October 9, 2009

Directors meeting October 4-6, 2009:


• We met as a PLT and we are submitting our LOG to Steve. Please submit your log to me.

• Material managers met a few weeks ago and from that meeting asked that each site be aware of the time of the rotation and be mindful that if you need materials from the warehouse, please request those materials prior to the kits returning, being refurbed and going out again. Usually a 2 week window. Just be mindful those 2 weeks (4 times a year) are extremely stressful for them and any interruption probably makes them lose 30 minutes of work time.

• K-5 math - using the "math workshop" which was at one time a part of the SI, is a way for schools to do math intervention without calling it intervention. A suggestion by one of the other sites that has tried it and it has been successful for them.

• Please remember that no one person should be the sole source for any information. i.e... any information you receive from the SDE or anything that pertains to the smooth operation of our site - should be shared via this blog (all of you were asked to be contributors, not just followers- I can resend that request if needed) or email.

• Any email that concerns any materials changes for kits or SI should go to Barry, and cc specialists for that subject and Tanya.

• Any email concerning curriculum for SI should go to Barry and Tanya and cc specialists for that subject.

• Any email concerning materials needed for a teacher should go to Barry and cc specialist for that subject. When that request is completed a reply email should sent to ALL recipients so everyone knows that has been completed and the request didn't go to SPAM.

• More proration is expected later in the year up to 4% more.

• And remember - Sustainability plans must remain flexible - which is what the minutes from the staff meeting from 10/4/09 reflected. YEA! There is not a cookie cutter approach.  Please remember to submit to me a copy of your sustainability schedule which indicates the support cycle with each teacher you serve.

Let's please drop the ASAP term and replace it with Sustainability.

Monday, Oct. 12 will be BUSY! 8-10 Interwrite Training, 10:30 - 12:00 Office of Institutional Research and Assessment meeting, West End DDD 3 PM - need to leave at 1:00 (better to be early than cutting it close).

Directors meeting at UM Oct. 13 - 14 I'm leaving from West End to go to UM.
Concerns from staff meeting:

Schools not making AYP - Etowah HS, West End HS and Southside HS - 2 of the 3 are Year 1 schools and should received math sustainability support. Southside HS didn't make it this year for reading. The 3 still in SI, Moody is year 1 and could received sustainability support but I do not believe at this time the principal or staff would be on board. Pell City and Wellborn both attended the PLT training and can receive our support in that area but our role is facilitator and we haven't been requested to help. Their teachers can always received help between sustainability cycles because we are not leaving one school and moving into another school.

Compressed Training:

Please supply me with specific dates you can deliver the trainings that are listed in the staff meeting notes. I need dates for every kit listed so I can make a schedule. I'll use the dates you supply unless there is a conflict with State Meeting or availability of training rooms.

Quotes from my eLearning class about building learning communities.  Reasons why we need PLTs in AMSTI (staff and schools).
Here are three reasons why you should consider building community into your overall learning strategy:


Approximately 70% of what an employee needs to know for success is learned outside of formal training*** (e.g., on the job, through mentoring, etc.). Communities extend learning by creating a structure whereby people can learn from "informal" interactions.

Tacit knowledge - the informal knowledge about "how things really get done around here" and ultimately, how to be successful in one's job - is extremely difficult to capture, codify and deliver through discrete learning objects and traditional training programs. Communities are a way to elicit and share practical know-how that would otherwise remain untapped.

Creating and structuring opportunities for people to network, communicate, mentor, and learn from each other can help capture, formalize, and disseminate tacit knowledge, and thus accelerate learning and organizational effectiveness. Communities become a boundaryless container for knowledge and relationships that can be used to increase individual effectiveness and a company's overall competitive advantage.

For most learning professionals today, the question isn't if building communities will deliver value to the organization, but rather what kind of community is needed and what are the steps involved in building it.