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August

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

#10. Goal Plans --Develop Accountability

	Use the New Walk Thru Format during the First Six Weeks.
	The Walk Thru Document should help you generate Goal Plans for all teachers during the first six weeks.
	This Documentation should give teachers a clear understanding of your expectations.
	We get what we ask for in most cases and in most cases we don't get because we don't ask (James 4:2)
	Make sure all new teachers have a Mentor and perform an Observation before end of semester. This observation is to be written up and turned in --one copy to their principal and one copy to me.

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

Mentorships Assignments & Observations required

Science Teachers:

	Attend Workshops through Region VII for hands-on labs for all areas of sciences.
	Hands-on labs will be required at least once a week (preferably twice a week) starting this fall. Students will become familiar with scientific method through hands-on experiences.
	Overheads and chalk-talks will also be limited.
	Research how you would engage students beyond lecture mode on a daily basis.

Math Teachers:

	Attend Region VII Workshops (preferably conducted by Jane Silvey) so that you are able to implement hands-on (manipulative) activities in your classroom at least twice a week.
	Hands-on activities will be required at least twice a week starting this fall.
	Math research studies dictate hands-on, real-world settings for conceptual learning.
	Please read and become familiar with the concepts from research. Please start here. http://www.makingmathreal.org/articles/article02.html

Language Arts Teachers

	Attend Workshops for balanced literacy or do book study (reading, writing, speaking, questioning)
	Research how best to address small groups and centers in the classroom.
	Full-class teaching is a thing of the past.
	We will be referring to Dorothy Strickland’s work: http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/teachstrat/balanced.htm and we encourage you to spend time with her research.

Social Studies Teachers

	Attend Workshops that deal with experiential learning (making history come alive) for all age groups.
	Research “best practices” for social studies. You can begin at: http://www.mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/social_studies/index.html Look for activities that engage students in building concepts through higher order thinking.

All Teachers

	Use the State Assessment Charts, analyze two areas of improvement that you will need to address immediately.
	Continually analyze ways to personally improve your teaching strategies.
	Begin researching how best to address small groups in the classroom. Full-class teaching is no longer an option.
	Design “centers” or small group instruction. Use “best practices” for guidelines.
	KNOW your TEKS and TAKS objectives. Be able to intelligently discuss TEKS concepts and “big ideas”.
	Know the levels of thinking for each. Know research-based strategies for addressing each.
	If you are a NON-Core teacher, select one core area that your area of content is able to incorporate and learn the TEKS and TAKS objectives for that core area and grade-level. You will need to commit to assisting core teachers in the area you select. If you do not select an area, you will be assigned one. The district now has the capability of printing statistics for all teachers (core and non-core) for all TAKS areas.

Begin your Research by:

Understand the learning phases for your subject area. Understand that all learning moves through

	the concrete (hands-on, manipulatives, experiential)
	semi-concrete (pictorial, graphical, model)
	semi-abstract (pattern, linguistic, story, verbiage, explain, question, extend)
	abstract (symbolic, written, formula)
	Use research strategies to find “best practices” for your teaching area.