3. Mission
The mission of the West Boylston
Public Schools is to prepare its
students to be productive, contributing
citizens in a democratic society. Our
schools provide students with
opportunities to be reflective learners
who are aware of their unique abilities
and interests and teaches them the
skills and knowledge they need to
develop their potential. In West
Boylston, learning takes place in a safe
environment that encourages high
levels of achievement among all
students.
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5. vision
In the West Boylston Public Schools, we believe that a superb education in a small
school atmosphere can make a difference in the life of a student. We believe that
caring teachers, lofty academic expectations, a quality curriculum, and excellent
instruction are the tools we need to effectively maximize each students’ academic
potential. We believe that the development of critical thinking skills, problem
solving capacity, and effective oral and written communication skills will prepare
each of our students to successfully pursue their life goals.
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7. Core values
HONESTY, INTEGRITY, RESPECT, and RESPONSIBILITY are the pillars of our
school community.
We encourage a joyful spirit of caring, kindness, and helpfulness with an
appreciation of differences in a lively and gratifying learning environment.
All members of our school community will challenge and engage themselves
academically, civically, socially, and personally.
Our students build confidence and independence through active participation.
Our Organization….
commits to seek new ways and tools to enable success for all members
sets goals and is determined to reach them by exploring various avenues
is transparent and encourages input from all members
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8. Theory of strategic Action
If we provide an aligned curriculum,
tightly linked to the Massachusetts
Curriculum Frameworks, and infuse that
curriculum with instruction aimed at
developing students’ capacity for
problem solving and critical thinking as
well as enhancing oral and written
communication skills, then the West
Boylston Public Schools will maintain
its competitive edge among area schools
because we will produce graduates who
are ready to achieve in any college or
career they choose.
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9. Strategic objectives
IV. Promote the
III. Increase the use of new,
II. Promote the use of high innovative, and
I. Ensure that the
instructional impact literacy emerging
curriculum is
strategies that instructional technologies as
aligned to the
improve critical techniques that vehicles for
Massachusetts
thinking and lead to improved improving and
Curriculum
problem solving oral and written facilitating
Frameworks
skills. communication communication
skills. and learning by
all members.
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10. to drift or not to drift?
LESSONS FROM A SUMMER BY THE SEASHORE
Attributed to Kristine Goodwin
Vice President of Student Affairs
10 Providence College
11. Strategic objectives
IV. Promote the
III. Increase the use of new,
II. Promote the use of high innovative, and
I. Ensure that the
instructional impact literacy emerging
curriculum is
strategies that instructional technologies as
aligned to the
improve critical techniques that vehicles for
Massachusetts
thinking and lead to improved improving and
Curriculum
problem solving oral and written facilitating
Frameworks
skills. communication communication
skills. and learning by
all members.
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13. Year 1 STrategic initiatives
Enact a 5 year curriculum review cycle: Year 1, Revise and
publish ELA curriculum
Focus administrators attention on finding evidence of critical
thinking and problem solving in observed classroom practice.
Plan for a STEAM Academy
Year 2 of Literacy Initiative (Grades K-8)
Administrator training on high impact literacy practices
Pilot use of iPad carts for instruction
Evaluate faculty learning needs in technology
13
14. pulling it together
Focused on the Instructional
Core
Linked to required elements
in the new Educator
Evaluation System
Integrates emerging
technology as a key vehicle
for achieving desired
instructional outcomes
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17. our students are counting
on us to help them use
their voices
Strategic Goal #4: Promot the use of new, innovative,
and emerging technologies as vehicles for improving
and facilitating communication and learning by all
members.
17
106. What can i do in my work
this year to help students
use their voice?
106
107. Credits
Kristine Goodwin, Vice-President of Student
Affairs, Providence College
Scott McLeod, Director of CASTLE, University
of Kentucky, slides from “Dangerously
Irrelevant” used with permission through
Creative Commons
107
Good Morning. I want to thank you all for coming today. On behalf of the administrative team, I want to welcome you to the 2012-2013 school year. We do have some new staff with us today but before we have the principals introduce them, I would like to welcome a new staff member to my administrative team. Sherri ....
guided by a mission developed many years ago. today, sometimes mission statements are shorter than this. Larry, create happiness, so we will be looking at our mission this year, with new eyes to see if we can capture something in a little bit more concise form.
The web gives us ways to capture what’s out there that we like and share it with others. There’s Delicious.
And of course all of these capabilities are available to us… All of this has gotten remarkably easy because so many people are walking around with little computers in their pockets.
So our youth are growing up different Think about this. What difference should this make to us as educators? How can we prepare digital citizens to act responsibly and sensibly in this environment? We will not know how unless we are brave enough to enter it too. They expect to be publishers and authors and content creators They expect to be active producers, not just passive consumers They expect to have a voice…
Scott McLeod has a blog entitled “Dangerously Irrelevant” which is trying to help educators consider why and how they must enter the collaborative culture of communication that Web 2.0 has opened up. This boy is learning how to play guitar using the web, video taping himself to post to the web to get some feedback from his followers. Our kids are learning awesome things every day and they know where to find resources to do just about anything they can imagine. There is a lot of self-direction going on in learning.
They think nothing of the fact that … No longer a broadcast world where we all sit quietly and receive what’s pushed out to us via newspaper, magazine, radio, TV, movie theater They expect multidirectional, not unidirectional They expect interconnected, active, engaged community, not passive audience
The students we teach are already on line as much or more than we are.
and every age group is using the internet more and more as the years pass.
The audiences with which people engage differ by age group too.
So these digital technologies are transforming EVERYTHING. Technology is allowing all of us to do more powerful and also more complex work, but that creative power is accompanied by significant disruptive impacts. For example, the same technologies that allow us to have a voice, find each other, and work together also are destroying geographic boundaries. We’re seeing to our dismay that offshoring and outsourcing allow everyone, everywhere to compete with each other and with us. In addition to replacing jobs here with folks overseas, jobs also are being destroyed by software. If the Industrial Revolution was about replacing humans’ physical labor with machines, the Information Revolution often is about replacing humans’ cognitive labor with computers. In short, these new tools are radically transforming every single other information-oriented segment of our economy. More important than the economic concerns, however, is that digital technologies also allow for dramatic impacts on learning. For example, students and educators now have access to all of the information in their textbooks – and an incredible wealth of primary documents – for free. They have access to robust, low cost or no-cost, multimedia and interactive learning resources – texts, images, audio, video, games, simulations – that can supplement, extend, or even replace what is being taught in their classrooms. Via collaborative Internet-based tools, they can learn from and with students and teachers in other states or countries. They also can quickly and easily connect with authors, artists, business professionals, entrepreneurs, physicians, craftsmen, professors, and other experts. Students and teachers now can more authentically replicate (and actually do) real-world work through the use of the same tools and resources used by engineers, designers, scientists, accountants, and a multitude of other professionals and artisans. They can share their own knowledge, skills, and expertise with people all over the world. They can find or form communities of interest around topics for which they are passionate and they can be active (and valued) contributors to the world’s information commons, both individually and collaboratively with others. Essentially, our students and teachers now have the ability to learn about whatever they want, from whomever they want, whenever and wherever they want, and they also can contribute to this learning environment for the benefit of others. ARE YOU AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN THIS NEW, INTERACTIVE, SOCIAL LEARNING LANDSCAPE? If so, how so? If not, why not?
How many of you have bought something on Amazon? Of those, how many have rated things? Left a comment? It used to be that you’d have to pay for Consumer Report or buy the NY Times to figure out if a book was worth your time. No more. Web 2.0 has democratized the sharing of opinions. Everyone can have an opinion that matters, and adds to some collective thinking about things.
Commerce is changing too.
ebay, 21st century bartering, you say how much you think it’s worth.
Etsy, if you’re crafty and you want a wider audience than your local craft fair.
Swahili word meaning testimony. Used to let real people tell about what is happening to them in a disaster, collected by all devices with digital data. Posts real time information. Crowd sourcing real time coverage of events that matter around the world. You no longer have to wait for the newsreporter to show up to get the story. The people are telling their own story.
Huffpo is another place for gathering stories on a variety of topics. Anyone can write for and contribute to Huffpo. You can follow your favorite topics and see who is saying what about them here.
Masterminding Molecules
3 rd World Farmer
Re-Mission
Against All Odds, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
