the work... eight hours every day.
We will dismiss school on Friday, May 2nd at 2:55 P.M.
I bet it will feel like a very short day!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
EPIC Adventure
Today is the first day of our EPIC pilot and I'm so excited I can't stand it. I'm feeling giddy because I can't wait to see how we do! I'm also excited because...
1) We'll have teachers assigning high quality practice designed to help students grow and learn.
2) We'll have an entire community of faculty and staff members connected together with a shared goal of helping students complete work.
3) We'll have an entire student body operating with the same academic expectations.
4) We'll have an entire student body experience accountability that will help throughout life!
Watch out Scott County! EPIC change is coming!
The EPIC program represents a big change for us. I think our gains will be worth the work. It will be wonderful for EVERYONE if we become an EPIC school, if we are a school where Every Practice Is Completed.
As we launch today, know that I'm proud that all of our teachers and staff are committed. I'm excited that all of our students will do all of our work. I'm looking forward to helping our school become EPIC!
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Healthy Skeptics
Do you believe everything you read? Do you believe everything you see on the internet? Do you believe everything you hear? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need a refresher course on being a 'healthy skeptic.'
Edutopia published a great blog post last week called "Teaching Adolescents How to Evaluate the Quality of Online Information." You can check out the entire post HERE. It's an interesting read based on a survey of middle school students. In brief, students believed anything they found relevant to their search. If it sounded like it related to their research, they believed it to be true. They rarely took time to consider credibility or author perspective.
Adolescents aren't the only ones that that fail to critically evaluate information! I see that regularly on Facebook and other social media sites. About one week after the horrible disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, somebody I know shared a news story that the plane was found. The article included a floating plane picture where people were being rescued by small boats. The source of the story was something like "BuzzFeed." Hmmm...
What is wrong with this picture? If a serious bit of international news was reported, would "BuzzFeed" be the first to report it? Since the story was very fresh, I did some sleuthing and didn't find anything on CNN, NBCNews, or FoxNews. A quick check and I knew the post was a hoax. I was a healthy skeptic.
To help you be a healthy skeptic regarding things you read online, ask yourself the following questions from the Edutopia blog:
Edutopia published a great blog post last week called "Teaching Adolescents How to Evaluate the Quality of Online Information." You can check out the entire post HERE. It's an interesting read based on a survey of middle school students. In brief, students believed anything they found relevant to their search. If it sounded like it related to their research, they believed it to be true. They rarely took time to consider credibility or author perspective.
Adolescents aren't the only ones that that fail to critically evaluate information! I see that regularly on Facebook and other social media sites. About one week after the horrible disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, somebody I know shared a news story that the plane was found. The article included a floating plane picture where people were being rescued by small boats. The source of the story was something like "BuzzFeed." Hmmm...
What is wrong with this picture? If a serious bit of international news was reported, would "BuzzFeed" be the first to report it? Since the story was very fresh, I did some sleuthing and didn't find anything on CNN, NBCNews, or FoxNews. A quick check and I knew the post was a hoax. I was a healthy skeptic.
To help you be a healthy skeptic regarding things you read online, ask yourself the following questions from the Edutopia blog:
If you see something online, THINK before you believe and certainly before you hit the 'share' button!! Be a healthy skeptic!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Retreat Treat
I got to do the coolest thing last weekend.
I got to attend nine hours of extra meetings... on a weekend!
Before you think I'm kidding, let me explain!
The SCSD2 Administrative Team held a retreat. We met from 5:30-8:00 Friday night and 9:00-3:00 on Saturday at the Mid-America Science Park (MASP).
It was incredibly interesting! Our Superintendent Dr. Slaton and our Assistant Superintendent Dr. Watkins organized the event. We spent all that time discussing the future of our school district. We talked out our mission, our vision, and our values. We shared ideas and reached consensus about where we want to 'go' as a district.
The retreat was attended by Dr. Watkins, all principals, assistant principals, tech leaders and other central office staffers. Sadly, Dr. Slaton was not able to attend in person because he was in the hospital recovering from a procedure. He still participated, however, using Face Time on his phone and connecting to our shared Google Docs on his Macbook. It was awesome to have him join us and we took turns moving a phone around so Dr. Slaton could see us. Technology saved the day!
Besides being impressed with the ways that technology helped us, I was also extremely impressed with the quality work of my administrative colleagues and of the wonderful facility. The MASP is a first class place!
We will continue to 'polish' our ideas in the next few weeks. Be prepared to see a new message about SCSD2! We are excited about our students, our staff, our community, and our amazing opportunities for learners!
I got to attend nine hours of extra meetings... on a weekend!
Before you think I'm kidding, let me explain!
It was incredibly interesting! Our Superintendent Dr. Slaton and our Assistant Superintendent Dr. Watkins organized the event. We spent all that time discussing the future of our school district. We talked out our mission, our vision, and our values. We shared ideas and reached consensus about where we want to 'go' as a district.
Besides being impressed with the ways that technology helped us, I was also extremely impressed with the quality work of my administrative colleagues and of the wonderful facility. The MASP is a first class place!
We will continue to 'polish' our ideas in the next few weeks. Be prepared to see a new message about SCSD2! We are excited about our students, our staff, our community, and our amazing opportunities for learners!
Sunday, March 30, 2014
March Madness
Wow!
What a weekend!
To the Cards Fans- I feel your pain. After a handling the Cats for nearly the entire game, Russdiculous and company let Kentucky take over at the end. Very sad and disappointing. But we've got to remember that the Cards have been on a wonderful three-year run. A Final Four in 2012, a championship in 2013, and a Sweet Sixteen in 2014... not too shabby!
To the Cats Fans- Good luck in Dallas. After dropping ten games during the season, your group of fabulous freshmen have really gotten their act together in the post-season. Your big win over the Cards was followed up by another solid performance against Michigan. The Final Four should be very entertaining. Good luck to Cat Nation.
To the folks that aren't basketball fans- Who cares about the madness? I hear you, too. If basketball is not your deal, there is still something to learn from March Madness.
To survive and advance in the tournament, teams have to work hard and play well together.
We've had our own "March Madness" this year with the extended schedule. As we finish the month today (we've survived and advanced), let's work hard and play well together. Bring your A game today. Help your teammates/classmates to do their best as well.
Congrats on finishing our own March Madness. Good luck in the next tournament. April Madness. Yes, we've got one more month of extended days. Survive and advance. Survive and advance.
And to the Lady Cards Fans- Good luck in the Elite Eight on Tuesday! Go Cards. Take down the Terrapins!
What a weekend!
To the Cards Fans- I feel your pain. After a handling the Cats for nearly the entire game, Russdiculous and company let Kentucky take over at the end. Very sad and disappointing. But we've got to remember that the Cards have been on a wonderful three-year run. A Final Four in 2012, a championship in 2013, and a Sweet Sixteen in 2014... not too shabby!
To the Cats Fans- Good luck in Dallas. After dropping ten games during the season, your group of fabulous freshmen have really gotten their act together in the post-season. Your big win over the Cards was followed up by another solid performance against Michigan. The Final Four should be very entertaining. Good luck to Cat Nation.
To the folks that aren't basketball fans- Who cares about the madness? I hear you, too. If basketball is not your deal, there is still something to learn from March Madness.
To survive and advance in the tournament, teams have to work hard and play well together.
We've had our own "March Madness" this year with the extended schedule. As we finish the month today (we've survived and advanced), let's work hard and play well together. Bring your A game today. Help your teammates/classmates to do their best as well.
Congrats on finishing our own March Madness. Good luck in the next tournament. April Madness. Yes, we've got one more month of extended days. Survive and advance. Survive and advance.
And to the Lady Cards Fans- Good luck in the Elite Eight on Tuesday! Go Cards. Take down the Terrapins!
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Hacked
We had a problem on MBC last week. Somebody hacked an account and posted some unpleasant comments on a discussion board.
To the person that had the account hacked:
I'm really sorry that this happened. We know that you did not make those comments. Now that you have a new password, it is doubtful that this ever will happen again. While there is one person that acted cruelly, remember that a whole bunch of kids immediately helped you by flagging the comments.
To the people that flagged the offensive comments:
Nice! You did exactly the right thing. You saw something wrong, and you acted immediately. Your decision to flag the comments helped us to quickly remove them. I know some of you would have liked to join in on the commenting, but the flag action was the right move. I'm proud of all of you that did this!
To the hacker:
Immature. Disrespectful. Cruel. Stupid. There are so many ways to describe the action you took. I hope that this moment of character lapse is just that… a moment. A single mistake. I hope that this doesn't happen again. I hope that the words that describe this action don't turn into words that describe you.
To everybody else:
Hacking isn't funny. Hacking is a violation of the Responsible Use Agreement. Good digital citizens don't even attempt to enter the accounts of others. Thanks to the 605 of the 606 of you that are following the rules.
To the person that had the account hacked:
I'm really sorry that this happened. We know that you did not make those comments. Now that you have a new password, it is doubtful that this ever will happen again. While there is one person that acted cruelly, remember that a whole bunch of kids immediately helped you by flagging the comments.
To the people that flagged the offensive comments:
Nice! You did exactly the right thing. You saw something wrong, and you acted immediately. Your decision to flag the comments helped us to quickly remove them. I know some of you would have liked to join in on the commenting, but the flag action was the right move. I'm proud of all of you that did this!
To the hacker:
Immature. Disrespectful. Cruel. Stupid. There are so many ways to describe the action you took. I hope that this moment of character lapse is just that… a moment. A single mistake. I hope that this doesn't happen again. I hope that the words that describe this action don't turn into words that describe you.
To everybody else:
Hacking isn't funny. Hacking is a violation of the Responsible Use Agreement. Good digital citizens don't even attempt to enter the accounts of others. Thanks to the 605 of the 606 of you that are following the rules.
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