Day 266 -- Mr. Weller
I signed up to be a part of a school-wide initiative to give struggling students help in the areas they needed it as a part of the regular school day. Basically, if you were failing a class, for whatever reason, our philosophy was that we weren't going to let you fail in peace. We would be on you until we were so annoying that you relented and did the work or studied what you needed to study or made up the test you bombed or whatever.
On the other hand, we wanted to give students incentive to keep their grades up and realized that not all students would necessarily need this extra help session that took place during school. What would we do with them?
Out of this entire predicament (and after a LOT of discussion), came the system we call "Power Play". Here's how it works:
But, after volunteering to work the logistics, I was trying to envision how in the world we were going to place each and every student into the place where they needed to go! Would I be sifting through a thousand student forms?
I started to get extremely nervous about this.
Luckily, I had the good sense to go talk to our resident tech guru at the high school, Mr. Weller, who told me very matter-of-factly, that we could simply automate the entire process using a Google form. In about 5 minutes, he had a sample form up and running that would make the entire process seamless and easy. All that we had to do was to get students online so that they could make their choices.
Wow.
This went from being a big hairy deal to a walk in the park. Instead of being stressed, I can just look forward to all of the opportunities that this new approach will have to affect our students' achievement. I'm excited. It's a brand-new, WHS created program, and I strongly believe it shows our dedication to helping our students be successful.
Thank God for Mr. Weller!
Lord, thank you for Mr. Weller. Thank you for his brains and talent. Thank you for his willingness to help us on this project. Please bless this new program we have and use it in a positive way for our students. I pray that it would affect they climate of our building for the better. I pray that it would be a time for teachers to work with their students in a refreshing and fun atmosphere. I pray that students would see it as an opportunity and take advantage of the resources we are trying to give them. In your name I pray, Amen.
On the other hand, we wanted to give students incentive to keep their grades up and realized that not all students would necessarily need this extra help session that took place during school. What would we do with them?
Out of this entire predicament (and after a LOT of discussion), came the system we call "Power Play". Here's how it works:
- Students attend their regular classes throughout the day, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays only, each class is shorter by about 5 minutes, leaving us a 35 minute chunk at the end of the day.
- If a student is failing a core class (English, math, science, social studies), he or she is obligated to attend an intervention session during that time. He or she would then get help from a qualified teacher in that area.
- If a student is NOT failing any classes then he or she can choose a fun, enrichment session offered by teachers. Examples for the upcoming session are Beginning Sewing, Video Announcements, Poetry Slam, Beginning Sports Officiating, and Baking.
- Each Power Play session lasts a total of 4 weeks -- that's 8 days of help for those that need it. If you aren't failing any more or no longer need the help, you can choose a fun session next time. If you were in a fun session and your grades are still up, you simply choose a new one after the session expires. If you continue to struggle or start to slip, you go into a new help session for another 8 days.
But, after volunteering to work the logistics, I was trying to envision how in the world we were going to place each and every student into the place where they needed to go! Would I be sifting through a thousand student forms?
I started to get extremely nervous about this.
Luckily, I had the good sense to go talk to our resident tech guru at the high school, Mr. Weller, who told me very matter-of-factly, that we could simply automate the entire process using a Google form. In about 5 minutes, he had a sample form up and running that would make the entire process seamless and easy. All that we had to do was to get students online so that they could make their choices.
Wow.
This went from being a big hairy deal to a walk in the park. Instead of being stressed, I can just look forward to all of the opportunities that this new approach will have to affect our students' achievement. I'm excited. It's a brand-new, WHS created program, and I strongly believe it shows our dedication to helping our students be successful.
Thank God for Mr. Weller!
Lord, thank you for Mr. Weller. Thank you for his brains and talent. Thank you for his willingness to help us on this project. Please bless this new program we have and use it in a positive way for our students. I pray that it would affect they climate of our building for the better. I pray that it would be a time for teachers to work with their students in a refreshing and fun atmosphere. I pray that students would see it as an opportunity and take advantage of the resources we are trying to give them. In your name I pray, Amen.
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