Mar

26

Student Discipline

March 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

Our high school principal was out today and our middle school principal was scheduled for the elementary building. That means I got to handle any problems with students today and can I just say one more time how much I love that work?
I was sitting in my office analyzing data and preparing a report when [...]

Mar

23

What’s the Future Cost of Today’s Stimulus?

March 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The content of this article really bothers me.  In “Some Rich Districts Get Richer as Aid is Rushed to Schools” in the New York Times, reporter Sam Dillon says,
But under the Obama administration’s education stimulus package, Mr. Lamborn, who needs every penny he can get, will receive hundreds of dollars less per student than will Dr. [...]

Mar

20

Possibilities

March 20, 2009 | 1 Comment

How do we help our kids follow their dreams and not teach them to conform to everyone else’s dreams/expectations for them? How do we help them figure out who they are, where they’re headed, and if they really want to get there? How do we take the princesses and super heroes of the kindergarten/first grades [...]

Mar

19

Randolph’s “Jack Wax”

March 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment

So mixed in with budget preparation for last night’s BOE meeting, I got to go to the Inkley’s Sugar Farm yesterday with our kindergarten students. We got the deluxe tour, learning how the trees are tapped and how the sap becomes that delicious maple syrup we all love. Listen to this–they set up picnic tables outside and [...]

Mar

11

‘You’re Gonna Miss This’

March 11, 2009 | 1 Comment

Joanne Coustenis, High School Secretary Extraordinaire, officially retires today. March 11, 2009, a last day after 30 plus years of first days of school, Regents exams, graduations, attendance, tardy slips, excuses, GPA calculations, new teachers, old teachers, too many administrators and several dear friends.
I had the pleasure of working first hand with Mrs. Coustenis as [...]

Mar

10

RCS Recycling-A Small Step in the Right Direction

March 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The Impact Group of students who meets in our school asked if I had any ideas for them for service projects. Every day when I throw my newspaper away, I’m conscious of the fact that we’re not doing enough to recycle. Thanks to Wendy Sanfillipo from the Cornell Cooperative Extension, we’re on our way.
Abitibi will [...]

Mar

3

To Block or Not to Block?

March 3, 2009 | 5 Comments

That’s the question. Our middle school principal, Bill Caldwell, has been working with his grades 7 & 8 faculty and students all year to determine which is best, an A/B block schedule or a more traditional 42 minute period every day. Our high school is traditional with no interest in changing. This is a debate [...]

Mar

2

Say What?

March 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Here’s a blog I never miss by author Seth Godwin. You may have read his most recent book, Tribes. His post Personal Branding in the age of Google is something every student, teacher, administrator, and/or parent needs to think about when building an on-line presence (whether you’re doing it deliberately or not, if you’re posting, you have [...]