Week One Round-Up

It's taken me all of Labor Day weekend to recuperate from the first week of school.  It was a busy and challenging week.  Here's a recap of the week's events:

• Schedule Changes, Lots of Schedule Changes: My department was the last one to be entered into the computer system.  I knew that we had schedules based on the number of e-mails I received on a Friday night.  I spent the Saturday before school started at school helping the master scheduler make some schedule changes.  Throughout the week , I was a constant presence in the guidance office asking the guidance counselors to make additional changes as teachers brought them to my attention.  I'm still on the guidance counselors' good side.  I think.
• Reaching All of Our Students: The teachers at my school are still inspired by their new-found knowledge of SIOP strategies and requested not only a list of ESOL students in their classes, but their WIDA ACCESS scores so that they can begin to differentiate instruction.  I've also been invited into several classrooms to help teachers plan lessons and tailor their instruction for their English language learners.  This also encourages me as while I have worked at this school for a few years, it is my first year in an official leadership role and I wasn't sure how my colleagues would perceive me.
• They're Coming to America: My area of the country received thousands of new students from Central America over the summer.  The Newcomer program at my school already has twenty-five students and we are just about ready to open a second section.  I am working with the the teachers, administration, parent outreach specialist and school social worker to make sure that these students have everything they need to be successful.  I also submitted a request for grant funds to purchase reading material in the students' native language.