Budding Meteorologist Breaks in Boren Board

This is cross-posted from the Technology blog:

J.L. Boren Elementary first grade teacher Stephannie Waller forwarded this video about the first day that an ActivBoard was used in her class.

This is Mrs. Waller’s description of the video:

Just wanted to send you an email/video of my first grade class from this morning when we had all the right cables & electricity, etc. so that we could use our Promethean Board in my First Grade Classroom at JL Boren. I have a student meteorologist for the week & this bright student saw that what was on the promethean board was what he saw every morning on our computer when he checked the weather, so he asked, “Can I check the weather on that?” Seeing that it was a very teachable moment & that he could teach every other student how to be a meteorologist I said yes. So he clicked it on & then I asked him to click on the Doppler Radar (it was raining this morning & they would actually have something to watch) & then asked him to enlarge it & from there he went to town, like a natural.

Thanks so much, the kids LOVE this, I love this & the learning possibilities are limitless!

Scenes similar to this one were repeated at Phase I elementary schools across the District last week. It will be exciting to see how MISD teachers and students will use these tools throughout the year.

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(Note: This interactive white board demonstration video also got the attention of the American Meteorological Society and ended up being included on their blog last week.)

Presidential Speech Decision-making

In response to questions being raised regarding President Obama's back-to-school speech to students on September 14, we wanted to provide some background on the chosen District procedure.

The Mansfield ISD administration made the choice to use permission slips to assist our campuses in preparing proper facilities and equipment to accommodate students who wish to view the speech live. The permission slips were not intended as a way to prohibit students from watching the speech. As we have stated in prior communications, we feel the speech can be used by our teachers in future classes as it fits with their lesson plans. This is the only event during the year where we attempt to show a live broadcast to a large group of students at the same time. We set the September 10 deadline to give our campus and district administrators a reasonable amount of time to adequately plan for this potentially large-scale live broadcast event in MISD.

In our discussions with parents this year and last, we realize this event carries a special emotional and/or political significance in our community. We are making every effort to be sensitive to the wishes of all parents in our decision-making, although we realize we cannot satisfy everyone’s specific wishes.

Thank you for your understanding, patience, and for being part of our school district.

(Updated: September 10) We learned on the afternoon of Thursday, September 9 that the speech will occur at 12 PM CST. Since this falls within the lunch times for schools, we are working through the realities of lunch logistics with our Student Nutrition Department and the campuses in preparation for Tuesday’s live broadcast.

Welcome fun for our new staff

Last week, new district employees attended the Mansfield Training of Professionals (M-TOP) two-day program. The program is designed to give incoming teachers the fundamentals and important information they need to start the year off right and be successful in the District.

M-TOP was held at two Mansfield ISD high schools. Mansfield High School was the location for sessions from Human Resources and Communications and Legacy High School was used for Curriculum and Instruction. Based on some early feedback, the sessions were pretty successful in helping new staff get a good start while having a little fun.

Check out the photo gallery from the two-day event.

To our new employees, welcome to Mansfield ISD.

Visit the Staff Homepage for more employee information.

(And yes, that was an inflatable slide inside Legacy High School. A special thanks to all who opted to jump in and join the fun.)

Cows and construction don't mix

"Oh didn't you hear? We have cows."

And that's how it started. Last week, new assistant superintendent for student services and support, Lamar Goree mentioned our little cattle issue at the construction site for the Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts.

Construction workers from Thos. S. Byrne Construction Services tipped us off to the cattle problem at the site located behind Ben Barber Career Tech Academy. After some field investigation work and armed with a digital camera, Goree and Dr. Ed Foster, Director of Career and Technology, located the cattle as well as their owner. (See the photo evidence above.)

Approximately 30 head of cattle have been roaming the land between an area owned to the North and East of the MISD property and our construction site. We are having a fence built between the two properties and construction has commenced on the $40.4 million facility. Yep, the cows have to be moooooved. (Sorry, I couldn't help it.)

Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts
The Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts will be a 149,650-square-foot home of the Claude Cunningham Performance Hall and John Washington Professional Development Center.

The performance hall will accommodate 5500 people with an additional 500 on the stage. This would allow for a seating capacity of 6000 to accommodate our high school graduations and other large-scale events. The main feature of the professional development center's design is one large room that can accommodate up to 500, but can also be divided into six separate rooms for training. This large professional development room could host other events that are currently being housed outside the district. The MISD Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to open in the spring of 2012.

School is just around the corner

It's that time of year again. No, not back to school...yet. It's the hot summer days and school district personnel are in and out on staggered vacation days. We've all been getting the last bit of time before another school year begins.

So if you've tried to contact someone in administration and it has taken some extra time to get a return call or e-mail you'll know why. Campus personnel will report back to work soon as well. Thanks for your patience.

But we are getting close
The school year is right around the corner. The first day of school is Monday, August 23, 2010. You still have time to squeeze in some summer fun. Also, be sure check the MISD website for back to school information in the coming days (with registration dates, school supply lists, and more). Don't wait to take care of any immunization needs and athletic physicals.

Enjoy what's left of the summer.

(Image: jaqsphotogarage)

In Memoriam: Annette Perry

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Annette Perry over the weekend.

Mrs. Perry, who was the namesake for Annette Perry Elementary School in south Mansfield, lost her battle with cancer.

"The Perry Elementary Campus Family is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Mrs. Perry," said Sondra Thomas, Perry Elementary Principal.

"She was a remarkable lady, and I feel very blessed to have known Annette. She enjoyed visiting the campus, and the students loved Mrs. Perry's visits.

"As a campus we will do our best to carry on her legacy that all students are capable of making great strides and reaching to new heights."

Our thoughts are with the Perry family.

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Annette Perry began her education career in the Head Start program in Mansfield ISD in the summer of 1970 followed by seven years at Alice Ponder Elementary. While teaching, Annette married Gerald Perry in 1978. She left the district to teach in Bryan ISD for two years before returning to Mansfield ISD for 25 years. She spent five years teaching in a self contained class at Mansfield 6th Grade with students who had a wide range of disabilities. Perry finished her career at Erma Nash Elementary teaching resource, STAR, FALS, and PPCD. She served as the Special Education Team Leader for many years at Erma Nash as well as helped develop and implement a successful Inclusion Program.

Annette Perry retired from Mansfield ISD in 2008 after 34 years as a dedicated educator. Annette Perry Elementary School opened in January 2010.

Curriculum conference puts summer on hold for teachers

Today wraps up the Mansfield ISD annual Summer Conference for teachers. These dedicated teachers have put their summer plans on hold for a few extra days to prepare for next year.

Monica Gonzalez, Elementary Language Arts Coordinator, guest posts about the conference:
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This three-day event draws over 500 teachers each day to attend multiple sessions in every content area known to man...well that may be an exaggeration but we do have language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, health, art, GT, CPI, ESL, and even PE, 125 sessions total.

We also have 17 vendors in attendance, providing teachers with a look at available technology and new instructional materials. The conference provides a way for teachers to expand their teaching repertoire and to learn about new instructional materials for the 2010-2011 school year. Teachers are saying: "Great workshop; they did a great job!" "Will definitely use in my classroom." "I got some great ideas and am excited about using them next year." "Loved It!! Best and most effective workshop I have attended in my three years in MISD."


Thanks to the staff at Legacy HS for hosting the summer conference. Thanks to all the presenters! Thanks to MISD Curriculum and Instruction Department for all of the hard work and effort that goes into planning, organizing, and conducting the conference each year!