Norris School District

Professional Development Thursday, October 15th & Friday, October 16th

Session descriptions and schedule grid posted below for quick reference.

Professional Development is offered for all certificated Norris staff members.

Norris Professional Development October 16^th & 17^th

Amenities: Lunch is provided for all staff on Thursday.  Lunch will consist of vegetable beef soup, turkey and ham sandwiches (sandwich bar – choose your toppings), bottled water, baby carrots, and fresh baked cookies.  Fresh-baked cinnamon rolls and coffee will be provided in each building Friday morning.  Thanks to Food Service Director Linda Truscott and her crew for putting this together for us.

Expectation: Teachers may attend more, but must attend the equivalent of one day’s worth of sessions over the two days.  (The equivalent of seven 50-minute sessions; extended sessions count for more –i.e., – a session that runs 8 – 11:50 a.m. counts as four sessions.)  Consult your building principal or Dr. Skretta if you have questions.

Format: Target audience noted below; most sessions are 50 minutes.

Required sessions –The SAR survey to be completed for School Improvement and accreditation purposes is a required session for all – and is completed independently via Zoomerang survey after preview comments from Skretta at Thursday luncheon.  Be sure to read through the session descriptions to identify other sessions which you may be expected to attend by virtue of your assignment (Y1 teachers; reading / English / language arts teachers; MS science).

Session offerings – emphasize practical classroom applications – maintain focus on positively impacting student learning – all of these sessions are intended to sustain and enhance initiatives already underway. 

Sign-in – There is no advance sign up, but you will sign in at sessions you attend.  Please be sure to sign in for the sessions you attend; session facilitators will have sign-up sheets and submit those to Skretta later to document attendance at sessions.

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS:

Alliance for a Healthier Generation – “If the Bum is Numb, So is the Brain!”: Session facilitated by Shannon Vogler.  Our partnership with the Alliance is centered on realizing the intent of our district wellness policy.  You’ll be provided a quick review of the partnership Norris has made with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.  Session emphasizes Alliance-generated resources that can get your kids active and engaged, whatever your content area.  Target audience: k-12 teachers interested in health, wellness, and nutrition and engaging all learners.

Angel Introductory Session: Learn about the Angel online course management software – every Norris student grades 5-12 is a licensed user – and build your knowledge about this tool for getting students online and into learning your course content!  Facilitated by Lynne Herr, ESU 6.  Target audience: 5-12 teachers new to / wanting to learn more about Angel.

Angel Users Group: Whether you’re still on Angel basics of course architecture or onto building online assessments; this work session for current users facilitated by Lynne Herr will give you an opportunity to advance and enhance the content you are offering your students.  Target audience: 5-12 teachers who have had Angel training and begun developing course content via Angel.

Collaborative Problem Solving: Explore reasons why a small handful of students aren’t able to comply with standard classroom management reinforcement systems.  Learn an easy, effective technique to help inflexible, non-compliant students respond to your requests.  Facilitated by NE Teacher of the Year Mary Schlieder.  Target audience: k-12

CPS Clicker Set Strategy Swap Session: For users of the Classroom Performance System clickers.  Facilitated by Lynne Herr from ESU 6.  Hosted by Jill Wieskamp (HS). Target audience: teachers who have acquired CPS sets for their classrooms. 

Differentiating Instruction: Review of research-based best practices in differentiating classroom instruction to engage all learners at the appropriate level.  Facilitated by Torri Lienemann.

Interwrite Tablets: A review of various classroom applications of the Intewrite Tablets.  Facilitated by Kristyn Harms, Interwrite Tablet 3^rd degree black belt.  Target audience: teachers who have acquired Interwrite tablets for use in their classrooms and want to review basic applications and learn some advanced ones.

L to J Support: Facilitated by Janelle Coady and Lenny Vermaas. Target audience: personnel trained in the L to J method of empowering students through the use of achievement data tracked over time.   While advertised for trained personnel, if you are curious about L to J because you are working with a teacher who is using this method and you’d like to just sit in and learn a little more about it, please know that you are welcome, too.

LCD Projectors: Unleash the power of your projector! Led by Mr. Severson and Mr. Bade.  This session will include a review of different sources of input for the LCD projectors along with basic use of remotes, and how you can use programs we already have as projector applications in your lessons.  Target audience: classroom teachers k-12.

Mathematics Strategic Planning: review and evaluate publisher materials under consideration for adoption in mathematics curriculum.  (Rubric provided).  Target audience: all mathematics instructors k-8.  Facilitated by Mary Jo Rupert.

Math – Science Curriculum Cooperative: Co-facilitated by Tom Brazee and Sue Steuer.  Extended session examines curriculum in light of tech tool applications with a focus on interdisciplinary research activities that address critical thinking / problem solving School Improvement goals.  Emphasis on integration of data mate collection devices, which can be used to quickly gather real-life data for teaching a variety of math and/or science concepts.  Target audience: 9-12 math, science.

Middle School Science Data / Curriculum Analysis: Extended session led by MS science wizard Betsy Barent.  Focused discussion of scientific method (continuing the e-conversation that occurred recently).  Examination of standards that are assessed; standards that are reported on; where to access student performance information (what student data are available); changes in state assessment process from CRA to standardized statewide test; and the use of classroom assessment data to identify gaps and overlaps in instruction. 

Music NMEA Exemplary Program Curriculum Review: Extended session for music educators k-12 examines Norris music curriculum against NMEA Exemplary Program criteria, including product, process, planning, and assessment.  Facilitated by Becky Wilhelm.

Personal Finance for Younger Teachers:  Special guest presenter Kurt Kechely, Norris Patron; introduced by Dr. Roy Baker.  This session provides a vital review of investment options.  Target audience: k-12 teachers.

Personal Finance for Veteran Teachers: Special guest presenter Cliff Dale will do a personal finance session - introduced by Dr. Baker.  This is open to all staff members, but will focus more on those who are within 10-15 years of retirement.  Cliff’s background includes being on the administrative staff at OPS, superintendent of the Grand Island schools, bank vice-president in Grand Island, and business manager for LPS.

PowerSchool Gradebook Training: Led by Vicki Hinz-Ensz, this session will focus on providing teachers answers to your gradebook questions, from “Here’s how to” to “You just can’t, that’s why!”  Target audience: 5-12 teachers. This session repeats and rotates with PowerSchool Report Card Assistance for Elementary teachers.

PowerSchool Report Card Assistance: Led by Vicki Hinz-Ensz, this session will help elementary faculty work through pilot process of the new custom report cards in PowerSchool. Target audience: k-4 teachers.  This session repeats and rotates with PowerSchool Gradebook Training.

Reading Curriculum Review & Alignment: Facilitated by Ann Thober, Barb Minch, and Nicole Boon.  Required session for grade-level reading directors (elementary) and MS and HS English / Language Arts / Reading personnel.  Open to others (including special education co-teachers), k-12.  A lengthier session description was sent separately to invitees.

SAR: Standards Assessment Report: Completing the SAR is a required step in our School Improvement accreditation process through AdvancED / NCA.  This is a self-assessment of our school on the seven standards our accrediting organization recognizes as integral to building and sustaining a successful school.  You will receive an overview of the standards and the new School Improvement and accreditation process at lunch on Thursday, then complete your own assessment of Norris on the seven standards.  You will complete the SAR on your own via a web-based Zoomerang survey.  All teachers, this required session counts as one of your seven.

Summative Appraisal Tips: Required session for new teachers (Y1 in district); optional for anyone on summative appraisal step.  Dr. Skretta will provide an overview of key facets of the summative appraisal process and offer teachers advice for successfully demonstrating your instructional prowess in the summative process.  Target audience: teachers new to the district and any classroom teacher on summative appraisal step. 

Web Page Rookies Work / Help Session: “I’ve never had a web page; how do I start?”  “I’ve got a web page, but I haven’t even figured out how to post my picture on it, much less class notes.”  If this sounds like you, it’s time to head in for this basic help session on rudimentary web page design.  Target audience: K-12 Norris web page newbies and novices.  Come wallow in ignorance with empathetic colleagues and let Jim “Help Desk” McConnell and Noel “I’d give you the answer if your e-mail inbox weren’t full” Erskine lead you to web-page wonderland!

Web-Page Wonks - Work / Help Session: Just when you thought you had it all figured out…you’ve been trying to do something on your school web page but can’t muddle through it on your own!  Fear not, Noel and Jim are here to help – and when they don’t know the answer, Andrew Carlson can clarify!  Target audience: K-12 Norris web page developers with some (intermediate) experience who wish to evolve from misery to merriment in web page design.

Staff Development Schedule 10-16 / 10-17

Abbreviated session name heading; Intended audience listed parenthetically ( __);location listed last. [Note ‘extended’ or ‘repeat’ session; extended sessions count more towards the required equivalent of seven 50-minute sessions.]   See other doc for fuller descriptions of sessions.

Thursday, October 16^th

Friday, October 17^th

Remember, the administrative expectation for these two days is that teachers attend / participate in the equivalent of one day’s worth of sessions over the two days.  You may use the remaining time as work time at your discretion.  You are encouraged to take full advantage of the learning opportunities available to you to nurture your own personal and professional growth.  Please note some sessions may require your attendance / participation; see session descriptions for further details.