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FALL 2003 |
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Inside Page 1: Greetings from the Director, Page 2:
Training Menu, Recommended Page 3:
Powerful Learning Lab at WOW, Leadership Institute, Network Conference |
Greetings from the Director |
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I trust each of you found time for a bit of rest and relaxation during the summer months and are now ready for the work at hand. I spent a portion of my summer recovering from an Achilles tendon strain. This was the first serious injury that I’ve had to deal with in my life. My first response was one of disgust and impatience! It was really inconvenient to be crippled, hobbling around on crutches, unable to go up and down stairs as I was accustomed, and having to readjust how I did things. It would have been very easy to be discouraged and to give in to the situation, but instead I was determined not to let my injury get the best of me. For several weeks I worked out differently, but I worked out. I continued to do what needed to be done, but I accomplished tasks using strategies I hadn’t used before. I was more careful in my planning of tasks. For example, I’d figure out all the things that needed to be done while I was upstairs, before going back downstairs and vice versa. It took some getting used to, but I learned how to maneuver given the restraints I was under. As I have reflected on that experience I realized that many of us respond to interruptions in our lives in a similar fashion, that is, we are disgusted and impatient. As educators we live lives of interruptions, last minute meetings, decisions, and unexpected situations. Our lives are filled with other people, their attitudes, their feelings, and their decisions; therefore, our lives are filled with interruptions. We have a choice in how we deal with the unexpected. We can either take them in stride, be determined to work within the new confines, or we can be disgusted and give up. When district, state, and national mandates infringe on our everyday life in schools we are apt to respond in hopelessness and despair. Our best tactic is to remain firmly grounded in best instructional practices that create powerful learning experiences for all of our students. If we do this, then we will continue to work from a strong foundation, but learn to weave new curriculum, or new structures, or new ideas into an existing fabric of school life. It may take some getting used to, but we won’t feel despondent. We’ll maintain our determination to put children’s learning first. |
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Dr. Julie Biddle, Director (Phone – 937-229-4517) (email – julie.biddle@notes.udayton.edu) The ASP newsletter
is published 3 times a year by the Vickie Hodges, Communications Coordinator (Phone – 937-229-3870) (email – vickie.hodges@notes.udayton.edu) Website:
http://www.soeap.udayton.edu/support/accel/ |
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS Training Menu for 2003-04 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – September 15 (M),
2003 Powerful Learning & Literacy – September 22-23
(M-T) 2003 Introduction to ASP – September 29 (M), 2003 Inquiry – October 16-17 (Th-F) 2003 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – October 20 (M),
2003 Network Conference – Powerful Learning & Math – November 13-14
(Th-F), 2003 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – November 17 (M),
2003 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – December 15 (M),
2003 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – January 26 (M),
2004 Powerful Learning – February 9-10 (M-T) 2004 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – February 23 (M),
2004 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – March 15 (M),
2004 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – April 19 (M),
2004 Monthly Coaches’ Gathering – May 17 (M), 2004 |
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Recommended
Books for Professional Development Best Practice by Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde Heinemann ISBN# 0-325-00091-3 Guiding Readers & Writers (Grades
3-6) by Fountas
& Pinnell Heinemann ISBN# 0-325-00310-6 Interactive Writing by McCarrier, Pinnell & Fountas Heinemann ISBN# 0-325-00209-6 On Solid Ground by Taberski Heinemann ISBN# 0-325-00227-4 How to Differentiate Instruction in
Mixed-Ability Classrooms
by Tomlinson ASCD ISBN# 0-87120-512-2 Strategies that Work by Harvey & Goudvis Stenhouse ISBN# 1-57110-310-4 NonFiction Matters by Stenhouse ISBN# 1-57110-072-5 Framework for Understanding Poverty by Payne Aha! Processing, Inc. ISBN# 0-9647437-2-8 Classrooms that Work by Cunningham & Allington Pearson ISBN# 0-321-01339-5 The Constructivist Leader by Lambert, et. al. Teachers College Press ISBN#
0-8077-4253-8 |
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Accelerated Schools’ Powerful
Learning Lab at WOW July 27 – July 27 – August 1 was a special time at WOW! WOW hosted visiting teachers from three
different Accelerated Schools at the All teachers, both host and guest, learned so much. Each day they kept track of their “Ah Ha” moments. These “Ah Ha” moments captured some of the greatest learning experiences for the day. Some included: n High expectations yield high results! n WOW is such a positive community environment. n Having another teacher’s perspective is very helpful. n The students, their families, and staff share the same WOW way. WOW! n Not only are the children in this school constantly learning, so are their teachers. The teams of teachers plan to continue collaboration and communication during the school year. Some guest teachers have made tentative plans to host the WOW teacher in their classrooms. Other teams are planning to take joint field trips. Still others are planning to exchange videotapes of classroom activities. The greatest benefit of the Lab is in how the lessons learned will enhance the experience for hundreds of children within the four participating schools. Research suggests that the
most powerful professional development occurs when teachers teach each other
within the school day. The lab at WOW
was a powerful learning opportunity. |
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Leadership Institute The
focus for this year’s Leadership institute is teacher leadership. Participants are reading Awakening the
Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders by Katzenmeyer and
Moller. The text was recommended to us
by Linda Lambert, an educational leader who has worked with our Leadership
Institute for the past two years. This year’s group met
in August and will meet again Friday, October 24, Thursday and Friday,
January 8-9 and Friday, April 2. Each
of the gatherings is co-facilitated by the participants. The October gathering of the Institute will
focus on Chapters 1-3 of our text. |
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2004 Network
Conference Remember to register for the 2004 |
