Indiana's Pathways & Contributing to Our World

I'm going to try and write a weekly post on various topics that come to my attention through family life, work, volunteering, reading, or attempting to being an engaged citizen in my sphere of influence. I'd try to write everyday, but the previous responsibilities I have keep me from being as consistent as I would like. 

Recently a friend of mine wrote on his facebook page -

Thank you to ALL the interested FWCS stakeholders that came to tonight's school board Meeting. The Kids that spoke were ROCKSTARS! AND REMINDER of why we are pushing this Agenda.

I encourage Any Parent of Any Indiana school to review the proposed legislation referred to as "Pathways". Some of what is being proposed is very scary...I hope our legislatures give this long, hard deliberation.

Here is an article with FWCS' decisions based on input from parents and the community as they decide how to educate students given requirements from the state and funding from similar sources.

http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local-news/2018/03/02/fort-wayne-community-schools-provides-some-basic-information-about-questions-raised-regarding-honors-classes/

And here are the pathways an article that announced the State Board's pathways to the public:

https://www.in.gov/sboe/files/Grad%20Pathways%20-%20Draft%20Pathway%20Recommendations.v6.pdf

http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/indiana/20171206/state-education-board-approves-new-graduation-requirements

I have been a trained educator, professional school counselor, and have attended/completed various classes throughout my life and have experience in classrooms and schools as an educator, professional school counselor, and school corporation business manager.

I appreciate the board's rigor and intentions on producing quality future citizens and demanding educator's to invest in daily efforts to hold students and families to this elevated pursuit and pray that students and families will rise to the expectations.

Do we as a region, state, and country give school systems the funding they need and the autonomous respect and resources to deliver outcomes that families are asking for? What can we do to better work together at using schools and a community's resources to lift the boats of all a community's children, adults, employees, and employers?

I appreciate my friend's call to activate stakeholders and get them to participate in community engagement when normally we just scream at each other and complain about what their views are "from across the aisle". I do hope that we look for win-win solutions where given a finite amount of resources - time and money - we can give up a few things to make progress in areas we prioritize - both as families and groups of individuals.

Thank you and look forward to holding myself and encouraging my wife and daughter's to do their best on a daily basis.

Free SAT Practice & Preparation - College Board & Khan Academy

Khan Academy - Free SAT Practice & Preparation

Free practice for the new SAT. Personalized for your students' success.

The College Board and Khan Academy have teamed up to create free practice resources for the new SAT^®, making it easier than ever for all students to achieve their personal best. These online resources generate individualized practice recommendations that meet students right where they are in their learning — and help them grow.

Visit satpractice.org

On Khan Academy, your students can:

•	Focus practice where they need it most, pinpointing areas to strengthen using diagnostic quizzes and interactive tests. In the future, students will be able to upload their PSAT/NMSQT® scores for an even more personalized experience
•	Build specific knowledge and improve skill areas with thousands of practice questions and video lessons
•	Track their progress with instant feedback, so they can see how far they've come and where to focus next

This summer, explore how we're empowering all students to build their skills at their own pace.

Get Counselor Resources for the New SAT

The redesigned SAT launches March 5, 2016. Share the news with your students this fall and encourage your 10th and 11th graders to take the new PSAT/NMSQT in October — it's another great way to practice for the redesigned SAT. 

What Students, Young People, and Our Friends and Family Really Need to Hear

A colleague of mine shared this with us today - Most days I get bogged down in the details, responsibilities, of work and life that keep me from staying current with my desire to share information with others. I felt this was important enough to waste 5 minutes distracting myself from the requirements of work/life. Hopefully you are encouraged by it.

Yep.  I said it.  Yesterday I gave up on a student…….for about half a day.  It would be so easy for both of us if I failed him and pretended that he didn’t exist in my class.  That’s what he wants after all.

It helped me to read this article that popped up on my news feed this morning.  I’ve copied and pasted it below in case you to need a boost.

Juli

WHAT STUDENTS REALLY NEED TO HEAR

It’s 4 a.m.  I’ve struggled for the last hour to go to sleep.  But, I can’t.  Yet again, I am tossing and turning, unable to shut down my brain.  Why?  Because I am stressed about my students.  Really stressed.  I’m so stressed that I can only think to write down what I really want to say — the real truth I’ve been needing to say — and vow to myself that I will let my students hear what I reallythink tomorrow.

This is what students really need to hear:

First, you need to know right now that I care about you. In fact, I care about you more than you may care about yourself.  And I care not just about your grades or your test scores, but about you as a person. And, because I care, I need to be honest with you. Do I have permission to be honest with you — both in what I say and how I say it?

Here’s the thing: I lose sleep because of you.  Every week.

Before I tell you why, you should understand the truth about school. You see, the main event of school is not academic learning. It never has been. It never will be. And, if you find someone who is passionate in claiming that it is about academics, that person is lying to himself or herself and may genuinely believe that lie. Yes, algebra, essay writing, Spanish, the judicial process —  all are important and worth knowing. But they are not the MAIN event.

The main event is learning how to deal with the harshness of life when it gets difficult — how to overcome problems as simple as a forgotten locker combination, to obnoxious peers, to gossip, to people doubting you, to asking for help in the face of self-doubt, to pushing yourself to concentrate when a million other thoughts and temptations are fingertips away.

It is your resilience in conquering the main event — adversity — that truly prepares you for life after school. Because, mark my words, school is not the most challenging time you will have in life. You will face far greater challenges than these. Sure, you will have times more amazing than you can imagine, but you will also confront incomparable tragedy, frustration, and fear in the years to come.

But, you shouldn’t be worried about the fact that you will face great adversities. You should be worried because you’re setting yourself up to fail at overcoming them. Here’s the real reason I lose hours of sleep worrying about you: You are failing the main event of school. You are quitting.  You may not think you are quitting, but you are because quitting wears many masks.

For some, you quit by throwing the day away and not even trying to write a sentence or a fraction because you think it doesn’t matter or you can’t or there’s no point. But it does. What you write is not the main event. The fact that you do take charge of your own fear and doubt in order to write when you are challenged — THAT is the main event.

Some of you quit by skipping class on your free education. Being punctual to fit the mold of the classroom is not the main event of showing up. The main event is delaying your temptation and investing in your own intelligence — understanding that sometimes short-term pain creates long-term gain and that great people make sacrifices for a greater good.

For others, you quit by being rude and disrespectful to adults in the hallway who ask you to come to class. Bowing to authority is not the main event. The main event is learning how to problem solve maturely, not letting your judgement be tainted by the stains of emotion.

I see some of you quit by choosing not to take opportunities to work harder and pass a class, no matter how far down you are. The main event is not getting a number to tell you you are worthy. The main event is pulling your crap together and making hard choices and sacrifices when things seem impossible.  It is finding hope in the hopeless, courage in the chasm, guts in the grave.

What you need to see is that every time you take the easy way out, you are building a habit of quitting. And it will destroy your future and it will annihilate your happiness if you let it.   Our society cares nothing for quitters.  Life will let you die alone, depressed, and poor if you can’t man or woman up enough to deal with hardship.  You are either the muscle or the dirt.  You either take resistance and grow stronger or blow in the wind and erode.

As long as you are in my life, I am not going to let quitting be easy for you.  I am going to challenge you, confront you, push you, and coach you.  You can whine.  You can throw a tantrum.  You can shout and swear and stomp and cry.  And the next day, guess what?  I will be here waiting — smiling and patient — to give you a fresh start.  Because you are worth it.

So, do yourself a favor: Step up.  No more excuses.  No more justifications.  No blaming.  No quitting.  Just pick your head up.  Rip the cords out of your ears.  Grab the frickin’ pencil and let’s do this.

– C. Mielke

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Letters From Dad - Time & Lean In

Time & Lean In - Letters From Dad

Each day I strive to become a better person and part of that includes becoming a better father. Here are some great lessons that father's have shared with their daughters on Father's Day 2013.

I hope we can learn something from their stories and start incorporating it into our lives as men and leaders for our children and families. Happy Father's Day to all Hamilton fathers.

Indiana DOE - Hoosier Family of Readers Literacy Initiative

Dear Families,
The Indiana Department of Education’s Hoosier Family of Readers literacy initiative is proud to
inform you that your family will have an opportunity to use an innovative literacy program
called myON this summer!

myON provides every student access to the largest library of enhanced digital books in the
country. These enhanced digital books provide optional multimedia supports, including
professionally recorded audio, text highlighting, and an embedded dictionary to support student
reading at all levels. With myON books, every student can have access to more than 5,000
diverse titles. The myON platform allows students to take ownership of their reading interests
and literacy growth.

Through the Hoosier Family of Readers, you will be provided free access to myON books for the
summer. myON will provide you with infinite access to a growing collection of enhanced digital
books that can be read anytime, anywhere there is an Internet connection. myON is also
accessible through mobile devices and reading can occur offline by downloading books through
the myON app found in the Apple App Store or Google Play.

We are excited to give our families the opportunity to spend time with their children in an
engaging, fun reading environment. Create “your family of readers” and engage your children all
summer long!

Sincerely,

Glenda Ritz, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction


TO LOG INTO MYON
1. Go to www.myon.com
2. Click the red Login Button
3. Enter “School Name:” Hoosier Family of Readers (The School Name will autiomatically populate as you type)
4. Enter Username and Password: Your username AND password is “read”.
5. Begin Reading! Click on All Books to browse through the entire myON Library and enjoy reading with your
child this summer! 

kevin Honeycutt & Angela Maiers - Lifelong Learners

Kevin Honeycutt.org

Angela Maiers.com

English & Math Resources For Progress Monitoring & Improvement

K12 Reader.com

KutaSoftware.com