Announcements May 30

More Great Results on STAAR

EOC results came back this week, and we are very excited to see the high school's results.  Every single tested area saw great improvements from 2013.  Congratulations to THS staff for their success on STAAR-EOC.  Check out Dr. Hartt's weekly memo to see the great results.  

Summer Comp Days for Core Teachers

Over the summer, core teachers in grades K-12, MITS, and any teachers, who are required by their principal to attend, will participate in the following summer comp days.

• Before August 5 - Curriculum Development Process: These directions will come out on the blog in the next post.  The process will have step by step directions for you to follow.
• August 5 - Lead4Ward training will be at the community center from 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Fine Arts Walk

Outstanding Art from our
Fine Arts Walk

The Fine Arts Walk was a huge success last night.  We had outstanding art from our digital media students, art students and our print shop students.  There were superb performances from our band students, choir students, drill team members and theatre students.  Thank you to following directors and teachers for your hard work:

• Band Directors:  David Applegate, Allyson Machado, Kirk Wells
• Choir and Theatre:  Claudia Sullivan, Pam Galloway and Rebecca Gillis
• Art, Digital Media and Print Shop:  Amanda Hancock, Tanya Moore and Melody Ojeda

The great thing about the Fine Arts Walk is all of the work that was displayed for our community.  Our parents were able to see not only the excellent work that their children were doing, but they witnessed the fantastic work that all children in Tatum ISD are able to do in many unique programs. 

College Career Readiness

Yesterday, Dr. Hartt and I attended a Business and Education Symposium hosted by Longview Economic Development Corporation at LeTourneau University.  The topic was House Bill 5 and how it is affecting public school, higher ed and business.  Here are some great take-aways that apply to everyone in our district.

"Mother Earth"

• Businesses are looking for qualified applicants that possess the 4 C's:  Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity and Communication.
• Businesses want to partner more with schools to help us produce a labor workforce that matches the specific technical needs of our local business community.
• Currently, 50% of our area's graduates are enrolling in college, so it is critical to have viable career pathways available for the other 50% who currently are not going to college.
• Dual credit partnerships are becoming more prevalent and more creative to match the needs of today's student.

Our local business community is extremely interested in and supportive of the work that public school teachers are doing.  They are looking to support us in teaching kids about the new career opportunities that are coming available each day.  They are also looking to hire learners, not workers.  They want employees who possess strong interpersonal skills and solid personal values.  These "soft skills" are some of the most important factors that will make or break every student in the work place. 

Cristi Whiddon has some great exemplars of tech integration.  Check them out!

Art Gallery in the Cafeteria

8th grade Reading students used Animoto to create book trailers for novels read in class. Once their projects were complete, they submitted them via Dropbox.  Here is a link to an example of one created by Sha Matter.

http://animoto.com/play/tdgo2rg6Q0Qc8PrF0C5A0w

8th grade social studies students created Fakebook pages to introduce the important people involved in the American Revolution.  Once created they uploaded to Coach Burrow's online wiki which is located on our Middle School homepage, go to Weblinks and Blogs then Coach Burrow's Online Locker.  This particular example belongs to Kelli Sandidge and is what George Washington's "Fakebook" page might look like if he were alive today.  Students then shared with the class.
http://www.classtools.net/FB/1192-4FWEY5

7th grade ELA students created a video project titled "It's My Life" using photopeach.  They used the events from their video to create personal narratives.  Along with this project they used the website, readwritethink.org, to design a cd with songs that relate to each event on their timeline.  This particular project belongs to Madison Peerenboom.

http://photopeach.com/album/sfoooe?invitecode=c8943bc8df

What An Exciting Week!!!

This week has been an exciting week.  STAAR scores came in and the results were great.  Congratulations to you for your hard work.  There were gains in every area which says a lot about the preparation and execution of the plans that you developed.

Last night, TPS had its annual M & M program in the coliseum.  As a first time attendee, it was amazing.  Christy Lister and Donna Toon did a fantastic job preparing five grade levels of students to perform for the community.  The student speakers were very polished.  The students entertained the crowd, and the campus faculty did a fantastic job supporting the Christy and Donna with organization.

The moral of the story is this.  When everyone works together to achieve a common goal of excellence (STAAR or M&M), students will always rise to the occasion and meet the goal.  I put together a quick video to illustrate the concept of what you have done this year to meet your excellence goals.

May is Mirror Time (Time to Reflect) 

Reflection is the most important yet most overlooked stage of change.  Think of it this way.  When the power is out when you begin getting ready for work, there is no light; thus, no opportunity to look in the mirror before leaving for work.  Without the opportunity to 'reflect' on the work you have done getting ready to look presentable, you stand a strong chance of showing up to work with one brown shoe and one black shoe.  Your hair could be sticking up in the back.  Your collar could have one side buttoned and one unbuttoned (sadly that happens to me even when the power is on.).  Without reflecting on the work you did this year, there is a strong chance that you may forget about the one strategy that had the greatest impact on kids.

In progressive organizations, systems exist where reflection happens frequently.  The more frequent that staff members work together to examine their products and the processes that created them, the more progress can be made.  Reflection offers opportunity to tweak, revamp and even replace ineffective actions.  When we reflect, efficiency expands as effectiveness becomes exponential. 

CLICK HERE for a Google Doc to guide your reflection.

STAAR Update for 2015-2016

I attended the curriculum directors meeting in Kilgore this week, and there was lots of  information to share with you about upcoming training and information that you need to know about STAAR.  I'll keep it brief.

• Grades 3-8 Math STAAR will be completely over the new standards.  There will not be an overlap test (testing new and old TEKS)
• Grade 5 & 8 Math will NOT be under SSI, but 5 & 8 reading will be under SSI for next year only.
• Lead4Ward will be releasing new documents around June 1 to help us prepare for Math STAAR.
• All STAAR tests except math need to prepare to have kids passing at Phase-In Level 2 in 2015.
• CLICK HERE for 3-8
• CLICK HERE for EOC
• STAAR Math tests will only receive raw scores in 2015, and we won't know the passing standards until January 2016. (insert collective sigh)
• Region 7 is looking for teachers (in all content areas) who want to collaborate with other teachers from other districts on various topics.  They will be creating cohorts of teachers who will collaborate using face-to-face and virtual tools (Google Hangouts, etc.).  As information comes to me, I'll share with you.

Celebrate Excellence

This week, I'd like to highlight some cool things happening in the area of technology integration.  If you are creating some cool tech integration products that you'd like to share with everyone, SEND ME AN EMAIL

From Cindy Haston:

THS students are experimenting with blogging as a way to share ideas and improve their writing skills.  In Mr. Galloway’s English III class, students created a research blog to record their thoughts as they go through the research process. (see picture below)   In English IV, Mrs. Turner’s students create their own adventure travel blog based on characters from  The Canterbury Tales.

Summer Learning

What are your plans for the summer?  Where will you be going?  What will you be doing?  What will you be learning?  Every summer I make sure that I have a great time connecting with my family and having some fun experiences, but I also make sure that I come up with a learning plan for myself to stretch my thinking and add some new tools to my tool kit over the summer.  Here is what I'll be learning this summer.

Books

Marzano (Becoming a Reflective Teacher) is a recent book that I downloaded on my Kindle.  It has a good overview of why reflection is so important in the field of education, it gives practical examples of reflection.  I just finished Chapter 1 & 2.

Eric Sheninger (Digital Leadership:  Changing Paradigms for Changing Times) is another book that I plan to delve into.  While it is written from the context of leadership, I encourage you to check it out.  After reading the intro and first chapter, I am convinced this book is a great read for all educators who want to drive technology integration.

Twitter

Four years ago, I conquered my Twitter-phobia by simply jumping in and checking it out.  The rest is history.  My learning has exploded rapidly by learning from educators across the globe.  Over the summer, I will be hosting some Twitter chats (dates and times TBA) for Tatum ISD educators wishing to try it out.  If you are interested in learning more about Twitter, read my post called

7 Steps to Conquer Twitter-phobia

Also, let me know if you are interested in participating in some Twitter chats this summer and let me know topics you are interested in collaborating about.

Here is also a 5 minute video on Personal Learning Networks.  It illustrates how  PLNs can help you grow in your own learning.

Region 7

Of course, there will be workshops in Kilgore that I will go check out.  If you're interested in seeing what's available, here is a link to the workshops offered this summer.  There are tons of learning opportunities offered through Region 7.  Here are some trainings that are being featured this summer.

• Bard & Breakfast for ELA Teachers
• Social Studies Summit
• Curriculum Conference  over 90 sessions in all content areas presented by teachers from Region 7
• Digital Scoops for Library & Media Personnel 
• Fine Arts Summit
• High School Math Content Cohorts (this looks very interesting)
• Going through a Phase of the Moon (ONLINE COURSE)
• New TEKS Training for Algebra 1 & 2, and Geometry

Inquiring Minds want to Know

What will you be learning this summer?  Drop a comment and tell us all what books you will be reading and topics that you will be working to learn more about this summer?

Happy #TeacherAppreciation Week

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week.  I hope that you received lots of words of thanks for the job that you do every day to make this world a better place.  I came across this quote on Facebook last week, and I think you'll like it. 

Good Morning Tatum ISD

I'm not much on selfies, but you need
to know what I look like...

My name is John Wink, and I am happy to be joining you as your director of curriculum, instruction and assessment.  The Pursuit of Excellence blog will be my primary form of communication with you.  I prefer blogs over email simply because blogs encourage dialogue and collaboration among multiple people as we work and learn together to ensure excellence for all.

A Little Bit about Me (personally)

I am from Longview where I attended and graduated from LHS in 1990. From there I earned a degree in vocal performance from SFA where I met my wife, Carolyn.  She is a police officer in Kilgore.  Together, we have a 4H club of our very own:  Hunter, Hannah, Holly, Haley.  Outside of work, I enjoy writing, reading, running, being outside, and hanging out with my family.

A Little Bit about Me (professionally)

After SFA, I went back to Longview HS to serve as choir director for 6 years.  I earned my Masters from Texas A&M University-Texarkana and moved to Hallsville MS where I served as middle school assistant principal for 2 years and then principal for 4 years.  In 2008, I served as principal at Hallsville HS for 3 years and most recently served as principal at Gilmer Elementary (PK-4) for the past 3 years.  My passion is helping every child become a success by serving teachers in every way that I can.

A Little Bit More about Me (philosophy)

I believe all kids can learn, and together it is our job to do whatever it takes to help them learn.  In order to achieve excellence, it starts with relationships.  If we can build powerful relationships with students and with our fellow colleagues that are grounded in trust, mutual respect and service to another, excellence will come naturally.

I really like the fact that Tatum's mottos hinge on the ideas of "Excellence for All" and "Where Every Student is Special".  In order for excellence to be achieved, we must take a quote from the great Vince Lombardi who said the following:

"Excellence must be pursued.  

It must be wooed with all of one's heart and all of one's might."  

In other words, excellence is not a result but a constant pursuit of learning for ourselves first.  If we are in pursuit of learning for ourselves, it is much easier to guarantee learning for every child.  My goal in life is simple, to be a learner first and a teacher second.

Over the Next Couple of Weeks

As we complete this school year, I hope to get to meet each and every one of you.  I plan to learn as much as I can about the great things in place.  After just one day, I am extremely impressed with all of the creativity and innovation happening throughout the district.  The systems for collaboration and communication tell me that Tatum ISD doesn't just have a motto.  It is living out that motto.  

I will be soliciting your input of through surveys and Google Docs.  I hope that you will give me your honest feedback about how the curriculum department can best support you with professional development, resources and supports.

Subscribe to my blog - I hope you will take a second and subscribe to follow this blog in the email subscription tab in the upper right hand corner of this page.

Let's Connect

I am kind of a digital nerd based on the fat that I am constantly connecting through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and yes, even Pinterest.  The reason that I like social media is because we can learn so much more from our fellow educators around the world.  I have made many connections with teachers and administrators around the world who have stretched my thinking and  learning by opening my eyes to millions of unique ways to pursue "Excellence for All". 

• Click here if you want to connect on my personal Twitter page.
• Click here if you are interested in reading my personal blog.
• Click here if you prefer to connect on Google+.
• Click here if you would like to check out my boards on Pinterest.
• Of course, you can always email me if you have any questions.

Drop Me a Comment

So tell me what makes Tatum an awesome place to work and learn.  Tell me what I need to learn before the school year ends.  I am here to learn and support you, so in closing, thank you for the opportunity to work and learn with you.  I truly hope you have a great May and an even better end of the school year.

For Kids,

John