As we get ready for the school year, I want you to be very thoughtful about how your grade level constructs its homework policy. I believe that homework has its place within a few simple guidelines. I believe homework is an opportunity to deepen understanding of academics, develop a love of learning, build study skills, and create excellent relationships with parents. Before we meet as grade levels, I want you to reflect on your own beliefs about homework. Here are a few of mine.
We have talked a lot recently about possible changes in Curriculum and Instruction in BISD. To keep you in the loop as much as possible, I will pass on the things I learn at principal meetings. After listening to Dr. Clark last Tuesday, I believe we can expect a much cleaner delivery of curriculum next year through Eduphoria. I also expect we will be looking at research based instructional strategies and structures such as Kagan and Criss. If you are not familiar with these terms, never fear. Dr. Clark has emphasized that healthy training is essential to making these things work. My commitment to Walker Creek is to make sure our new learning connects with the things we already do well, and that we have the appropriate training and resources to use our new learning well. I am excited about our direction, and I hope that you see the possibilities for growth in the coming months. How we approach these changes will have a tremendous impact on our success. You heard Dr. Clark on Friday. How do you feel about the the direction Birdville is going?
Spring Break is right around the corner. I know that everyone is looking forward to the break, but the stress of all the things that need to get done can get in the way of enjoying it. I want to encourage you to truly take the time over spring break to recharge yourself. In the language of the 7 Habits, this is Sharpen the Saw. It may be tempting to do a lot of school work over break thinking you're, "Catching up," but the truth is, you'll come back tired, bitter, and less productive if you don't take advantage of your time off to enjoy family, friends, and fun times. Taking the time to renew will allow you to came back sharp and ready to go. One of the best ways to understand this is with a question, "Have you ever been too busy driving to stop for gas?"
One of the most difficult things to do in education is connect the dots from year to year. It sometimes feels like we reinvent many data systems without taking full advantage of the information we put together the previous year. I pitched the idea of having a scholar data wall to Design Team recently. This is something WCE has done in the past, so they took the initial idea and developed plans for a pocket chart system to look at our scholars from K through 5. That pocket chart system is starting to take shape in my office. The idea is to collect usable data based on RTI and pass them along year to year. I have invited the Birdville Cluster Elementary teachers to get together to look at this and other systems for collecting relevant data and passing them along effectively from year to year. I'm looking forward to getting these systems up and running this year so we have good information in August to start next year. Take a minute to see the data wall, and think about other ways we can collect the pass along scholar data to strengthen our verical alignment. Your comments on this post will be helpful in my planning session with the other principals.
