Professional Development and EACT Survey

At convocation this year, we passed out ballots to ratify the contract.  On that ballot, there was a survey regarding your preference for professional development.  This survey only addressed the one day professional development cases, not the one hour after school professional meetings.  This was an effort to cut down on the need for substitutes.

From the survey, it was concluded that teachers want to keep it the same (miss a day of instruction) or have it after school in 3 to 4 hour increments and get a stipend.  Using Saturdays for these meetings was voted down although there were a few who voted for that option. 

There seems to be some misunderstanding about compensation.  There will be no compensation for the one hour curriculum meetings after school except for the great appreciation of our curriculum specialists.  When there is to be compensation involved, you will be informed about it when you are asked to participate.

The Curriculum Office is working hard to keep the number of teachers absent for curriculum meetings to a minimum although some will be necessary.

I apologize for any misunderstanding.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Martha Wissler

 

Message from Martha…..

I was very pleased and a little scared when I received the appointment from the Governor’s office to serve on the Achieving Classroom Excellence Task Force that was created by Senate Bill 982. The purpose of the task force is to study the testing requirements for eighth-grade students and high school students. The task force shall study, hold public hearings, and make recommendations regarding eighth grade and high school students. The mission of this group is to make recommendations on:

• Subjects to be included for the demonstration of mastery
• Additional end-of-instruction tests to be developed
• Benchmarks and cut scores for assessments
• Optional methods to demonstrate subject matter mastery
• Alternatives for English language learners and special needs students
• Exceptions that may be needed
• Intervention strategies
• Remediation options
• Consequences for students
• Review of other states’ experiences
• Development of an action plan to implement recommendations
• Information to provide to teachers, parents and students, that will emphasize this initiative as a tool to improve student success
• Funding necessary to implement recommendations

         With this quick turn-around time, I hope that we can develop a plan that will be beneficial to the public school students that we serve and not just create another burdensome testing program.

          If you have advice or input on this issue, please contact me by email: martha.wissler@edmondschools.net .

Myth vs. Fact
Child Abuse Reporting

The OEA Legal Department annually receives a large number of calls regarding child abuse issues. Sadly, countless members are misinformed about their reporting obligations and many districts run afoul of the statutory requirements. The following article is designed to help dispel the most common myths relating to child abuse reporting. more

Martha Wissler, president of Edmond ACT and a math teacher at Edmond Memorial High School, talks with Hannah Kraeger during a pre-calculus class.

NATIONAL BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL TEACHING STANDARDS    by Martha Wissler

 YES! I finally did it! I am one of the many who achieved National Board Certification this year. I am so pleased for everyone who did, including myself.  I know how everyone talks about how difficult this process is and it truly is but I have found throughout my life that anything worthwhile is a challenge.

 There are those who got their certification the first year and to them I say WAHOOO, you are the greatest. As most of you know, it took me two years to achieve this certification so for those of you who did not accomplish it your first year, hang in there. For those of you whose friends did not accomplish it their first year, say congratulations to them for their willingness to step out there and put themselves on the line. When candidates go through this process, they are told that it may take  2 to 3 years to accomplish. I took their word for it.

If you are considering trying for National Board Certification, don’t hesitate. You have plenty of NBCT’s right here in Edmond who would be happy to help. Check out www.octp.org for further information on scholarships, etc. Check out www.nbpts.org for more information on National Board.