10,000 Hours of Practice

In my days as an assistant wrestling coach we used to tell our wrestlers that they needed to practice a move 10,000 times before it would become part of their muscle memory.  In essence, practicing the move 10,000 times would increase a wrestler's ability on the mat.  However, after reading the book, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, I found that my old way of communicating that message was a bit flawed.

Gladwell states that research supports it takes 10,000 hours of practice before one can become an 'expert'.  In his book he talks about three specific examples of this theory.  Bill Joy, Bill Gates and the Beatles.  In each case, these folks engaged in their area of expertise for 10,000 hours before they reached the pinnacle of their early careers.

So how does this relate to education.  Students spend roughly seven hours per day in classroom instruction for 174 days.  7 hours x 174 days x 13 years = 15,834 hours of instruction.  However, the example relates directly to practice not necessarily seat time.  Therefore, we need to begin shifting our attention to finding ways for students to 'practice' or 'apply' their learning to engage the 'expert' status.

Although this blog entry will not solve the gaps in student learning, I hope for it to start a conversation. 

Technology is Evolving in Education

From December 14th to December 17th I will be attending the TIES Conference in Minneapolis.  This conference is focused on the potential use of technology in today's classroom.  I have just completed the first day of this conference and the sessions I attended involved the use of Evernote and Twitter in K-12 classrooms. 

Evernote is managed by the cloud.  Students and teachers can utilize Evernote to eliminate paper, increase engagement, and enhance achievement.  There are many features in Evernote that can be tapped to move our educational capacity forward.  As the JWP School District continues its journey to engage the student population through technology, Evernote will be a strong contributor.

Twitter is a social media platform that many utilize in a variety of ways.  Although Twitter has received negative attention, it can actually provide a positive influence on the education of our students.  Please click on the following link to learn more about the use of Twitter in the K12 classroom: http://fluency21.com/blog/2013/02/19/60-inspiring-examples-of-twitter-in-the-classroom/

While I attended the conference I overheard educators talk about the ability our youth have with technology.  After listening to the dialogue, I came to the conclusion that educators need to begin discovering new social media tools prior to our students discovering them.  Right now, Facebook and Twitter are almost a foregone tool for teenagers.  Our students are now moving onto Instagram and Snapchat from Facebook and Twitter.  A reflective question we need to begin answering is the following:

What can we do as educators to discover the next best thing for our young learners and begin including it into our instruction? 

Although we are all comfortable with the tradition of education, we need to begin adapting our practice to meet the needs of the new learner.  This is a call for all to embark on the challenge of evolving education!

With Regards,
Bill Adams, JWP Superintendent

Board Meeting Agendas/Minutes Made Easy

As a school district we continue to look for ways to enhance communication with our public.  Last school year I went through a webinar with BoardBooks, which is an internet based board meeting framework.  After the webinar it became quite clear how beneficial this framework would be for our three communities to stay abreast of District happenings. 

In October we adopted the BoardBook framework and will be utilizing it going forward.  On this site, the public will be able to view detailed agendas with attached documents that relate to each item to be covered.  In the past, we were only able to post an agenda, which left out important details.  Although our previous format served it's purpose, this new framework provides much more information for our community members.

I strongly encourage our communities to check out our BoardBook site to stay informed with what is taking place in our school district.  If you have any troubles viewing or navigating the site, please send me an e-mail or give me a phone call.  The site can be accessed via the link or web-path below:

1.  https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicHome.aspx?ak=1001026
2. Web-path
    a. Go to 'www.jwp.k12.mn.us'
    b. Click on 'District Information'
    c. Click on 'School Board'
    d. Click on New - 'Agendas and Minutes'

With Regards,
Bill Adams, Superintendent
adamsb@jwp.k12.mn.us
507.234.5181 Ext. 5

Progress Realized

Greetings Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Students, Families & Others:

The first month of the school year was a great success.  Our students transitioned into their routines for the school year and adjusted well to their new schedules and teachers.  JWP staff also familiarized themselves to their new schedules and students.

This year brings the implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS), Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), new math and reading curricula, and a new teacher evaluation system.  As you can glean from that information, our teachers are extremely busy with these new initiatives while continuing to provide high quality instruction.  We are proud of our staff members' dedication to professional improvement!

September was a month filled with adjustment and anticipation.  October will provide our teachers with a bit more comfort throughout the implementation of District initiatives.  We look forward to their continued growth and their direct impact on the improvement of the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton School District.

With Regards,
Bill Adams, Superintendent

 

Now it works...

At the beginning of the school year, I was planning to create a promotional video highlighting the wonderful opportunities the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Public School District offers.  It became quite clear that finding time to create such a project would prove to be insurmountable.  Therefore, I turned to one of our students.  Zach Hagen agreed to take on the project and this is what he has created.  Pretty impressive!

Educator Appreciation Week

This week is Educator Appreciation Week and on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 it was Educator Appreciation Day!  This week allows us the opportunity to thank our educators for the positive impact they have on our entire school community.

I can say with 110% confidence that we are fortunate to have outstanding individuals in our District that are committed to the advancement of student development.  Each day I see another example of the dedication our staff has to improving the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Public School District experience.  These examples range from community events to homework help to outstanding facilities and to service.  I am very proud of the staff at our school district!

If you have an opportunity, please thank an educator today!

Board Meeting Summary and May Agenda Items

Greetings Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Family,

Our School Board conducted a study session on Monday, May 6, 2013.  At this study session we had productive discussions about our district budget, district leadership, the possibility of a school resource officer, athletic punch cards and upcoming athletic coaches hirings.

Currently our district budget is in a healthy place due to outstanding financial management, the passage of an operating levy and several other factors.  We discussed the revised budget and preliminary budget for our next fiscal year.

District leadership was reviewed.  The District currently has a K-12 Principal, K-6 Dean of Students/Activities Director/Community Education Director and a Superintendent.  There was discussion of expanding this to a K-6 Principal/Community Education Facilitator, 7-12 Principal/Curriculum Development Director and a Superintendent.

There is a federal grant available again that would put school resource officers in buildings throughout the United States.  If the grant is approved the District would be responsible for a portion of the cost.  In the beginning 12.5% and at the end 50%.  After the final year of the grant, the District would have to decide if continuing with 100% of the cost is appropriate and fits within our District budget.

It was discussed to begin providing athletic punch cards for families to purchase at the beginning of each year/athletic season.  This would eliminate families from having to have cash on hand for each event.  They would be allowed to purchase a specified amount of events and have their punch card 'punched'.

At the regular Board meeting in May, the Board will be approving contracts for our Fall and Winter Head Coaches.  This is a bit of a change in practice.  The rationale behind the change is to have coaches approved before the start of an athletic season and provide our parents and coaches a head coach throughout the summer events.

As you can tell, our School Board Study Session was extremely productive filled with enriching conversation and education.  If you have any questions, please contact me directly.

With Highest Regards,
Bill Adams, Superintendent