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· Curriculum
Calendar Training
- September 2007
This session explained the structure of the Muncie Community Schools
Curriculum Calendar and how to use it effectively and efficiently
when planning classroom instruction.
· STI
TestScope Training
- October 2007
This session explained the use of common assessments in the
classroom. The session focused on the advantages of the test results
that can be accessed on STI and how to use those results when
planning classroom activities and instruction.
· Assessment
for Learning
- November 2007
Muncie Community Schools teachers were invited to the
Administration Building to discuss the role of assessment in the
classroom and how to use a variety of assessment strategies. STI
assessment data was discussed as a way to guide instructional
planning.
· Classroom
Management
- January 2008
Northside Middle School teachers watched several video clips about
effective classroom management and engaging students. A group
discussion was facilitated by Northside Middle School administration
about methods that would work in our specific building. As a staff,
we contemplated different ways in which we as a school and
individual teachers can improve our classroom management techniques
and increase the motivation level of our students.
· ISTEP
Computerized Score Training
- January 2008
This professional development session focused on the availability of
ISTEP scores via the computer. Individual student and school score
reports are available to teachers through access to a specific
website. We were able to become familiar with the website, as well
as discuss different ways in which this information will be useful.
We discussed how to effectively use the data in the classroom, with
instructional planning and assessment strategies.
· World
Language Textbook Adoption Committee
- Spring 2008
Muncie Community Schools appointed me to the 2008 World Language
textbook adoption committee. Throughout the spring, I will be
evaluating various textbooks from many publishers and eventually
making an adoption recommendation. I will have the opportunity to
collaborate with my colleagues at different buildings in the
corporation and together we can identify the strengths and
challenges of the textbooks. It is our goal as a committee to select
the strongest textbook that will best serve the teacher and
students.
· Curriculum
Calendar Committee
- March 2008
In an effort to streamline instruction across grade levels,
different buildings and among the corporation. The curriculum
calendars are based on the academic indicators for each subject and
grade level. The world languages will have a curriculum calendar
beginning in 2008-2009. The calendars are designed to outline which
standards should be focused on during each month of the school year.
I was selected, along with a colleague, to create the first
curriculum calendar with the middle school level world language
program. In addition to analyzing the curriculum and creating a
timeline of the academic indicators, we assigned a taxonomy level to
each standard. This will help ensure that all students within the
corporation are learning the same standard at the same taxonomy
level. While working on the curriculum calendar I was able to
examine the scope and sequence of the material. I believe that the
curriculum calendars will be a valuable tool to all teachers and
serve as a course "map". Consistency across the corporation will
allow anyone at anytime to be aware of the primary focus of each
classroom.
· Professional
Development Session: Bullying
- April 2 and 23, 2008
Led by the PL221 committee and the school administrators, a
workshop and discussion about bullying and its presence at Northside
Middle School took place. The session allowed teachers to define
bullying behaviors, outline some consequences for bullying and
create a survey for parents, students and teachers. Bullying is an
important issue that many schools face, and Northside Middle School
staff members would like to put together a plan of action against
bullying. The groundwork for an anti-bullying campaign was laid
during this professional development session. The second session
focused on tabulating the results of a bullying survey that was
administered to the staff at Northside. In addition, we discussed
the format of a student bullying survey.
· Teaching
Disrespectful Students to be Respectful - April
11, 2008
I attended a one day seminar entitled, Teaching Disrespectful
Students to be Respectful, sponsored by the
Center for Teacher Effectiveness. The seminar focused on
classroom management strategies that will reduce or virtually
eliminate the low-level discipline problems that occur in the
classroom. The main theme of the seminar was that instruction is to
remain number one in the classroom and minor discipline problems
should not consume too much class time. After leaving the seminar, I
felt equipped with the tools to implement the techniques presented.
· ESL
101
- April 23, 2008
English Language Learners are becoming more prevalent in the Muncie
Community School system. These students have special needs that need
to be recognized. A professional development session was led by
several Ball State University professors and the ESL teacher for
Muncie Community Schools educating the staff and providing teachers
with tools to effectively reach non-English speaking students. The
"best practices" that were discussed centered around sensitivity to
the individual student and making the material accessible to them
through several different methods that can easily be incorporated
into any classroom.
· Ball
State Supervising Teacher Training
- July 2008
This one day workshop provided the classroom teacher with the
tools to effectively and correctly evaluate a student teacher coming
from Ball State. How to phase the student teacher into the
classroom, appropriately assisting the student teacher, Ball State
expectations of student teachers, licensure requirements and
instructional strategies were among the topics discussed.
· "Mapping
the Course"
- August 12, 2008
Muncie Community Schools opened the 2008-2009 school year with the
theme of "Mapping the Course". The secondary teachers in the school
system attended several workshops and lectures throughout the day
which were tied to the theme for the year. The workshops that I
attended were entitled: LEA Corrective Action Overview, Human
Resources, Cultural Competency, Special Education Overview of
Article 7, GQE and End of Course Exams, and Positive Intervention.
· Introduction
to InSAI
– September 2008
Northside Middle School has become and InSAI school. This is a three
year commitment to school improvement led by the Indiana Student
Achievement Institute. The professional development session in
September was imbedded into the school day. We were provided with
current school data and the objectives of going through the InSAI
process.
· All
Students Deserve...
– October 2008
This imbedded professional development session was
held at Northside Middle School and facilitated by the InSAI team.
During the session the teachers were asked to answer the question,
“What do all students deserve/need to be successful?”. As a group,
we brainstormed ideas and discussed the current climate at
Northside.
· Indiana
Foreign Language Teacher’s Conference
–
November 2008
The IFLTA annual state-wide conference was held on November 7-8 in
Indianapolis, Indiana. I attended two full days of workshops which
focused on middle school foreign language instruction and
incorporating authentic culture into the classroom. I attended
several sessions, which included:
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Building Support for French through
Programs/Business Partnerships
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Focus on Francophone Africa: Congo
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Ready, Set, Go! 25 Engaging Activities to Start,
Continue, and Finish your Class from Bell to Bell
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Golden Moments: Igniting and Maintaining a
Passion for Teaching
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Discover Francophone Belgium
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Station Learning for Vocabulary Acquisition and
Review
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Equatorial Guinea 101: A National Endowment for
the Humanities Project
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Getting Smart with SmartBoard
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French Pop Music in the High School Classroom
To learn more about the 2008 IFLTA Conference, visit
www.iflta.org.
· ISTEP
Data Analysis
–
November 2008
As part of the
InSAI process, Northside must look at current test data and pick out
areas of concern. The vision is to have 100% of Northside students
passing the ISTEP test, however the current data does not reflect
the vision. During these two sessions the 2007-2008 testing data was
examined by sub-group. As trends emerged, the improvement strategies
started to come forth. The strategies that Northside will implement
to improve student performance will be based on targeted areas of
need.
· Bullying at Northside Middle School
– December 2008
This in-service was held at Northside Middle School and led by staff
members and administrators. During this in-service we reviewed the
results of our 3 surveys from last year of staff, students, and
parents. We also discussed ways to improve bullying at Northside
and where we want to go from here.
· InSAI
Strategy Chair Training
– February
2009
Indiana Student Achievement Institute is working with Northside
Middle School to improve qualities of the school, students and
staff. I am a strategy chairperson, which means that I am leading a
group of my peers to create and implement a strategy for next school
year. The strategy that my team is developing deals with improving
student behavior in the classroom. I attended a full-day strategy
chair training workshop in February. This workshop helped me further
develop the strategy details and implementation process. After the
workshop, I was able to report back to my strategy team and continue
working on our plan for behavior improvement.
· InSAI Technology Training
– March 2009
As a strategy chairperson, I attended technology training
through InSAI. This session presented the InSAI website and how to
create a strategy timeline.
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