Jan

31

Where Do I Sign Up to be a Charter School?

January 31, 2007 | 2 Comments

As Governor Spitzer announces his interest in more than doubling the number of charter schools in our state, I’m beginning to do some research so that I can better understand the initiative. The very first article I find is out of Georgia and the author details a state plan as follows,
 A plan that would give entire school systems the [...]

Jan

29

Buffalo News Begins Blogs

January 29, 2007 | 2 Comments

Despite the fact that I read the 23 feeds into my RSS aggregator, including CNN, on a daily basis, I still enjoy reading the Buffalo News and Dunkirk Observer, our local newspapers. For me, nothing signals the relaxed feel of a Sunday like a fresh pot of coffee and the Buffalo News. Yesterday, I read [...]

Jan

29

Patience for Spammers

January 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Maybe it’s the thought inspired by the new disclaimer in my tagline. Maybe I’m thinking more about possible negative interpretations of this blog. Maybe I’m realizing again, at 43, that no matter my good intentions, sometimes people can interpret things very differently from the way I know them to be.
I’m now moderating all comments to this blog prior to [...]

Jan

28

February Break is Not Needed

January 28, 2007 | 2 Comments

One of the built in benefits of the school schedule is the fresh start provided at the beginning of each quarter, semester, and school year. This is a terrific opportunity for every student to “get it right” with attendance, homework completion, and academic achievement. Either the student is continuing his or her strong efforts from [...]

Jan

25

Typing 101

January 25, 2007 | 2 Comments

I’m officially evolving with technology. As someone who took every secretarial class in high school, I know proper typing posture and technique. I can still see Miss Rita Peters at Plum Senior High School walking around the room demanding perfect posture. When you completed her program, there was no need for further training. This is [...]

Jan

24

Simple Solutions

January 24, 2007 | 2 Comments

Sometimes the fix is so darned simple.
We give the January Regents to a large percentage of our students. We test all the English 11 students on the Comprehensive English exam, all Math A and Math B students, and all of the students who either need to pass a past Regents exam (and have been in [...]

Jan

23

Disclaimer Discussion Continues

January 23, 2007 | 3 Comments

Chris Lehmann continued the discussion over at Practical Theory that started with my earlier post about the disclaimer added to the tagline of this blog. I appreciate Chris’ work as he writes about the Science Leadership Academy in Philadephia. He talks in this post about the questions some have about blogging, and concludes with this,
Any [...]

Jan

22

Cheating or Initiative?

January 22, 2007 | 29 Comments

Our teachers are giving mid term exams right now. One of my requests is that they completely align the mid terms with the Regents, taking Regents exam questions on content that’s been covered to date and giving a test that mirrors the Regents.
Having said that, if a student goes on-line and looks up all of [...]

Jan

18

G-Town Talks Disclaimer

January 18, 2007 | 14 Comments

Check out the changes made in the tagline of this blog. This is a disclaimer added after our superintendent attended a presentation on January 12, 2007 by Elizabeth D. Carlson of the law firm, HodgsonRuss. The recommendations include developing a blogging policy where a district must “clearly communicate with its employees where it stands on the [...]

Jan

17

Where, Oh Where, Are My Seniors?

January 17, 2007 | 4 Comments

I keep watch of our attendance figures and pay attention to trends from year to year. As a district, our overall yearly attendance percentage is relatively consistent. The elementary and middle school averaging around 95% each month, with our 9-12 building averaging between 91-94%. Change is incremental when watching attendance. I want to make enough of a [...]

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