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MOST RECENT MEETING Details:
PLC BOOK STUDY
for
FALL 2008
Continue with your reading!
At our next meeting, Oct. 29, we will decide upon a date for our Holiday Party and Book Study Discussion.
Jim Furgeson has graciously offered to host our group once again.
11 Discussion Questions
These questions along with a brief synopsis of the book and biography of the author are found on the Penguin Publishers website.
Why Do A Book Study?
In a wonderful article from Education Week titled "Book Study Helps Teachers Hone Skills," author Bess Keller looks at exactly that question:
"The pairing of books and teachers might seem natural, but it has taken the convergence of at least two trends to move "book study" far up the list of the way teachers spend their professional-development time.
For one, many observers, not least teachers themselves, are convinced that teachers are obligated to upgrade their classroom skills. For another, the most effective way to do that, according to a growing chorus of educators and experts, is through work on practice located within schools, conducted among colleagues, and, above all, well integrated with teachers’ day-to-day work.
Enter book study - easily localized and collegial, hugely adaptable. It is also relatively cheap at a time of rising costs and declining revenue..." (read more)
Fall Meeting Focuses on Law-Related Education,
Mock Election, and Veterans' Day
World War II Veteran Jost shares personal memories
A big thank you to The Austin Bar Association for providing our meeting space for our meeting on Wednesday, October 29.
Click here to download PowerPoint slide information from meeting.
Representatives from ABA shared Law-Related Education information with us about both the Pick Me! A Jury of My Peers jury education 
program as well as the opportunity to get in on their latest book study project (planned for mid-May, 2009). They are offering to purchase the book Leapholes and attorneys will come to speak at participating schools to discuss
the concepts and specific trials introduced in the book. Have you spoken to your teachers about this? And finally, don't foget to get on board for the Mock Trial competition mentioned by the folks from ABA.
A very special thank you to our keynote speaker, Mr. Kenneth Jost; U.S. Navy retired, for bringing his story to us in honor of Veterans' Day. Mr. Jost arrived with his wife (they're celebrating their 65th anniversary this year!) as well as his son and daughter-in-law (our own Norma Jost, AISD Math supervisor). Mr. Jost's presentation (which we videotaped) came complete with visuals and artifacts - including a very special, somewhat tattered Old Glory. (Meeting attendees pose with the flag and the Jost family in the pic above, click to enlarge.) The description of his experience aboard his ship heading for Japan for an anticipated invasion of that island country as well as the story of how he came to possess the flag was quite moving! But Mr. Jost wove in a great amount of humor as well in sharing his important oral history with us. An unexpected gift from Mr. Jost was a printed copy of his published story for which we are all deeply grateful.
We appreciate Sue Soy from the Austin Public Library who joined us as well for sharing news of APL's resources. Remember to go online today and give your input on the three architectural proposals for the new Central Library; to remind your teachers to take advantage of the Latinos & Latinas in World War II exhbit as well as the wonderful Picturing America program now housed in the APL branches mentioned);
and
Jason Flowers from LASA, thank you for joining us! Contact Jason soon with the name of your campus contact for participation in the Texas Quiz Bowl contest - Jason will guide them along!
UPCOMING dates have now been set as well, please mark your calendars:
- January 21; 8:30 - 12:30 Department Chair meeting
[Location: Texas Folk Life office; 1317 S. Congress]
- February 13, 8:00 - 3:30 District-Wide Staff Development
[Location: Crockett HS; Presenter Proposals now being accepted.
Download Presenter's Proposal application form at http://ssplanning.pbwiki.com .]
- April 15; 1:00 - 4:00 Final Department Chair meeting
[Site to be determined. Suggestions welcome.]
In addition Chairs of DL Campuses, be aware of the following dates that relate to your work with the Disciplinary Literacy instructional model:
- Sept. 30 - Oct. 1
- Nov. 1 - DL Campuses, Video Assignments are due.
- Dec. 4 - DL Campus Leads & District Support Staff meet with Dr. Apodaca.
- Jan. 26 - 28
- March 23 - 25
PREVIOUS MEETING INFO :
First Bi-Semester Meeting of 2008-09
Held
at
The Center for Mexican-American Cultural Arts
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
SUMMARY REPORT
It was great seeing each of you at our meeting. A big thank you to our guest presenters, Robin Matthews from Texas Archeology Society, Michele King Instructional Technology Specialist from AISD , and Penny Shank from Rosen Classroom. Rosen Classroom is an approved AISD vendor and Penny wanted you to be sure you have that information, it is:
ROSEN PUBLISHING GROUP
29 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010.
The following materials are from the meeting and, as well, be sure to visit your Document Library for all other documents, particularly those related to TAKS data, data analysis protocols, etc.
(includes links to all websites mentioned and photos from the meeting.)
- Answering Questions about End-Of-Course
- The US History EOC assessment will be available as a voluntary, online-only assessment May 11-29, 2009. Since standards have not been set for the new EOC tests and since those assessments are not yet mandated state tests, districts must determine if/when they want to participate in the EOC testing program. Just FYI, other EOC tests available in 2009 as voluntary, online tests are Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, and Chemistry.
- Raw scores and Confidential Student Reports will be available for the 2009 EOC tests twenty-four hours after tests have been submitted to Pearson for scoring. A data file will be available to districts later in the summer. Districts can run a variety of reports from the data, campus and district summaries.
- World Geography EOC will be field tested May 4-22, 2009. Districts chosen to participate in the EOC field tests will be notified at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.
Research Databases from Ebsco publishing and Britannica Online School Edition (explained in powerpoint from last meeting, see below ).
Please introduce your teachers to the K-12 Databases. Remember, they are taking usage statistics and if we don't use 'em, we may lose 'em!
- POWERPOINT / PHOTOS FROM LAST MEETING
VIEW POWERPOINT from the last meeting, CLICK HERE.
Remember that you will find the logos for each of the institutions our presenters represented today hyperlinked for easy access to their own sites.
There are other hyperlinks provided as well such as those to the new State-provided databases, the College Readiness Program that Joe talked about, etc.
In addition, we've inserted photos taken during our morning at CAH within the powerpoint. We hope you enjoy them!
- ABC-CLIO databases
Consider speaking to your campus librarian about the possibility of securing these databases for your campus if you are indeed interested.
Demonstrate the features of the ABC-CLIO databases with him or her and consider discussing a re-evaluation of current library Internet resources and their actual usage. Currently you can save 50% when you subscribe before 6/30/08!
- The Austin Bar Association is offering to purchase the book Leapholes and attorneys will come to speak at participating schools to discuss
the concepts and trials introduced in the book. Have you spoken to your teachers about this?
Crockett Department Chair Elizabeth Roussos used the book with her AP U.S. History students and said her students loved the book!
Thank you Chairs for all you do!
© AISD, 2008 /