On the first Wednesday of each month #MSadminchat will provide MS K12 admins the opportunity to join together for a great discussion on leadership at the school/district level.
Q1: As the busy spring schedule arrives and the "Sap starts to rise" how do you keep your energy and focus? How do you keep the morale of your team positive? #MSadminchat
A1: I never under estimate listening and smiling. Meet and greet people, turn a negative conversation positive, keep the "energy vampires" away and keep pressing with "positive" comments and goals. #MSadminchat
A1 Q1 Your school year should be a culmination for your efforts for this particular year. Therefore it should be different year to year. Have your staff create their own EOY...#MSadminchat
A1. I think it boils down to the fact that, at this time of year, it’s time to play how we practice. It’s exciting.I spoke to third graders today about how teams that make the playoffs must practice and play harder, even though it is the end of the year. No laziness.#MSadminchat
A2: It comes down to culture and expectations. There is no doubt teachers and students understand the importance of high stakes testing but they also want to enjoy authentic learning and the overall school experience. Celebrate the small wins everyday! #MSadminchat
A1: I have been able to work with someone who is ALWAYS positive. I have found that no matter the situation, the positivity exuded by this team member changes the culture of any room he enters. While that is not always easy, it is a incredibly beneficial. #msadminchat
A2. Keep the fun alive during the school day this time of year. Preparing for the assessments is important, but don’t take away electives, sports, etc that students enjoy to do so. We are having a fun “Rock The Test” Pep Rally. #MSadminchat
A2: Keep the focus on the kids' future. As long as we drive to preparing the students to succeed rather than demonstrate mastery on a test, this is less likely to be a problem.
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A2: Purposeful planning can put a spin on test prep from centers to musical chairs review problems. I believe a child shouldn’t lose out on their outlets ex: PE, art, etc to cater to test prep. #wholechild#MSadminchat
A2: One thing that we need to do throughout the year is tie the mastery on the MAAP to future opportunities for the students. When they see that they can have more advanced options, greater success on ACT, improved choices, it reduces this problem. #msadminchat
A2: Should we infuse our electives, we must be innovative and keep the essence of the course. Cross curricular support should happen all year not in the 4th quarter. Ex: Counts in PE by multiples, art projects involving geometry #MSadminchat
Q3: Covey notes "the main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing." What is the main thing? How do you help keep it the top priority? #MSadminchat
A3: The main thing...
(1) Evaluate the situation
(2) Focus: Make it a daily routine
(3) Create a to-don't list
These points relate to our business, improving student achievement while simultaneously serving others. #MSadminchat
A2: Slight tangent, I have found with teachers, coaches, administrators, etc. when a that educator forms a relationship with the student, they will work harder and perform greater feats than they realized they could. Strong mentoring program helps. #msadminchat
A3. To me, besides ensuring student safety, the main thing is that I am the instructional leader of the school. I must ensure that high quality, rigorous instruction is taking place in my school until the final day in May. #MSadminchat
A3. So we are heavy into maintaining a literacy rich environment in school. We are trying to boost lexiles to the max since all tests are created using a lexile type measure for the reading. So the idea and the data supports that the higher the lexile = High score #MSadminchat
A2: If you have done the work throughout the rest of the year or semester, this should just be the next step. With the right culture, the students and teacher should see it as a way to be their best. #MSadminchat
A3: The main thing--the product--is a group of students who complete the program, prepared for their future success. Job training, academic planning and preparation, citizenship skills... #msadminchat
Q4: As you begin to plan strategically for the EOY and the start of next year, what is one area you hope to improve your school/district? Improve as a leader? #MSadminchat
A3: We focus on reading/literacy & there is a great deal of research to support. We must provide students a balanced program of reading, communication (writing), math & technological understanding. Education is not a single legged stool, rather a four legged one. #msadminchat
A4. I want to improve in the areas that give students opportunities in the real world. Get them last state test requirements, boost their act scores and take act work keys to promote a true colleg and career readiness program. We are also adding career academies #MSadminchat
A3: It’s easy to let small things dominate your time to the point you find yourself just managing the school day. You have to decide what the main thing is for you and your school and combat against those daily issues sabotaging your time and efforts. #MSadminchat
A4. I want my scheduling of courses to best meet the educational demands of our accountability model. I want to ensure my teachers have time for remediation and enrichment. Personally, I want to make my observation process more efficient and effective. #MSadminchat
A4: I hope to improve our strategic approach to assessments, data analysis, and improving parental involvement. Personally, I'd like to spend more time visiting schools/classrooms, conducting PDs, and continuing the sharpen the saw with every chance I get!!! #MSadminchat
A4: I would say continue to improve our professional interaction and work to improve the sharing of information. I have not done as well as I would have liked in this area. #msadminchat
A4: I hope to be able to provide greater opportunities to our students to prepare for more rigorous courses and encourage them to take the ACT earlier in HS, opening the door for dual credit courses earlier in their careers. #msadminchat
Q5: There seems to be a renaissance in K12/Post-Secondary (IHL) education in MS/nationally. How do think these two entities can better work together to improve student outcomes in MS and the US? #MSadminchat
A4: As we approach a new year, I hope to improve the amount and type of data we use. I feel like we are stuck in the beginning, middle, and end measurement process. We have to measure our students on a more regular basis and make better use of the data we gather. #MSadminchat
A5: I recently attended a conference and heard what LA @La_Believes is doing with curriculum, texts, and higher ed. Great efforts and gains being made. I also see other states innovating and exploring new flexibility options under (ESSA). Both have merit. #MSadminchat
A5. Well there is a huge elephant in the room. There is a growing educational gap on the act and we are doing little to combat it. We must work toward closing the gap and preparing student to enter college without having to take remedial core courses! #MSadminchat
A5: Mentally stretching us tonight. That's a heckuva question. Honestly the first thing is we have to all pull together and stop the battling. There has seemed to be a disconnect between K-12, IHL and SBCJC since I got into education 23 years ago.
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A5 so I think with the ESSA flexibility we have the opportunity to work toward what makes sense and actually helps both IHL and our secondary ed become synchronous #MSadminchat
Q5 When considering teaching the whole child, we need to understand students grow in stages. Attempts to excel these stages hinder personal progress. It’s a great idea for those whose maturity level is appropriate. #MSadminchat
A5. (2) Let’s work together to develop teacher preparatory curricula that best prepares our future teachers for the demands of public education in Mississippi. #MSadminchat
A5: Agree totally with Dr. Marshall @bam2525
A good point to start would be for MDE to utilize the ACT as our student measurement system, saving money and time #msadminchat
It's kind of like scheduling a Football Practice. I don't want to spend 4 hours in a practice that could be 2 hours. I feel small doses to the kids work better. This keeps from burnout. Have them focused and dialed in so they can see the light at the end! #msadminchat
A5. So there are some barriers for using act as an exit test. I think that would be a mistake to use it as a graduate or@not exam. But I do think it is a test that people already want to do well on!! A common language and people understand it #MSadminchat
A5. (1) Right now, it feels the two work in silos, rather than together. Students leaving our IHLs have no knowledge of the accountability model, high stakes testing, and other components of ed that take up most of our day. #MSadminchat
A5. (2) Let’s work together to develop teacher preparatory curricula that best prepares our future teachers for the demands of public education in Mississippi. #MSadminchat
A5: While I understand there are challenges to using the ACT as the exit test, as many have discussed before, the ACT is a college entrance exam, IHL does not care about our students SATP scores. We need a measurement to ensure accountability only. #msadminchat
I think both sides need to stop looking at it as if both are totally separate entities. I agree with what some others have said. We have to stop disagreeing and battling each other and keep in mind the complete education of a student requires teamwork. #MSadminchat
A5 okay. Here is the thinking on AcT. I am a huge proponent of using it. But not as an exit test. We do not have to have this exit test mentality. Use the act to measure readiness and use no threshold for graduation. So I am 110% behind ACT. #MSadminchat
A5: I hear a lot of talk about alignment (or lack thereof) between k12 and IHL (agreed) but the challenge also lay in the fact that not all our children are working toward college. It’s difficult to preserve alignment, and offer a diversity of opportunities. #MSadminchat
A5: There are numerous skills that prospective teachers need, how to assess student mastery, how to communicate with students, how to tie learning activities to particular standards being taught...a working knowledge of the subject is important, but so are these #msadminchat
A5 again Anthony it comes down to reading ability and test strategies which we teach in act prep and our boot camps for act. We also test all our 10th graders to get the experience #MSadminchat
@MrGolding_ the silo analogy’s correct. Lots of theory not a lot of true MS experience not being judge-mental just the way it is. I don’t know that there is a prepatory program that would prepare a graduate for all a teacher does #MSadminchat
We have standards alignment issues Golding, some gaps in our math standards are clearly assessed on the ACT. Same is true for NAEP but we like to use those results too. #MSadminchat
We can have a tool that measures the school without keeping kids from graduating. ACT offers incentive for the students and a clear goal for the schools. I am in favor. #MSadminchat
A5: There is a reduction in the necessity of four year degrees for the future workforce. Students with a two year degree make a comparable salary and are more marketable in many cases. #msadminchat
A6: Reverse autopsy. Districts/schools should formulate what skills and abilities a graduate should have. These skills should manifest regardless of any battery of assessments. Nonetheless, the ACT has been used since 1959 and recognized by nearly every university. #MSadminchat
A6. College and/or career ready. I cna gonto college. I cna go to work or I can do both at the same time and do it successfully without remediation and unnecessary cost to me or my parents or a loan! #MSadminchat
A6: Graduates should be prepared to enter their next opportunity (military, workforce, post K-12 education) with little or no remedial training required.
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