Aloha everyone!
We had a series of focused, powerful, and relevant opening
meetings this week. On Tuesday, teachers
had a chance to work with Tom Shimmer, a consultant from Canada, on assessments
and grading. He used a coaching analogy
of providing feedback to athletes and reacting in “real time” to help kids
improve… not days or weeks later. At the
end of the day, he talked to us about grading practices which caused many of us
to stop and rethink the way that we give grades. I noticed that quite a few teachers have
restructured their syllabus this year, trying to implement some of the
practices Mr. Shimmer shared with the group.
We purchased a copy of Mr. Shimmer’s book for each teacher to use as a
resource and we’re all looking forward to his return to WHS in January.
In opening meetings with teachers and staff, I shared two
videos (Malama and Laulima) that used the Hokule'a to introduce the concept of “he wa’a, he moku; he moku, he wa’a”; this translates to “a canoe is an island; an island is a canoe.” These videos reminded us that we need to care for one another, embrace and fulfill our individual responsibilities, and continuously seek knowledge to find our way as a community. How we are on land is what we bring with us
on the canoe – to be successful, we must
prepare properly for our voyage of learning, take ownership of our
responsibilities, and understand our obligation to truly care for others. Without this mindset, we will not be
successful. You can click on the link below and view the Malama and Laulima videos.
With this mindset, I want to introduce two significant
changes at WHS this school year. I’ve
talked about this first change for months now – we will not be offering credit recovery courses during the school day. If a student needs to make up a credit, he or
she will have to do it on their own time.
We will provide support by opening up the LRC in the evenings and having
a teacher present to help students. If
your student needs to make up a credit, he or she will be required to attend
these evening sessions to ensure that he/she stays on track to complete the
course by the end of the year. The
second change is that we will be giving
students GLO (General Learner Outcome) grades in addition to their content
grades for each class. This is a
WASC accreditation recommendation that we have to implement; however it also
helps to reinforce the GLO/college and career readiness skills of being a self-directed
learner and a community contributor.
Students will receive a S or U grade from each of their teachers that
reflects their skills in these two critical areas. If a student receives three (3) or more U
grades, he/she will be placed on behavior probation for two weeks which means
that he/she will not be able to participate in extracurricular activities. Students will be required to clear grades and
GLOs in order to be eligible to participate in athletics and events like Prom, Winter
Ball, Homecoming Court, and May Day Court.
The Common Core State Standards and the upcoming SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) test that our students will now take is extremely rigorous. Students are being asked to think critically, analyze information, and apply their new knowledge in a wide range of situations in order to prepare them for post-HS opportunities. Students will need to take school seriously. At Freshman Orientation on Friday, I reminded students that
their job is to be a student and they will be expected to learn more than just
content – math, English, science, social studies – but important life skills such as
being a self-directed learner and community contributor in order to ensure that
they leave WHS college and career ready.
This message will be repeated continuously by all of us at WHS and we
will need the support of our parents and community to make it happen.
I look forward to working with you this school year. Please mark your calendars for our Open House/Parent
Night/Book Fair on Thursday August 14th. We will begin promptly at 5:30 pm in the gym;
please be sure to arrive and register early.
Thank you very much!
Mahina
