Discussion topics from week three

Vision Statement

To ensure students have the skills necessary to pursue whatever dreams they may have, whether that is to go to college or to enter the workforce upon graduating.

To incorporate technology-based learning into all classes.

Teachers are often intimidated by technology they do not understand and feel that their more technologically-literate students comprehend technology better than themselves. This can lead to technology avoidance amongst teachers. However, although students may be fluent in the language of texting, they may not necessarily be well-versed in how to use the Internet for research, how to design a web page, or have mastered other technical skills that are critical for success in college and in the workforce. Technology can be integrated into research process in the humanities (such as English and history) and also be used to conduct experiments in the sciences. Once the technology is provided for the district, it is a cost-effective way to ensure the syllabus and the curriculum remain current and existing materials can be supplemented with online materials from the web.

Goal 2: To increase the opportunities for faculty education.

Mentorship can be a valuable tool to help orient new teachers to the classroom as quickly as possible. It ensures that students do not fall behind, merely because they have an inexperienced teacher. By assigning young teachers to older mentor teachers, both educators can learn from one another. The younger teacher can learn critical skills from the senior teacher, based upon the wisdom of the senior teacher's experience. The older teacher can be exposed to new educational approaches the younger teacher learned in teacher's college. This also creates a warm, collegial environment that facilitates the sharing of knowledge.

There should also be regular meetings for faculty, during which they can talk amongst themselves and discuss different pedagogical methods. Many teachers often have similar syllabi because of the need to meet standardized testing benchmarks so teachers can easily and effectively pool ideas in such a way to make the process of dealing with standardized testing more enjoyable and less frustrating. Teachers can also talk about creative approaches to get students excited about learning in general, and even engage in team teaching efforts and group projects.

Goal 3: To keep the community involved in the learning process.

Parents are an important part of the learning process. To ensure that parents communicate the seriousness of learning to children and reinforce the lessons learned in the classroom, they must also be involved in the classroom environment. Having parent volunteers come in to support teaching staff takes some of the burden off of teachers. Parents can come in on 'career days' to educate students about potential vocational opportunities, and stimulate students' imagination in terms of 'what I want to be when I grow up.' Even non-parents can be asked to participate in the classroom in various ways, which ensures that the community a whole is involved and invested in what is going on at the school.