5th Grade at Delta Center

Measurement was the central idea in Mrs. Knauff's class today. Do you remember how many cups are in a gallon?

Greater Lansing Cross Country Meet

A perfect day for the Greater Lansing Cross Country meet. Go Comets!

Grand Ledge wins

Grand Ledge beats Holt 17-10. Holt failed to score from the eight yard line with 40 seconds left.

Holt vs. Grand Ledge

October 17 Independent

I had a wonderful teacher in 4^th grade. She persuaded me to try things that I never would have dared try without her encouragement. 

She encouraged me to write.  So I wrote.  To this day I can clearly remember a story that I wrote in her class about a baseball game told from the baseball’s perspective.  I learned about voice, tone, mood, and setting, all because she created an environment that helped me learn not only the mechanics but also the art of writing.

She encouraged me to learn history.  So I did.  I participated in one-act plays with my friends, acting out some of the most memorable events in New Mexico and US history.  Through this simple strategy, she helped me learn and remember my history lessons.

She also promised a dollar bill and a Hershey candy bar to any student who had perfect attendance for the year.  I never missed a day of school.

I look back fondly on 4^th grade.  My teacher used a variety of strategies and approaches to keep me interested in school.

Yet activities and strategies that worked for me probably did not work for everyone in the class.  An approach that I really enjoyed probably was not enjoyed by everyone.  I am sure that there were times and there were activities that I did not enjoy. 

That is the mystery of teaching.  Why does something work so well for one student but not so well for another student?

As I move around the district I try and get into as many classrooms as I can.  I want to see how our teachers are trying to reach our students.  What strategies are our teachers using to encourage and motivate students?  How do our teachers help our students learn?

Teaching is both art and science.  Teachers have to know their subject but they also have to understand students.  Teachers need to have a toolbox full of strategies and approaches and they need to know when and where to use those strategies.

One of our district goals is that teachers and administrators will collaborate to find, use, and monitor effective instructional practices.  In the report How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top (McKinsey and Company, 2007) improving instruction is heralded as the most effective way to improve outcomes.  This report goes on to say that there is not a single documented case of a school successfully altering its pupil achievement trajectory in the absence of talented teaching.

If our district is to meet our objectives, we have to focus on instruction.  It is a collaborative effort between administrators and teachers.  District administrative leadership must know and understand what good teaching looks like and teachers must be able to identify and use classroom strategies that are effective.

I have been fortunate to have great teachers throughout my life.  My 4^th grade teacher was a wonderful example.  She used strategies and approaches that drew me in and helped me learn.  

We have great teachers in our district, teachers who work hard at their craft.  Our goal is to support our teachers, encourage them to find, use, and reflect on their instructional strategies so that our students can be successful at learning the lessons that they need to learn. 

October 3 Independent

Last week I was driving home from a meeting and the battery light flashed on my dashboard.  I reached over and opened the glove box to find the owner’s manual.  I looked up battery light in the manual to see if I could figure out what might be going on.

The manual said that if the battery light appeared while driving you should take it to the dealer to have the car examined.  It warned that you should not stop the car because it might not start again.

I was one hundred and twenty-nine miles from home.  I thought of my local dealership and thought to myself that I hoped that the car would get me that far.

It didn’t.

Shortly after the battery light appeared, the tachometer and the speedometer stopped working.  Then the radio quit.  I was several miles from an exit, but I had the sense that my ride home was not going to end well.

It didn’t.

A short time later I was coasting to a stop on the side of the road because the car had completely lost power.

As I sat by the side of the road waiting for the tow truck to arrive I had time to think.  I thought about my car and the time we had spent making sure that it was in good shape. 

I change the oil on a regular basis.  I get tires and shocks.  We had a problem with the electronics and had to replace one of the computer modules.  I thought we had done the right things.  Yet, here I sat waiting for a tow truck – one hundred and twenty-nine miles from home.

It turns out that the alternator had broken.  After I discovered that I asked myself if there was something that I could have done to check the alternator.  Maybe I could have prepared for this.

After it was repaired and I was back on the road I started thinking about our schools.  Were there things that are not easily seen to which we need to pay more attention?  Are there things like “alternators” that are critical to a school or a district’s performance that I need to make sure we take the time to inspect.

A district of over five thousand students has lots of parts that no one pays much attention to until they break down.  The new school year is a month old.  During the course of this first month I have seen some things not work as well as they could and should have. 

Most of the time these things work well and I pay no attention to them.  This first month has reinforced to me that I cannot afford to ignore any part of our organization.  Every part of our organization is important and I need to make sure that every one of our employees understands the critical part they play in making us an organization that students, parents, and our community can trust.

One of our district goals is for every employee to work to create and maintain a high performing organization.  Every piece of our organization is important.  The parts that are hidden, or at least less visible, contribute value and stability to the overall mission of ensuring that students learn.

Just as I learned an important lesson about cars this month, I also remembered an important lesson about our school district.  I need to work to help us maintain our focus and help everyone in our district remember that we all contribute to creating an organization that students, parents, and our community can believe in.

Visit to Neff Elementary

I visited our kindergarten and early childhood center at Neff Elementary this morning. I saw Mr. Austin in action, singing a jolly hello song with our early childhood students.