What Do the Teachers Do When Students Have a Day Off?
February and March Staff In-Service
March 03, 2010
Staff In-service days are a very important component of the school year. In-service day agendas for staff usually contain multiple topics and tasks. These days are most often used to provide staff additional training, to provide staff time to collaborate and learn from each other, to address district school improvement goals, and to allow staff members time to compile grades and prepare for parent-teacher conferences.
At the recent February 19th staff in-service, PreK-12 teachers started the day together. Mr. Pease addressed the group and shared information regarding current changes at the district, state, and federal level. Next the district school improvement team conducted a brief workshop regarding current school improvement goals; the theme of this workshop covered aspects of the Change Process. The workshop provided opportunities for staff to review, reflect, learn, and share with each other on topics relevant to improving reading comprehension and re-thinking the high school experience. (Staff also had some fun on this day as depicted in some of the pictures. Door prizes were awarded and modeled by winning staff members.)
Other activities on this day included all staff participating in a local scoring of 4th, 8th, and 11th grade writing assessments. This is a valuable exercise as all staff are responsible for ensuring students are practicing the Six Traits of good writing. All staff also participated in curriculum meetings. Professional Learning Community groups met on this day as well. Many of the district para-educators participated in CPR training during this time.
On the March 5th in-service date, the district NASA committee will be sharing ideas with staff regarding how they might include their students in relevant activities regarding space exploration in honor of Clayton Anderson’s next mission. Teachers will also be working on state standards and preparing for the upcoming state reading test – NESA-R. Professional Learning Communities will again be working on this day. Teachers will also have time to work on grades and prepare for the upcoming conferences with parents.
