What's Up at Other Schools?

Let's face it, we do things really well here at TMS!  And, we should recognize and celebrate those successes.  But, we also must be continually learning, pushing ourselves to try new things and see how we can be more effective, and even, more efficient.

Below are some things I saw when I visited some local middle and high schools this week.  I'm not sure what I want to do with this new knowledge yet, but there are definitely good ideas worth sharing.

At Parkway West High School, their data wall identifies all students who are at-risk.  The students are then color-coded to identify who they are at risk and interventions are discussed to support those students.

Parkway West no longer has CT classes; instead, each grade level has an Academic Support Lab for each content.  Strong collaboration between special and general education teachers ensures that students are getting their goals met while balancing the work in their core content classes.  The picture above shows the communication that makes this successful.

Objectives are clear for students; not just for this lesson, but for year.

Crestview Middle School has been doing the Leader in Me program for a year now.  This is the program that our feeder elementary schools now use; it teaches kids Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people.

The pictures above show some of the habits ingrained in students at Crestview.  Students apply for school and classroom jobs.  One classroom job is to be the Culture Keeper.  If students are misbehaving in class, this assigned leader gives them reminder and reflection cards (picture 1).  Other jobs include students having responsibilities in the library; the librarian charts student work progress (picture 3).  Additionally, teachers reinforce goal-setting with project goals (picture 2).

I also saw a mock Teen Court at Hardin Middle School.  At this school, students give consequences to peers who make poor choices at school -- very innovative!