WGHS Staff Bulletin

Weekly Bulletin for November 4, 2013

"Great teacher have high expectations for their students, but even higher expectations for themselves.  

" I don't think great teachers make a difference, I KNOW IT."

-Todd Whiker

Important Dates
November 4 - Department Chair Meeting

November 5 - Professional Development - Chromebooks 1 

November 6 - Lunch Provided by WEDGE - Come with ideas needing funding

November 6 - 9th Grade Mentoring

November 7 - Professional Development - RTI

November 8 - First Qtr. Curriculum Map work completed.

November 12 - Staff Meeting after school.

November 13 - PLAN Test - All 10th Graders

November 14 - Club/Group Activity Pictures


Important Information 
November 15 - National Blue Ribbon Day at WGHS - Our PTO is planning to thank you for your hard work in achieving this high honor.  Along with Blue Ribbon decorations throughout the school, they will will provide you with a dessert in the teachers' lounge.

PTO - Please join! - Throughout the year the PTO supports our staff and students in many different ways.  Please consider becoming a member by completing the application here.  Thank you those of you who have already joined.

OTES - I am happy to be back in the classrooms and it reinforces why I got into this profession.  You are doing a wonderful job and Ron and I look forward to sitting in all of your classes!  A couple of items I have learned while going through this process I think are important to share.  1.  Be sure you complete the pre-observation document.  This document is not required but will get you thinking along the lines of the evaluation rubric and where you can provide evidence under each category.  2.  Reference the evaluation rubric when you are completing the pre-observation document.  By doing this you will see exactly what evidence your evaluators are looking to collect during the process.  3.  Upload the pre-observation document into your eTPES account under Step 2:  Formative Assessments.

More OTES - I have created a shared folder in your Teacher Opening Day folder named OTES.  Here you will find the pre-observation document and the rubric.

Congratulations to our Science Dept.  - Our members of our science department and Mr. Spotts (Robotics) have received Governor's Thomas Edison Awards for Excellence in STEM Education.  "To receive the award, schools had (1) to conduct a local science fair with 20 or more students, (2) qualify one or more of these students for one of the Academy's 16 district science days, (3) have students participate in at least one more youth science opportunity beyond the classroom such as State Science Day, visits to museums, mentorship programs and extended field trips and (4) convince external professionals from STEM business and industry, government and academia employers how and to what extent the school’s program met the Academy’s definition of STEM education." - http://www.ohiosci.org/PR2013GovSTEMAwards.pdf

Great Job!

Email - We will be moving to Google email over Thanksgiving break.  Outlook will be turned off and no longer accessible.  In extreme cases, Ed will be able to access archived Outlook email messages through LGCA.

Wolverine Football - Congratulations to Coach Cirino and the football team for making the playoffs.  West Geauga will host the Poland Bulldogs on Friday night.  Come cheer on our Wolverines!

Good Professional Reading
How Classroom Assessments Improve Learning
What Exactly is Understanding by Design?
5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students