Teachers are Tough!

Have you ever stopped to think about how much work a teacher gets done in a day?  I often think about it.  It is easy for people on the outside to consider education as a "desk" job; one that you only work 9 months out of the school year.  How hard could it be to just throw some problems on the board and grade them, right? 

What many people from the outside do not see are the countless hours that are invested in our schools.  They forget that we are actually TEACHING for 7 hours a day, which only leaves after school hours for grading and preparing exciting lessons for the next day.  Many of you are at school before day break and home after dark.  Not only are you teachers, but coaches, bus drivers, and mentors. There are many days that it is hard to fit in a simple restroom break or even lunch!  I always giggle a little after working with adjunct (community member) teachers that help us teach dual credits.  They quickly mention that the work is a LOT harder than they expected!  Teaching is definitely not for the weak!  

Even though all of the above is true and at times overwhelming we are all in this profession for one thing: KIDS.  We have had the joy of building relationships with students by listening to their funny stories and crazy ideas, wiping a few tears and celebrating a win with them.  We have watched our students, who sometimes come from impossible situations, thrive and become successful after high school.  There is nothing better than having a past student stop you in Walmart and show off their new family and hear their excitement about living in our community!  Teachers change lives, shape communities and have the capacity to change the world!  Not every profession can say that!  

Even though we sometimes wish that state and federal legislation wouldn't make us jump through so many crazy hoops, we know that our hard work makes a difference.  I feel so blessed to be in this crazy profession with all of you!  

Important Information: 

South Spencer Visit:  On Monday, South Spencer High School is sending a small team to Perry Central to visit during our Lunch/WIN time.  They are interested in implementing a time in their day that allows their teachers to work with students.  We may be stopping into some of your classrooms just to let them see how this works and maybe gather your thoughts about WIN.  Thanks for setting the bar so high and being leaders in this area!  

8th/10th Grade Orientation:  Maria Sweat has been working hard to get scheduling started for next year.  On Monday night, we will be welcoming families from the 8th and 10th grade to go through scheduling options.  I would like to also thank our vocational teachers for attending and sharing information about the Career Pathways we offer at Perry Central!  

Whole Child Summit - On Wednesday and Thursday this week, Kelly Cash, Tara Bishop, Jennifer Mitchel, Shelly Kunkle and myself will be attending the Whole Child Summit in Bloomington, IN.  We will be learning more about resources we can use to help our students succeed.  Don't worry!  You will be in good hands with Mr. Zellers!!  :-)  

Boys Basketball Sectional:  Our Varsity Boys will be playing on Wednesday Night against the Forest Park Rangers in Sectional Play!  I hope we have a great turnout and strong support for the Might Commodores!  A special thanks to the Student Council and Pep Club for their AMAZING work on our hallway decorations!  It is such an awesome tradition at PC!  We will also have a Pep Session on Wednesday as well!  Should be a fun week of sectional dress up days!  Teachers, feel free to wear jeans this week!

ISTEP Testing - 10th Grade students will be participating in ISTEP testing starting the first week of March.  Math testing will be March 5,6 and English testing will be March 7,8 & 11.  We will not be interrupting the main schedule very much, but we will send out a schedule soon!  

Objective Writing - Don't forget to practice writing your objectives!  It is an important step to the learning process!

Important Dates: 

Monday, February 25 - 8th & 10th Grade Orientation 5:45 - 7:30 p.m./ South Spencer Visit 11:00 - 12:30

Wednesday, February 26 - Pep Session/ Boys Varsity Basketball Sectional  5:30 p.m.

Indiana General Assembly Updates

The General Assembly has been very busy the last few weeks, hashing out many important bills that will affect all of us in the State of Indiana.  The hustle and bustle reminds me of my college experiences as a Senate Intern; committee meetings, House and Senate debates, community engagement can be a very exciting and stressful time!  My dad always taught me that politics is not about being a republican or democrat, but about finding the right people that want to serve our communities for the greater good.  As I have grown up and dabbled a bit in politics myself, he is exactly right (not that I am surprised)!

As citizens, it is very important that we are involved in the process. We also know that many of the decisions made at the state level are important for our school communities as well.   With the progressive thinking of our own Central Office and outstanding programs that our faculty and staff run in our school, Perry Central has been asked to come to the table many times to weigh in on items such as graduation pathways and high school accountability.

Recently, our own Mary Roberson was asked to testify for HB 1404 which impacts school accountability and dual credit opportunities for students.  (I have added a link to the digest of this bill below.)  The bill actually takes testing OUT of the 9-12 accountability (so we would get rid of ISTEP+ 10) and would allow for the graduation pathways to be a measure of our A-F letter grade.  It calls for schools to measure the number of students who are college and career ready (dual credits, certifications, military) and be held accountable for where they are 6 months after graduation.    Even though the bill comes with some controversy, we do believe it is what is best for students. 

Representative Bartels also tried to help us with our goal of adding an Additive Manufacturing Certification.  He drafted HB 1112 that would allow schools to apply for funding to help develop this certification (with Perry Central in mind).  We have been working to align our programs with Ivy Tech and local companies.  The bill is actually stuck in the Education Committee at this time.  I am not hopeful that it will make it to the final table, but there is still a possibility it could be an amendment to another bill as we move forward.  Regardless of the outcome, it has been an interesting process and we will continue to find ways to finance this idea.

I have included a link below that will help you find bills of interest and read them for yourself.   The deadline for the House and the Senate to give their final reports are this week.  Bills that were not heard will be dead, but as we mentioned above, sometimes those ideas can be amended into other bills as the move to the second half of the legislative session.

If you ever have any questions or would just like to chat legislation - I would be happy to learn with you!  :-) 

Indiana General Assembly - Legislative Look-Up


Important Information:

President's Day:  This Monday is a Virtual Day for students and a work day for teachers.     

 Agenda for Assistants:
7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Assistant Training  (Kris Walsh's Classroom) - Assistants will then move to the buildings they work in and work with Special Education Teachers from 8:30 - 9:30 or 10:00.

Agenda for Teachers:
8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. - Faculty Meeting (High School Library)
9:15 - 11:00 a.m. - PLC Team Time  - Please see PLC Organization Folders/PLC Meeting Notes for agenda ideas
        - 9:30: Social Studies/English/Science teachers - Table Grade Performance Tasks - in Hailei     
                    Gehlhausen's room
11:00 a.m. - Lunch Provided
11:30 a.m. - ALL Dual Credit teachers to High School Library for a 15 minute Ivy Tech Training
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Mandatory ILearn Training in high school library for all core content junior high teachers  (if you are unsure if you should attend, please ask!  :-))
1:30 p.m. - Dismiss

Lori Desautels Sunday Moment - Great short video on why our middle school students really struggle with regulation and some ideas about how we can overcome their struggles.     Click HERE 

ISTEP Retesting - Juniors and seniors that need to retake the ISTEP test will take the English test on Tuesday and Wednesday this week (19th & 20th) from 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.

Junior High Student Council - Members of the junior high student council will be traveling to Easter Peekin to visit their school on Wednesday, February 20th!  The school has undergone training from a program called the Ron Clark Academy.  We are excited to learn from our neighboring schools!

Book Club Meeting - Teachers reading the book, "What Schools Could Be" will meet on Friday during lunch/WIN to discuss chapter 1 and beyond!  Looking forward to a great meeting!




Important Dates:

Monday, February 18 - President's Day/Teacher Work Day

Tuesday, February 19- English ISTEP Retesting

Wednesday, February 20 - English ISTEP retesting/Jr. High Student Council Field Trip

Friday, February 22 - Book Club Meeting during Lunch/WIN

Innovative Learning

This week, we were honored to have Brenda Stallings, CEO of Matrix Integration, and Curt Trainer visit Perry Central.  Both individuals are very well known entrepreneurs in Indiana and Ms. Stallings has been recognized with many awards across the state.  Their visit reminded me of the book we are reading, What School Could Be, as we start rethinking our learning environments to prepare students for the Innovation Era. Curt and Brenda were both VERY excited to see what we were doing at Perry Central!

Their visit came at a good time as many of our students shared some of the current projects happening in our CTE courses.  Ag Power, Construction and Civil Engineering are working on designing a set of stairs in the ag building.  They are utilizing strengths from each class, including learning how to lay out stairs, creative design, computer aided drafting, and creating a bill of materials.  This week, they will present their project to the Health Science and Biomedical classes in hopes that the medical teams can help them learn more about safety.

Carol Schwoeppe's Entrepreneurship class has been using their creative juices to find ways to use different types of fabrics.  They have developed prototypes of phone cases, hot dog holders, table mats, bracelets and more.  Our goal is to take a field trip to encourage more creative thinking and to help students see that they can be successful!

Vanessa Johnson's class has been working on brainstorming ways that additive manufacturing (3D Printing) can be used in the medical industry.  Already, there are filaments that can be used to 3D print skin and other organs.  They shared their ideas with our guests.

And off course, our Commodore Manufacturing students shared their projects.  They have been working with the engineering class to find a way to week vinyl stickers for American White Tail.  The company would like to pay our students for producing 60,000 stickers.  Right now, the process takes too long so our students are finding innovative ways to produce the stickers quicker!  As students learn about materials, they are finding very creative ways to make this possible, including how to possibly utilize an air hockey table and a vacuum cleaner!  :-)

Ms. Stallings told the students that, "If you have a passion for knowledge, the world is full of opportunity."   As Dr. Dintersmith tells us, we are in a uniquely exciting time in education.  We have to find ways to engage students, provide them with real-world challenges, have them work in teams, and teach them how to communicate!  Project Based learning is how students will work in the real world and we need to help them be ready for the Innovation Era that awaits them!

These type of visits always leave me filled with energy as I see our teachers and students working together to re-create the classroom and our learning environments.   Keep up the great work!


Important Information: 

ISTEP - This week, we will be starting our ISTEP retester exams.  The students who are retesting have to take both parts of the exam in the same window.  We are going to give math on February 12 & 13 and then February 19 & 20 for English.  We are very fortunate that many of our students are going to meet graduation requirements through the Graduation Pathways, so many do not need the test.  I will send out a list of students tomorrow.  Thank you!


Farewell - As many of you are aware, we will be saying our good-byes to Hilarie this Friday.  She is going to take an opportunity to move to Missouri.  We feel so fortunate to have had Hilarie on our team for the past few years.  We wish her the very best!!    It will take a team to fill her shoes for the rest of the semester.  Stephanie Walsh, Carrie Guillaume, Seth Gehlhausen, Dana Harris and Greg Gibson will all have a hand in helping cover her classes.  We thank all of them for their willingness to help and doing it with a happy heart. 

Valentine Treats -  As a special treat for all of our Valentines, Janet has arranged for some sweat treats Thursday morning!  Save your calories this week as the cake pops and cupcakes will be waiting for you!!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Welcome - We would like to welcome Robyn Templin this week!  She is going to take Kelly Field's place as an assistant.  She is also working on her Master Degree in Special Education and will be teaching a few lessons there.  She is Toni LaGrange's sister.  We are happy to have her!

Important Dates:

Monday, Feb 11 - School Board Meeting 6:30 p.m./ Special Education PD

Wednesday, Feb 13 - Math PLC Meeting - 2nd WIN

Thursday, Feb 14 - Valentine Treats

Friday, February 15 - Senior Night Varsity Basketball/ Senior Breakfast Friday morning

Monday, February 18 - President's Day will be a virtual day for students and a work day for teachers 

Conscious Discipline

As you know, this past Monday my family experienced the loss of our barn and animals due to a barn fire.  Even though it was just a structure and animals, it was hard to watch it all go up in flames as it was a place of pride, hard work and family time for us.

This stressful experience reminded me of the importance of conscious discipline this week. (I know, I am a nerd - but it is true!)  Conscious Discipline is a mindset that helps us move from reacting in our downstairs brain (usually irradical) to a more conscious response that comes from a regulated brain.  Even though the initial response was panic and despair, I found that I helped my family most when I took deep breaths, (prayed a little), and tried to stay calm.  I could give my calmness to my family, especially my husband, when they needed it the most.  It helped to keep our situation in perspective and know that we had so much to be thankful for.

This week, Jennifer Mitchell shared a podcast with me from Conscious Discipline that was geared towards high school classrooms.  I really enjoyed listening to it (I have posted it below in case you want to listen to it yourself.)  It reminded me of the stress that our students are under everyday.  Just where our brain states were at the time of the barn fire, students come to us worried about their grades, being the best student, getting the one correct answer, not disappointing their parents, managing peer pressures, and even worried about negative family experiences.  They are STRESSED.  It is important that we develop classrooms where students feel they have voice and they feel safe to learn.

The podcast also reminded me that students really do not develop executive functioning skills until we are 24 or older. Students are still learning how to deal with time management skills, lengthy attention spans, impulse control, and empathy.  The Conscious Discipline lady compared their brains to fluorescent lights that blink on and off - some days they can manage their skills and other days they cannot!

In the podcast, Mr. Hummer, high school teacher, talks about how he develops community by developing strong relationships for ALL students. He asks each period to reflect on their purpose in the class and how they want their classroom to be.  He also asks them to brainstorm how they want to treat each other, what tools/skills they need to keep themselves from being distracted and to be successful.  By doing this, he is developing a strong sense of community and students start to help each other manage the environment as they feel they have voice and a safe place to learn.  By writing their commitments and posting them on the wall and maintaining a safe environment, he has found much success.

I would highly recommend listening to the podcast. It is a quick listen and a great reminder of the little things we can do to help ourselves and our students.  (I just listened to it while washing dishes - so you can do two things at once!)   The podcast did remind me a lot of all of you and the caring community you have developed at Perry Central.

Podcast

Hope all of you have a great week!


Important Information: 

Early College Fun Facts: The Commission for Higher Education conducted a study on Early College programs and dual credits across the state.  The results were very positive and exciting.  I thought I would share a few fun facts with you below.  Thanks to all of our dual credit teachers for having such a positive impact on our students!

  * Students with dual credit experience are 70% more likely to go to college and complete (students with AP & Dual Credits are 93% more likely)
  * Early College & AP programs save low income students 18.7 million dollars a year/ All students $69 million dollars/ and over $62 million to the state in savings (we should ask for this money to come back to our schools)
  *  Students earning 15 credit hours or more generally demonstrate a higher rate of college going, second year persistence and first year GPA averages
  * It is important to note that Academic Honors Diplomas do carry a higher rate of success than the Core 40, do diploma type matters as well.
   * 80% of students in Perry County earn dual credit (one of the highest percentages in the state)
   * 11% of students earn AP credits in Perry County

Way to go Perry Central Early College!!!

Classroom Objectives (Learning Targets):  Remember a classroom objective (learning target) is a clear, concise description of WHAT will be learned and how it will be ASSESSED.
 Examples:
    I can explain the similarities or differences, or both, between species and phylum.  (Science)

    I can solve a multistep problem by using ________. (Operation/algorithm/formula)  (Math)

    I can participate in/contribute to a discussion about  ___________.  (Social Studies)

    I can analyze a character's development/interaction with other characters.  (English)

IReady Training - For 7th & 8th grade math and English teachers, we are going to have IReady Training on Friday, February 8th during lunch/WIN.  Please see Jamie Guillaume's email for details.  Let me know if you have any questions.

ISTEP Testing - We are getting close to the first round of ISTEP testing for 10th grade students and retesters.  Our list of retester students is minimal due to the new graduation pathway option.  We will be posting the ISTEP schedule soon!



Important Dates: 

Tuesday, February 5- Varsity Basketball vs. Southridge 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 6 - Admin Book Study Meeting, "Focus" by Mike Schmoker - 3:00 p.m. (Chapters 1-3)/  IDOE Grant Meeting for Counseling Team  1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Friday, February 8 - Homecoming   Varsity Basketball @ 5:30 p.m.