I want to thank our staff group for all of the great ideas and discussion yesterday.  It made me think about all of the important work to do, and always keeping the focus on doing what is best for our students.  I think it is human nature to choose the path of least resistance, and I myself am guilty of it.  However, those tough discussions and tough decisions to do what is best not for you, but those you serve are what truly impacts the students and community served by the school district.  I truly believe all educators get into the field because they want to make an impact through their service to others.  I want to thank those who shared their thoughts and ideas and gave up personal time to start the process of making meaningful change for our students.  I welcome both community and student input in terms of how we can make ELC HS the best learning enviornment possible for our students.  Some things we try will work great, others will fail miserably but growth as professionals never happens through stagnation.  Through success and failure we grow both as professionals and as a Learning Community.

I want to give a "shout out" to all our activity coaches and sponsors for their hard work with students outside of the regular school day.  Along with that I want to thank parents for going the extra mile to ensure your child participates in some activity here at ELC High School.  It is a known fact that those who participate are more successful as students, as well as, learn skills that help them latter in life.  Below is a snip from an article showing the relationship between extracurricular activities and student success.

Is participation in extracurricular activities related to students' success in school?

Indicators of successful participation in school include consistent attendance, academic achievement, and aspirations for continuing education beyond high school. Extracurricular participation(1) was positively associated with each of these success indicators among public high school seniors in 1992 (table 1). During the first semester of their senior year, participants reported better attendance than their non-participating classmates--half of them had no unexcused absences from school and half had never skipped a class, compared with one-third and two-fifths of nonparticipants, respectively. Students who participated were three times as likely to perform in the top quartile on a composite math and reading assessment compared with nonparticipants. Participants were also more likely than nonparticipants to aspire to higher education: two-thirds of participants expected to complete at least a bachelor's degree while about half of nonparticipants expected to do so. It cannot be known from these data, however, whether participation leads to success, successful students are more inclined to participate, or both occur.

Table 1. Percentage of public school seniors reporting selected indicators of school success by participation and nonparticipation in extracurricular activities, 1992

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                                                         Non-
Indicators                            Participants    participants
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No unex. absences*                      50.4             36.2
Never skipped classes*                  50.7             42.3
Have a GPA of 3.0 or above              30.6             10.8
Highest quartile on a math and
reading assessment                      29.8             14.2
Expect to earn bachelor's degree
or higher                               68.2             48.2

In my attempt to get familiar with all the features of Google Blogger I have attached (I think) our tentative 14/15 Professional Development calendar.  Please click on this link for a PD Calendar.   I want to thank your High School District Leadership Team for all the time they spent creating a quality template for getting all the important work done.  I say tentative as we are waiting to hear back from AEA technology specialists, and I would like to meet with those DLT representatives once again before finalizing this plan.

"We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started."
-Henry Ward Beecher
I feel like that quote alone sums up my comfortability of creating a blog, and attempting to do a better job of living in the world our students live in every day.  The "peak of excellence" in terms of my technology comfortability hopefully grows each and every day in our move to a 1-1 school district.  With that I would encourage all ELC High School staff to take full advantage of the resources available to you through the districts new 1-1 initiative.  For many of you this is second nature, but for the rest of "us" it may mean getting past your insecurities and comfort level (as I am trying to do in creating this blog)!  In the end you either try and succeed, or try and fail.  The great thing is either way you have grown as a professional.  With a few adjustments, and some help from others it will work the next time you try!  With that I welcome you to jump in on this 1-1 journey, it is moving forward with / but hopefully not without you.  Thank-you for all your efforts and courage in making that big step as an educator!