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AGENDA: http://www.blackturtle.us/TTA/BMAUG18.pdf
Not too many people at the board meeting other than board members, employees of the district... and a couple people running for seats on the school board. (Don't forget to vote in November.) The following are the highlights of the meeting held last night:

1) Superintendent's Report: A) Talked briefly about two conferences that he, administrators, and some teachers attended during the summer. One was held in Las Vegas and focused on emotionally supporting students. The other was in San Diego and hosted by the AVID organization. B) Summer facilities projects: Both the superintendent and head of maintenance provided info about projects underway, including elementary library upgrades, replacement of concrete at football/track facility, repairing the press booth, installation of a "maker's space" at the elementary, upgrade of a classroom at the high school, acquisition of weight room equipment, resurfacing of the high school parking area, gates and new door hardware to be installed soon, and a new high school marque which is on the way and should be installed soon. (The old marque will be utilized at the elementary site.)

2) New second grade teacher approved. Also approval of long term sub for high school math.

3) Approval of high school master schedule. (Very similar to recent years. No huge changes in terms of available courses.)

4) DANCE TEAM - Students petitioned to bring back the Dance Team program as an alternative to Cheerleading. The board seemed willing to entertain the possibility of such a program, but not as yet ready to commit. Administrators will propose a course of action in the near future at which time the board will either approve or reject the proposed program.

5) HS Gym - Study of structural integrity of the gymnasium to be undertaken. There is concern over the effect of settling on the foundation.

6) County Special Education Program - Agreement to allow county to use room at the elementary for this program approved. (The county special education program is for students with severe issues. The district also has a special education program for students who simply need academic support.)

7) CONCILIATION AGREEMENT - Mysterious item approved by board, but no details provided. (Probably some kind of legal settlement requiring confidentiality.)

NEXT BOARD MEETING: September 6th. (A week earlier than normal.)

Back to School Candy Covered Cookie Sandwich Chalkboards | Wilton
How many parents have time for this kind of extravagance?

blackturtle.us wrote:Not too many people at the board meeting other than board members, employees of the district... and a couple people running for seats on the school board. (Don't forget to vote in November.)

Do we have a list of candidates yet? I heard there are three seats open in November. Are there even three candidates running to fill those seats?

Honest First Day of School | Back to School
This is partially funny and partially cringey, but there are a few good lines buried in the skit.

There have been rumors about the conciliation agreement, but nothing even close to solid. There was a dispute with a company providing technology services. There were retired teachers who felt they were short-changed. There was also a dispute regarding a coaching position. All of these are mentioned in previous board meeting threads. If I hear anything solid, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Learning Styles - A Complete Myth
Completely erroneous, but still popular among educators.

From what I gather there is only one pier reviewed article that says learning styles are bunk. Taken to extreme you wouldn't want to teach a blind person visually or a deaf person by auditory means but what I think it probably refers to is modifying your class to teach to everyone's need, regardless of the degree, which seems like it would be more bother than it is worth and thus the additional confusion would actually detract from actual learning.

Did I actually say "pier review"? I wonder if those guys just met up at a pier to talk about it...

US to train children to survive school shootings for $1.8mn
Some of the measures being taken border on absurd. Others seem reasonable.

Debunking the Theory of Multiple Intelligences
recluse: Talk about erroneous! Today during a professional training session the presenter talked about EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE as if it is a real thing and not just a popular, feel-good kind of myth. According to Jordan Peterson EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE DOES NOT EXIST! (see 3:47 in this video) I find Jordan Peterson's presentation extremely persuasive. Often money is wasted by schools on fads...