Expected legislation

A friend sent me this information.  The highlighted areas are from the e-mail to indicate which items are concerned with education.

There are lots of other bills that are expected to be introduced.  Here are some of the more talked about proposals.

1. Gun Bill—gun advocates still want the opportunity to carry guns everywhere including college campuses.  Having seen some of the officiating calls in college football games this year, if this bill passes football officials may have to wear bullet proof vests!  It is anticipated that HB 826 will be reintroduced and gives school systems more flexibility in dealing with weapons that are not used in a threatening manner.
2. Expect some changes to TKES and LKES.   Legislators on the education committees heard an ear full at the listening sessions around the state.
3. Education Committee members are committed to changing the Status Quo option that systems have as a choice effective July 1, 2015.  The SBOE is already making changes to the IE2 and Charter System options via rule changes.
4. PBIS is gaining wide support throughout the state and you can anticipate that it will be funded at a higher level this year.
5. Many legislators are tired of hearing complaints about integrated math and you can anticipate that there will legislation aimed at returning us to discrete math whether or not the SBOE changes the rule.
6. One bill that will receive significant attention will be introduced by Rep. Mike Dudgeon of Johns Creek.  Rep. Dudgeon has announced that he will introduce a constitutional amendment that will call for the election of the State School Board by congressional district with the elected school board given the responsibility to appoint the State School Superintendent.  Constitutional amendment legislation if passed will not appear on the ballot until November 2016.
7. The Governor will appoint a commission to study the funding formula for education.  (Purdue did the same, they studied it for five years and all they came up with is IE2.)  It will be an arduous task to replaced QBE and maintain equity and fairness.  This one could get tricky!
8. Hopefully Common Core is an over and done issue.  The listening sessions, surveys, and defeat of Tea Party challengers should put an end to the common core challenges.

Steps to prepare for your observation

As I become more aware of my responsibilities for the TKES evaluation, I am trying to become more efficient (to reduce my stress!).  For my next evaluation, I followed this process:

1. I decided to make my lesson plans according to the TKES Lesson Plan design I created last year (see sample here) and make sure all drop down fields were accurate and up to date.
2. I typed up what will go on the SmartBoard for the students to know what we are doing in class that day.  I copied and pasted the student version to a new page in the same word processing document.
3. I slowly read through all 72 TAPS elements, and  as I saw an Element that may apply to my lesson that day, I inserted the outline number of the Element (say, 2.6 or 4.5) into the SmartBoard outline that I will give to the Evaluator.  
4. After reading all Elements, I have two documents that I  give to the Evaluator: a formal TKES lesson plan, and a student version of the lesson with the Elements identified.
5. I still have my TAPS notebooks with evidence in the cabinet as well as just the outlines of my evidence in my lesson plan notebook in case the Evaluator wants to see them.

What I noticed is that even some of my reminders to the students about upcoming activities or after school events can be tagged with an Element.  An after school practice, rehearsal, or event can count as 4.2, 4.3, &/or 4.6.  Reminding them about upcoming tests or units could count as 2.6, 3.2, &/or 4.6.

Sample portion of student version of lesson given to Evaluator

Give yourself a grade (1-5) on your progress today! [6.7] 6th grade: Brass: Lip Slurs [1.4, 1.6, 3.2, 4.1, 4.5, 4.6, 5.3, 6.1, 6.3, 6.6, 8.3, 8.5, 8.7]; Bells: Octave/Chromatic [1.4, 1.6, 3.2, 4.1, 4.6, 6.1, 6.3, 6.6, 8.3, 8.5, 8.7]; Flutes: Aperture control [1.4, 1.6, 3.2, 4.1, 4.5, 8.3, 8.5, 8.7]; Clarinets and Saxophones: register slurs to determine embouchure, tongue placement, amount of mouthpiece, reed quality, air stream, hand position [MMSBB.2.b, MMSBB.3.a] [1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 3.2, 4.1, 4.5, 4.6, 6.1, 6.3, 6.6, 8.3, 8.5, 8.7]

These steps are also outlined in "How to pass all 10 TAPS in one lesson" and "District Walkthrough"  here.