March 31, 2013

Happy Spring Break:

AMSTI is featured in an article by the Dept. of Commerce.  It is really a good article.  http://www.madeinalabama.com/2013/03/alabama-stem-education-initiative-gets-international-attention/

AMSTI Specialists: Please remember to enroll through STIPD for the April Statewide Staff meeting.

April Statewide Staff meeting snacks:
JSU – Candy other than chocolate  a case of water and 2 twelve packs of soft drinks.

The food you bring should be enough to last for 3 days for our group(Directors, Assistant Directors and Math/Science Specialists-also on Tuesday we will have SDE personnel for joint-planning ).

 

Tanya's out of office dates until the next staff meeting:

April 3rd:  Admin PLT (InService Center)

 

I have submitted a request for Math Journaling for the Summer participants.  I have requested the start date to be April 15 and the completion date to be May 24.  Each math specialist will receive information about being a Course Manager.

 

We will send out Math Journaling Codes in the registration packets. 

 

Registration packets are being "stuffed" and should go in the mail April 1st or 2nd.   OGAP will go to the schools and Robotics info will go to the Central office.    Everyone will receive a copy of what will be sent out so you can answer questions when they are posed to you at a schools, store, church, etc.

 

 

FYI:

• Calhoun County has requested the Quality Questioning PD for their teachers.
• I will develop and facilitate with help from science specialists if they are avaiable. 
• Dates: July 10 and August 7
• THe PD will be in 2 sessions each day.   Quality Questioning from 8-11 and Thinking Through Quality Questioning from 12-3. 

• They also requested Leading Through Quality Questioning for their Administrators.   That PD will be May 29 from 8 - 12. 

• Coaching training for our trainers (Equipping the Trainers) will have to be moved to May 28 and May 30.  I will develop and get input from everyone.  I can facilitate with help from science specialists who are avaiable. 

Hope everyone had a great and restful Spring Break. 

 

 

March 15, 2013

SCIENCE:

• Online classes:   all science specialists will be trained as online facilitators in August.  If you want to facilitate online classes please let me know and I will submit the names to Sandy.  There will be a rotation of facilitators.  All will be trained but everyone may not facilitate.  Also think of kits and rank them in the order you would like to facilitate. 

• From Sandy: Let me know if you have any suggestions: 

From:	Ledwell Sandy J (sledwell@ALSDE.edu)This sender is in your contact list.
Sent:	Tue 3/05/13 10:20 AM
To:

Good morning, everyone!

I need your help in identifying a teacher(s) in your region you feel would be good presenters and who are implementing literacy strategies in the classroom. Or, you could designate yourself if you feel you have particular talents in incorporating literacy in the classroom. Please see below for information – that’s all I know about the Summer Academies as it relates to science at this point. Keep in mind, everyone who is submitted will not be asked to lead a session, but I didn’t want to arbitrarily submit names without consulting you guys.

Everyone:

• PreService Training:  Either after our staff meeting or at 2:00 I need to discuss PreService Training with Kay, Amber and Tara.  I had a long conversation with Sandy, Tod and Shelia and have some updates. 

• From Steve:
  The blip that Change the Equation put up about us doesn’t seem overly positive. We currently have a link to it on our AMSTI home page. Looks like there are places for people to make comments. 
  It would sure be nice is some folks went to the comments section and included some positive comments.
•  
• One of the latest objections to the College and Career Ready Standards is that implementing them will drain money that should go to AMSTI and ARI:   Well, as much as we wish there was a bucket of money to come our way, here is the answer from Steve:

In 2009, as a result of the economy, AMSTI took a significant reduction in its budget (cut by approximately 1/3). To date, funding has not increased back to the former level. This reduced funding has hurt expansion. AMSTI continues to serve all previously trained schools with equipment and materials, additional professional development, and on site support (coaching and mentoring). AMSTI is also supporting all schools by helping teachers better understand and implement the new College and Career Ready Standards.

As an initiative of the State Department of Education (SDE), AMSTI supports the work of the SDE as it has been restructured under new leadership. Examples of AMSTI supporting Plan 2020 include collaboratively planning with each school district for focused support during the current or next school year, and provide training to administrator and teacher leaders concerning College and Career Ready Standards. This support is customized based on the differentiated support requested.

 

AMSTI Schools have shown tremendous growth in ARMT scores which assessed the former state standards. However, our growth on assessments like TIMSS which used different, more rigorous standards, has not been as strong. The new College and Career Ready standards will likely result in major increases on this assessment in the near future.

 

AMSTI is standards-based, so its program has always been designed to support whatever standards are adopted by the State Board of Education. The initiative has always based its work on the current educational research and best practices. As a result, many AMSTI schools feel better equipped to implement College and Career Ready Standards than those that have not previously participated in the initiative.

 

The role of AMSTI is to help teachers teach the state standards to their students in an effective and efficient manner. AMSTI is not responsible for what standards are selected by the state, but is charged with helping teachers deliver instruction on whatever standards are adopted. With the recent adoption of the more rigorous College and Career Ready standards, AMSTI has undertaken a retooling to specifically address these standards.

March 8, 2013

March 8, 2013

New Math Trainers:
At our summer trianing  we will have a lot of new trainers.  The ones from this area, I want to include in their contract a "facilitating adults" PD.  I hope to offer it on May 29 or May 30.  I want to use the Coaching Conversations book, the facilitator's guides that Kay copied for you and some stuff from a TTT from about 5 years ago.  



Housekeeping:

Please remember to take a van for all PD and all out of inservice area trips.   Staff PD is budgeted based on taking the van and the number of overnight trips. 

Remember to include all activities on the site report, even you think it doesn't "fit" a category, place it in other.

Any activity you facilitate, please keep a copy of the sign in sheets.  I need a copy for my records. 

Any activity where we are paying for subs:  copy of the sign in sheets to: Tanya, Lynn, Nancy, and Kay (if related to OGAP or Robotics; MSP stuff), Barry (if it involves kits) and the yet to be named PD coordinator for CEU credit. 


Random thoughts:

Shelley : at our staff meeting please share with us your experience at Randolph County BOE. I think this was a content literacy connection, right?

Math:  OGAP assessments for the summer training.   Have you given any to use in the summer?  Didn't we decide to have a randon sample set to use during the training?

OGAP for April:  We need to take OGAP preassessment to the Weaver teachers so they can give them at their convenience.  probably 3rd grade

Does anyone remember anything about the registration process for summer training that we need to change or any ideas on how to improve?   You can comment on this blog and I think everyone gets the  comments or at least can see the comments or you can share at staff meeting on March 18th.

March 1, 2013

March 1, 2013:

Lots happening! - I need about 1 hr to bring everyone up to date on Monday AM.  1030?

Summer training plans:

I hope to being getting packets ready to mail to schools on Monday and Tuesday. All helping hands appreciated.


Cherie will you please make me a set of calendar postes to use for planning. July 2013 - June 2014?

Harrassement Prevention Training:

Remember to complete it by March 15th.   

Evaluation process

Remember staff evaluation training?   All have to be completed by March 31 but since spring break is march 25-29 then actually they have to be completed by March 22. 


AND I learned a new fact today about the thermostats.  Once you move the dial, press the button too. 











Science

Middle School Kit Conversion

• The converted modules will be used in this summer’s training following the new training plans as disseminated at the last director’s meeting.
• · 6^th grade will remain as is until the entire grade can be converted. If you have monies to purchase the necessary items for Earth in Space, I recommend that you do that and hold them until we convert (providing space allows).

 · A TTT upgrade will be held on April 23-24 at the AMSTI-UM site. We are targeting existing 7^th and 8^th grade trainers for this upgrade. We expect all middle school specialists to attend unless there is some issue, so please let them know about these dates.
 · Costs will be covered by the SDE.

Math

• Not that I know when this could happen, but if the math TTT is a different as rumors indicate, then we may need to think of offering sessions this summer (like I said, who know when) as kind of a here's what's new and how it will help with College and Career Ready Standards.   No materials could be associated with it unles sthey can be pulled from Old math kits.  Probably 1 day or 1/2 day for each grade level, but there would not be a stipend tied to it BUT if it is 6 hours then they can use it as a FLEX day.

• Old math kits:   Barry needs help in inventoring and breaking those down so we can use the pieces that are usable.  ie books, rulers, pattern blocks, cubes, etc.  These could be used in any trianing and supplied to those in attendance.  OR taken with you next year to schools and given an replacements to AMSTI trained teachers only. 

• CMP books- same for them.  We need to take additional student books or obselete teacher books and give them to AMSTI trianed teachers who are using them and could use some more. 

• We will need to document who get what:  ie  Spencer Barnes was given a bucket of snap cubes to replace the ones children lost.   Vinnee Barnes was given 30 Bits and Pieces to replace lost books and because her class sizes are greater than 30.  etc.  Nothing major just who got what. 
• I will bring to our staff meeting copies of emails from Lorrie Moody and Leigh Twigg on specific PD they want for their teachers. 
• Calculators are being sent out to schools whose principal responded to a request for a list of math teachers at their school. 
• 3 systems have requested to borrow calculators.  We are working on getting together 50 for each systems to borrow.