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March 31, 2006
Paideia Seminar
This morning we conducted a Paideia Seminar with our team and discussed an area that was identified as a weakness at Norwayne during our fall survey of the students. Norwayne had numerous strengths identified on the survey by parents and students but “Student Obey the School Rules” was an area where we need to improve. In the seminar students discuss and brainstorm factors which have led to this problem and try to internalize the information and hopefully develop some personal initiatives to helping with the solution. We utilized a poem on friendship and shared personal narratives about our own experiences with people we thought were our friends. We discussed simple rules (expectations) that we have for our friends and used that analogy in regards to the school. It was insightful to hear students talk about people wanting attention and lacking discipline at home as motivations for causing problems at school. They wanted more and more stringent consequences for rule breakers in order to “stop them from taking our learning time.”
Report Cards go home on Monday so be looking for those. It is an unfortunate truth but our Honor Roll List is so very much smaller than it was at the end of the first semester. It is extremely important that parents help motivate students to be more focused and organized in their studies at the end of the year since this is typically the time when drop off can do the most harm.
Posted by hlperson at 12:16 PM | Comments (6)
March 27, 2006
Fourth Nine Weeks
Last Friday Norwayne paid tribute to a lovely lady who lived a life of service. Mrs. Gwen Winston was our assistant principal and a good friend. Mrs. Winston spent over three decades in education and was a positive influence in everything she was involved with. We are proud to honor her memory by dedicating our new marquee in her honor.
It is so hard to believe that we are 75% of the way through the school year and the last nine weeks is already here. I still have so many things I want to share with the kids. And I learned so much from the NCAECT Conference in Charlotte last week. Attending these kinds of events and learning from peers recharges the batteries and allows tired lessons to be refreshed. Be looking for some new and exciting games I learned from Mr. Ertzberger from UNCW at one session.
We began our Unit 11 Vocabulary today with an overview and a Wheel. I hope to be able to unveil some of the new items I picked up at NCAECT this week with the kids. We also STAR Tested so that we can get our goals and begin that process all over again. We have moved out of Africa into Asia and will be constructing a spreadsheet with data from where many of the products we use everyday come.
Last nine weeks saw some students really rise to the occasion. This is my favorite time of year as maturity is taking hold in many of the students and they are growing into compassionate and conscientious young adults. Seventh grade, in my humble opinion, is the most difficult for young people. Over half of our students met their AR Goal last nine weeks. This sounds like a small accomplishment, but it shows on the EOG and in life. Setting goals and working to accomplish them is what being a successful person is all about.
Posted by hlperson at 10:37 AM | Comments (4)
March 23, 2006
NCAECT Tech Conference
Let me start with a quick apology. The company that hosts my website made some major upgrades and we lost the ability to upload and resize images. I never thought it would be almost two weeks before we got back on track. I wrote several entries saving them to post when we had full useage. When I get back to school I will compile them into one article covering our last week.
It is late on Thursday evening and I find myself in Charlotte at a Technology Conference. This is the first time I have attended this particular conference and in all honesty, it has been an extremely productive adventure. NCAECT puts together one heck of a developmental experience for teachers.
On Thursday, I sat in on six different sessions. One of the things I am extremely interested in is streaming video. This way we could create our own Norwayne News Show and stream it to our website so that parents could better keep up with what is going on. The potential for academic applications is huge. I also spent time in the Discovery Channel’s area learning about UnitedStreaming. They have compiled 45,000 digital videos and clips, not to mention the hundred thousand plus images, that teachers can search and show to their students to compliment what we are teaching. In Wayne County, because of very limited internet bandwidth, we can not use this service YET. By the end of this school year we should have completed the new upgrades and every school should have a 10meg connection to the internet. For Norwayne to have full access to UnitedStreaming the cost is $1500. Ms. Johnson and I discussed where exactly we were going to locate the money for this program. I offer a great big “Thank You” to Damien from Discovery for his patience and help. Your level of service is a testament to your professionalism and your company.
I also spent a great deal of time today browsing the different interactive white boards that are located here. Over the last couple of years I have labored to add the components needed to have an interactive high energy classroom. We have the visual presenter, the individual response system, the document camera, laser and color printer, scanners, digital cameras, and a strong computer to run the show. All we are missing is an interactive white board. (And digital video content searchable and available on demand) The cost for the board is consistently between $1500 and $2000.
I sat in on a session with a gentleman, Jeff Ertzberger, from UNCW where he discussed something important to me. He has worked to develop educational based games that will help make learning more exciting and interactive for the students. I am so excited to share these with everyone at NMS and add them to our Hollywood Squares, Jeopardy, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire games. I think the kids will really enjoy them.
Tomorrow we plan on spending some time in grant writing workshops that we hope will help us pay for all the new items we want to add to our schools. Then it’s a long ride back to eastern North Carolina. Be looking at the blog to see us using all the new things I have learned here.
Posted by hlperson at 11:20 PM | Comments (2)
March 10, 2006
Week in Review
This week has seen it’s fair share of happenings. On Tuesday we took our NC Writing Test. From speaking with the students, they felt extremely confident about their work. They have worked hard to prepare for this assessment and I am a believer in making your own good luck!
Yesterday Mr. Bill brought his DJ, a slushy machine, and some Pucker Powder for the kids who participated in the candy fundraiser to enjoy. Having consumed a couple of slushys myself, I can vouch for their taste. It is nice to celebrate with these students who are willing to support their school!
Today the ladies at Fast Break brought the kids about 100 biscuits to enjoy. A couple of weeks ago the kids received compliments from Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Toler in the Media Center for being so well behaved, the ladies in the Cafeteria spoke on how polite and courteous the kids were, and Mr. Re complimented them on the sidewalk for their good behavior. Mrs. Wooten and I wanted the kids to be able to enjoy a little treat so The Buccaneer Breakfast was hatched. We appreciate so much the ladies at Fast Break working so hard, making the biscuits, and delivering them out to NMS for us. Having partners in the community is an asset to every school.
Mr. Re decided to allow classes which are doing ACC projects to watch the game today in class while they are working. We looked at an ACC Geography project and did some Internet research about the institutions while mapping them out and the Interstate Highway system. I hope that by using things like the ACC Tournament we will awaken an interest in the kids about college. Maybe through this they will begin college planning and preparation. Enjoy the tournament this weekend, and GO TARHEELS!
Posted by hlperson at 11:27 AM | Comments (4)
March 02, 2006
Bart Simpson v/s 1st Amendment
Today we spent a little time and took two quizzes from Channel One. The first was to test the kid’s knowledge of the popular television show The Simpson’s. The second quiz evaluated how much they knew about the First Amendment to the Constitution. If I asked you each to vote on which you thought the students knew more about I hazard to guess that a large majority would say The Simpson’s. Truth be known – more of the students scored higher on the First Amendment quiz. Over 80% of the students scored over 80% on the First Amendment Quiz. Mrs. Kosuda came through as we were finishing up and decided to ask her own quiz questions. Before joining Norwayne she was selected as Wayne County’s High School Teacher of the Year. I was nervous but the kids passed with flying colors. 
Channel One is a short morning news show that informs the kids of current events educating them really without their knowledge. Channel One conducted the same kind of poll on young adults.
We are completing our Writing Test Preparation and it has been a grueling journey. I am proud of the efforts of many of the kids and am confident they will make themselves proud next Tuesday. Keep good thoughts for us as we test on Tuesday.
March is here and it really is my favorite time of year. The weather is changing and the kids are maturing (most for the better).
Posted by hlperson at 03:52 PM | Comments (11)