February 27, 2012

Attendees
Cliff Prince (who needs to bring a tarp for his car on overcast days)
Dedria Davis-King
John Downs
Brendan Elkins
Stephanie Gentry
Brian Graham
Portia Lakey
Tonia Maxcy
Kristin Thorne
Lisa Turner
Sherri Worrell
did I miss someone?

Laura Horn--Topics for today's meeting

• Book Fair
• Suggestions and concerns from faculty about roles/duties of SIT Reps
• Laptops/new technology
• Literacy

Book Fair Schedule:

• Looking for a simpler schedule, smooth process with lots of feedback and input from the staff
• No reason for everyone to go down two and three times
• Starts Friday March 9^th—through the following Thursday
• Ms. Gentry is sending out the staff calendar with the updated schedule
• Book fair preview:  All LA teachers will run through for a 15 minute preview—schedule will be posted
• Should not disrupt 7^th grade field trip nor spring pictures
• After preview period is over, then 2 and  half days will be for purchasing
• Book fair passes will be issued and students will have a ten minute window to shop
• Two students at a time should ensure no more than about twenty students at the Fair at any one time.
• No one should have to change their lesson plan as was the case in the past
• We will advertise book fair family night on  Tuesday the 13^th part of the Arts festival 6:00-8:00
• Other details:
• Would like the book fair to tie into literacy push
• During preview—students can make a quick purchase
• Open days will be advertised very clearly.
• Book fair preview CD will be view-able during home base or certain times during the day
• PTA is limiting some of the "junk purchases"

Expectations for SIT Reps/how to handle complaints and concerns

• After the last meeting there was a lot of feedback provided to SIT reps
• Some people might not understand that SIT meets only once per month
• Laura sent out the by-laws about what those expectations were.
• Dedria King was getting questions from people who wanted answers right away from administration, and that’s not the way SIT handles things
• If it’s an emergency, then those concerns should go to administration
• Part of the misconception is that SIT rep will take care of situation right away
• We need to help constituents understand the process
• Example:  Rep said grade level reported a hot spot in hall after school—that's really not an issue for SIT to solve since we meet only once per month—that should go directly to administration to troubleshoot

• Types of SIT Concerns
• Concerns that are completely valid
• Legitimate issue that is a school issue that can go on agenda for next meeting
• Third situation might be one to monitor, consult with Ms Horn or Ms Gentry
• Then, there are some people who just need to vent at times--SIT rep can be the temperature gauge and assess it based on number of those types of concerns and the source
• Bottom line:  Don’t expect SIT to be a "catch all" for complaints
• We want SIT to be respected and valued to make trusted decisions
• If people don’t like SIT decisions,  they should serve on SIT
• Items for agenda should go to Laura Horn first

Laptops/Downs

• The school has received 75 WFU laptops (was a complete surprise since we thought WFU laptop program was a budget cut
• They are Lenovo T-400 models with built in web cameras and microphones, skype and much faster processor (2.4 Giga Hertz with 1.93 Giga Bytes of Ram) and 150 GB hard drives.
• Much faster and higher quality than last model
• Downs's presentation on his thoughts about how laptops should be distributed

Discussion:

• We still have a need for a working laptop cart (discussion of laptop cart and what happened to it was discussed in great detail at the December Technology Committee meeting)
• School will start pursuing the purchase of another laptop cart
• A lot will depend on PTSA fund raiser and the sorting out of various funds out at the end of the year.
• Maxcy--National Junior Honor Society could donate money
• Gentry--up to 90% of extra money  could go towards technology.
• In past years, PTA gave $7000-$12000  but this year's fund raiser did not go as well
• Question:  If Dell Mini purchase does not work out can we pull WFU laptops back? No
• Maybe buy laptops for a cart in stages
• As liberal as she is, Gentry is very conservative with funds.
• We are all hoping PTSA spring fundraiser goes well
• Group was in consensus that new WFU laptops should go to teachers and be used at their discretion.
• Teachers should consult with Downs for ideas of best use in classroom or for home use too.
• All Laptops should be distributed to full-time certified teachers by March 9th 
• Thorne--we should make clear to constituents that one reason for not using these Lenovo laptops (for student use or for a laptop cart type situation) are durability issues and battery life.
• (The Dells according to Downs are more durable for student use, have long lasting batteries (up to six hours) and have carts with slots for easy charging (no loose cords to deal with) Also Dell carts are much easier to move to places like PODS whereas the Lenovo carts are actually a safety hazard with bad design and poor quality wheels

Literacy: 

• Laura Horn,  Lisa Turner and MS. Gentry—would like to push some ideas about reading in March
• Ms. Horn talked about teachers making a Sign, or a flyer with their favorite author and posting in classrooms
• She has made something really simple—Laura has a form already made up that she will share
• Students could also do them and hang them up
• Possibly hang them on the door?—only 30% of door may be covered( Ms. Gentry will be sharing at faculty meeting the results of the fire Marshall walk through)
• Other ideas:  
• People can add comments to the bottom of the SIT blog
• Target literacy for Science and Social studies
• What kind of reading strategies?  
• Fold-ables, titles, bold face words, paraphrasing, others?
• In LA workshops they discussed codes next to words, send to print shop, what can we do for people with text books? 
• Kendra sticky note idea with literature circles, and use that as a jumping off point for group discussions—could easily be transferred to science and other subjects
• Discussion Circles (Lisa) translation from literature circles to discussion circles
• found a bunch of articles last week on NCWISE Owl, Brittany Branch and turning it into a a science Friday reading project where kids work in groups and have "jobs" such as:  Word wizard, discussion leader, etc.
• The more we can talk about literacy strategies, the more we see in common across the school
• Maxcy:  found that people are doing more in their classroom then they realize, maybe just need to share more?
• At Monday’s staff meeting?  
• Couple of people could share best practices to incorporate literacy.
• Another idea: at next vertical planning meeting in March—good sharing time 
• For example, Black History Month:  Promoting diversity through literacy more of a cultural spin
• Maybe something like the book club and sharing of book covers.
• If you have additional ideas, share with Laura Horn
• Scroll different questions from novels, and enter into a drawing.
• Drop everything and read moment—read aloud to students 
• Junior honors society—Dr. Seuss day and kids read to kids
• Things like Student Council going down to Caleb’s Creek and reading to kids