August 29, 2012

On Site Support: In reviewing principal requests:

I have contacted Attalla Elementary (science K5) and Moody Elementary (mathK4) to see if specialist can meet with the teachers to schedule coaching cycle to begin September.

I will contact for science:
Striplin ,  Wellborn E, , Alexandria, and Moody E.

for math:
Wellborn E, Alexandria E, and Attalla.   Coldwater asked for January but I'm not sure if I will contact Coldwater or not.

Until we know more about the visits the RPT is making to the systems, I'm afraid to commit to anyone else.  I think 5 schools may take us to May since we have so many meetings.

We know Calhoun County wants us at Weaver E and Ohatchee E so those will be our backups.

We can start with Moody E for math and Attalla E for Science and once you are able to meet and plan some with them we can look at when you would be able to go to another school.  



Activity Log

The last info I have on Activity Log is that the SDE is thinking about placing that on Share Point (we were suppose to work with Share Point August 29-30).    We can do one of two things: 1) you can keep up with what you are doing in your calendar OR 2) I can give you another # from our current activity log and you can just place your info on the current date.  I don't know what the new form will look like or if you can transfer from a spreadsheet to it but I don't think will have changed much.  I believe the only change will be to seperate some stuff from "site duty" to reflect support a teacher just not face to face.


FYI

TO: City and County Superintendents of Education

Later today the district-designated staff who participated in training will receive notification from GlobalScholar indicating that the Performance Series and Achievement Series sites will go live tomorrow morning, Wednesday, August 29, and that your teachers can begin utilizing Performance Series within the site immediately. The notification will also include instructions for accessing the site that will include the format for Site IDs (both District and School Buildings), Staff IDs, and Passwords. GlobalScholar conducted multiple trainings on the Performance Series over the course of the last three weeks in to ensure that a cadre of educators exists in each system to help with access or test administration questions. Hopefully, those trained staff have been utilizing the materials and toolkit provided them to prepare your teachers for the Performance Series testing. If no one from your system has been trained, or if other questions arise requiring assistance, please notify GlobalScholar at the following link alsde@globalscholar.com . Please ensure that anyone who submits an e-mail to the GlobalScholar inbox indicates his/her school, district name, and the Inservice Region. This will allow site specialists to answer questions more quickly and identify issues that may be reoccurring in each region. GlobalScholar will offer training on the Achievement Series during the week of September 24-28, and more information on those sessions will be forthcoming.

I have copied your principals and your local technology coordinator so that they will also have this information.

Sherrill W. Parris

Deputy State Superintendent

Alabama Department of Education

P.O. Box 302101

Montgomery, AL 36130-2101

PH: 334-242-8154

E-mail: sparris@alsde.edu

STatewide staff meeting from June 2012

Our time together at the statewide staff meeting was very disjointed.  If possible, could I get a brief overview or debrief of information that was shared.  

I know math and science each had training but if there was info shared from math or science specialists at the SDE, it was not shared with directors.  Example, specialists PLT dates, materials needed for PLTs, 

7 Habits: 

Tuesday at 8:30 not 8:00.  Shelly will be here at 8:00 but we will not start until 8:30.  Melanie will set up the room on Friday, August 31st.  

More than likely, I will not be here tomorrow.  Since our meeting is canceled, I hope we can leave after Tim is finished at the hospital around lunch time.  

Happy Labor day weekend.  See you all on Tuesday.  RTR to the Bama fans. 

August 24, 2012

From JSU:


The Jacksonville State University Office of the Controller is pleased to announce the ability to payemployees via direct deposit (ACH) for non-payroll items. Effective 8/13/2012, reimbursements from JSU Accounts Payable will be deposited directly into your bank account, with no waiting for a check to be mailed. Notification of payment will be sent to you via e-mail. Direct deposit will be mandatory for all employee travel or other reimbursement payments.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

· You will get an email confirming the amount of your reimbursement and the date it was transmitted to your bank.

· Confirm with your financial institution that your reimbursement has been deposited into your account before writing checks against these funds.

· In the unlikely event that your bank does not accept the direct deposit, Accounts Payable will review the problem and notify you.

Initially, payments will be deposited into the primary account on file with Payroll. However, if a change is required for the reimbursement deposit, the employee must complete the Direct Deposit Authorization For Reimbursements Via Accounts Payable.

Send completed form or fax to (256) 782-5967.

Jacksonville State University
Accounts Payable Office

309 Bibb Graves
700 Pelham Rd N
Jacksonville, AL 36265

Please note: If you change account or bank after signing up, download and fill out a new form and return it to Accounts Payable with an indication that your information has changed.

• Remember to submit an agenda with all reimbursements for travel for meetings/conferences. 
• Out of state reimbursement requires RECEIPTS! Keep all receipts when traveling out of state. 

FYI:

• Monday, August 27, 2012:

The annual meeting of faculty and staff will be Monday, August 27 at 8:00 a.m. in Leone Cole Auditorium. Coffee and pastries will be served beginning at 7:30 a.m.

I'm fairly certain that after the annual meeting, you will need to go to the COE for that meeting.  Dr. Ryan will introduce Amber and Shelley.

Previous years, people close to the site met here and took a van.  Those closer to Jacksonville met the others in Jacksonville.  The Material staff will not be in attendance, kits are being picked up.

Tanya and Kay will be in Bham working on the MSP grant and will not be in attendance.  We will have one of the vans.

• Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Tanya will be in Gardendale at the Key Leader meeting. 

• Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Specialists and Tanya will LEAVE the site at 6:00 am.   Please arrive 5 to 10 minutes early so we can load your luggage into the vans.   Our hotel: 

Fairfield Inn & Suites Montgomery Airport South7560 Mobile Highway,
Montgomery, Alabama 36105 USA Phone: 1-334-281-6882Fax: 1-334-281-6930

Confirmation numbers:  84359781, 84359765, 84359767, 84359766

The meeting begins at 9:00 am each day.  Wednesday the meeting ends at 4:00 and Thursday at 3:30.  

On Thursday, I will give a brief overview of our work.  We will have sentence strips with the names of the systems we serve on the wall.  I will ask everyone to pick a system that you have worked with and share 1 minute your work in that system.  Please everyone take a different system.  We haven't spent much time in Anniston City \, Piedmont City or Jacksonville City but we have been everywhere else, I think.   .   

Reminder: Tim will pick me up on Thursday so I will need some of my luggage from the van and I will send a bag with the van.  As well as my crate, the projector and my stuff from these two days. 

• Friday, August 31, 2012

Melanie is going to set up the room for 7 Habits which begins on Tuesday.  Monday is Labor day. 

Everyone remember to bring your 7 Habits workbook.  We will have journals for everyone. 

• I received notification today that our MSP grant is funded!  WHOOOHOOOO

We will provide OGAP training for faculties of ACHE schools over the next 3 years.   Additive, Multiplicative, Fractional and Proportional.  AND we will establish Robotic programs in the middle schools and hopefully they will compete in the robotic competition.  We will being with an OGAP training in June 2013.   We will get those dates set withing the next few weeks so we can plan for that.  The OGAP training will be at the InService Center, I think.  

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend.  Specialists:  safe travels today!  Someone text me to let me know you are home safely! 

August 10, 2012 part B

A couple of items I forgot::

• Travel Agenda

Please remember, for any travel to any meetings, please include an agenda with your travel reimbursement.
I can't remember if I shared this or not, but the week of July 4, campus called concerning our travel from the Statewide Staff meeting.  And they needed an agenda for everyone before they would reimburse us for our travel.
I had a copy of math because Shelia always "cc" the directors when she contacts the specialists.
Lynn attached it to all of the travel and it went through.
I contacted Martha Ann and Steve for agendas as back up but they accepted it because it didn't specific math specialists.
So.. from now on, please remember to include an agenda for any meeting.  This include conferences, any meeting you are requesting reimbursement.

• Math Specialists

Leigh Twigg said that Calhoun County is having training here next week for Math in Focus and if you are here and would like to attend, you are officially invited.

Monday is K
Tuesday is 1,2
Wednesday is 3.4
Thursday is 5,6

She wants support with grades 5 and 6.  She is familiar with the other grades but will need support in 5 and 6.  That is the discussion that lead to me sharing with her that I want to develop PD for grades 6  - 8 to help with objectives that have moved / shifted to those grade levels.

• Van for all the trips on the calendar

I have reserved the vans for all of our trips which are on the calendar:  OGAP, KLN, PCN, RSS, RPT, Statewide staff meetings, TTT, ASTA, NSTA, ACTM, director's meetings,PDs next week etc.