1. Reflections 2009<br />Looking back over the past year there were some very positive things that need to continue but there were some things that may need changed to bring out the best grades in middle school students. Positive things include the structure and environment in classroom, availability of supplies and materials, and support of administration. Things that may need to be changed are class scheduling, ISS assignments and time spent on task.<br />The structure and environment of the classroom at the middle school is very focused on education and the seriousness of spending time wisely and working on material relevant to skills need to be proficient or advanced on the benchmark and move to the next level. Supplies and material are always available or can be obtained easily and quickly so that learning can go on. During the year there was never a time that I needed something that I was not able to get within a few days time. The administration is always supportive and there to back up any decisions that are necessary to carry on instruction in the classroom. Over the past year if there was anything I needed to keep instruction on track the administration was always there ready to assist in whatever I needed to help me accomplish my goals.<br />Some things that were counter productive and worked against us last year were the schedules. Seventh grades girls were scheduled as a whole class right after lunch. This class is very social and the drama kept them off track and unable to focus on what was important. After lunch they all wanted to go to the office or counselor to fix whatever had just gone on. Class went on as usual but the ability of the students to focus was lost. ISS assignment also worked against the learning process in math. Too many students spending too many days out of the classroom missing instruction became evident in grades of individuals and frustration with teachers. In the future we need to continue allowing ISS students to report to math class during their regularly scheduled time slot. We do need to work out some of the issues of tardies and absences and be consistent with the routine when they leave the ISS room to come to math class. The other thing we need to change is amount of time spent off task. Students constantly were out of the room for restroom, nurse, counselor, office, etc. Planning is under way to help students stay in class next year so that will hopefully help get us going in the right direction.<br />Overall it was a positive year, even though we may not have gotten all the results we wanted. I think if we continue to reinforce the positive and stay open to changing the things that are not working we will continue to improve our scores and get the results we are looking for.<br />