1. Discuss which one of the seven themes best represents your school and why.
2. Which theme out of the seven does your school most need to work on and how would you go about achieving it?
107 comments:
Courtney_Burbick
said...
I believe the theme that best represents our school is theme 5: Sense of Family. The moment you walk into our school you are greeted, most of the time by last name if not by first. There is a true sense of community here at RPPS that includes teachers, administrators, family, and students. There are several members of the community volunteering at our school on a daily basis that adds to the sense of family. One thing I believe our school could work on, at least on the Pre-School level is to incorporate more experimentation. I think we should try more new things, throw out some of the old and try things that could enhance our children's learning experience.
Tiffany RPP 1. I feel our school best represents theme #1:Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. Not only do we focus on the academic success of every student, but we teach the whole child, looking at the other parts/areas that affect student success.In our attempt to teach the whole child, we attempt to incorporate the other six themes.
2. I'd say the theme we need to work on is theme #6: Collaboration and Trust. In the book Mychal Winn explains that this theme includes providing assistance to each other, learning from one another, cultivating an atmosphere where we all feel free to express concerns,collaboration in/across grade levels(at your school and others)as well as other things. I think one way to do this would be to establish common planning times, which has been done to the best of our abilities, but can only really be achieved through a smaller population of students (# of classes per grade). Until that occurs, I think it's going to take a lot of dedication on the faculty/staff's part to commit to grade level planning/meeting, cross-grade level planning/meeting. This theme requires the process of time for it to be achieved along with committment from faculty/staff.
1. As I looked over the themes, I was reminded of many instances of how we "do" each one of them. Programs such as Am and AR focus on providing individual academic help to students, so they are successful. I remember an our ex principal going to a students house and getting him out of bed bc the mother couldn't do it (no excuses). Many of our teachers try new things, with all students, and the sense of family is definetly abundant in the hallways. We do work together, most of the time, and there certainly is a passion for teaching and learning. If I had to choose one, I am reminded of how we are a family. When something happens to one of us, we all feel it, wheter it is a birth or a death, a success or a failure, we all feel it. I also have a great snapshot of one of our fifth grade students helping one of the EC kids tie his shoe. Who else but a person who has a sense of "family" would do this for someone else, when she clearly doesn't have to.
2. It is hard to find the weaknesses or things you need to work on, especially after writing about how much of a family we are. I sometimes get the feeling we could collaborate more, use the strengths of individuals to help others who need it or are too timid? self-conscious? afraid? to ask for help. Great things happen with collaboration, for example, the dance concerts the art, music and PE teachers at this school came up with the last several years.
In response to Tiffany, it should be a school's strength that every student should be given the chance for success, that's why I am glad for RPP that the feeling of helping each student is prevelant. I also totally agree with her about the collaboration thing. We can all learn from each other. I certainly learn, not only from the teachers and administrators, but from the students at this school. They are teaching me new things each day, for example, how to say a word in spanish, or what the order of operations is when doing math problems...
I believe the best theme that represents our school is Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. All staff is tuned in to all students to help with academic success. Our staff seems to be monitoring their students in a lot of ways and following through with making sure they are served in the best ways possible. We may not be given every thing we need but we make the most out of what we have. Although we are a lot like the other themes the one I think we need to work on is Passion for learning and growing.
I think the theme that best represents CFE is the 1st one, Academic Success for Each Student. We really do try...all of us to help each and every one of our students be successful. Our morning programs of AM/AR are just one example of all of us, (staff and students) working together with one goal..success for all. The LOAs students take at the end of each nine week period, help the classroom teacher see the weak spots as well as the strong points. Our family nights are geared around academics. We will have Science night this Thursday, and OBOS February 25. Families are strongly encouraged to come and join in the fun. We always hear Mrs. Willis say "whatever is best for the kids"..that will always guide us.
One thing we already work on alot is Theme 6, Collaboration and Trust. We do collaborate so much, but it could be more. I know that students definitely benefit when we work together. I see that when Mrs. Kane and I collaborate, for example, on the Underground Railroad, when we do our unit on quilt squares and spirituals. The students retain what they learn in art and carry it over into music, and vise versa.
Question #1 Linda Eakins RPP I feel our school best represents Theme # 5- Sense of Family. The words "These are all my children," are heard frequently. The actions of the principal,teachers, students, parents, and other members of the school community often reflect the concern and welfare of our students. Our concern is not just for now, but for the students life time. Even after they finish school in the public school system they come back for support. Question #2 Theme #1 Academic Success of Every Student I feel we need to improve on at our school. We are headed in the right direction, but I feel we jump on the band wagon of too many new programs before we give the ones we have a chance.
Question #1 Linda Eakins RPP I feel our school best represents Theme # 5- Sense of Family. The words "These are all my children," are heard frequently. The actions of the principal,teachers, students, parents, and other members of the school community often reflect the concern and welfare of our students. Our concern is not just for now, but for the students life time. Even after they finish school in the public school system they come back for support. Question #2 Theme #1 Academic Success of Every Student I feel we need to improve on at our school. We are headed in the right direction, but I feel we jump on the band wagon of too many new programs before we give the ones we have a chance.
RPP-Donna Redinger, Ann Johnson, Mary Younginer, Ashley Purgason, Ashley Blake, Stephanie Cioffi, Allycen Garner
1-Theme 5: Sense of Family
We feel that this theme most exemplifies what Rocky Point Primary strives for. We are continually improving in this area. For example, this year we have added Boys Night Out and the Cinderella Ball. Boys Night Out was a huge success and we plan on making this an annual event. At RPP, the students are rewarded individually, on the bus, and whole class. Classrooms see themselves as a family unit, and use that mentality to work out problems and celebrate successes. Each year we have improved, and we are looking forward to our new building extension which would bring all classrooms under one roof! Parent volunteers are another great asset of our school. There is an understood open door policy, and whether their presence is announced or unannounced, parents are always welcome to drop by and help out! Considering how isolated our school is, we feel we have a great sense of family.
2-Theme7: Passion for Learning and Growing
We feel that this theme most exemplifies what Rocky Point Primary needs to work on. We do feel that we have been making progress every year, but we need to continue to process. We as a school have been working on improving our mission statement and school improvement plan. We have had to change the way we operate, with lack of resources, and teachers have been rising to the occasion. The staff has taken part in more focused staff development, on students with disabilities, gangs, retention, etc.
RPP- Donna Redinger, Ann Johnson, Mary Younginer, Ashley Purgason, Ashley Blake, Stephanie Cioffi, Allycen Garner
We agree with what Dees at Cape Fear is saying about family nights. It is a great opportunity to involve your parents in a focused evening at school, whether its a planned academic or social evening. It gives the opportunity for parents to see what their children are doing, without the formality or pressure of a conference or meeting.
CFE Sikes I believe the theme that best represents CFE is Theme One: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. There are so many programs and strategies implemented to help meet the needs of all students in the school. We use the AR/AM programs, intervention lab, reading tutors, and interevention time in the classroom. I also feel the care team does a wonderful job of coming up with strategies for each individual child who goes through the process! Instruction at CFE is driven by data. We use LOA scores, Star Reading and Math, AR/AM and Aimsweb for both math and reading. This helps us to identify the areas of need for individual students.
2. It was hard to think of a theme that our school need the most help on, but if I had to choose it would be it would be theme six: Collaboration and trust. I collarborate very well with my team partners, but very rarely is there collaboration with teachers in the other grade levels or with specialists. Coming for Burgaw Elem. an A+ school, this is unusual for me. We would meet once a month for Collaboration days and find ways to intergrate across the curriculum in both the core class and specials. Including the arts making learning so much more engaging and meaningful for the students
RPP- Donna Redinger, Ann Johnson, Mary Younginer, Ashley Purgason, Ashley Blake, Stephanie Cioffi, Allycen Garner
At BES we would have informance nights for the parents. This was a night where the parents had the opportunity to see what their children were leaning in core classes,through a presentation of the arts. It was something fun for the students and a way for parents to see what their children were learning in school. This was also a wonderful way to get classroom teachers and specialsts collaborating.
The academic success of our students is very important here at RPP. Every employee does what is neccesary for the students to acheive at their highest potential. We greet the children as they get off the bus or out of their car with a smile and an encouragement the have breakfast and to do their best all day. The teachers are well prepared for the students with stategies to work with each child as they enter the room. We progress monitor so we know where the weak points and the strong points are so we can adjust our teaching accordingly. You will always hear "what's best for the kids." I think the thing we need to work on the most is not letting parents make excuses for not doing their part in their child's education.We all know how hard it is to reach a child that has no home support. We need to make sure the parents know they play a major role in their child's education. Without their support the child will have a harder time in school. Carolyn_Lunsford RPP
We feel the theme that best represents our school is theme 3: experimentation. There are numerous examples of experimentation throughout our school during the school year, and on a yearly basis such as adopting new reading programs (Imagine It!, RTI), testing programs (AIMS Web), math programs (Envisions), tweeking schedules (specialist time/frequency, dismissal time), teacher's moving to different teams, and eliminating programs (AR).
I believe at RPP we are Theme #5 (Sense of Family). I know when people outside of school ask me how many children I have and I say 25. They look at me a little crazy until I tell them I am a teacher. I do feel that each one of my students are mine. I get defensive just like a mother hen if something happens to one of them or if someone hurts their feelings. I truly care about their futures and it is important to me to see them be successful in life. I can say that is across the board at our school. Everyone I work with wants the best for their children and everyone around them. I am also lucky to be a part of the Second Grade team where we all look out for each other and go above and beyond to help each other out. #2 I would probably say that we need to work on Academic Success of Every Student. This is not to say that I don't think we care about the academics because we do. I just wish we could have more options to teach what we know works instead of what is manidated to work.
The theme that our school mostly represents is a Sense Of Family. Being that we are a primary school makes it easier to work in such a nurturing environment as the saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." The whole staff is involved in disciplining and nurturing our children. Children at RPP are provided with a sense of belonging, it is a safe place for growing and learning. The children are always greeted with a smile and their accomplishments are celebrated. Our bulletin boards display the diversity and the creative abilities of our students. Sometimes children need tough love to understand right from wrong and discipline is enforced fairly by all staff members consistently.
We agree with Chris that we sometimes could collaborate more and use the strengths of other individuals for those in need.
I feel that the theme that our school values most is theme 5: Sense of family. Especially being a primary school, we try to make our environment as warm, safe, and family-oriented as possible. I consider my students "my children", as I know most all teachers at our school do. In kindergarten, we are responsible for teaching manners, community, responsibility, and other character traits that are taught well when we refer to our class or our school as our "family." These young ones comprehend community when you relate it to a larger family unit-- similar to the family that they come from.
I think that the trait our school could work on is number 6: Collaboration and Trust. I feel like our school could improve on collaboration across grade levels. We do collaborate in some aspects (for school-wide activities), but we could always do more. As far as trust, I feel like we could improve the atmosphere to where teachers could openly express their opinions/weaknesses/stresses without any hesitation.
To Linda Eakins: I think your statement of where our school should improve plays a part in collaboration and trust. When we make so many changes to our school structure and programs it can be confusing and chaotic. In chaotic societies, confusion could lead to distrust.
J. Philps question #1 I believe them 5 represents our school the best. The team of teachers here are excellent! We work well together and always have the best interest of the children at heart. We are here to support one another and lend a helping hand when needed. I also feel we have extend this into the community. We hold Open Houses, family nights, university nights, etc. These are all ways to welcome the communnity into our family and let them know we value their input and presence.
#2 One area I feel the school could inprove on is #1. I think every teacher does the very best possible but I feel we do not have an adequate number of teachers or assistants to complete.."what is best of children." The budget crunch has left us without the proper money needed to give students everything they deserve in their education. I agree with the comment that we change programs too much.
J. Philips RPP I agree with Chris from CFE, collaboration is valuable to everyone. If we all build off of each other's strength, we could spplement areas of weakness within our classrooms. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of intelligence. You are aware of what you lack and are looking for ways to improve. I do believe common planning times and longer planning times would help people be able to collaborate more often.
i agree with linda The actions of the principal,teachers, students, parents, and other members of the school community often reflect the concern and welfare of our students. the whole school needs to be involved with these students not just the teacher who they see the most.
Of the seven themes, the one that our school most needs to work on is #2: Collaboration and Trust. One way we can go about doing this is assigning a representative from each area of the school (grade level, specialist, EC, ELL, administration) to attend each grade level team meeting. If we implemented this in our school all areas of the school would know what is going on, providing clarification as well as helping out with collaborative lesson plans throughout the school. Another way we can increase collaboration and trust in our school is by communicating EVERYTHING, with the idea that this cannot be overdone. As a group we have decided that we would rather know everything that is going on in the school as opposed to missing a very important piece of information. Another way we can do this is if a safe place for grievances to be shared is provided, with the understanding that privacy is a MUST and the issues will be addressed. We also feel our school needs more positive reinforcement. One way we feel this could be accomplished is by creating a reward system for the faculty and staff of our school. For example, those who helped set up and run our recent “Boys Night Out” were allowed to leave early for going above and beyond. Finally, we feel that more trust needs to be established in the faculty and our abilities.
I truly believe something we do well at RPP is experiment. With the support of our administration, we are encouraged to think outside the box (or bun, if you are hungry and thinking tacos).
Something we need to work on is NO EXCUSES. I don't mean no flexibility. I mean when there are rules to be followed we should follow them. We were told to blog, we were told EACH of us had to blog, so do it.
Mr. Chris said that sense on family is big at CFE, and I agree with him. That's what makes students want to acieve more. We have a family sense here at RPP too. This is why our K-5 kids have such a strong desire to improve.
According to what I have read, I would say that RPP is best at theme number five..sense of family. This school is always asking for parent involvement and we thrive on that. We believe that if we have parent involvement, the students will do better at school and I find this to be true. I also believe that some of the teachers at our school, including myself, do an awesome job at creating a family within our classroom. I feel that my kids in my class are so close and would do anything for each other. Part of that is due to the fact that we have looped together for 2 years but still, it is a hard job to accomplish and I feel we are very good at that.
What I feel our school needs to work on is theme number six, collaboration and trust. With that said, this can not happen without open communication between everyone. Teachers, administration, specialist, etc. I think that there should also be collaboration between schools. I would love to see what the 1st grade classes on the Topsail side are doing and look like. That would be a free day of professional development and we could all share ideas that we like and see. Trust is a total seperate word than collaboration. Trust is lacking here at our school because I feel that sometimes I am effected because other teachers are maybe not doing their personal best. I feel like I do my job above and beyond and some who don't make me have to do extra things..ie turn in lesson plans still. I appreciate all the teachers here that I can call on and use as valuable resources anytime I need them. Thank ya'll!
In response to CFE Lee..I agree that we all need to be on the path of academic success for our students. It is awesome to be in the line for the bathroom and have Ms. Faye (our custodian) and have her drill my kids on math facts. That is valuable time that we have and we have to use it.
I feel our school is best at theme number 1. Focus on Academic Success with Every Student. We have lots of various programs that help students achieve in many different ways. The rams tokens we use help in this because it is easier to learn when you are positivally praised on a regular basis.
I feel we need to work on Theme number 6. Collaboration and Trust. It is hard to collaborate when you do not have enough time in the day to breath let alone have time to talk to one another about what positive things you have going on in your class.
D. Brown RPP 1. I believe the theme that represents our school is # 5: Sense of Family. We work together to help our students achieve and to be the best that they can be. We are blessed to have some very dedicated volunteers who come in daily and work with us to help in the process. We know that each student is important and they need our support to reach the necessary goals.
2. I would say the theme that we need to work on is # 6: Collaboration and Trust. I believe that we could collaborate more and share other important methods that we have experienced that we feel might be helpful. We always have room to improve and should be open and willing to do that. We must be able to have trust in order to move in that direction. We must remember that we are here for the children and they need to know that we love and care for them.
In response to Mrs. Dees at Cape Fear. I believe family night is very important and we can get with parents and share our concerns and allow the parents to do likewise. This will help them to see what their children are doing and we should encourage their support as we all work together to help each student achieve and be the very best that they can be.
I believe that Theme 3 exemplifies the kind of teaching we strive for and accomplish. Our experimentation may not always permit us to include what we teach but how we teach it. We incorporate a school wide interest in finding the best way to reach our learners. We incorporate remedial and accelerated programs with a full use of staff thru RTI. Our research based programs are a jumping off point for trying what works for one student or a group of students, as well as changing what does not work or may not work with a particular individual or group. Students can realize that problem solving may involve a kind of experimentation that leads them to success. Our teaching flexibility enhances the students understanding that finding a variety of ways to learn is a benefit.
I do also beleive that staying with a proven program is most beneficial for us all. Just because something is new does not mean it is improved. I would like to see the benefits of allowing years to see longterm improvement, for teachers and students.
tiffany_smith RPP To Amanda Johnson Having an atmosphere where you feel that you can comment/express yourself freely is important in an environment of collaboration and trust.
To Dees Collaboration such as the "Underground Railroad" project that you and Ms. Kane did. We always tell kids that they should work together and get along, but your efforts show them what that looks like.
Our staff members all work hard to accomplish Theme 4 We offer successful varied activities throughout the year to include our families. My concern is that some of our families are not as involved with their individual student in support of our school wide goals, both academic and social. Our open door policy and attitude gives all families the chance to be involved at whatever level they can offer. Our during school activities as well as after school activities encourage all to participate, and many do. I do sympathize with parents' inablility to be at the school for any given function. So my main concern is with some of the families who simply do not give the supporting home time we need for greatest student success. For example, helping to make sure that responsibility for homework is expected from their child, whether it's written or studying, We all know the home support & encouragement makes a huge difference. I do know that all of our staff members work very hard to achieve that home participation. Our classroom and school communication addresses language differences, and concrete ideas for families to use at home. We all work toward much greater home support, but it is an area that could always use help.
RPP - Cotten, Colclough, and Sessoms Sense of Family is a strength at RPPS. Our faculty members are friends inside and outside of school. Our parents are in our school everyday volunteering. They do this because they are welcome. Our school provides them a place to play an active role in their child's education. We do not want parents to take a backseat. We take an interest in our students lives. This does not just mean their learning. I watched a teacher come to a child's soccer game this year. How wonderful it is to see teachers take time from their lives to be a part of their students lives. Our school needs to work on collaboration and trust. This does not mean that we do not work together or trust the ones we work with. The problem is there is not enough time in a day for us to come together and share ideas as much as we would like to. Some of us meet afterschool on our own time to support each other and provide new ideas to one another. It would just be nice to have time to do that during the work day. I guess that is just another place where we need to be creative.
RPP - Cotten, Colclough, Sessoms We, like Beth, agree with CFE Lee. All staff work together to see that all children learn. Our custodian takes time from her BUSY BUSY schedule to get to know the children. She quizzes them and helps them. Our office staff and nurse are interested in our children's lives. Every one takes responsibility and takes a vital role in helping each and every child. WAY TO GO RPP!!!
Janet Ensign at RRPS: I think the theme that best represents us at RPPS is sense of family. Together as a school I see individual nurturing of students, their families, and staff. On a daily basis there is caring interaction within each class with 'family skills exemplified, practices, taught, and modeled.As within every family not every minute is perfact but the overall cummulative affect is one of true "family"
I believe that our school could work on collaboration and trust. I believe that there is limited opportunity to form bonds outside of our grade levels and that that is challanging to overcome. A spread out staff in seperate buildings contributes to our lack of ability to form those bonds.
I agree w/ Lee, CFE; we may not have it all but we do lots to focus on success for every student. At RPPS each child is encouraged to meet success by admisistration, teachers, and all support staff.
The theme of "Family" best represents my school. I say this as a situation happened to me this week where my administrator watched over me and treated me like she would her own daughter. I could tell my well-being was of the utmost importance to her. This came at a time when I needed that security and reassurance. Along with this, most employees at Rocky Point have been teaching here a while and work together as a family to help children succeed at school. Like real families, we don't always agree, but respect each other's differences and don't let our differences hinder our job of creating success for each and every child. Experimentation is an area our school could work on. Often times we talk the talk, but don't always walk the walk. As I say that, I know we say we want to learn and study new strategies and techniquies, but it's difficult to always embrace a new method and truly make it our own. It can be hard to look to our colleagues for fresh ideas and it might make us look less equipped or not as capable. At times we hold on to techniques simply because we've been using the approach for years. Change is hard, but in today's school, we need to embrace the idea of change and experimentation.
As Lee from CFE mentioned, we need to work on Passion for Learning and Growing. Luckily, I still have the passion, but there are times when my excitement for education is squelched and challenged. Usually, I'm able to refocus myself fairly quickly and rejuvenate my passion for reaching every child in my classroom. To keep this excitement alive, I rely on my co-workers. It's nice to know that your bad day might be another teacher's really good day. I need the support of my peers to keep each day interesting and hopeful.
1.I believe theme 5: Sense of Family best represents RPP. We don't just educate our students. We take care of their social and emotional needs, as well. We celebrate the accomplishments of all our students by displaying their work in the hallways, making announcements and congratulating them (sometimes with rewards). I also believe we have made a conscious effort to provide a safe place for our students to grow and learn. 2. I believe my school needs to work on theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. I agree with the rest of my specialist team in having a specialist rep attend the grade level meetings to find out what's going on. We could enrich the learning of our students through our specialist classes simply by knowing what each grade is working on. As far as the trust piece goes, I feel we need to be able to voice our concerns without fear of reprisal. We use to have a box in the teachers lounge in which we could anonymously voice our concerns. I think we need to resurrect "The Box" and have our concerns addressed either through a school-wide email or if necessary, during a staff meeting.
I believe that the theme that best represents our school is Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We have several programs and numerous strategies to help meet the needs of our students. We collect data on our students throughout the year (STAR, AIMSWeb, LOAs) and we utilize this data to monitor our students' progress and then provide remediation and/or interventions as needed.
I feel that the theme that our school needs to focus on is Collaboration and Trust. Although I feel that we do this to an extent, we could do more. Although we have common planning times with some of our team members,our biggest hindrance is still finding the time to collaborate. Our vertical team meetings in the past have been an effort to collaborate across grade levels and I think this is a step in the right direction. I do feel that "we" are our own best resources right now, especially with no staff development funds, but we don't take advantage of this opportunity to the degree that we could. I would love to visit other teacher's classrooms at our school, observe them teach, and then learn something that I could take back to my classroom and try with my students.
I agree with you, Janet, that your school does a great job of providing that sense of family. You mentioned that you see individual nurturing of your students and their families. I think that's critical for your students and families because you are the first school that they come in contact with as they begin their education in Pender County. You set the precedent for how students and their families will feel about education in our schools. Therefore, it is important that they feel welcome and have that sense of belonging.
Best theme for Rpps is No excuses. I have seen this reflected in a new issuance of guides for the students to achieve their best work... in class and at home. I only wish this had been there for me. I feel we need the most improvement for experimentation of proven methods of teaching to achieve academic success in a global arena. Nixon-RPPS
I believe the theme that best represents CFES is #1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We work very hard through varied assessments, programs, interventions, and remediation to reach each and every one of our students and meet the individual needs of those students.
We would probably need to work on theme #6: Collaboration and Trust. I really think if given the time, we would be better at collaborating because it isn't that we don't want to collaborate with one another. It is just hard to find the time and sometimes the energy after a full day. I think it would be great if common planning times could be arranged, giving teachers a time during the day to share ideas with one another.
To Stephanie Cioffi... I like the idea of seeing each classroom as a family and developing that sense of trust and cooperation...celebrating successes together and working together as a family to deal with any problems that arise.
I am overwhelmed that so many Rocky Point staff feel a sense of family. When I was there I definitely felt it. That is so important with the little ones. They must feel this warm, loving nurturing sense of family to happily transition into the school environment.
I have to agree with RPP Bogan about following rules. We expect our students to follow the rules we set forth for them, and yet we cannot follow rules ourselves. If a group of students decided to get together and turn in a homework assignment as a group, when it was an assignment that each individual was expected to turn in...would we as teachers accept that assignment??? Would that be fair to the other students who actually followed the rules and did the assignment on their own???
I agree with the above anonymous. Take the time to give your own response. If the rules have changed, then those changes should clear to those who are made to follow them.
RPP-Bishop, Bullard, Houseman, Howell, Weiss, Caison, K. Brown, C. Witherspoon
1. We belive that at RPPS we focus on the academic success of every student. With our Aimsweb testing, Imagine It! benchmarks, pacing guides, differentiated instruction and RtI sessions, we are able to meet every student where they are and propel them forward.
2. We do feel, as teachers, that we have held ourselves to the standard of "No Excuses". We would like to see the next level achieved through parental involvemnt in the home. There needs to be an accountability system between the school and each child's home because it does take a village to raise each child. Maslow's hierachy of basic needs (shelter, food, sleep,etc.) must be met within each family with each child before learning can effectively make growth.
RPP-Bishop, Bullard, Houseman, Howell, Weiss, Caison, K. Brown, C. Witherspoon
@CFE Hardee... We are all in support of more collaboration and trust, especially between the RPP & CFE families. We feel that this would increase trust between the two schools and offer more insight into the lives of students and expectations.
To CFE Sikes: I also see that it is difficult to collaborate across grade levels and subject areas. This is something I continually try to work on with limited success. Hopefully this project will create more opportunities for communication and collaboration.
The theme that best represents our school would be #1-Success of every student. We don't just say "it's all about the kids", we live it. We have collaboration with EC and ELL teachers to ensure all students are getting their needs met. We write PEPs to ensure we know which students need help and to define what kind of help they are getting. We have an SST team that places the focus on each child who is still struggling despite the best efforts and strategies of classroom teachers.
I think the theme we could work on would be Experimentation. We are allowed and encouraged to try new lessons, activities, and strategies and we do. But we could still improve in this area. In order to achieve this we need to go outside of our comfort zones to try something new. We may also need extra technology, extra hands, or smaller classes to achieve this-all of which is really out of the control of the classroom teacher.
My response is to Kelly at RPP. I agree we should rely on fellow teachers to see the positive-in teaching, our students, and anywhere else you look at school. There are bad days and good days in teaching-as in any profession. It's the good days that help get you through the bad ones. We should revel in each other's successes and share our accomplishments to make teaching better for us all. TLaBor @CFES
The theme that best describes this school is the focus on the Academis Success of Every Student, although all the other themes are apparent as well. There is a constant effort to come together and devise ways to further assist in the students success. There are endless adjustments being made with each new assessment in hopes that as the end of the year rolls by that all of our efforts have worked and each and every student has been successful. One thing our school needs to work on more is collaboration. I know I have reached out several times to homeroom teachers unsuccessfully and part of it is my fault becuase I don't want to bother anyone. When I first began at this school I was collaborating with teachers left and right, and now, I just do lessons knowing that at some point the students will be covering it in class. I know there needs to be a better system in getting the info from teachers, I just haven't found it yet. I feel collaboration among the homeroom teachers and specialists will help the students and I know for me, things would be just slightly less complicated. When we do One Book One School and the whole school is covering the same theme, we collaborate on possible ideas; I would like to see that happen more often.
D. Brown, I agree completely with you about always having room to improve and we should be open and willing to do that. I need to be more willing to keep asking what is going on in other areas and not worry about bothering anyone. Collaboration is beneficial to the students and we need to do it more.
I feel that the theme our school is strongest in is Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. I think that we are fortunate enough to have lots of resources here in our building to help students see success. We have tutors and remediation groups on a daily or weekly basis. Also, teachers are required to reflect on assessment data to get a better understanding of where their students are struggling and what skills they are mastering.
The theme I think our school could improve most in is Theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. While some teachers do meet together to share ideas and even plan together, no time is set aside in our school day or on work days for this to take place. With this being said, I do think we're making great strides to improve in this area. For example, the giant board in the workroom where teachers in all grade levels, across all curriculum areas, and our specialists write on the board what skills or units they are focusing on so the whole school knows what is going on down each hallway.
Cindy @ RPP: I also think it is important to have an avenue to anonymously voice concerns. Many times, problems that started small fester into larger problems because nothing is ever said about them. If staff members felt more comfortable with coming forward there would be no reason for small issues to become unmanagable!
1. Discuss which one of the seven themes best represents your school and why. One theme that our school seems to be very good at is the theme about Academic Success for all children. We are all very eager to find new ways to celebrate our student’s success and ways to encourage them to boost the accomplishments. As a school we get very excited when students are recognized for the successes.
2. Which theme out of the seven does your school most need to work on and how would you go about achieving it? If there was one theme that we at CFE would need to work at would be the theme of collaboration. Lots of times it is easier to plan and create lessons on our own instead of collaborating with our colleagues. If we would only work with each other, the work load would be less.
I agree with Lisa at RPP...there needs to be a way to hold parents accountable too. So much is put on everyone but the parents. It all starts at home and they need to have a hand in their child's education too.
We think our school our school represents theme three: experimentation. Our staff experiments with new programs each year and collaborates on ideas of how to implement in our classrooms.
We feel that we need to work on theme four: Inclusion. We could go about it by team teaching and planning with ESL and EC teachers in order for students not to be pulled out throughout the day.
I think we all focus on student achievement first and always put it as our priority. It is very important teachers in a school collaborate in order for students to receive support to be successful.
1. I think the strongest theme at CFE is Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. On the positive side, our teachers truly want each of his or her students to succeed. We do A LOT of different things to try and meet the needs of every student in our school. We have strong A.R. and A.M. school-wide programs to meet the individual needs of our students in reading and math. We have computer lab remediation classes and continuous remedial sessions in our classrooms to help students on a daily/weekly basis where they are struggling. We have EC and ELL inclusion classes to help our students. Our low achieving students are being progress monitored regularly in fluency and comprehension to help them improve. While all of this probably looks good on paper, on the negative side, I think it is often too much for students. Some students are constantly getting pulled out of class for remedial services or assessment. Most of these students need to be IN the class getting the instruction. Their getting bits and pieces and then we wonder why they are performing so low. I think we are so eager to help them, we forget to provide the time for direct instruction.
2. I think the theme CFE needs to work on is Theme 3: Experimentation. While our teachers do try to experiment with and identify new ways to accomplish tasks, most of the things we are doing are being "handed down to us" to do whether from the administration at the school level or at the county administration level. Teachers don't feel free to try too many new strategies because we have so many we're "expected" to use. Teacher input is listened to, but often not acted upon for whatever reason. I think educators SHOULD feel such strong responsibility for ensuring the academic success of students that they eagerly seek ways to improve teaching and learning. BUT I think we're not given the opportunity to do this because we HAVE to do certain things and at certain times. FLEXIBILITY is almost a thing of the past when it comes to teachers doing what they know is best for their students.
3. I agree with Hope-RPP that teachers should have more options to teach what they know works instead of what is mandated to work just because it worked in another school system and/or just because it is researched based. What better leaders to choose what works for their own students than the teachers who know them and work with them everyday. "Cookie-cutter" classrooms/schools/school systems are not the answer for students who need individualized or differentiated instruction. If assessments are only one piece to the puzzle then why is it that all teachers, students, and parents hear is assess, assess, assess?
I believe that Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student best represents our school. We are always looking for methods, materials, and strategies that are "best for our kids," and that will help to ensure their success. We believe in our students, and help them to foster a belief in themselves. Every morning students recite the CFE Pledge, which serves to remind them to always "do their best, so that they can stay above the rest," and they see our school motto posted all around the school (Believe in Yourself). We have many formal and informal methods for collecting and analyzing data and information about our students; such as AR, AM, STAR, AIMSweb, Progress Monitoring, LOAs, and ClassScape. We constantly provide interventions and remediation for our struggling students, and we use differentiation in order to help them to be academically successful.
I think we could work more on Theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. I feel that teachers are willing to collaborate, but lack of time seems to be a challenge for us. There seems to be more and more to do each year, and important things like time to sit down and talk and plan together get the lowest priority. I have wanted to work on specific projects with our art teacher; and although she and I have talked informally, we never get quality time to actually follow-through on our ideas. I would like to see time allotted on Early Release Days for more collaboration. I also think that we need to collaborate more across our two schools. (I enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the reading program that RPP is implementing.)
To Lisa RPP I strongly agree with your comment about parental involvement, and an accountability system. I feel that parents need to be held more accountable, and they need to be held to the same high standards of "No Excuses" as teachers are held to.
I agree with both of you about teachers having more options to teach what they know works; rather than what is mandated because it worked somewhere else, or is research based.
Terri, I especially agree with your comment about flexibility. We are reminded that we need to be flexible, yet our opportunities to do so are very limited because of all the mandates.
I agree with Christy at CFE that having a Collaboration day once a month would help a great deal. If something works well at another school it could very well work for us.
This is my first year at CFE so I am learning the ropes. From what I have observed, I feel Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student is the theme that describes our school the best. We have many interventions in place for our students that are having difficulties as well as programs in place to enhance the learning of our students that are doing well. Our teachers do a wonderful job of data collection to enable them to keep up with all students strengths and weaknesses. We also have the best student support team (CARE Team) that I have ever worked on. This team puts a great deal of time and thought in to strategies ad interventions to help struggling student before they are referred for exceptional children's services. 2. I feel our greatest weakness is Theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. With all that we have to do , there is not enough time in the day to have time to really sit down and share ideas. Although there is team planning time for each grade level, it seems to be just enough time for the basics. There is so much we can learn from each other but it takes TIME to get to know each other and TIME to build trust and feel safe to speak your mind about certain subjects.
1. I believe the theme thatour school best represents is theme 1. We try to reach every student. Teachers teach in different ways inorder to reach every student. We have many programs and rewards which are attainable by every student. 2. The theme that I think we need to work on is between two collaboration &trust and experimentation. We do collaborate within our teams but across grade level and with other schools. I think if we had the time to collaborate with our feeder schools both primary and middle our students would benefit. Experimentation is another place we could improve. We experimented with inclusion and found it to be successful but have not tried anything else.
I also agree with Lisa at RPP about parents being held accountable. It is very hard for students to think education is important if parents don't think it is.
1. I believe, as most of my colleagues do, that the theme that CFE most represents is Theme 1: Academic Success of EVERY Student. We have committees, clubs, family nights, and staff development solely dedicated to student success. Our EC and ELL inclusion teams plan and collaborate to ensure those students are able to access the standard course of study. We have AR/AM where students can work at their own levels, intervention lab, and reading specialists to focus on that specific area. We have our CARE team to plan strategies for individual students. We use data from AIMSWeb, LOAs, and informal assessments to guide us in where each student’s strengths and weaknesses lie.
2. If I have to pick a theme we need to work on the most, it will be Theme 3: Experimentation. We are getting better, and with the new 21st Century framework for learning we have to explore more with technology and job readiness skills not just with our higher achieving students, but all of our students.
I really wonder if those papers would be accepted as a grade for all? I agree we should do as we say, be good role models for our students! If we are doing this as individuals, everyone has their own opinion and should be heard. I am glad you feel like we here at CFES are family based. I feel it is important for students and parents to feel comfortable here.
I agree with Sutton that we need to have more flexibility in how we teach. All children learn differently and we are not a "one size fits all" society. Being flexible gives us the opportunity to reach more students throught the way they learn best. It is really hard to do that with all the mandates that are passed down to us.
To Stephanie Cioffi and group... I agree with you, and many of the other RPP staff members, that when classrooms see themselves as family units everyone achieves more, and it doesn't only have to do with acamemics. You guys have much more family involvement than we do at CFE. You always have, AND IT'S THE SAME PARENTS!! This is a predicament we have been trying to improve on for years.
1. I believe the theme that best represents our school is #1. We truly focus on the academic success of every student. Students are held to high expectations and standards, and strategies are put in place to help students reach these goals. We use a myriad of techniques to teach and assess students to best serve them. I truly believe that we make decisions that are in the best interest of the student, not the teacher.
2. I think the area we need to work on the most is #6. I don't think we purposely don't collaborate and trust, I just think the day-to-day routines make it very difficult to find time to talk with others. It always feels like there's a million things to do and to sit and talk strategy with colleagues gets pushed onto the back burner. Obviously collaboration means communication, and without communication you cannot build trust. The two go hand-in-hand, so if we were able to spend more time communicating we would have more trust.
I agree with Amanda-RPP about the improvement with collaboration. You can always do more, especially across grade levels. I also agree that it would be nice to have the trust with each other that we could make comments/suggestions and people would not get upset or offended, rather use that as a tool to better serve our students.
1. I believe the theme that best fits CFE is Theme #1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. At CFE we work to help each student achieve his or her highest level of success. Many of our programs, such as AR and AM, provide individualized goals for students. In this way, students are successful at their highest level and not compared to others. They are expected to achieve their highest success. Sometimes we think if a student doesn't make A's they are not successful. We need to remember many students may be doing their best at a B or C and celebrate when they achieve their success. We are focusing more and more on differentiation and using students' learning styles when planning for instruction which also helps to increase success across the board.
2. The theme I feel could be worked on is #6. The main reason it is hard to focus on collaboration is time. Our schedules are so filled with activities, we cannot always find the time to collaborate with others. It would be great if we could use our planning times to work with other teachers to get ideas, share ideas, ask for help, and integrate with other curriculum areas.
I agree w/ Janet at RPP that budget cuts have drastically hurt our ability to work with students on an individual basis, esp. at the primary level. I see the negative effects so few TA's have on both teachers and students. At the upper elem level it is also hurting us. There are several ideas I would like to implement but do not have the resources to do so and do not have the funds to purchase those resources which would be individualized to the student.
I believe the theme that best represents CFE is Theme One: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. Our school is driven by Academics. We are always doing remediation for the ones who are behind and enrichment for the ones who are ahead. We take the data from our LOA's and the students graph it in their Data Folders. This helps the students to see where they are as far as our school and county. I believe it is very important for the students to "see" how they measure up to others and motivate them to do better.
The theme that my school needs to work most on is Collaboration and Trust. We are given so much to do now that it is taking the time away from us that could be used to collaborate with other teachers. Collaboration is a must. We all have good ideas and if we had time to share it we could really learn a lot from others. I think we as teachers are trusted to some point, but in observation of teachers in the upper grades, they seem to be respected more than those of us in the elementary grades. I guess because we teach the young ones, we are treated like them as well. I don't feel that it is on purpose, that's just how it is.
I agree with Bogan in that we were asked to do these assignments on our own and it seems that those who are doing these blogs as a group are getting out easy. This is how rules get changed because someone thinks that they are the exception. If we are told to do something, do it the way we are told and don't bend the rules!
I think CFE has a stron sense of theme number five..sense of family. Cfe is always asking for parent involvement and students thrive with parent participation. With parent involvement, students do better at school. We have so many parent nights and I know that Terri and I send home a weekly report to keep parents involved. O believe school is a natural extension of our students families.
What I feel our school needs to work on is theme number six, collaboration and trust. The reason I think this is because I know how much more effectively I teach when I can collaborate with someone else. I also know that I need to trust the people I am collaborating with. Otherwise, I would not feel comfortable in letting others know the areas in which I am struggling.
I also agree with Hope-RPP that teachers should have more options to teach what they know works. We know the demographics of our students better than anyone else...Who else would know better how to teach our students..and with what than us? All of the "research based" iniatives and "Cookie-cutter" classrooms/schools/school systems will hopefully be replaced (one day)with real teaching and learning will take place when teachers and students are not held so accountable. Learning will become fun again and then we will see lots of growth, as students and teachers will be more relaxed and enjoy the teaching/learnig process.
1. Success for all students each & every day. We have high expectations for our students regardless of their socioeconomic background and this leads to a successful learning environment.
2. The area we need work on is collaboration. I think that all teachers teaching the same grade & subject should meet at least once or twice a month, during planning, to bounce ideas off of each other and communicate what’s going on in their classrooms.
1. Discuss which one of the seven themes best represents your school and why.
I would have to go with theme 1 the academic success for every child. I think this theme does because we go to the extreme to make sure our students do well For example remediation, remediation lab, small groups, and pull out. And we all do it together with our partner and others on the hall and in the building.
2. Which theme out of the seven does your school most need to work on and how would you go about achieving it?
I think there is no perfect school and all six themes can be improved upon. There is no way we are at 100% on any of these themes. But being a family and gaining trust is a big one in my opinion.
To Kelly @ RRP, Passion for teaching is often "squelched" like you said because of all the outside the classroom responsibilities. It seems like there's more testing, paperwork and meetings then ever before. This adds stress to an already demanding job. I am glad you get some relief from your co-workers.
I think that Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student best represents CFE. We use a variety of formal and informal assessments to collect information. Then we plan lessons that are focused on getting every student to show growth. I also think we do a great job of being attuned to the ways in which individual students learn best. We have programs that allow students to work towards individualized goals as well as many support services to help them meet those goals. I believe that we could work on Theme 6. I know that we all want to collaborate more, but there are barriers that we sometimes can't prevent (time, schedules, committments, etc.) My team and grade level do a great job of working together, but I would like to see us have more opportunities to collaborate school-wide. I agree with Lisa at RPP. I wish that we could hold parents to the same standards that we are held! Just imagine the growth that we could get if all parents were as invested in their child's education as we are!
1. We feel that Theme 7 represents our school the best. All of the educators and staff are very passionate for both helping the children learn and grow and learning and growing themselves. We are constantly learning new things through workshops and trainings to help the children acheive higher levels of education.
2. We feel that our school needs to work on Theme 6. If we all collaborate with each other and trust each other enough with our strengths and weaknesses, then we all grow.
I feel that the theme that best describes our school is Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We havemany programs and plans to help meet the needs of our students. We build data all year long and make changes to our teaching method after reflecting on assessment information.
Our school needs to work on collaboration and trust. This does not mean that we do not work together or trust the ones we work with. We all have good ideas and we need to take a minute every now and again to appreciate eachother.
As Chris stated I think we a good foundation of all the themes. However, Inclusion stands out to me. Even though we have different styles and roles in developing a successful student we all have an important part. I don't think anyone of us isn't here to develop happy, healthy, successful students. I think we all take ownership in doing so. I think we need to work on Experimentation. Change is hard and sometimes we get comfortable doing what we have experience with. It may seem that this is the easiest way but listening and experimenting with other ideas may actually be a bigger time saver. You won't know until you try it. I believe the reduction in staff development monies has contributed to this weakness. I know in the past when I have attended conferences, I come back reenergized and excited to try the new ideas.
I agree with T. Colins an open door policy and attitude gives families the chance to be involved at whatever level they can offer. We need to include families at whatever level of involvment they are able to give. We also need to help those families that are intimidatedby school feel more comfortable. I think RPP is on the right track with the Boys Night Out and Princess Party. What a great way to develop the parent child school relationship.
I think CFES best fits Theme 5: Sense of Family. I believe we all treat the students with respect and concern; give attention to children’s total development - social, emotional, and academic; celebrate accomplishments (academic and nonacademic); display student work proudly; provide a safe environment for students; integrate special programs into the school; communicate with parents in ways they can understand; and communicate to students that we care about them and are happy they are at CFES.
I think we most need to work on Theme 3: Experimentation. I think we have the spirit of experimentation, just not the time or training to truly put it into practice.
I liked what Christy said about collaboration days. This sounds like what we did for One Book, One School and the idea behind the whiteboard in the workroom. I think it would be beneficial to meet like that more often.
"Coming for Burgaw Elem. an A+ school, this is unusual for me. We would meet once a month for Collaboration days and find ways to intergrate across the curriculum in both the core class and specials. Including the arts making learning so much more engaging and meaningful for the students."
Tanya House said.... I believe the theme that best represents our school is Theme #1 Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We are student focused because we use their individual data to evaluate each students needs. When those needs are not being met, we collaboratively think of new ways to boost student success. Our Care Team, remediation teachers, support staff, and differentiation techniques are all geared towards creating a successful student.
One theme that I think our school could work on is Theme 5: Sense of Family. For some reason, as the students mature parents seem to become less involved in school. Being an intermediate school, we tend to suffer from this phenomenon. We have put a lot of efforts into place to welcome our parents into the school. We have shown some success in this area but we could benefit from increasing parental involvement.
Tanya House CFE said.... I agree with Kelly at RPP that experimentation is a difficult thing to tackle. It does require a commitment to making the change. You not only have to learn the new techniques and evaluate the benefits, you must make TIME to truly understand effective methods of implementing those strategies. Time unfortunately and insecurities tend to hinder us from taking the leap into new ideas...
I believe the theme that best represents CFE is Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. Along with most of my colleagues, I know we all strive to provide the best experiences and education for our students.
I think the area we could work on more is Theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. I feel that my grade level works really hard to collaborate, but things like lack of resources, time, and training sometimes hinder our good intentions. I also think trust could be worked on more. One of the statements Mychal Wynn makes is there should be a "school cultivated atmosphere where teachers felt free to express their concerns about ideas or actions without fear of reprisal." I just think that we are all educated and passionate professionals, but I see more and more teachers (myself included) afraid to say what we feel would be best for the students because we don't think our opinion matters. I think we all need to be open and willing to listen to each other and step outside our comfort zones to try new things.
I totally agree with Carolyn from RPP. I wish there was some way we could make many of our parents understand the importance of their child's education. We are not miracle workers--we need to collaborate with parents to help their child succeed.
I would surely choose Theme 1 Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We strive to reach every student and go to whatever means it may take to do so. I would also, however, choose #6 Collaboration and Trust because, especially this year, I have had the great experience of not only collaborating with teachers in my grade level on planning and sharing but also with 4th grade teachers on ideas that I can do in the classroom to better prepare my students, but also some ideas I have that have been used in their classes.
2. None of the themes stand out to me as one we need improvement on but having to choose one I would go with experimentation. I think we do this already with trying everything we can to reach all of our students and I feel this is a weak choice but one that I am trying more and more in my classroom.
In response to C. Lunsford from RPP's comment about the parents being responsible for their part in their child's education is key. Getting the parents to take responsibility and understand that the learning continues at home is very important and something that should be emphasized to some parents. Good point.
In reply to Amanda Johnson at RPP - Your comments about collaboration, I agree that we should do more. I said in my post that I have collaborated this year across grade levels and it has really helped not only in planning lessons but also in understanding what the students will be doing once they continue on to the next grade. I feel responsible for what they have learned and take into consideration the comments about how prepared (or not) they are once they move on to the next grade level.
The theme that I think best represents our school is theme #1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. Our school is consistently monitoring students' progress and working together to meet each student's needs. Students receive support in areas that our needed and are challenged through programs such as AIG and enrichment. There is a strong focus on academic success of every student.
The theme I think our school could improve on is Theme #6: Collaboration and Trust. I think teachers would like to collaborate more, but it’s hard to find time to plan and collaborate together. I think we have started taking steps to improve collaboration by creating a large board where teachers write what they are focusing on in their classrooms. Perhaps time set aside once a month or so for more collaboration would be helpful.
RPP- I notice most of you answered that the theme that best represents your school is Sense of Family. I think that's great, especially at that age when students need extra nurturing!
I Think theme one is the best because we always at Cfes focus on and allow the child to grow as an individual and allow their successful nature to take over by just putting emphasis on how important the goals and their success is and need to achieve for themselves and apply that with the goals the school sets, and the one we fall short on is collaboration because its seems everyone has a plan of their own and sometimes falls short on including others. kh cfes
To Beth at RPP I too beieve trust and collaboration can be thought of separtely. We try to collaborate, but as mention by others that is hard due to limited time and conflicting schedules. Collaboration between schools is crucial and needs to be encouraged.The trust in a school results in a productive amicable staff, when people are not pulling their weight, resentment results. This is a area that could use work at our school.
I think our school is doing really well at #1 by truly providing academic success for each student no matter what the level learner they may be. And do we have DIVERSITY. Call us Sub-group Elementary School. Due to a strong cohesive staff we see successes that rise above the standard.
I believe the best theme that represents our school is #5: Sense of Family. We strive to make RPPS an environment were children feel welcomed, loved and believed in. We also strive to involve parents as much as possible. Through special programs for grandparents, moms, dads, extended families, etc. RPPS offers numerous opportunities to engage the whole team! I believe we could work on increasing # 6. Collaboration and Trust is here, it could just be made stronger. I agree with Jodi Fucili at CFE. Resources being depleted as they have, make it difficult to incorporate all the ideas and enthusiam we would like to display.
Julia H. CFES I think we are a mix of Theme One - Focus on the Academic Success of our students and Theme 5 - Sense of family. I feel that we choose supplemental programs that will assist our students in particular areas, such as AM and AR. In making decisions we choose what is best for the kids - that is a priority. Lessons are planned and subjects integrated to reach all learners. I think our school also incorporates theme 5 in that students have a sense of safety and caring. Their opinions are important and they are able to make some choices in their learning.
The theme for our school is a sense of family. The PTA meetings and other evening activities promote parental involvement. The activities are scheduled so that parents who work later can participate. Also teachers are very flexible when scheduling PEP meetings to meet the needs of the parents. Some are here 5-6 p.m. at nigh in order to accomodate families.
I believe at Cape Fear Elementary we succeed most at Focusing on the Academic Success of Every Student. At CFE, we offer a number of supplemental programs to help each of our students achieve academic success. The EC program at our school is exemplary. Support is given to each student with a special need in a way that promotes growth and pride in themselves. As an ESL teacher, I feel as though my team goes the extra mile to reinforce and teach skills to second language students. By making home visits and checking in with students at school, my students are beginning to show growth in make academic achievements. Finally, the AIG program at CFE is top notch. The enrichment material challenges and encourages students to strive and push themselves to be great. Each teacher at CFE is motivated and dedicated to their students and mission of academic success for all.
If there is an area at CFE that the staff should work on I feel it is Theme #6: Collaberation and Trust. For the most part, my teaching partner and I, use "inclusion" and "team teaching" as a way to accommodate the ESL population. This is a fantastic way to reach all the students in a general way and be able to monitor their in class performances. But, to achieve positive outcomes using this technique, it is crucial to have open communication, a positive rapport, and trust between the two teachers. Building relationships is a continuous process and ever changing. I feel the teachers at CFE are open, honest, and willing to share responsibilities in their classrooms. But, it is always an area that can be worked on, tweaked, and improved upon.
1. I believe the theme that best represents our school is Sense and Family. Ever since my first day at CFE, I have always felt at home when at work. It's a joy to walk into work and have people who greet you and understand you as a person. It's noticeable that parents and community have the same feeling when they walk into our school as they are always greeted with a smile.
I believe we need to work on Passion for Learning and Growing. As teachers, our students look up to us for growth and strength, and it's easy for teachers to get frustrated with that student who doesn't do their homework or continues to be a behavior problem. What we need to realize is that this student has feelings, probably more sensitive than our own, and we need to help our children to succeed - not bring them down.
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I believe the theme that best represents our school is theme 5: Sense of Family. The moment you walk into our school you are greeted, most of the time by last name if not by first. There is a true sense of community here at RPPS that includes teachers, administrators, family, and students. There are several members of the community volunteering at our school on a daily basis that adds to the sense of family.
One thing I believe our school could work on, at least on the Pre-School level is to incorporate more experimentation. I think we should try more new things, throw out some of the old and try things that could enhance our children's learning experience.
Tiffany RPP
1. I feel our school best represents theme #1:Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. Not only do we focus on the academic success of every student, but we teach the whole child, looking at the other parts/areas that affect student success.In our attempt to teach the whole child, we attempt to incorporate the other six themes.
2. I'd say the theme we need to work on is theme #6: Collaboration and Trust. In the book Mychal Winn explains that this theme includes providing assistance to each other, learning from one another, cultivating an atmosphere where we all feel free to express concerns,collaboration in/across grade levels(at your school and others)as well as other things. I think one way to do this would be to establish common planning times, which has been done to the best of our abilities, but can only really be achieved through a smaller population of students (# of classes per grade). Until that occurs, I think it's going to take a lot of dedication on the faculty/staff's part to commit to grade level planning/meeting, cross-grade level planning/meeting. This theme requires the process of time for it to be achieved along with committment from faculty/staff.
1. As I looked over the themes, I was reminded of many instances of how we "do" each one of them. Programs such as Am and AR focus on providing individual academic help to students, so they are successful. I remember an our ex principal going to a students house and getting him out of bed bc the mother couldn't do it (no excuses). Many of our teachers try new things, with all students, and the sense of family is definetly abundant in the hallways. We do work together, most of the time, and there certainly is a passion for teaching and learning. If I had to choose one, I am reminded of how we are a family. When something happens to one of us, we all feel it, wheter it is a birth or a death, a success or a failure, we all feel it. I also have a great snapshot of one of our fifth grade students helping one of the EC kids tie his shoe. Who else but a person who has a sense of "family" would do this for someone else, when she clearly doesn't have to.
2. It is hard to find the weaknesses or things you need to work on, especially after writing about how much of a family we are. I sometimes get the feeling we could collaborate more, use the strengths of individuals to help others who need it or are too timid? self-conscious? afraid? to ask for help. Great things happen with collaboration, for example, the dance concerts the art, music and PE teachers at this school came up with the last several years.
In response to Tiffany, it should be a school's strength that every student should be given the chance for success, that's why I am glad for RPP that the feeling of helping each student is prevelant. I also totally agree with her about the collaboration thing. We can all learn from each other. I certainly learn, not only from the teachers and administrators, but from the students at this school. They are teaching me new things each day, for example, how to say a word in spanish, or what the order of operations is when doing math problems...
I believe the best theme that represents our school is Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. All staff is tuned in to all students to help with academic success. Our staff seems to be monitoring their students in a lot of ways and following through with making sure they are served in the best ways possible. We may not be given every thing we need but we make the most out of what we have.
Although we are a lot like the other themes the one I think we need to work on is Passion for learning and growing.
I think the theme that best represents CFE is the 1st one, Academic Success for Each Student. We really do try...all of us to help each and every one of our students be successful. Our morning programs of AM/AR are just one example of all of us, (staff and students) working together with one goal..success for all. The LOAs students take at the end of each nine week period, help the classroom teacher see the weak spots as well as the strong points. Our family nights are geared around academics. We will have Science night this Thursday, and OBOS February 25. Families are strongly encouraged to come and join in the fun. We always hear Mrs. Willis say "whatever is best for the kids"..that will always guide us.
One thing we already work on alot is Theme 6, Collaboration and Trust. We do collaborate so much, but it could be more. I know that students definitely benefit when we work together. I see that when Mrs. Kane and I collaborate, for example, on the Underground Railroad, when we do our unit on quilt squares and spirituals. The students retain what they learn in art and carry it over into music, and vise versa.
Question #1 Linda Eakins RPP
I feel our school best represents Theme # 5- Sense of Family. The words "These are all my children,"
are heard frequently. The actions of the principal,teachers, students, parents, and other members of the school community often reflect the concern and welfare of our students. Our concern is not just for now, but for the students life time. Even after they finish school in the public school system they come back for support.
Question #2
Theme #1 Academic Success of Every Student I feel we need to improve on at our school. We are headed in the right direction, but I feel we jump on the band wagon of too many new programs before we give the ones we have a chance.
Question #1 Linda Eakins RPP
I feel our school best represents Theme # 5- Sense of Family. The words "These are all my children,"
are heard frequently. The actions of the principal,teachers, students, parents, and other members of the school community often reflect the concern and welfare of our students. Our concern is not just for now, but for the students life time. Even after they finish school in the public school system they come back for support.
Question #2
Theme #1 Academic Success of Every Student I feel we need to improve on at our school. We are headed in the right direction, but I feel we jump on the band wagon of too many new programs before we give the ones we have a chance.
RPP-Donna Redinger, Ann Johnson, Mary Younginer, Ashley Purgason, Ashley Blake, Stephanie Cioffi, Allycen Garner
1-Theme 5: Sense of Family
We feel that this theme most exemplifies what Rocky Point Primary strives for. We are continually improving in this area. For example, this year we have added Boys Night Out and the Cinderella Ball. Boys Night Out was a huge success and we plan on making this an annual event. At RPP, the students are rewarded individually, on the bus, and whole class. Classrooms see themselves as a family unit, and use that mentality to work out problems and celebrate successes. Each year we have improved, and we are looking forward to our new building extension which would bring all classrooms under one roof! Parent volunteers are another great asset of our school. There is an understood open door policy, and whether their presence is announced or unannounced, parents are always welcome to drop by and help out! Considering how isolated our school is, we feel we have a great sense of family.
2-Theme7: Passion for Learning and Growing
We feel that this theme most exemplifies what Rocky Point Primary needs to work on. We do feel that we have been making progress every year, but we need to continue to process. We as a school have been working on improving our mission statement and school improvement plan. We have had to change the way we operate, with lack of resources, and teachers have been rising to the occasion. The staff has taken part in more focused staff development, on students with disabilities, gangs, retention, etc.
RPP- Donna Redinger, Ann Johnson, Mary Younginer, Ashley Purgason, Ashley Blake, Stephanie Cioffi, Allycen Garner
We agree with what Dees at Cape Fear is saying about family nights. It is a great opportunity to involve your parents in a focused evening at school, whether its a planned academic or social evening. It gives the opportunity for parents to see what their children are doing, without the formality or pressure of a conference or meeting.
CFE Sikes
I believe the theme that best represents CFE is Theme One: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. There are so many programs and strategies implemented to help meet the needs of all students in the school. We use the AR/AM programs, intervention lab, reading tutors, and interevention time in the classroom. I also feel the care team does a wonderful job of coming up with strategies for each individual child who goes through the process! Instruction at CFE is driven by data. We use LOA scores, Star Reading and Math, AR/AM and Aimsweb for both math and reading. This helps us to identify the areas of need for individual students.
2. It was hard to think of a theme that our school need the most help on, but if I had to choose it would be it would be theme six: Collaboration and trust. I collarborate very well with my team partners, but very rarely is there collaboration with teachers in the other grade levels or with specialists. Coming for Burgaw Elem. an A+ school, this is unusual for me. We would meet once a month for Collaboration days and find ways to intergrate across the curriculum in both the core class and specials. Including the arts making learning so much more engaging and meaningful for the students
RPP- Donna Redinger, Ann Johnson, Mary Younginer, Ashley Purgason, Ashley Blake, Stephanie Cioffi, Allycen Garner
At BES we would have informance nights for the parents. This was a night where the parents had the opportunity to see what their children were leaning in core classes,through a presentation of the arts. It was something fun for the students and a way for parents to see what their children were learning in school. This was also a wonderful way to get classroom teachers and specialsts collaborating.
The academic success of our students is very important here at RPP. Every employee does what is neccesary for the students to acheive at their highest potential. We greet the children as they get off the bus or out of their car with a smile and an encouragement the have breakfast and to do their best all day. The teachers are well prepared for the students with stategies to work with each child as they enter the room. We progress monitor so we know where the weak points and the strong points are so we can adjust our teaching accordingly. You will always hear "what's best for the kids."
I think the thing we need to work on the most is not letting parents make excuses for not doing their part in their child's education.We all know how hard it is to reach a child that has no home support. We need to make sure the parents know they play a major role in their child's education. Without their support the child will have a harder time in school.
Carolyn_Lunsford RPP
We feel the theme that best represents our school is theme 3: experimentation. There are numerous examples of experimentation throughout our school during the school year, and on a yearly basis such as adopting new reading programs (Imagine It!, RTI), testing programs (AIMS Web), math programs (Envisions), tweeking schedules (specialist time/frequency, dismissal time), teacher's moving to different teams, and eliminating programs (AR).
I believe at RPP we are Theme #5 (Sense of Family). I know when people outside of school ask me how many children I have and I say 25. They look at me a little crazy until I tell them I am a teacher. I do feel that each one of my students are mine. I get defensive just like a mother hen if something happens to one of them or if someone hurts their feelings. I truly care about their futures and it is important to me to see them be successful in life. I can say that is across the board at our school. Everyone I work with wants the best for their children and everyone around them. I am also lucky to be a part of the Second Grade team where we all look out for each other and go above and beyond to help each other out.
#2 I would probably say that we need to work on Academic Success of Every Student. This is not to say that I don't think we care about the academics because we do. I just wish we could have more options to teach what we know works instead of what is manidated to work.
The theme that our school mostly represents is a Sense Of Family. Being that we are a primary school makes it easier to work in such a nurturing environment as the saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." The whole staff is involved in disciplining and nurturing our children. Children at RPP are provided with a sense of belonging, it is a safe place for growing and learning. The children are always greeted with a smile and their accomplishments are celebrated. Our bulletin boards display the diversity and the creative abilities of our students. Sometimes children need tough love to understand right from wrong and discipline is enforced fairly by all staff members consistently.
We agree with Chris that we sometimes could collaborate more and use the strengths of other individuals for those in need.
AmandaJohnson RPP
I feel that the theme that our school values most is theme 5: Sense of family. Especially being a primary school, we try to make our environment as warm, safe, and family-oriented as possible. I consider my students "my children", as I know most all teachers at our school do. In kindergarten, we are responsible for teaching manners, community, responsibility, and other character traits that are taught well when we refer to our class or our school as our "family." These young ones comprehend community when you relate it to a larger family unit-- similar to the family that they come from.
I think that the trait our school could work on is number 6: Collaboration and Trust. I feel like our school could improve on collaboration across grade levels. We do collaborate in some aspects (for school-wide activities), but we could always do more. As far as trust, I feel like we could improve the atmosphere to where teachers could openly express their opinions/weaknesses/stresses without any hesitation.
To Linda Eakins: I think your statement of where our school should improve plays a part in collaboration and trust. When we make so many changes to our school structure and programs it can be confusing and chaotic. In chaotic societies, confusion could lead to distrust.
J. Philps
question #1
I believe them 5 represents our school the best. The team of teachers here are excellent! We work well together and always have the best interest of the children at heart. We are here to support one another and lend a helping hand when needed. I also feel we have extend this into the community. We hold Open Houses, family nights, university nights, etc. These are all ways to welcome the communnity into our family and let them know we value their input and presence.
#2
One area I feel the school could inprove on is #1. I think every teacher does the very best possible but I feel we do not have an adequate number of teachers or assistants to complete.."what is best of children." The budget crunch has left us without the proper money needed to give students everything they deserve in their education. I agree with the comment that we change programs too much.
J. Philips RPP
I agree with Chris from CFE, collaboration is valuable to everyone. If we all build off of each other's strength, we could spplement areas of weakness within our classrooms. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of intelligence. You are aware of what you lack and are looking for ways to improve. I do believe common planning times and longer planning times would help people be able to collaborate more often.
amigorpp
i agree with linda The actions of the principal,teachers, students, parents, and other members of the school community often reflect the concern and welfare of our students. the whole school needs to be involved with these students not just the teacher who they see the most.
Of the seven themes, the one that our school most needs to work on is #2: Collaboration and Trust. One way we can go about doing this is assigning a representative from each area of the school (grade level, specialist, EC, ELL, administration) to attend each grade level team meeting. If we implemented this in our school all areas of the school would know what is going on, providing clarification as well as helping out with collaborative lesson plans throughout the school. Another way we can increase collaboration and trust in our school is by communicating EVERYTHING, with the idea that this cannot be overdone. As a group we have decided that we would rather know everything that is going on in the school as opposed to missing a very important piece of information. Another way we can do this is if a safe place for grievances to be shared is provided, with the understanding that privacy is a MUST and the issues will be addressed. We also feel our school needs more positive reinforcement. One way we feel this could be accomplished is by creating a reward system for the faculty and staff of our school. For example, those who helped set up and run our recent “Boys Night Out” were allowed to leave early for going above and beyond. Finally, we feel that more trust needs to be established in the faculty and our abilities.
I truly believe something we do well at RPP is experiment. With the support of our administration, we are encouraged to think outside the box (or bun, if you are hungry and thinking tacos).
Something we need to work on is NO EXCUSES. I don't mean no flexibility. I mean when there are rules to be followed we should follow them. We were told to blog, we were told EACH of us had to blog, so do it.
Mr. Chris said that sense on family is big at CFE, and I agree with him. That's what makes students want to acieve more. We have a family sense here at RPP too. This is why our K-5 kids have such a strong desire to improve.
I agree with Mrs. Dees that collaboration and trust are very important part of student success. Carolyn Lunsford
According to what I have read, I would say that RPP is best at theme number five..sense of family. This school is always asking for parent involvement and we thrive on that. We believe that if we have parent involvement, the students will do better at school and I find this to be true. I also believe that some of the teachers at our school, including myself, do an awesome job at creating a family within our classroom. I feel that my kids in my class are so close and would do anything for each other. Part of that is due to the fact that we have looped together for 2 years but still, it is a hard job to accomplish and I feel we are very good at that.
What I feel our school needs to work on is theme number six, collaboration and trust. With that said, this can not happen without open communication between everyone. Teachers, administration, specialist, etc. I think that there should also be collaboration between schools. I would love to see what the 1st grade classes on the Topsail side are doing and look like. That would be a free day of professional development and we could all share ideas that we like and see. Trust is a total seperate word than collaboration. Trust is lacking here at our school because I feel that sometimes I am effected because other teachers are maybe not doing their personal best. I feel like I do my job above and beyond and some who don't make me have to do extra things..ie turn in lesson plans still. I appreciate all the teachers here that I can call on and use as valuable resources anytime I need them. Thank ya'll!
In response to CFE Lee..I agree that we all need to be on the path of academic success for our students. It is awesome to be in the line for the bathroom and have Ms. Faye (our custodian) and have her drill my kids on math facts. That is valuable time that we have and we have to use it.
I feel our school is best at theme number 1. Focus on Academic Success with Every Student. We have lots of various programs that help students achieve in many different ways. The rams tokens we use help in this because it is easier to learn when you are positivally praised on a regular basis.
I feel we need to work on Theme number 6. Collaboration and Trust. It is hard to collaborate when you do not have enough time in the day to breath let alone have time to talk to one another about what positive things you have going on in your class.
In response to Dees at CFE, I can see how the many different programs that are offered at your school help in the success of your students.
D. Brown RPP
1. I believe the theme that represents our school is # 5: Sense of Family. We work together to help our students achieve and to be the best that they can be. We are blessed to have some very dedicated volunteers who come in daily and work with us to help in the process. We know that each student is important and they need our support to reach the necessary goals.
2. I would say the theme that we need to work on is # 6: Collaboration and Trust. I believe that we could collaborate more and share other important methods that we have experienced that we feel might be helpful. We always have room to improve and should be open and willing to do that. We must be able to have trust in order to move in that direction. We must remember that we are here for the children and they need to know that we love and care for them.
In response to Mrs. Dees at Cape Fear. I believe family night is very important and we can get with parents and share our concerns and allow the parents to do likewise. This will help them to see what their children are doing and we should encourage their support as we all work together to help each student achieve and be the very best that they can be.
I believe that Theme 3 exemplifies the kind of teaching we strive for and accomplish. Our experimentation may not always permit us to include what we teach but how we teach it. We incorporate a school wide interest in finding the best way to reach our learners. We incorporate remedial and accelerated programs with a full use of staff thru RTI. Our research based programs are a jumping off point for trying what works for one student or a group of students, as well as changing what does not work or may not work with a particular individual or group.
Students can realize that problem solving may involve a kind of experimentation that leads them to success.
Our teaching flexibility enhances the students understanding that finding a variety of ways to learn is a benefit.
I do also beleive that staying with a proven program is most beneficial for us all. Just because something is new does not mean it is improved. I would like to see the benefits of allowing years to see longterm improvement, for teachers and students.
tiffany_smith RPP
To Amanda Johnson
Having an atmosphere where you feel that you can comment/express yourself freely is important in an environment of collaboration and trust.
To Dees
Collaboration such as the "Underground Railroad" project that you and Ms. Kane did. We always tell kids that they should work together and get along, but your efforts show them what that looks like.
Our staff members all work hard to accomplish Theme 4 We offer successful varied activities throughout the year to include our families.
My concern is that some of
our families are not as involved with their individual student in support of our school wide goals, both academic and social. Our open door policy and attitude gives all families the chance to be involved at whatever level they can offer. Our during school activities as well as after school activities encourage all to participate, and many do.
I do sympathize with parents' inablility to be at the school for any given function.
So my main concern is with some of the families who simply do not give the supporting home time we need for greatest student success.
For example, helping to make sure that responsibility for homework is expected from their child, whether it's written or studying, We all know the home support & encouragement makes a huge difference.
I do know that all of our staff members work very hard to achieve that home participation.
Our classroom and school communication addresses language differences, and concrete ideas for families to use at home.
We all work toward much greater home support, but it is an area that could always use help.
RPP - Cotten, Colclough, and Sessoms
Sense of Family is a strength at RPPS. Our faculty members are friends inside and outside of school. Our parents are in our school everyday volunteering. They do this because they are welcome. Our school provides them a place to play an active role in their child's education. We do not want parents to take a backseat. We take an interest in our students lives. This does not just mean their learning. I watched a teacher come to a child's soccer game this year. How wonderful it is to see teachers take time from their lives to be a part of their students lives.
Our school needs to work on collaboration and trust. This does not mean that we do not work together or trust the ones we work with. The problem is there is not enough time in a day for us to come together and share ideas as much as we would like to. Some of us meet afterschool on our own time to support each other and provide new ideas to one another. It would just be nice to have time to do that during the work day. I guess that is just another place where we need to be creative.
RPP - Cotten, Colclough, Sessoms
We, like Beth, agree with CFE Lee. All staff work together to see that all children learn. Our custodian takes time from her BUSY BUSY schedule to get to know the children. She quizzes them and helps them. Our office staff and nurse are interested in our children's lives. Every one takes responsibility and takes a vital role in helping each and every child. WAY TO GO RPP!!!
Janet Ensign at RRPS:
I think the theme that best represents us at RPPS is sense of family. Together as a school I see individual nurturing of students, their families, and staff. On a daily basis there is caring interaction within each class with 'family skills exemplified, practices, taught, and modeled.As within every family not every minute is perfact but the overall cummulative affect is one of true "family"
I believe that our school could work on collaboration and trust. I believe that there is limited opportunity to form bonds outside of our grade levels and that that is challanging to overcome. A spread out staff in seperate buildings contributes to our lack of ability to form those bonds.
I agree w/ Lee, CFE; we may not have it all but we do lots to focus on success for every student. At RPPS each child is encouraged to meet success by admisistration, teachers, and all support staff.
The theme of "Family" best represents my school. I say this as a situation happened to me this week where my administrator watched over me and treated me like she would her own daughter. I could tell my well-being was of the utmost importance to her. This came at a time when I needed that security and reassurance. Along with this, most employees at Rocky Point have been teaching here a while and work together as a family to help children succeed at school. Like real families, we don't always agree, but respect each other's differences and don't let our differences hinder our job of creating success for each and every child.
Experimentation is an area our school could work on. Often times we talk the talk, but don't always walk the walk. As I say that, I know we say we want to learn and study new strategies and techniquies, but it's difficult to always embrace a new method and truly make it our own. It can be hard to look to our colleagues for fresh ideas and it might make us look less equipped or not as capable. At times we hold on to techniques simply because we've been using the approach for years. Change is hard, but in today's school, we need to embrace the idea of change and experimentation.
As Lee from CFE mentioned, we need to work on Passion for Learning and Growing. Luckily, I still have the passion, but there are times when my excitement for education is squelched and challenged. Usually, I'm able to refocus myself fairly quickly and rejuvenate my passion for reaching every child in my classroom. To keep this excitement alive, I rely on my co-workers. It's nice to know that your bad day might be another teacher's really good day. I need the support of my peers to keep each day interesting and hopeful.
1.I believe theme 5: Sense of Family best represents RPP. We don't just educate our students. We take care of their social and emotional needs, as well. We celebrate the accomplishments of all our students by displaying their work in the hallways, making announcements and congratulating them (sometimes with rewards). I also believe we have made a conscious effort to provide a safe place for our students to grow and learn.
2. I believe my school needs to work on theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. I agree with the rest of my specialist team in having a specialist rep attend the grade level meetings to find out what's going on. We could enrich the learning of our students through our specialist classes simply by knowing what each grade is working on.
As far as the trust piece goes, I feel we need to be able to voice our concerns without fear of reprisal. We use to have a box in the teachers lounge in which we could anonymously voice our concerns. I think we need to resurrect "The Box" and have our concerns addressed either through a school-wide email or if necessary, during a staff meeting.
I believe that the theme that best represents our school is Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We have several programs and numerous strategies to help meet the needs of our students. We collect data on our students throughout the year (STAR, AIMSWeb, LOAs) and we utilize this data to monitor our students' progress and then provide remediation and/or interventions as needed.
I feel that the theme that our school needs to focus on is Collaboration and Trust. Although I feel that we do this to an extent, we could do more. Although we have common planning times with some of our team members,our biggest hindrance is still finding the time to collaborate. Our vertical team meetings in the past have been an effort to collaborate across grade levels and I think this is a step in the right direction. I do feel that "we" are our own best resources right now, especially with no staff development funds, but we don't take advantage of this opportunity to the degree that we could. I would love to visit other teacher's classrooms at our school, observe them teach, and then learn something that I could take back to my classroom and try with my students.
To Janet Ensign at RPP
I agree with you, Janet, that your school does a great job of providing that sense of family. You mentioned that you see individual nurturing of your students and their families. I think that's critical for your students and families because you are the first school that they come in contact with as they begin their education in Pender County. You set the precedent for how students and their families will feel about education in our schools. Therefore, it is important that they feel welcome and have that sense of belonging.
Best theme for Rpps is No excuses. I have seen this reflected in a new issuance of guides for the students to achieve their best work... in class and at home. I only wish this had been there for me. I feel we need the most improvement for experimentation of proven methods of teaching to achieve academic success in a global arena. Nixon-RPPS
I believe the theme that best represents CFES is #1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We work very hard through varied assessments, programs, interventions, and remediation to reach each and every one of our students and meet the individual needs of those students.
We would probably need to work on theme #6: Collaboration and Trust. I really think if given the time, we would be better at collaborating because it isn't that we don't want to collaborate with one another. It is just hard to find the time and sometimes the energy after a full day. I think it would be great if common planning times could be arranged, giving teachers a time during the day to share ideas with one another.
To Stephanie Cioffi...
I like the idea of seeing each classroom as a family and developing that sense of trust and cooperation...celebrating successes together and working together as a family to deal with any problems that arise.
I am overwhelmed that so many Rocky Point staff feel a sense of family. When I was there I definitely felt it. That is so important with the little ones. They must feel this warm, loving nurturing sense of family to happily transition into the school environment.
I have to agree with RPP Bogan about following rules. We expect our students to follow the rules we set forth for them, and yet we cannot follow rules ourselves. If a group of students decided to get together and turn in a homework assignment as a group, when it was an assignment that each individual was expected to turn in...would we as teachers accept that assignment??? Would that be fair to the other students who actually followed the rules and did the assignment on their own???
I agree with the above anonymous. Take the time to give your own response. If the rules have changed, then those changes should clear to those who are made to follow them.
RPP-Bishop, Bullard, Houseman, Howell, Weiss, Caison, K. Brown, C. Witherspoon
1. We belive that at RPPS we focus on the academic success of every student. With our Aimsweb testing, Imagine It! benchmarks, pacing guides, differentiated instruction and RtI sessions, we are able to meet every student where they are and propel them forward.
2. We do feel, as teachers, that we have held ourselves to the standard of "No Excuses". We would like to see the next level achieved through parental involvemnt in the home. There needs to be an accountability system between the school and each child's home because it does take a village to raise each child. Maslow's hierachy of basic needs (shelter, food, sleep,etc.) must be met within each family with each child before learning can effectively make growth.
RPP-Bishop, Bullard, Houseman, Howell, Weiss, Caison, K. Brown, C. Witherspoon
@CFE Hardee...
We are all in support of more collaboration and trust, especially between the RPP & CFE families. We feel that this would increase trust between the two schools and offer more insight into the lives of students and expectations.
To CFE Sikes: I also see that it is difficult to collaborate across grade levels and subject areas. This is something I continually try to work on with limited success. Hopefully this project will create more opportunities for communication and collaboration.
The theme that best represents our school would be #1-Success of every student. We don't just say "it's all about the kids", we live it. We have collaboration with EC and ELL teachers to ensure all students are getting their needs met. We write PEPs to ensure we know which students need help and to define what kind of help they are getting. We have an SST team that places the focus on each child who is still struggling despite the best efforts and strategies of classroom teachers.
I think the theme we could work on would be Experimentation. We are allowed and encouraged to try new lessons, activities, and strategies and we do. But we could still improve in this area. In order to achieve this we need to go outside of our comfort zones to try something new. We may also need extra technology, extra hands, or smaller classes to achieve this-all of which is really out of the control of the classroom teacher.
My response is to Kelly at RPP. I agree we should rely on fellow teachers to see the positive-in teaching, our students, and anywhere else you look at school. There are bad days and good days in teaching-as in any profession. It's the good days that help get you through the bad ones. We should revel in each other's successes and share our accomplishments to make teaching better for us all.
TLaBor @CFES
The theme that best describes this school is the focus on the Academis Success of Every Student, although all the other themes are apparent as well. There is a constant effort to come together and devise ways to further assist in the students success. There are endless adjustments being made with each new assessment in hopes that as the end of the year rolls by that all of our efforts have worked and each and every student has been successful.
One thing our school needs to work on more is collaboration. I know I have reached out several times to homeroom teachers unsuccessfully and part of it is my fault becuase I don't want to bother anyone. When I first began at this school I was collaborating with teachers left and right, and now, I just do lessons knowing that at some point the students will be covering it in class. I know there needs to be a better system in getting the info from teachers, I just haven't found it yet. I feel collaboration among the homeroom teachers and specialists will help the students and I know for me, things would be just slightly less complicated. When we do One Book One School and the whole school is covering the same theme, we collaborate on possible ideas; I would like to see that happen more often.
D. Brown,
I agree completely with you about always having room to improve and we should be open and willing to do that. I need to be more willing to keep asking what is going on in other areas and not worry about bothering anyone. Collaboration is beneficial to the students and we need to do it more.
I feel that the theme our school is strongest in is Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. I think that we are fortunate enough to have lots of resources here in our building to help students see success. We have tutors and remediation groups on a daily or weekly basis. Also, teachers are required to reflect on assessment data to get a better understanding of where their students are struggling and what skills they are mastering.
The theme I think our school could improve most in is Theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. While some teachers do meet together to share ideas and even plan together, no time is set aside in our school day or on work days for this to take place. With this being said, I do think we're making great strides to improve in this area. For example, the giant board in the workroom where teachers in all grade levels, across all curriculum areas, and our specialists write on the board what skills or units they are focusing on so the whole school knows what is going on down each hallway.
Cindy @ RPP: I also think it is important to have an avenue to anonymously voice concerns. Many times, problems that started small fester into larger problems because nothing is ever said about them. If staff members felt more comfortable with coming forward there would be no reason for small issues to become unmanagable!
1. Discuss which one of the seven themes best represents your school and why.
One theme that our school seems to be very good at is the theme about Academic Success for all children. We are all very eager to find new ways to celebrate our student’s success and ways to encourage them to boost the accomplishments. As a school we get very excited when students are recognized for the successes.
2. Which theme out of the seven does your school most need to work on and how would you go about achieving it?
If there was one theme that we at CFE would need to work at would be the theme of collaboration. Lots of times it is easier to plan and create lessons on our own instead of collaborating with our colleagues. If we would only work with each other, the work load would be less.
I agree with Lisa at RPP...there needs to be a way to hold parents accountable too. So much is put on everyone but the parents. It all starts at home and they need to have a hand in their child's education too.
We think our school our school represents theme three: experimentation. Our staff experiments with new programs each year and collaborates on ideas of how to implement in our classrooms.
We feel that we need to work on theme four: Inclusion. We could go about it by team teaching and planning with ESL and EC teachers in order for students not to be pulled out throughout the day.
Holmes, Bahlmann, Payne
To:CFES Kane
I think we all focus on student achievement first and always put it as our priority. It is very important teachers in a school collaborate in order for students to receive support to be successful.
RPPS: Payne, Bahlmann, Holmes
1. I think the strongest theme at CFE is Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. On the positive side, our teachers truly want each of his or her students to succeed. We do A LOT of different things to try and meet the needs of every student in our school. We have strong A.R. and A.M. school-wide programs to meet the individual needs of our students in reading and math. We have computer lab remediation classes and continuous remedial sessions in our classrooms to help students on a daily/weekly basis where they are struggling. We have EC and ELL inclusion classes to help our students. Our low achieving students are being progress monitored regularly in fluency and comprehension to help them improve. While all of this probably looks good on paper, on the negative side, I think it is often too much for students. Some students are constantly getting pulled out of class for remedial services or assessment. Most of these students need to be IN the class getting the instruction. Their getting bits and pieces and then we wonder why they are performing so low. I think we are so eager to help them, we forget to provide the time for direct instruction.
2. I think the theme CFE needs to work on is Theme 3: Experimentation. While our teachers do try to experiment with and identify new ways to accomplish tasks, most of the things we are doing are being "handed down to us" to do whether from the administration at the school level or at the county administration level. Teachers don't feel free to try too many new strategies because we have so many we're "expected" to use. Teacher input is listened to, but often not acted upon for whatever reason. I think educators SHOULD feel such strong responsibility for ensuring the academic success of students that they eagerly seek ways to improve teaching and learning. BUT I think we're not given the opportunity to do this because we HAVE to do certain things and at certain times. FLEXIBILITY is almost a thing of the past when it comes to teachers doing what they know is best for their students.
3. I agree with Hope-RPP that teachers should have more options to teach what they know works instead of what is mandated to work just because it worked in another school system and/or just because it is researched based. What better leaders to choose what works for their own students than the teachers who know them and work with them everyday. "Cookie-cutter" classrooms/schools/school systems are not the answer for students who need individualized or differentiated instruction. If assessments are only one piece to the puzzle then why is it that all teachers, students, and parents hear is assess, assess, assess?
I believe that Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student best represents our school. We are always looking for methods, materials, and strategies that are "best for our kids," and that will help to ensure their success. We believe in our students, and help them to foster a belief in themselves. Every morning students recite the CFE Pledge, which serves to remind them to always "do their best, so that they can stay above the rest," and they see our school motto posted all around the school (Believe in Yourself). We have many formal and informal methods for collecting and analyzing data and information about our students; such as AR, AM, STAR, AIMSweb, Progress Monitoring, LOAs, and ClassScape. We constantly provide interventions and remediation for our struggling students, and we use differentiation in order to help them to be academically successful.
I think we could work more on Theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. I feel that teachers are willing to collaborate, but lack of time seems to be a challenge for us. There seems to be more and more to do each year, and important things like time to sit down and talk and plan together get the lowest priority. I have wanted to work on specific projects with our art teacher; and although she and I have talked informally, we never get quality time to actually follow-through on our ideas. I would like to see time allotted on Early Release Days for more collaboration. I also think that we need to collaborate more across our two schools. (I enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the reading program that RPP is implementing.)
To Lisa RPP
I strongly agree with your comment about parental involvement, and an accountability system. I feel that parents need to be held more accountable, and they need to be held to the same high standards of "No Excuses" as teachers are held to.
To Hope at RPP and Terri at CFE,
I agree with both of you about teachers having more options to teach what they know works; rather than what is mandated because it worked somewhere else, or is research based.
Terri,
I especially agree with your comment about flexibility. We are reminded that we need to be flexible, yet our opportunities to do so are very limited because of all the mandates.
I agree with Christy at CFE that having a Collaboration day once a month would help a great deal. If something works well at another school it could very well work for us.
This is my first year at CFE so I am learning the ropes. From what I have observed, I feel Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student is the theme that describes our school the best. We have many interventions in place for our students that are having difficulties as well as programs in place to enhance the learning of our students that are doing well. Our teachers do a wonderful job of data collection to enable them to keep up with all students strengths and weaknesses. We also have the best student support team (CARE Team) that I have ever worked on. This team puts a great deal of time and thought in to strategies ad interventions to help struggling student before they are referred for exceptional children's services. 2. I feel our greatest weakness is Theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. With all that we have to do , there is not enough time in the day to have time to really sit down and share ideas. Although there is team planning time for each grade level, it seems to be just enough time for the basics. There is so much we can learn from each other but it takes TIME to get to know each other and TIME to build trust and feel safe to speak your mind about certain subjects.
1. I believe the theme thatour school best represents is theme 1. We try to reach every student. Teachers teach in different ways inorder to reach every student. We have many programs and rewards which are attainable by every student.
2. The theme that I think we need to work on is between two collaboration &trust and experimentation. We do collaborate within our teams but across grade level and with other schools. I think if we had the time to collaborate with our feeder schools both primary and middle our students would benefit. Experimentation is another place we could improve. We experimented with inclusion and found it to be successful but have not tried anything else.
I also agree with Lisa at RPP about parents being held accountable. It is very hard for students to think education is important if parents don't think it is.
1. I believe, as most of my colleagues do, that the theme that CFE most represents is Theme 1: Academic Success of EVERY Student. We have committees, clubs, family nights, and staff development solely dedicated to student success. Our EC and ELL inclusion teams plan and collaborate to ensure those students are able to access the standard course of study. We have AR/AM where students can work at their own levels, intervention lab, and reading specialists to focus on that specific area. We have our CARE team to plan strategies for individual students. We use data from AIMSWeb, LOAs, and informal assessments to guide us in where each student’s strengths and weaknesses lie.
2. If I have to pick a theme we need to work on the most, it will be Theme 3: Experimentation. We are getting better, and with the new 21st Century framework for learning we have to explore more with technology and job readiness skills not just with our higher achieving students, but all of our students.
To Bogan:
I really wonder if those papers would be accepted as a grade for all? I agree we should do as we say, be good role models for our students! If we are doing this as individuals, everyone has their own opinion and should be heard.
I am glad you feel like we here at CFES are family based. I feel it is important for students and parents to feel comfortable here.
I agree with Sutton that we need to have more flexibility in how we teach. All children learn differently and we are not a "one size fits all" society. Being flexible gives us the opportunity to reach more students throught the way they learn best. It is really hard to do that with all the mandates that are passed down to us.
To Stephanie Cioffi and group...
I agree with you, and many of the other RPP staff members, that when classrooms see themselves as family units everyone achieves more, and it doesn't only have to do with acamemics. You guys have much more family involvement than we do at CFE. You always have, AND IT'S THE SAME PARENTS!! This is a predicament we have been trying to improve on for years.
1. I believe the theme that best represents our school is #1. We truly focus on the academic success of every student. Students are held to high expectations and standards, and strategies are put in place to help students reach these goals. We use a myriad of techniques to teach and assess students to best serve them. I truly believe that we make decisions that are in the best interest of the student, not the teacher.
2. I think the area we need to work on the most is #6. I don't think we purposely don't collaborate and trust, I just think the day-to-day routines make it very difficult to find time to talk with others. It always feels like there's a million things to do and to sit and talk strategy with colleagues gets pushed onto the back burner. Obviously collaboration means communication, and without communication you cannot build trust. The two go hand-in-hand, so if we were able to spend more time communicating we would have more trust.
I agree with Amanda-RPP about the improvement with collaboration. You can always do more, especially across grade levels. I also agree that it would be nice to have the trust with each other that we could make comments/suggestions and people would not get upset or offended, rather use that as a tool to better serve our students.
1. I believe the theme that best fits CFE is Theme #1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student.
At CFE we work to help each student achieve his or her highest level of success. Many of our programs, such as AR and AM, provide individualized goals for students. In this way, students are successful at their highest level and not compared to others. They are expected to achieve their highest success. Sometimes we think if a student doesn't make A's they are not successful. We need to remember many students may be doing their best at a B or C and celebrate when they achieve their success. We are focusing more and more on differentiation and using students' learning styles when planning for instruction which also helps to increase success across the board.
2. The theme I feel could be worked on is #6. The main reason it is hard to focus on collaboration is time. Our schedules are so filled with activities, we cannot always find the time to collaborate with others. It would be great if we could use our planning times to work with other teachers to get ideas, share ideas, ask for help, and integrate with other curriculum areas.
I agree w/ Janet at RPP that budget cuts have drastically hurt our ability to work with students on an individual basis, esp. at the primary level. I see the negative effects so few TA's have on both teachers and students. At the upper elem level it is also hurting us. There are several ideas I would like to implement but do not have the resources to do so and do not have the funds to purchase those resources which would be individualized to the student.
I believe the theme that best represents CFE is Theme One: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. Our school is driven by Academics. We are always doing remediation for the ones who are behind and enrichment for the ones who are ahead. We take the data from our LOA's and the students graph it in their Data Folders. This helps the students to see where they are as far as our school and county. I believe it is very important for the students to "see" how they measure up to others and motivate them to do better.
The theme that my school needs to work most on is Collaboration and Trust. We are given so much to do now that it is taking the time away from us that could be used to collaborate with other teachers. Collaboration is a must. We all have good ideas and if we had time to share it we could really learn a lot from others.
I think we as teachers are trusted to some point, but in observation of teachers in the upper grades, they seem to be respected more than those of us in the elementary grades. I guess because we teach the young ones, we are treated like them as well. I don't feel that it is on purpose, that's just how it is.
I agree with Bogan in that we were asked to do these assignments on our own and it seems that those who are doing these blogs as a group are getting out easy. This is how rules get changed because someone thinks that they are the exception. If we are told to do something, do it the way we are told and don't bend the rules!
I think CFE has a stron sense of theme number five..sense of family. Cfe is always asking for parent involvement and students thrive with parent participation. With parent involvement, students do better at school. We have so many parent nights and I know that Terri and I send home a weekly report to keep parents involved. O believe school is a natural extension of our students families.
What I feel our school needs to work on is theme number six, collaboration and trust. The reason I think this is because I know how much more effectively I teach when I can collaborate with someone else. I also know that I need to trust the people I am collaborating with. Otherwise, I would not feel comfortable in letting others know the areas in which I am struggling.
I also agree with Hope-RPP that teachers should have more options to teach what they know works. We know the demographics of our students better than anyone else...Who else would know better how to teach our students..and with what than us? All of the "research based" iniatives and "Cookie-cutter" classrooms/schools/school systems will hopefully be replaced (one day)with real teaching and learning will take place when teachers and students are not held so accountable. Learning will become fun again and then we will see lots of growth, as students and teachers will be more relaxed and enjoy the teaching/learnig process.
1. Success for all students each & every day. We have high expectations for our students regardless of their socioeconomic background and this leads to a successful learning environment.
2. The area we need work on is collaboration. I think that all teachers teaching the same grade & subject should meet at least once or twice a month, during planning, to bounce ideas off of each other and communicate what’s going on in their classrooms.
Paula King at CFE Says:
1. Discuss which one of the seven themes best represents your school and why.
I would have to go with theme 1 the academic success for every child. I think this theme does because we go to the extreme to make sure our students do well For example remediation, remediation lab, small groups, and pull out. And we all do it together with our partner and others on the hall and in the building.
2. Which theme out of the seven does your school most need to work on and how would you go about achieving it?
I think there is no perfect school and all six themes can be improved upon. There is no way we are at 100% on any of these themes. But being a family and gaining trust is a big one in my opinion.
To Kelly @ RRP,
Passion for teaching is often "squelched" like you said because of all the outside the classroom responsibilities. It seems like there's more testing, paperwork and meetings then ever before. This adds stress to an already demanding job. I am glad you get some relief from your co-workers.
I think that Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student best represents CFE. We use a variety of formal and informal assessments to collect information. Then we plan lessons that are focused on getting every student to show growth. I also think we do a great job of being attuned to the ways in which individual students learn best. We have programs that allow students to work towards individualized goals as well as many support services to help them meet those goals.
I believe that we could work on Theme 6. I know that we all want to collaborate more, but there are barriers that we sometimes can't prevent (time, schedules, committments, etc.) My team and grade level do a great job of working together, but I would like to see us have more opportunities to collaborate school-wide.
I agree with Lisa at RPP. I wish that we could hold parents to the same standards that we are held! Just imagine the growth that we could get if all parents were as invested in their child's education as we are!
1. We feel that Theme 7 represents our school the best. All of the educators and staff are very passionate for both helping the children learn and grow and learning and growing themselves. We are constantly learning new things through workshops and trainings to help the children acheive higher levels of education.
2. We feel that our school needs to work on Theme 6. If we all collaborate with each other and trust each other enough with our strengths and weaknesses, then we all grow.
Amanda Weaver, Amy Leister, Megan Dalton, Cynthia Eason, Amy Greenwood, Courtney Burbick
RPP Pre-k
I feel that the theme that best describes our school is Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We havemany programs and plans to help meet the needs of our students. We build data all year long and make changes to our teaching method after reflecting on assessment information.
Our school needs to work on collaboration and trust. This does not mean that we do not work together or trust the ones we work with. We all have good ideas and we need to take a minute every now and again to appreciate eachother.
As Chris stated I think we a good foundation of all the themes. However, Inclusion stands out to me. Even though we have different styles and roles in developing a successful student we all have an important part. I don't think anyone of us isn't here to develop happy, healthy, successful students. I think we all take ownership in doing so.
I think we need to work on Experimentation. Change is hard and sometimes we get comfortable doing what we have experience with. It may seem that this is the easiest way but listening and experimenting with other ideas may actually be a bigger time saver. You won't know until you try it. I believe the reduction in staff development monies has contributed to this weakness. I know in the past when I have attended conferences, I come back reenergized and excited to try the new ideas.
I agree with T. Colins an open door policy and attitude gives families the chance to be involved at whatever level they can offer. We need to include families at whatever level of involvment they are able to give. We also need to help those families that are intimidatedby school feel more comfortable. I think RPP is on the right track with the Boys Night Out and Princess Party. What a great way to develop the parent child school relationship.
I think CFES best fits Theme 5: Sense of Family. I believe we all treat the students with respect and concern; give attention to children’s total development - social, emotional, and academic; celebrate accomplishments (academic and nonacademic); display student work proudly; provide a safe environment for students; integrate special programs into the school; communicate with parents in ways they can understand; and communicate to students that we care about them and are happy they are at CFES.
I think we most need to work on Theme 3: Experimentation. I think we have the spirit of experimentation, just not the time or training to truly put it into practice.
I liked what Christy said about collaboration days. This sounds like what we did for One Book, One School and the idea behind the whiteboard in the workroom. I think it would be beneficial to meet like that more often.
"Coming for Burgaw Elem. an A+ school, this is unusual for me. We would meet once a month for Collaboration days and find ways to intergrate across the curriculum in both the core class and specials. Including the arts making learning so much more engaging and meaningful for the students."
Tanya House said....
I believe the theme that best represents our school is Theme #1 Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We are student focused because we use their individual data to evaluate each students needs. When those needs are not being met, we collaboratively think of new ways to boost student success. Our Care Team, remediation teachers, support staff, and differentiation techniques are all geared towards creating a successful student.
One theme that I think our school could work on is Theme 5: Sense of Family. For some reason, as the students mature parents seem to become less involved in school. Being an intermediate school, we tend to suffer from this phenomenon. We have put a lot of efforts into place to welcome our parents into the school. We have shown some success in this area but we could benefit from increasing parental involvement.
Tanya House CFE said....
I agree with Kelly at RPP that experimentation is a difficult thing to tackle. It does require a commitment to making the change. You not only have to learn the new techniques and evaluate the benefits, you must make TIME to truly understand effective methods of implementing those strategies. Time unfortunately and insecurities tend to hinder us from taking the leap into new ideas...
I believe the theme that best represents CFE is Theme 1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. Along with most of my colleagues, I know we all strive to provide the best experiences and education for our students.
I think the area we could work on more is Theme 6: Collaboration and Trust. I feel that my grade level works really hard to collaborate, but things like lack of resources, time, and training sometimes hinder our good intentions. I also think trust could be worked on more. One of the statements Mychal Wynn makes is there should be a "school cultivated atmosphere where teachers felt free to express their concerns about ideas or actions without fear of reprisal." I just think that we are all educated and passionate professionals, but I see more and more teachers (myself included) afraid to say what we feel would be best for the students because we don't think our opinion matters. I think we all need to be open and willing to listen to each other and step outside our comfort zones to try new things.
I totally agree with Carolyn from RPP. I wish there was some way we could make many of our parents understand the importance of their child's education. We are not miracle workers--we need to collaborate with parents to help their child succeed.
Insco - CFE
I would surely choose Theme 1 Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. We strive to reach every student and go to whatever means it may take to do so. I would also, however, choose #6 Collaboration and Trust because, especially this year, I have had the great experience of not only collaborating with teachers in my grade level on planning and sharing but also with 4th grade teachers on ideas that I can do in the classroom to better prepare my students, but also some ideas I have that have been used in their classes.
2. None of the themes stand out to me as one we need improvement on but having to choose one I would go with experimentation. I think we do this already with trying everything we can to reach all of our students and I feel this is a weak choice but one that I am trying more and more in my classroom.
In response to C. Lunsford from RPP's comment about the parents being responsible for their part in their child's education is key. Getting the parents to take responsibility and understand that the learning continues at home is very important and something that should be emphasized to some parents. Good point.
In reply to Amanda Johnson at RPP - Your comments about collaboration, I agree that we should do more. I said in my post that I have collaborated this year across grade levels and it has really helped not only in planning lessons but also in understanding what the students will be doing once they continue on to the next grade. I feel responsible for what they have learned and take into consideration the comments about how prepared (or not) they are once they move on to the next grade level.
The theme that I think best represents our school is theme #1: Focus on the Academic Success of Every Student. Our school is consistently monitoring students' progress and working together to meet each student's needs. Students receive support in areas that our needed and are challenged through programs such as AIG and enrichment. There is a strong focus on academic success of every student.
The theme I think our school could improve on is Theme #6: Collaboration and Trust. I think teachers would like to collaborate more, but it’s hard to find time to plan and collaborate together. I think we have started taking steps to improve collaboration by creating a large board where teachers write what they are focusing on in their classrooms. Perhaps time set aside once a month or so for more collaboration would be helpful.
RPP- I notice most of you answered that the theme that best represents your school is Sense of Family. I think that's great, especially at that age when students need extra nurturing!
T. Podolinsky CFE
I Think theme one is the best because we always at Cfes focus on and allow the child to grow as an individual and allow their successful nature to take over by just putting emphasis on how important the goals and their success is and need to achieve for themselves and apply that with the goals the school sets, and the one we fall short on is collaboration because its seems everyone has a plan of their own and sometimes falls short on including others.
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cfes
To Beth at RPP
I too beieve trust and collaboration can be thought of separtely. We try to collaborate, but as mention by others that is hard due to limited time and conflicting schedules. Collaboration between schools is crucial and needs to be encouraged.The trust in a school results in a productive amicable staff, when people are not pulling their weight, resentment results.
This is a area that could use work at our school.
I think our school is doing really well at #1 by truly providing academic success for each student no matter what the level learner they may be. And do we have DIVERSITY. Call us Sub-group Elementary School. Due to a strong cohesive staff we see successes that rise above the standard.
I believe the best theme that represents our school is #5: Sense of Family. We strive to make RPPS an environment were children feel welcomed, loved and believed in. We also strive to involve parents as much as possible. Through special programs for grandparents, moms, dads, extended families, etc. RPPS offers numerous opportunities to engage the whole team! I believe we could work on increasing # 6. Collaboration and Trust is here, it could just be made stronger.
I agree with Jodi Fucili at CFE. Resources being depleted as they have, make it difficult to incorporate all the ideas and enthusiam we would like to display.
Julia H. CFES
I think we are a mix of Theme One - Focus on the Academic Success of our students and Theme 5 - Sense of family. I feel that we choose supplemental programs that will assist our students in particular areas, such as AM and AR. In making decisions we choose what is best for the kids - that is a priority. Lessons are planned and subjects integrated to reach all learners. I think our school also incorporates theme 5 in that students have a sense of safety and caring. Their opinions are important and they are able to make some choices in their learning.
The theme for our school is a sense of family. The PTA meetings and other evening activities promote parental involvement. The activities are scheduled so that parents who work later can participate. Also teachers are very flexible when scheduling PEP meetings to meet the needs of the parents. Some are here 5-6 p.m. at nigh in order to accomodate families.
I like token system Tracy wrote about at RPP. It is good when students are rewarded for showing exemplary behavior.
I believe at Cape Fear Elementary we succeed most at Focusing on the Academic Success of Every Student. At CFE, we offer a number of supplemental programs to help each of our students achieve academic success. The EC program at our school is exemplary. Support is given to each student with a special need in a way that promotes growth and pride in themselves. As an ESL teacher, I feel as though my team goes the extra mile to reinforce and teach skills to second language students. By making home visits and checking in with students at school, my students are beginning to show growth in make academic achievements. Finally, the AIG program at CFE is top notch. The enrichment material challenges and encourages students to strive and push themselves to be great. Each teacher at CFE is motivated and dedicated to their students and mission of academic success for all.
If there is an area at CFE that the staff should work on I feel it is Theme #6: Collaberation and Trust.
For the most part, my teaching partner and I, use "inclusion" and "team teaching" as a way to accommodate the ESL population. This is a fantastic way to reach all the students in a general way and be able to monitor their in class performances. But, to achieve positive outcomes using this technique, it is crucial to have open communication, a positive rapport, and trust between the two teachers. Building relationships is a continuous process and ever changing. I feel the teachers at CFE are open, honest, and willing to share responsibilities in their classrooms. But, it is always an area that can be worked on, tweaked, and improved upon.
1. I believe the theme that best represents our school is Sense and Family. Ever since my first day at CFE, I have always felt at home when at work. It's a joy to walk into work and have people who greet you and understand you as a person. It's noticeable that parents and community have the same feeling when they walk into our school as they are always greeted with a smile.
I believe we need to work on Passion for Learning and Growing. As teachers, our students look up to us for growth and strength, and it's easy for teachers to get frustrated with that student who doesn't do their homework or continues to be a behavior problem. What we need to realize is that this student has feelings, probably more sensitive than our own, and we need to help our children to succeed - not bring them down.
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