PDC Meeting: May 12, 2011

PDC Meeting:  Thursday, May 12, 2011

In Attendance:  Sechler, Rosebrough, Marcum, Azeez, Sevon, Griffin, Jones, Ipock, Simmons, Lord, Smith, Roweton, Paulsell, Newman, Peterson, Earl, McKan, Kramer

Minutes are approved with a motion and second as reviewed and posted on the PDC site.

New Member Introductions:  New members to PD committee are as follows:  Kristy Pliler from WN, Jamie Roweton from WS, Hanna Lord from WE, Melanie Jones from WC, and Danielle Hockman from WC.

Chairperson Election:  Michelle Sechler was reelected as PDC chairperson.

PDL Program:  After lots of discussion the PDL program was discontinued. The duties of the PDL position will now be transferred to the teaching specialist in each building. There will no longer be a stipend for those duties. Members asked to check with building administrators about using IE money to compensate PDC members for their work.

PD Plan 2011-2012 Members voted to accept the proposed PD plan Dr. Marcum presented. The PDL portion will be deleted from the final version.

HQTI:  The High Quality Teaching Institute will be held August 8^th – August 12.

Look to the Future:  The BTA training date will be Wednesday, October 5^th from 9-3. New teachers will be encouraged to attend this training to be held on-site. PDC meetings will continue to be held on the second Thursday of each month.

 

PDC Meeting: March 10, 2011

PDC Meeting:  Thursday, March 10, 2011

In Attendance:  Tennison, Collins, Roth, Ipock, Griffin, Peterson, Nixon, Rosebrough, Sechler, Nelson, Paulsell, Earl, Azez, Marcum, Kramer, Smith, Galloway, McKan, Newman, Robinson

Minutes are approved with a motion and second as reviewed and posted on the PDC site.

PD Plan 2011-2012 & Budget Discussion:  Each member has  post-it notes to mark the 5 items perceived as the most important/effective for PDC committee expenditures.  Members spend a short time sharing ideas about the items marked as most important and give justification for the choices.  Areas receiving noted interest and the numbers of those showing emphasis were:

 release time for mentors and beginning teachers (20)

mentor supplies, handbooks, and stipends (20)

Subs for CAPS & MRI (17)

Grade level workshops & training (9)

two half-days of in-service trainings (7)

NSCD/ASCD expenses (6)

DRA substitutes (4)

Technology Integration Academy (4)

Professional membership fees (1)

Discussion includes the anticipated 25% cut in Professional Development funds and the ever-changing district needs and concerns.  The discussion will carry over to next month to make final recommendations about areas for potential cuts.

District Calendar (Draft Version) for 2011-2012:  Committee met to plan and look over draft calendar.  Board has yet to make final approval.

Building PD Update:  Most buildings will be following up with previous trainings during the upcoming ½ day professional development time on March 18.

Look to the Future:  Newly-appointed members will need to come to the next meeting (future dates are April 14 and May 12).

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities:

“Using Technology in Math”   Wed., March 16, 3-4 p.m. @WHS

PDC Meeting: January 13, 2011

PDC Meeting:  Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Willard R-II District Professional Development Committee met on Thursday, January 13, 2011 in the District Training Room. 

The following members were in attendance:  Susan Marcum, Michelle Sechler, Matt Rosebrough, Nancy Ipock, Robin Kramer, LeeAnne Peterson, Debbie Newman, Lindsay Paulsell, Amy Earl, Janet Simmons, Carolyn Nixon, Natalie Roth, Yvonne Galloway, and Amy Smith.

 Meeting was called to order by chairperson, Michelle Sechler.  Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.  Ms. Sechler called for reports about professional development activities at each building in the district.  The following items were reported by building representativis.

 Willard North

• Big 8
• Brain Gym

Willard Intermediate

• Book Study (15 Fixes for Broken Grades)
•  Class-Within-a-Class collaborative meetings
• CAPS work continuing(math, communication arts, science)
•  MRI
• strategy instruction for teaching compare/contrast

Willard Orchard Hills

• Brain Gym
•  Ruby Payne book study on poverty
•  90-90-90 School Research and Literacy Intervention with collaborative scoring of student scoring as a focus

Willard High School

• ALC process
•  Moodle
• individual content-specific activities

Willard Middle

• CAPS process continuing  this year with implementation of common formative assessments (Pre-formative, Post-Formative, and Summative Tests) and collaboration protocols for lesson planning and differentiated instruction based on student needs
•  Integration of Technology with Stratalogica in Social Studies Department

Willard South

• Clickers
• Mobile Lab
• Writing/Literacy Focus

Willard Central

• CAP work – Literacy and Math Teams
• Technology Needs

 There was discussion regarding the after-school training sessions offered by district teaching specialists.  Key points of the discussion included:  attendance numbers for sessions, the rationale behind the 3-4 PM time frame, ways to prompt teachers who are registered for a session to be sure to attend, possible time change to 4:15 to accommodate schools releasing later and distance factors, and how to create a system for promoting the training sessions and posting reminders throughout the school year so that teachers are aware of the PD opportunities.

 Robin Kramer gave a brief report of the PD Liaison meeting held on January 12, 2011.  PDL’s engaged in a collaborative activity, discussion, and training related to The Big 8 Classroom Engagement Skills.  PDL’s will replicate the training at monthly mentor meetings at their respective buildings.

 Looking to the future, Ms. Sechler reminded committee members that budget discussions will begin in February.  The outlook is similar to last year; cuts are likely. 

 PDC elections will be held in February.  One representative from each building has reached the end of the term.  The election process was reviewed for those who are unfamiliar with it.

 The school calendar of 2011-12 was discussed.  A point of consideration for the calendar committee is putting back in designated days for professional development.  Discussion included the following key points:

• need for a sustained focus instead of a one-shot topic or in-service that is never revisited
• need for teachers to have reflection and collaboration time to implement the focus of professional development training
• one possible format would be a half day training with a half day for reflection/collaboration & planning
• including an accountability factor to ensure implementation of training
• concern that the time added would not be additional contract days without pay
• comment that the great advantages of working at Willard is the district commitment to improving instruction and the focus on professional development of district teachers
• suggestion that data regarding Instructional Excellence requirements from each building be collected and considered

 Meeting was adjourned to meet with Dr. Marcum regarding budget or Carolyn Nixon regarding mentor/protégé questions.

 Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Nixon

PDC Meeting–December 9, 2010

In Attendance: Sechler, Nixon, Marcum, Allie, Ipock, Paulsell, Galloway, Kramer, McKan, Nelson, Newman, Peterson, Sevon, Smith, Azeez

Reviewed Previous Meeting Minutes Independently- Correction needs to be made under PDL updates: “Stipend forms are due…” should read “Observation forms are due…”

PDL Update: Discussing observation and process with PDL’s; Created pieces for training about time management and health

BTA Review (10/6): Over 60 in attendance (including non-Willard teachers);  Reviewed BTA Evaluations and results were positive; Feedback was mixed in the buildings but mostly positive

Learning Forward Staff Development Overview: Many PDC members attended and returned with many valuable pieces of information for PD growth in the district as well as great networking options; Conference had great speakers and resources from conference will be available to all staff through google docs; Willard is excelling with technology integration and conference presenters were asking for Willard input

PD Committee Role in District PD and Look to the Future: Over the next few months, the PDC committee will be going through a self-reflection on what is working and where we could improve and grow to benefit the PD needs of the district. Sechler asked committee to come prepared with ideas.

Formative Assessment Workshop: Nixon presented and 8 staff members were in attendance. Seeing a trend where it is the same pod of teachers participating in the workshops. Upcoming workshops- “Using Tech in Science- 12/15, 3-4pm at WHS”, “StoryBird- 1-5, 4-5pm at WS” and “Using Tech in Comm Arts- 1/19, 3-4pm at WHS”

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities:

Using Tech in Science- December 15, 2010, 3-4pm at WHS

StoryBird- January 5^th, 2011, 4-5pm at WS

Using Tech in Comm Arts- January 19, 2011, 3-4pm at WHS

MSTA Conference- “Teachers as Change Agents”,  June 6-7, 2011 at Tan-Tar-A: MSTA has asked Willard staff members to be presenters for the conference. Nixon has information about the conference and proposal forms for presenter s(proposals due 1/14/10). Forms were handed out to PDC reps for each building and Nixon will forward information on to PDL reps not in attendance today.

Committee members moved to sub-committee meetings at 4:25pm.

Adjournment by committee consensus at 4:5pm.

 

PDC Meeting–October 14, 2010

Willard District PDC Meeting:  Thursday, October 14, 2010

In Attendance: Collins, Galloway, Ipock, Kramer, McKan, Nelson, Newman, Nixon, Peterson, Puckett, Robinson, Sevon, Simmons, Smith

Welcome: Welcome to committee was offered by Nixon

Minutes: Minutes are approved as read per committee vote

New Business:

2^nd Annual Tiger TECH Conference:  Group discussion includes suggestions and comments about the recent district-wide training sessions.  Discussion includes the following points:

• Staggered times accommodated both elementary and secondary schedules
• Some feelings of “teacher overload,” with no time to process & apply new information after sessions.
• New teachers seemed particularly overwhelmed with the new information, in relationship to all of the other deadlines in close proximity.
• Needed process time afterwards to apply.  Suggestion includes ½ day training, followed by a ½ process/application time for implementation and application for specific content & grade levels taught.
• Possibly too much variety in offerings of workshops (too many)
• Some offerings (Twitter) are blocked by our server which makes student access unattainable.
• Guest speaker made assumptions that audience was following along on her level, but not all in attendance had prior knowledge to such information.
• Rosebrough notes that the timing of the Tech conference was partly to introduce new information early on, allowing the half-day tech sessions throughout the year as resources to help teachers apply the desired skills and tools as needed.  The half-day sessions to come will be building-specific to direct help according to teacher needs and wants.

PDL Update:  Observations are due by the end of the semester, either completed in full or half-day sessions.  Observation forms are also due at that time. The next PDL meetings will be held in November.

Teacher Workday (9/24) Review:

• Willard North & Willard Central:  Joined Willard Central for Brain Gym Trainings (with speaker, full-day)
• High School:  Met in departments, dealing with content-specific needs
• Middle School:  Departmental meetings in the a.m. with curriculum-specific focus, p.m. technology training and staff-building activities
• East:  Online grade card, faculty meeting,  writing collaboration for district comps
• WOHE:  writing collaboration for district comps, faculty meeting, assessment walls
• Intermediate:  a.m. book study about grades, Smart-board training, co-teaching meeting

Beginning Teacher Assistance Program (10/6) Review: Guests from other districts came to observe and participate in this model program.  Sessions throughout the day provided district-required reinforcement and information as well as need-based help.

Miscellaneous Business:

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

• Vocabulary Strategies:  Wednesday, October 20, 4-5 p.m. @WMS
• Delicious:  Wednesday, November 3,  4-5 p.m. @ WOHE
• Formative Assessment Techniques:  Wednesday, November 17, 4-5 p.m. @WMS

(MARC ALLIE WILL  SEND E-MAIL ATTACHMENT TO PDC REPS REGARDING UPCOMING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES)

Adjournment by committee consensus

PDC Meeting–September 9, 2010

District PDC Meeting, Thursday, September 9, 2010

In attendance:  Karen Collins, Amy Earl, Yvonne Galloway, Sandy Griffin, Nancy Ipock, Robin Kramer, Susan Marcum, Marla McKan, Laurissa Nelson, Debbie Newman, Carolyn Nixon, Lindsay Paulsell, LeaAnn Peterson, Beth Robinson, Michelle Sechler, Lori Sevon, Janet Simmons, Amy Smith, Marc Allie, Linda Azeez, Janetta Garton, Matt Rosebrough, Rachel Tennison

Introduction of Members

Approval of Minutes  Minutes from the May 13, 2010 meeting were approved as posted and reviewed.

PD District Plan The current District PD Plan is made available to all representatives and is posted on the district website.

PDC Resources The PDC Brochure, Calendar, Plan, and other professional development resources are all available from the district website.  The sources can be accessed by going to the district site, selecting “Staff,” the “Resources,” and then by choosing the desired document.

Professional Development Opportunities

PDC Opportunities should be made available through the building representative to building personnel, by posting, e-mailing, or other means of communication. 

Tiger TECH Conference will be on Friday, October 8.  Help from PDC members is again sought to make this event possible.  Those interested in helping should contact Sechler.

Beginning Teacher Assistance will be held on site on Thursday, October 6, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the District Training Room.

Monthly Curriculum & Instruction Trainings (bi-monthly) will be posted on the district PDC calendar as they become available.

Other New Business

PDC budget Overview – Marcum shares a graphical representation of the funds available and how they are allocated to each building.  Monthly building budget reports should now agree with building PDC records because of an adjustment to the process of how the expenditures are accounted.

HQTI Reflections – The trainings this year were successful with a smaller group of participants.  All feedback was positive and plans are being considered for next year.

PDL Report – Building PDL’s will now give a monthly update as needed to keep the general PDC membership informed of progress and concerns.

ADJOURNMENT Meeting is adjourned to sub-committees as needed

PDC Meeting, Thursday, May 13, 2010

District PDC Meeting, Thursday, May 13, 2010

In attendance: Robinson, Cook, Earl, McKan, Ipock, Smith, Paulsell, Puckett, Griffin, Rosebrough, Nixon, Tennison, Collins, and Sechler

MINUTES

Minutes from the April 8^th meeting were approved as posted, with the addition of the resignation of Mindy Huslig as Willard Central representative.

NEW BUSINESS

• New members:  Welcome to Trudy Puckett, representing Willard Central Elementary.

OLD BUSINESS

• PD Plan & Budget for 2010 – 2011:  Marcum explains the projected changes for next year’s budget, which will be presented to the school board at the last board meeting.  Members discuss the changes, particularly noting the elimination of the PDL reimbursement.  A motion is made by Earl to reduce the teaching specialists’ budget to $4000 in order to fund the PDL positions.  Clarifying discussion continues for alternative ways to fund the PDL positions.  Paulsel seconds the initial motion from Earl, and a committee vote approves the motion.  Nixon makes note  that all changes to the plan need to be written and finalized before the plan goes to the board for final approval.

• PDL Program: Robinson makes a motion to include in the minutes that a building PDL should be reimbursed for the position only when the number of new teachers is sufficient to warrant PDL assistance.  Earl seconds the motion.

• Career Ladder Alternatives:  Discussion includes clarification about what money will still be made available by the district and how this money might be fairly disbursed.  Volunteers for a district committee are sought to give input about the spending of these funds.  Earl, Ipock, Robinson and Sechler expressed interest in being a part of this committee.

• HQTI:  As plans are finalized, those details will be relayed to the PDL’s at each building.

• Tiger TECH Conference:  Thanks are given to the volunteers who helped with hospitality or presentations.  Overall reaction about the conference was that the undertaking was successful.  Rosebrough adds that two ½ day district technology days are planned on the district calendar for October 8 and March 18.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting is adjourned to sub-committees as needed

PDC Meeting–April 8th, 2010

District PDC Meeting–Thursday, April 8th, 2010

In attendance:  Huslig,  Ipock,  Kramer, Marcum, McKan, Newman, Nixon, Paulsell, Robinson, Sechler, Simmons

Minutes:  Minutes from the March 11 meeting were approved as written and posted on the PDC website.

Old Business:

• Tiger Tech Conference Assistance:  PDC members who will be assisting with hospitality at the May 7 Tech Meeting will confer about details at the closure of the current PDC meeting.  Those members include Sechler, Simmons, Ipock, and McKan.
• PDC plan/budget for next school year:  Marcum reports that plans for next year are to maintain the same appropriations as the current year, pending adjustments that may need to be made due to potential budget cuts from the state.
• PDL updates:  5 PDL positions will be open for the following year.  Staff members will be notified of this opportunity via an e-mail from Sechler,  who will include a PDF file attachment with the application and overview of the responsibilities and expectations for this position.  Applications are due to Sechler the last Friday of this month.
• Beginning Teacher Assistance Program:  MSTA has confirmed that Dina Layton will be available for the in-house training at Willard on  October  6, 2010.
• HQTI:  Plans  will be finalized Monday,  April 12 at the teaching specialist meeting.  This training is to be held August 9 – 13, prior to the first week of school.

New Business:

• PDC Membership Update:  WOHE , WIS, and WC need to elect a new building representative due to the resignation of Tammy Cook, WOHE, Renee Rasco, WIS, and Mindy Husling, WC. Newly-elected building representatives will need to be present at the May meeting.
• “Thinking Outside the Box”  This is a catch-term to describe a need to address possible teacher incentives. Reflection and discussion generates ideas about how to utilize increasingly-limited funds to keep teachers involved in professional development.  Discussion acknowledges the changing availability and types of resources and the difficulty of reaching all teachers with limited funds.  Consensus indicates that the PDC committee will need to be alert and flexible regarding the best ways of using future funds in our changing profession.

Sub-Committee Meetings:

Mentor/Protégé Building Reps and Budget Reps meet as needed

PDC Meeting–March 11, 2010

District PDC Meeting–Thursday, March 11, 2010

 In attendance:  Huslig, McKan, Galloway, Marcum, Newman, Earl, Nixon, Robinson, Smith, Simmons,  Ipock, Robinson

MINUTES: Minutes were approved as read and posted on the PDC site, with the addition of Nixon to the attendance list.

Tiger TECH Conference:  Members are still needed to help with hospitality/refreshments for May 7.  Simmons, Ipock,  McKan,  & Robinson agree to help in this capacity.

 2010-2011 District Calendar:  The draft calendar viewed at the last PDC meeting was officially approved at the last board meeting.

 PD Plan & Budget for 2010-2011:  The proposed plan will be discussed at the next board meeting.  Input is sought from teachers regarding how the money might be spent, whether or not the budget is cut by the state.  Marcum urges teachers to contact legislators to advocate for the protection of the 1% spending amount for Missouri’s professional development for teachers.  Marcum notes that several buildings have already overspent this year’s allotted budget. 

 Mentor/Protégé Program (trainings):  Nixon discusses that PDL’s & Mentors meet once a month at the building level.  As discussed at the last meeting, the request to once again have release time from classrooms has been submitted for budget approval for next year.

 MSTA Beginning Teacher Assistance (BTA):  Plans remain to keep the BTA preparation before school begins.

 HQTI:   Marcum comments that several people are already at work in planning for the next institute, keeping the training on-site.  Information will be disseminated by both in-house and out-sourced personnel.

Professional Development Liaisons Application Process:  Nixon informs that there is a $500 stipend for building representatives to serve in this role.  Past procedure has been to keep those representatives in place each year unless that person chooses to resign or unless more than one person in a particular building seeks this position. 

SUB-COMMITTEE MEETINGS:

 Mentor/Protégé reps:  Meet with Nixon as needed

Budget Reps:  Review budget statements distributed by Marcum; contact her via e-mail with any questions or discrepancies according to building spreadsheets.

PDC Meeting Minutes–February 11, 2010

PDC MINUTES:  Thursday, February 11, 2010

IN ATTENDANCE: Sechler, Huslig, Rosebrough, Azez, Smith, Paulsell,  Sevon, Robinson, Cook,  Newman, Rasco, Earl, Ipock, Kramer, Galloway

MINUTES:  Minutes from the last meeting were approved as posted on the PDC website

OLD BUSINESS:

PDC Website Forms:  Sechler informed the committee about updated forms which are now available for access at the website.  These forms include the mileage chart and reimbursement form.  Note is made that current mileage is 40 cents.  The new chart contains mileage as well as time estimations to various locations within the state.

NEW BUSINESS:

Tiger TECH Conference: Sechler informs the committee that two half days (March 19 & May 7) will be available this year for technology training.  This is the first time these opportunities have been available in this way.  PDC members will help to facilitate the ½ day training on May 7 in various ways as needed, such as presentations, greeting, directions, and Q & A assistance.

2010 – 2011 District Calendar: The new calendar is made available to members for preview.  It is noted that there are 4 PDC dates built into the calendar and the school year again starts on a Thursday.  The calendar, however, has not yet been approved by the school board.

Mentor/Protégé Program: Professional Development Liaisons would like to have time out of classrooms available again to help facilitate the program.  Discussion indicated that the professional development liaisons are an integral part of helping the program to operate and time is needed to organize and facilitate proper adherence to the program expectations and requirements.

PD Plan & Budget: Dr. Medlin has requested that Marcum reduce the PDC budget for next year by 50%.  Marcum will give further input at upcoming meetings about what areas will be reduced and by what amounts.  Discussion brings up questions about how MRI and Reading Recovery fees are paid and what buildings have incurred those expenses (North and East).  Ipock also mentioned that cognitive coaching fees were spent from the high school budget.  Nixon reminds members that 1% of the budget state-wide is mandated and guaranteed to be spent on professional development and that amount of money should be protected.  A suggestion is made by Sechler that a partnership with MSTA might be a good way to advocate for protected PDC spending.

High Quality Teaching Institute: Marcum is planning ahead for next year’s plans.  Committee discussion indicated that the benefit of having this training in-house is extremely valuable for new Willard teachers.  Members commented that the training might be best imparted and received if it is conducted sometime after the school year begins rather than before school begins.

Guest Speaker (beginning of the year): Discussion includes reflection about past speakers and the possibility of having a speaker or presenter for the upcoming year.  Comments include concerns about appropriating money for a paid out-sourced speaker versus an in-house presentation by district personnel.  Discussion is tabled for future consideration pending budget information.

SUB-COMMITTEE MEETINGS:

Mentor/Protégé reps:  Meet with Nixon as needed

Budget Reps:  Meet with Sechler as needed