EDLD 5363 Video Conference

The conference on December 15, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. was very short.  The class and project are coming to a close.  The conference spoke about posting the assignments (revised week 3 assignment, collaboration document, and final video) to TK20.    I posted mine last night and it did not originally take, but I finally got it to post.  We need to make sure that things are closed out in the class by tomorrow night - the day the class ends.  If students are still having issues there will be an additional conference call on Sunday to answer any further questions.


Another point made during the call was to review that our WIKI and TK20 are needed not only for our place to store items created in our class, but are also need for our certification.  We must upload on both sites.  The WIKI is for our benefit so that we can easily access and others can view what we have produce throughout the masters program.

EDLD 5363 Video Conference

The conference on November 30, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. was beneficial on getting ideas on how to work smarter and not harder on the three week Public Service Announcement (PSA) project.  As a group we were already using Google Docs to document our conversation; however, being able to have all of us edit the assignment and turning in the same information ensures that this is a team effort.

EDLD 5363 Video Conference

The conference on November 14, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. was very informative about the video that we are to create.   I wish that I had more time to devote to doing the project.  I am looking forward to working with Photo Story 3.  I have been looking for a electronic storybook software that is easy to use.

I would like to work on it on my own, but after having the conference I see the importance of working with another team member.  I think that this will be a fun assignment, but with everything going on it will be a challenge to find the time to do the job to my satisfaction. I enjoy seeing the collaboration/help provided by the other students in the class - all sections working together. I am worried that I will not find a partner by Thursday. I have never worked on a project that I didn't work face-to-face with the person.  I look forward to being able to try google docs to track our collaboration.

CIP Meeting

On November 7, 2012, the principal had called a meeting to review the 2011-2012 CIP documents.  The principal first notified everyone on the committee that there would be a meeting with an attachment of the document in case a person wanted to review the document before the meeting.  After school, people on the committee did a come and go meeting.  One could walk to tables that had the document printed and read through all the components.  After the person read the document, the person just had to sign-off stating that it was reviewed.

As a principal, I am sure this is the easiest way as to not have a debate on any of the issues since the whole group was not there at the same time.  Not saying that I had any issues with the document, but to me it was a document put together by the principal and everyone just signed off on - no real collaboration went into the document.

Board Meeting 10/24/2011

In the board meeting, previous meeting notes were approved and the financial report was approved.  The superintendent verified that all teachers in the district were "highly qualified".  The tax for the comptroller was approved.  Policy FB and DI local was approved (district policy).  The consession plan for UIL had already been put in place.  Authority for imminent domain was discussed.  It was originally mentioned to be discussed at a later time; however, the board had no problem going ahead and approving the forms without further discussion.  The superintendent gave his report reminding board members of classes that were coming up.  He noted that currently there were no reasons to do a RIF.  He discussed a tax on goods form that is currently no use to the school; however, action would need to be taken if business contained warehouses - "Goods in Transit".  The schools will be celebrating Veteran's Day with activities.  A discussion of possible "bonuses" to retain teachers.  He discussed "Equity Litigation" and how it would affect the schools.

In the board meetings, there are issues that at the level of a teacher that are not known.  I will have to research what the FB and DI local are as they are terms that I have never heard of.  I learned about Equity Litigation and how it could affect the school budget.  It amazes me how fast the topics are discussed and approved.

ARD Meeting Thoughts

On Friday October 7, 2011, I attended an ARD on one of my students.  It was an annual ARD on a student that has been diagnosed with Autism.  The principal, SPED Director, classroom teacher, SPED coordinator, and the parent were in attendance.  The SPED teacher that normally works with the student was not present.  An issue that occurred before the meeting even took place involved the coordination of the meeting.  The ARD committee members were not all notified in a timely fashion which caused a conflict for the SPED teacher to not be able to attend.  Throughout the meeting, each aspect of the IEP was discussed.  Somethings I think would have better been explained during the meeting with the SPED teachers being able to explain.  Fortunately, the parent, classroom teacher, and SPED teacher collaborated well during the year, that issues or confusion were minimal.

After speaking to the SPED coordinator that stood in for the meeting, I was informed there were questions that were asked by the SPED Director to the teacher that were unjustified.  For example, modification and accommodations in the classroom should not have been asked when a list of modifications and accommodations were provided to the SPED Director during the meeting.  During the meeting, the classroom teacher informed the committee that math grades would be given through the SPED teacher, but grades would be coordinated with the classroom teacher.  The teacher was informed that this information was not necessary by the SPED Director.  Speaking with the SPED teacher the following school day, the SPED teacher informed the teacher that this information is important to be relayed during the ARD.

As a teacher, the information that should and should not be relayed are confusing.  Further investigation from the principal will be done to clarify what is a teachers responsibility in an ARD?  What is the SPED Director allowed to ask?

FISD School Board Meeting and Thoughts

I attended my first school board meeting (9/26/11, 6:50-7:20).  They began with by going over the FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) report card for 2009-2010 school year.  The school was rated superior.  The meeting went on to briefly note the finance report and changing the December meeting dates.  Mr. Adams spoke about getting a waiver for 1st and 2nd grade having too many students per teacher.  The board approved based on district hardship.  The next item was discussing School Board Member elections.  They approved a 4-3-4 year term.  If state declines they will keep current terms.  They will have elections in May 2013 if proposal is approved.  The Superintendent provided his report on EOC stating they are waiting for state direction.  He then discussed some board training opportunities, then mentioned the SRO report.  The final topic was an article about schools releasing custodians and have teachers clean their rooms which board members mentioned paying for sports, paying for school transportation, etc.  Meeting was adjourned.

The meeting was very fast.  Most topics were just mentioned and the public never was informed about the details.  It was interesting to see the superintendents job dealing with the city and the county - working with elections and county boards.