Bulletin for September 29 - October 3, 2008
September 29, 2008
Download PDFBulletin for September 22-26, 2008
September 22, 2008
PSAT News
September 21, 2008
JUNIORS sign up now for the PSAT exam in the College & Career Center, Room 258F.
SOPHOMORES will all take the PSAT thanks to funding from SF Promise!
The test will be administered on Wednesday, October 15th. If you have any questions about taking the test and/or to receive a test guide booklet see Ms. Boran.
Leadership Team Meeting Minutes
September 18, 2008
Galileo Academy of Science & Technology
LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETING
Thursday, September 18, 2008
I. Welcome –Bettie called the meeting to order at 10:35 am and gave Vicki’s welcome remarks.
–Review of Norms meetings:
Meetings will begin and end on time.
Minutes will be posted on the Galileo website (Bettie & Ben are working on this.)
During meetings everyone will silence phones. If necessary calls will be taken outside but not answered during meetings.
Everyone will focus completely on agenda items and not do other work.
II. School Climate/Culture
–Marti said she felt the climate is excellent, but did notice a few tardies today. This is a first.
–Marilyn felt the Tardy Policy is important and we need to keep talking about it.
–Susan English-James said she felt the detention is effective with curtailing the tardies.
–Daphne asked how many tardies = a detention. The answer is 3.
–Nancy said last week she went to many homerooms and did not see many students out in the halls during homeroom. She thinks kids are going to homeroom. Students are asking for passes to homeroom.
–Denise mentions the tardy list and students get to class on time. Talking to the students makes a difference.
III. School Opening Feedback/Next Steps
–Michael felt the opening was smooth, but students are still being moved into different classes. He feels it is hard to grade students when they come in at 4 weeks.
–Marti indicated that she and Kathleen Golata are responsible for this.
–Nancy said there is not a clear argument for this process. Some students are not in the right class level and that is the reason for the movement. Waiting 6 weeks is too long for a student to stay in the wrong level.
–Students in this situation can receive an Incomplete.
–Nancy said that not all departments have agreements on when to move students. Michael indicated his department has a form that requests some information on the move and why it is being done.
–Bettie mentioned a student who came in and was confused why her classes were changed.
–Denise said with Foreign Language it is essential the students be in class from the beginning. She will accept changes only the first two weeks of school.
–Denise felt the opening was much better this year.
–Marilyn talked about all the planning that went into the opening of school this year and that could make a difference. It was a group effort all the way around.
–Daphne mentioned the large size of the Social Studies classes.
–Nancy said we have 10 students from Newcomer today. Social Studies classes will be leveled when Ben Borrelli returns.
–Daphne complimented the construction company on the painting and move. She thanked Thong and George for their work with the computers.
Gaming in the computer lab is crawling back.
–Nancy said through Futurama Thong will run the computer lab after school 3 days a week.
IV. Wellness and Special Education Faculty Meetings Debrief
–Jessica said she would enjoy feedback and recommendations. She said this is the first time they have had an hour with the staff.
–Michael said the workshop went well. Teachers were sharing and learning from the scenario and communicating.
–It is hard when the first meeting goes for over an hour. We need to limit the time.
–Jessica said they were told to create a presentation that lasted for an hour, so then the discussions went longer.
–People did get into good conversations over the scenarios.
–Peter said that we need to build in some travel time and have a start and stop time. Peter complimented both teams.
–Michael asked for a clear message on the time of the next session.
–Peter asked if anyone had a problem with the session ending at 2:30pm. We may not have full department meetings. Everyone felt it was OK.
–Karin said the more people know about Wellness, the more clients they will get and that will work for Wellness.
–Jessica said they talk about how to handle students in the classroom in crisis.
–Peter liked the partnership between wellness and the teaching staff. Both support each other.
–Jessica talked about the department heads facilitating the groups and she apologized for not have the information available to the leaders. She will correct that next time.
–Daphne asked about doing the department meetings first and then having the workshops.
–Bettie reminded the group that in October the faculty are to attend the session they did not attend in September—Wellness or Special Education.
V. ELL Training
–Peter talked about the ELL training several staff went to. He mentioned how helpful it was to the administrative team. We have 488 ELL students at Galileo and we have 1193 re-designated students here. In line with our strategic plan and equity for all, we will be researching and talking about this topic. Let Peter know your ideas and concerns.
–Susan asked Peter to explain the training and he did. We got into the demographics of the ELL, where they are coming from, their different learning styles, and issues we need to address with this population.
–Understanding and Using Data will be the topic for the next workshop. This is a comprehensive series of workshops. We do want to embrace the different cultures. We need to embrace and celebrate these different cultures. They are challenges or opportunities. These workshops will help us gain the skills we need to address these issues.
–Kathleen explained some of the topics and materials she has been addressing to help the students.
–She also felt there should be cluster groups of the .6 and .8 teachers.
–70% of our students speak another language, other than English, at home.
–Marti asked if every department should attend these meetings.
–There are conflicts with the Oct. 15 date due to the PSAT.
–Let Peter know if you or your department members want to attend any of the workshops.
–Peter said we would spread this training and brainstorming in groups at school.
–These techniques work with all students. Michael asked how the teachers incorporate these trainings in the classrooms.
VI. Students Not Participating in Class
–Peter hears a common theme about some students who put their heads down in class and do not participate. He wants to know their names and he wants to work with them and find out why.
–He asked the group if this is worthwhile? He would like to start a list and then pull the kids down and work with them. How are we failing these kids? What are they missing in the way of opportunities at Galileo? Katie said she would help as would Susan English-James.
–This includes anyone who is tired, overwhelmed, bored, etc.
VII. Challenge Day Report
–Nancy gave a report about Challenge Day, an all day workshop for students and adults to get students to realize they should come to school as who they are and act as who they are. Bullying and violence in the schools because of who you are is not OK. 58 students participated on day 1, along with 23 adults; 46 students and 21 adults participated on the second day. Katie. Pringle, Jessica Colvin, Maria (Wellness Intern), Marilyn Hubbard, Susan English-James, all counselors, Karin Lau, and parents and homeroom teachers participated. 9th and 11th grade homerooms were the ones selected.
–9th graders will be here for 4 years and need to be comfortable here. 11th graders were selected so they will take an adult type leadership role in school and hope they make a connection with the 9th graders.
–Nancy would like to do this in October next year with more time to organize. She would not do it two days in a row. The PTSA paid for it–$7.000 was the total cost, and the PTSA paid $6,000 for the program.
–Nancy asked for feedback. Jessica gave the thoughts of her students and felt that the kids really took it to heart. She also got great feedback from the adults.
–Leadership and team building were the main activities. Jessica said that everyone shared and there were tears, apologies, etc. Everyone left on a positive note.
–Susan talked about the group she had and how they changed over the course of the day. She said everyone wants to be loved and cared for. She encouraged everyone to experience it.
VIII. Open House Plan
–Wed. 9/24/08 at 5:30pm - 8:00pm. Teachers can leave at 1:00pm on Tuesday. 5:30-6:00 meeting for new parents in the courtyard. General meeting from 6:00-6:30 in the courtyard. 6:35-8:00 will be classroom visits. Parents will follow their students’ class schedules including the bungalows.
–We will email the faculty.
–Dept. Heads should be in the courtyard at 5:30pm for an introduction.
–Karin asked everyone to encourage their teaches to be there.
–Peter mentioned this is a Principal Expectation for teacher attendance.
–Daphne asked what happens if a teacher is not going to be in attendance. We need to post a note on the door.
–Let Vicki know who will not be in attendance.
IX. Budget/Wish List
–We will we get our preliminary allocation this Friday. We do not have concrete figures at this time.
–We need to rethink or re-evaluate our spending habits.
–Ethan thinks this should be discussed at a general faculty meeting.
–This year we have fewer students and less money.
–Peter suggested limiting the copy machine limits. Marti said they couldn’t run their program without copies, as with ELL students they cannot always use the textbooks. Peter said we should have an approximate usage of paper.
–Karin mentioned the wish lists and said we have to have our budget ready in 2 weeks.
–Marti said it would be a good idea to meet next week and then submit the wish lists. The group will gather next Thursday, 4°. Have your lists ready and rank the items by your priority.
–Marti will bring the technology wish list to the meeting.
–Look at field trips, travel and conferences.
–Denise asked about laptops. She asked about the procedure for getting them for teachers.
X. Procedures for Hiring Consultants
–Karin distributed information on hiring consultants through the K-resolution. She discussed the contracts and the large amount of paperwork.
–If a person is paid to come to Galileo, it requires the K-reso.
–If you have questions, please see Karin and get Peter’s approval.
–The district is strict about paying outside consultants.
–Joseph thanked Karin for standardizing the form.
XI. Computer Lab Sign-Up Procedure
–Ben said the new web site is out with a help desk on the web site. The resource calendars are on the website now. He mentioned the rooms that have schedules on the website. Resources can be added to your own schedule.
–Policy for signing up for the labs is the same as it was last year. Current policy is to sign up no more than 2 weeks in advance. Teachers have been getting ahead of the 2-week sign up time. George and Thong can change the time, but teachers must put in their request. George will be the gatekeeper for the computer labs.
–Ben said he can technically do whatever the group wants. George can handle special requests outside the 2-week time frame.
–George said all Macs are now running on OX10.
XII. Common Planning Time
–Ray said the first meeting was supposed to be last Tuesday. From now on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, the Special Ed. teachers will be in the Regular Ed. department meetings. Use the first part of the meeting for Special Ed. issues. Make sure the teachers sign in on your attendance sheets. Ray will provide the names of his teachers to each department.
–Heather suggested several .6/.8 cluster meetings each semester.
–Joseph said that different departments have different needs and we need to address this. and what the students are doing. This is in line with our WASC plans.
–Michael asked for training with autism. Ray suggested talking to 3 Special Ed. teachers–Wlodaver, Piveronas, McDonagh.
–Denise thanked Ray for feedback on the Special Ed. students.
XIII. Walk-through Feedback and Expectations
–Michael gave good feedback on the BBC and the walkthroughs. Michael felt it is advantageous to do this as we can get to know our departments better and see what is going on in the classrooms.
–Heather liked the way Michael did just several rooms rather than all of her teachers’ rooms.
–Denise found it was useful but a little bit repetitive.
–Peter said this activity is for “real time” exposure. The more you do these visits the more comfortable you become with it. Look for the high functioning characteristics of a classroom.
–The positive note opens up an opportunity for a dialogue.
XIV. Focal Student Observations
–Michael talked about some of his teachers observing their peers. Michael had a form that he and Zoe developed. Equity for all students is the theme.
–He discussed looking at specific students, learn from the experience and figure out how to help specific students.
–Teachers will do these observations on their prep periods and there will be no department meeting that week.
–Heather mentioned that her teachers would like to see teachers in other departments. Michael suggested staying within the department during the first semester and then other departments during the spring semester.
–Denise said the teachers being visited should know ahead of time.
–We need to address the equity issue with the students.
–Bettie read Zoe’s notes. “Focal Student Observations”—observers should take notes on student actions—this shifts the focus from teaching to the learning.
–A “focal student observation” means that the observer chooses a few students to focus on. This could be one high achieving, one average and one lower achieving student. This could be three students from three different ethnic groups. This could be three students who are the most challenging to a teacher. For every teacher action they observe, they record the corresponding student action. At the end, they make notes on general strengths of the lesson and write some questions about student behavior, such as “How could this student be more challenged in the lesson,” or “I wonder what it was that got all three of them so excited about the lesson? Are they usually like that?” Or, “How could the directions be given in a way that would help them be more focused?” These strengths and questions should be shared between the observer and the observed teacher.
–Denise said the writing on the form is very small.
–Heather said the observers should focus on mo more than 2 things for each observation.
`–Peter said the items on the top of the form are characteristics. Peter said it was an interesting form.
XVII. ELD Placement
–Tutoring information was put in everyone’s mailbox. She discussed a form that the students can give to the teacher after tutoring.
–Denise said some students come and are focused and others come to socialize. We need to make sure that the students are focused.
–Kathleen said there are lots of rules and regulations with movement of the ELL students.
XVIII. Schedule Changes
–There should be less and less schedule changes at this point.
–Heather asked for a print out when students are removed from her class so she could get the books back.
–The counselors will meet tomorrow and every Friday–1:20-2:20pm. They would appreciate not being interrupted.
–The SAP meetings will start next Wednesday from 10:30-11:30.
–CELT testing will continue.
–PSAT will be on Wed. October 15. The district is being audited as our scores went up so much last year. The rest of the district’s scores plummeted. SFUSD is paying for all schools so it must be during school time. Any 11th grader is also welcome. 10th graders will be tested. Nancy said over 800 students will be taking the test. 8:00am - 12:20pm will be testing. Nancy will need rooms and proctors.
XVIII. CAHSEE Results
–Bettie distributed the CAHSEE results and said how thrilled Vicki was with the results.
XIX. Miscellaneous
–Marilyn asked people to be mindful of wasting paper.
–Nancy asked everyone to make sure when ordering books and supplies that we don ‘t already have the items.
–We are using more paper than we did last year at this point in the school year.
–Michael suggested we ask parents to donate items like paper, Kleenex, etc.
–Nancy mentioned students we have who cannot afford school supplies. Let Marilyn or Nancy know and they will provide.
–Marti asked everyone to look at professional development and is it really necessary.
–She also mentioned a local tech conference that costs $250 and the price of a sub. They are focusing on English and Social Studies. October 14-16 is the dates for the conference in San Jose.
–Marti asked if it was valuable that Marti or Ben or George talked about technology at each department heads meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 1:25pm.
Bulletin for September 15-19, 2008
September 15, 2008
Call for Challenge Day Volunteers
September 10, 2008
CHALLENGE DAY, an Anti-Bullying, Anti-Violence Workshop will be Monday September 15th and 16th. Any parents who would like to volunteer for the event please contact Ms. Lambert at 415 749 3430 extension 3238.
Bulletin for September 8-12, 2008
September 8, 2008
Bulletin for September 2-5, 2008
September 2, 2008
