May

31

How’s “G-Town Super Speaks” Sound?

May 31, 2007 | 7 Comments

I don’t know who the presenters were at the workshop my superintendent attended today, but based on his recent comment to this blog, they did one heck of a job. Thank you!
And Scott, he’s planning on taking you up on your offer to help start his blog–maybe we’ll even get Mr. Rinaldi as a contributor [...]

May

30

Business First Bites

May 30, 2007 | 5 Comments

I’m warning readers right up front that this is not going to be a positive post. I’ve struggled with how to post about this topic, I’ve avoided it, but it’s all that’s on my mind this week. It’s much of what’s on most administrators’ minds, if they’ll admit it or not.
Business First ranks the school [...]

May

30

Panthers Baseball

May 30, 2007 | 1 Comment

Terrific play-off baseball game at Fredonia yesterday–both teams playing well with Gowanda winning it in the tenth.
It was exciting to watch our kids play with spirit, dedication and determination. Heart. In my opinion, much more important than any skill. Our team yesterday had it. Our coaches have developed a team who wants it and they have [...]

May

28

Trust Isn’t Given Away Freely

May 28, 2007 | 2 Comments

I recently attended a planning session at our local BOCES for alternative education. I was invited by the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. She had challenged her alternative ed principal, faculty and staff to create a new program. They were given model programs to consider and evaluate and then began the arduous task of [...]

May

24

Who Needed Me Anyway?

May 24, 2007 | 1 Comment

I woke up this morning sick, tried to get ready for work, and wound up staying home sleeping the day away. This happens to me rarely, maybe once or twice per year. I’m feeling better now and thought I’d log on to read all of my email from school for the day.
I realize how terrific it [...]

May

23

Who Are Our G-Town Readers?

May 23, 2007 | 1 Comment

About a month ago, I did an informal survey of readers of G-Town Talks. An unprecedented number of you responded, 68 readers in total. I’m just finding the time to look at who and where you are, and what you do for a living.
Readers who responded hail from 19 states and 3 countries, including Canada, [...]

May

20

Gowanda High School Report Card

May 20, 2007 | 1 Comment

The Buffalo News has a story in today’s Sunday newspaper showing the NYS Report card for Erie and Niagara high schools. While our elementary school is in Erie County, our high school is in Cattaraugus County, so we’re not included in the report.
How does Gowanda stack up? The News reports passing rates (at 65%) and [...]

May

19

Success and Productivity

May 19, 2007 | 1 Comment

Okay gentlemen, I’m pretty sure that Kelly, Chris, and Brian have all tagged me in a meme within the last couple of insane weeks. I’m not sure I have an exclusive on the 7 Secrets to Success meme, but lately, I’ve been thinking the secret to success lies in being genuine, a bona fide original, whatever that [...]

May

18

Let’s Talk About That

May 18, 2007 | 1 Comment

May is the most unbelievable month (have I written that in other months?) because of a number of end of the year events, along with planning for next year, and the added pressure of getting all 125 seniors to graduation, with 38 facing some additional challenge and some who are melting down under the pressure [...]

May

16

Spinning Wheels Got to Go Round

May 16, 2007 | 4 Comments

What if all of our efforts in the area of school improvement only make things better for the kids who would have stayed with us anyway? Maybe our mastery level of 85-100 is improving while our drop out rate remains consistent because we just keep doing what already doesn’t work for our drop outs, only [...]

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