Week Ending October 2, 2015

As I was preparing the NEASC two-year update report, there were multiple reminders of what the faculty and staff feel is important in the building. Some of these recommendations have been addressed and other items need to be addressed that may have been forgotten. October brings with it student learning objectives, beginning of the year meetings, budget meetings, professional development planning, professional learning community planning and new for this year in the Career and Tech Programs: marketing, recruiting, designing and preparing to welcome students from outside districts. To get most of our work done we will be counting on one another. Are you open to new ideas that are not your own?  Are you willing to share your opinion when normally you would not? Your voice matters. I am finding the more conversations I have with those willing to engage, the richer the possibilities for solutions and the greater time we will have getting there...together.

Teachers as Learners

Multiple departments were using their common planning time to discuss Student Learning Objectives this week. I was able to discuss with a few people and listen to their ideas as well as share my own. I appreciate the willingness to pilot the school-wide SLO using the common course assessments in each department. It may look different depending on the level of student within your class and what is most important is the growth that students show at all levels. For those of you that have heterogeneous courses it always looks different and you may already have ideas of how to approach this. Classes will likely scaffold the learning for students and I look forward to the conversations we will have afterwards to see what worked well, what may need to change and if overall this is something worth pursuing over a few years. I welcome feedback as the semester and year unfold.

Students as Learners

On Wednesday afternoon, we had a group of students attend the second annual Manufacturing Day at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, where our robotics team also competed in the Robotics Olympics and placed second overall. Congratulations to Mr. Powell and his team. Not only were students there from the Robotics class and the team but there were student volunteers from the AP Art class, Rachel Johnson, and from AP Physics, Katy Brayman, to assist with multiple areas of the competition. Students were using their 21st Century problem solving skills from all fields of study.

Additionally, Evan Toth, Sam Robilliard, Christopher George, Siddarth

Koppaka and Brian Shamblen all were commended by the National Merit Scholarship Board who recognized these 5 students from 1.5 million who originally sat for the Preparation SAT. They are pictured here during their assembly on Wednesday, September 30 in the auditorium.

This Friday, October 2, in our AP Statistics class, we had our first volunteer from the Naval War College Community Outreach

Program. Eric Schmidt, an Army Ranger lead a math lesson on probability, logic and statistics, and how they impact how he makes decisions in his job as a field commander. He is pictured here in our office this morning with Ryan Plummer and Josh Kinnes. Thank you Rhonda Kosiver for having him in your class today.

Student Services Office

From the Deans:

If a student is going to eat lunch or work in your room during lunch, please be sure to give them a pass or they will not be allowed to go. We have no way to confirm it during that lunch time.

Acknowledgement: This past week, a 10th grade student who was physically shaken asked to see a dean because she was very anxious about a situation with a couple of other students. She was not able to concentrate on anything else.  She was brought to room 202, where Cindy Zito was able to calm her down through a meditative drawing process and later that day the dean saw this student laughing in the cafeteria with her friends and she was able to return to class and resume learning. While this may be anecdotal it certainly shows that the drop-in program in room 202 is helping to keep our students in school. Thank you, Cindy, for your effective efforts with our students.

“We live in a very multifacited and sometimes chaotic world, and drawing/meditation allows us to create order from the chaos.” To learn more: http://trevorledford.hubpages.com/hub/drawing-as-meditation

Health and Wellness

Get Your Flu Shot

Flu vaccinations protect you and those around you who may be more prone to illness (older adults, infants).  According to the CDC, a flu vaccination reduces the risk of doctor visits due to flu by 60%.

A flu vaccination does not guarantee protection against the flu. Some people who get vaccinated might still get sick. However, people who get a flu vaccine are less likely to get sick with flu than someone who does not get vaccinated, and if you get sick, the illness will be much less severe.

NKHS FLU CLINIC  (@ NKHS Clinic)  TUESDAY OCT 8th   2:15 – 5PM

Bring your Insurance Card & Completed South County Health Form  

(form found on Sept 10th Human Resources email)

Upcoming Events/Important Dates

Sat, Oct 3rd -- SATs, 7:30 am - 1pm.

Mon, Oct 12th - no school, Columbus Day

Tues, Oct 13th - School Committee Meeting, 7 pm, Auditorium

Wed, Oct 14th - PSATs (in-school)
Thur, Oct 15th - Picture retake (during lunch)
Mon-Fri, Oct 19th-23rd - Spirit Week

Videos Worth Watching (only 4 minutes!)

Clint Smith, The Danger of Silence

Articles Worth Reading

“Willing to Be Disturbed” by Margaret J. Wheatley

Food for Thought

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
~African Proverb

Until next time, Think, Create, Innovate...Denise