Weekly Bulletin for November 25 and December 2, 2013
"As we express our gratitude we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
- John F. Kennedy
Be sure to express your gratitude for those you cherish in your life. Let those people know they are appreciated and loved. Relax during your time away from West G and enjoy being with family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you!
December 2 - Department Head Meeting
December 3 - Professional Development - Grants
December 3 - Progress Reports Due
December 5 - Professional Development - More Google Everything
December 6 - Blood Drive
December 6 - Progress Reports Mailed
December 12 - Academic Letter Breakfast
December 20 - Seniors to room 124 to hear presentation on from WG graduates.
Important Information
National Blue Ribbon Ceremony - Wow, what a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with so many other high quality schools. It is because of you that we were in Washington and I wish that all of could have joined us. After listening to so many wonderful speakers and talking with other school leaders, one commonality of all schools represented was outstanding staff. More specifically, staff that put success for all students at the forefront of their lessons and classroom goals. I am proud to say we are a building full of staff members that do just that. Here is a link to see all of the pictures and video from last week's trip to Washington.
Cafe Achieve - For those of you who don't know, our Project Achieve class sells coffee and cookies every morning in the cafeteria. They have a great selection of Keurig coffees at a great price. Stop by and grab a cup to go.Twitter - Thank you to those of you who follow my Twitter account. As you can see on the right side of this page, I have many posts that are all related to professional development. A presentation was made at the Blue Ribbon Conference on the use of Twitter as a communication tool and a great resource for professional development. Please consider creating an account and looking at all of the possibilities this technology allows. Follow me @JayCBishop and @WestGHigh. Follow our athletics at @WestGAthletics.
Observe Peers - I would encourage all of you to observe your fellow teachers in the classroom. Consider teachers observing teachers a piece of professional development that will help you grow as and educator. I have been in so many of your classrooms throughout the years and I have learned a great deal and gained so many ideas from what you do everyday. I think all of you could grow from this type of professional development. Contact a peer if you are interested in observing their class and understand this is not a requirement on either end. Please let Mr. Dahlhofer aware if you scheduled an observation during one of your class periods and he will arrange coverage.
Google Apps - Please send me an email if you are interested in incorporating a certain Google App into your classrooms? I will then contact Ed who can either purchase or make the app available to you.
Whelantech - Sean Whelan (@SeanWhelanTech) does not keep regular schedule as to when he will be in the building. However, he can be in the building as needed. Please send him an email with your availability and he will be happy to accommodate your schedule. By the way, Sean recently launched a new technology information page here.
Whirlwind - Congratulations to Mr. Marino on moving the Whirlwind newspaper online. The articles and color pictures look great. Check out the new "paper" here. Rumor has it the articles will be tweeted @WGWhirlwind!
Consider the 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Art, Writing and Multimedia Contest - The purpose of this contest is to encourage students to reflect upon Dr. King’s life and the impact of his work during the Civil Rights Movement and in present day America. It challenges students to think about how civil rights and diversity affects their lives and how they can continue the work of Dr. King by making a difference in their own communities.
All Ohio students in grades 6-12 are invited to enter this contest and they may submit one(1) entry per student. Students choose which type of entry they wish to submit. All contest entries must be accompanied by a clearly written official entry form completed in its entirety. Click here and see me for more information.
Consider the 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Art, Writing and Multimedia Contest - The purpose of this contest is to encourage students to reflect upon Dr. King’s life and the impact of his work during the Civil Rights Movement and in present day America. It challenges students to think about how civil rights and diversity affects their lives and how they can continue the work of Dr. King by making a difference in their own communities.
All Ohio students in grades 6-12 are invited to enter this contest and they may submit one(1) entry per student. Students choose which type of entry they wish to submit. All contest entries must be accompanied by a clearly written official entry form completed in its entirety. Click here and see me for more information.
Food Drive - Thank you to Mrs. Talty (@SrtaArnold) on a successful food drive and thank you to the entire staff for all of your contributions. Great job!Email Migration - Please remember that over Thanksgiving break Ed will be switching over to Google for 100% of our email. In the meantime, please continue to send all message from your Google accounts.
Join PTO - We only have seven members of our staff that have joined WG's PTO. Please consider joining this group that provides a lot of support to you and the students throughout the entire year. Find the application here.
Next Year Graduation Requirements - An interesting note that some of you found this week was the graduation requirements for the class of 2017. In not the so distant past, we have been led to believe that we will be using the State's Next Generation graduation requirements beginning next year. According to Ohio Superintendent Ross, "Necessary changes in legislation and related timing issues have prevented the Ohio Department of Education from establishing how the Next Generation Assessments will affect future graduation requirements." He continues, "In the meantime, here is what I can tell you: This year’s Ohio Graduation Tests will align to both the current standards and Ohio’s New Learning Standards. Next year, both the Ohio Graduation Tests and Next Generation Assessments will align to Ohio’s New Learning Standards." Here is the rest of the letter from the Ohio Superintendent of Education. It looks like more changes/updates are in the works so I will be sure to pass along any information I get.
Good Professional Reading (or Watching)
Teachers Observing Teachers
Creating a Formative Assessment System
Using Twitter for Professional Development
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