Kentucky Teacher

Language arts teacher Christi Lefevers has a literary discussion with sophomores Kaite Mason, Taelor Lawson and Adam Jones at Bell County High School. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 18, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Jennifer Yankey remembers the first vertical meeting of district middle and high school English/language arts (ELA) teachers being very quiet.

“I think we were all trying to figure out our purpose,” Yankey said. “But we’re not quiet anymore.”

Yankey, an English/language arts curriculum specialist for the Bell County school district, said this particular professional learning community (PLC) has helped teachers reinvigorate English/language arts classes within the district.

“Sometimes, we get stuck in our own world, in our own realm of teaching,” Yankey said. “Now, we’re sharing and growing together professionally.”

Maybe just as important, teachers are coming together to better understand the Kentucky Core Academic Standards; improve practices and leadership skills; and create a culture of unity across grade levels.

“This experience has opened a line of communication that did not exist before,” said Bell County High School teacher Christie Willis. Read the full story

Veterinarian David Cleveland talks with sophomore Brittany Sauer about careers in animal science during Operation Preparation at Boyle County High School. Also pictured on the right are veterinarian technician Chelsea Williams and Cleveland’s dog Annie. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 21, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

March in Kentucky typically means brackets and NCAA basketball.

This year, at public middle and high schools across the state, it has also meant an increased focus on college and career readiness.

In its second year, Operation Preparation has grown from a weeklong event in 2012 to a month long event that connects 8th and 10th graders with community advisors, careers, postsecondary education and training and student goals. The initiative is a joint effort of the Kentucky Department of Education and the Department for Workforce Development.

Many schools, like Boyle County High School, tied March Madness and Operation Preparation together to get students excited about interests and career choices.

Boyle County High’s effort was called Career Madness; guidance counselors and other staff planned throughout the school year for the basketball-themed event that concluded this past Friday.

During a “practice” on Monday, sophomores attended a career fair to get general information on various careers. On Tuesday, they participated in a “game plan” – a career and technical education fair that showcased classes offered at the high school. Read the full story

Holly Pitts teaches prepositions to her 7th-grade language arts class at Beechwood High School (Beechwood Independent). Pitts flips her classroom and has students watch short videos at home to aid in instruction. Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 13, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Parents are routinely joking with teacher Holly Pitts about how they hear her voice in their homes all the time.

“The feedback I get from parents is actually great,” said Pitts, a 7th grade language arts teacher at Beechwood High School. “I love knowing that students are learning some concepts before I really go over them in class.”

Pitts is one of several Kentucky teachers who have flipped their classroom. In a flipped classroom, students are introduced to concepts at home prior to classroom work on the topic.

“I love teaching this way,” Pitts said. “Kids are so social media driven these days, it makes perfect sense to me.” Read the full story

Freshmen Abby Wilson, Marissia Roark and Caitlin Hatfield have lunch together at Russell County High School. The school has been using the Gallup Poll student survey to find out how students feel about the school and to improve student engagement. Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 14, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

It is not out of the norm for Kentucky school districts to poll teachers and administrators on issues facing their schools, according to Darren Gossage, director of college and career readiness for the Russell County school district.

Those polls, however, don’t capture another important voice in their schools – the individuals being taught.

“We wanted to give our students a voice, too” said Gossage, who served as principal of Russell County High School for 10 years prior to taking a job in the district’s central office.

Now, Russell County Schools and many other schools across the state are giving voice to their students with the Gallup Student Poll.

“One of the biggest reasons to use the survey is because it helps school leaders understand what key members, the students, are feeling about the school/district,” said Jeff Coots, information officer for Jackson Independent school district. “The information collected by the survey is designed to support a dialogue among teachers and other staff members of the school about how to make the school a better place for our students to achieve academically.” Read the full story

“Young Women Lead” is a free all-day conference focusing on Leadership, Education and Development.  The purpose of the conference is to empower high school girls to embrace their strengths and reach their full potential.

 The conference will be held on March 12, 2013, at the University of Kentucky.

 For more information about this conference, please visit the website.

 Registration is open at http://www.youngwomenlead.com/lexington/registration/

Kentucky high school students, who plan to begin their educational journey at a community college and transfer to a four-year university, will  have  a convenient way to get a jump start on their college planning next month

On Wednesday, March 6, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. EST, the state’s colleges and universities will host “Transfer Madness,” the first entirely online, statewide transfer fair where students can chat online with transfer advisors, search for scholarships, download materials and get questions answered.

Students can register early for Transfer Madness at www.transfermadness.org.

Lt. Governor Jerry Abramson announced the event a news conference at the Capitol Wednesday. He was joined by Bob King, president of the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), Dr. Jay Box, chancellor of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), as well as several transfer students, who spoke on the importance of transfer to their educational and career goals. Legislators and representatives from the 25 participating universities and KCTCS also attended.

“I applaud our education partners for helping promote awareness about the seamless transition from high school to community and technical colleges to our four-year institutions,” said Lt. Gov. Abramson. “The best way to improve the quality of Kentucky’s workforce and give our companies strong employees is through a top-notch education system that aggressively promotes a college-going culture that has no barriers in credit transfers.”

Organizers hope the convenience of an online transfer fair will boost student participation since students can access the event from the comfort of their home and at a time that suits their family and work schedules.

“We are excited to bring together colleges and universities with our education partners to smooth the transfer process for students,” said King. “Transfer Madness supports the state’s Stronger by Degrees strategic plan as well as House Bill 160, both of which call for improving the quality of Kentucky’s workforce by increasing the number of Kentuckians who earn a bachelor’s degree. Starting at KCTCS is a great way to help achieve that goal.”

To register for the event and prizes, and to view the list of the participating colleges, universities and education partners, go to http://transfermadness.org/.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Creative Writing Contest: “Future World: How would you like to pay for that?” asks high school juniors and seniors to explain in an essay, play, short story or poem what future world looks like to them.

Submissions must be postmarked on or before Feb. 28. There are prizes available for students, teachers and schools. Go to http://www.clevelandfed.org/learning_centerfor more information and to get a student entry form. For more information, contact april.mcclellan-copeland@clev.frb.org at (216) 774-2756.

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Mike Bell, director of the virtual arts program, directs students in the virtual choir on the opening day of the 2012-13 school year for the Floyd County school district.
Photo by Pam Caudill/Floyd County school district

A few years ago, Floyd County school district Superintendent Henry Webb attended a conference where he viewed Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir video and watched as the Grammy winner simultaneously directed 185 singers from 12 different countries.

“I was moved by what the composer was able to accomplish and thought of the talented kids in our district who could benefit from a performance platform such as this,” Webb said.

Luckily for Webb, teacher Mike Bell already was working in his district and was enthusiastic about bringing the concept to Floyd County

In its first year, more than 200 students in grades 4-12 joined the program and participated in a virtual choir performance of The Star Spangled Banner and My Old Kentucky Home.

This year, the virtual choir will be performing an arrangement of Wade in the Water, created by Betsy Layne High School band director Mike Cooley. Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Kristy Floyd helps 4th-grade student Danielle Begley with a writing prompt during her class at West Irving Elementary School (Estill County).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 19, 2012

For Tonya Isaacs, the numbers never end, and they never lie.

Isaacs, an instructional supervisor in the Estill County school district, is one of many district personnel tasked with constant data analysis, with the intent of having data-driven instruction and creating rich conversations about how to improve learning for students.

“As a district, we are focused on rigor in the classroom,” Isaacs said. “By teachers seeing the important formative data, they can see what they don’t need to reteach, they can see how to move on to the next thing to teach and what’s the best way to teach it.”

Estill County school administrators have been processing and analyzing data as fervently as possible for several years now, and the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has taken notice of their efforts.

Susan Allred, interim associate commissioner for Office of Next-Generation Schools and Districts, congratulated the district at a Read the full story

By Amy Wallot
Amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

After weeks of following the 2012 presidential race, students in Vincent Tinker’s AP Government class at Lafayette High School (Fayette County) talked about the re-election of President Barack Obama.  Every day leading up to the election, his class spent a few minutes reviewing election news.

“We’ve been learning about the election step-by-step as it happened,” Tinker said.

The day after the election they watched the President’s acceptance speech, looked at how newspapers covered the results and discussed the breakdown of votes. The class will study the election more in-depth in the spring, learning about the political parties, interest groups, media coverage and the election process.

This is the first year the AP Government class has been open to freshman. According to Tinker, the interest from students has been so great that he is teaching it for three class periods.

Vincent Tinker discusses the breakdown of local votes in the presidential election with his AP Government class at Lafayette High School (Fayette County). Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 7, 2012

Freshman Rai Utomo listens to Vincent Tinker discuss the presidential election results.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 7, 2012

After weeks of discussing the election in class, sophomore Loretta Peterson listens to teacher Vincent Tinker talk about the results of the presidential election. Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 7, 2012

Freshman Alex Elias reads the USA Today’s analysis of the presidential election during her AP Government class. Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 7, 2012