Dear WUSD Staff,
It is our pleasure to offer a wide range of Professional Development opportunities during the summer of 2016. Each curricular training being offered is of high value as we fine-tune our Professional Learning Communities and focus on student achievement. It is often said that an empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to organizational success. With this in mind, we look forward to these high quality learning experiences as they are vital to our pursuit of helping each child grow in their development towards college and/or career readiness and our continued transition to the State Standards.
July 25-29
All WUSD Math Teachers:
WUSD is dedicated to increasing the math proficiency levels of all students in order to better prepare them for college and/or a career. We are excited to partner with Eureka Math for the 2016-17 school year. Eureka Math curriculum was developed from the ground up to align with the demands of the new standards. Day 1 of this training is Customization and Preparation of Eureka Lessons. This session will empower you to customize the lessons of Eureka Math to meet the needs of your students. This includes understanding how the units were created in order to collaboratively and independently work to effectively prepare lessons that you will teach. For K-5 teachers, day 2 will be dedicated to Focus on Fluency. This session includes an interactive demonstration, analysis of teaching sequences, deliberate practice, analysis of classroom footage, and the customization and crafting of fluency sequences across grade spans to meet students’ needs.
WUSD in association with Consortium on Reaching Excellence in Education, Inc. (CORE), will also be providing math practices professional learning for teachers K-12. TK-6 teachers will have two days of training and will be focusing on Numbers and Operations day one and Place Value and Multidigit Operations day two. Grades 6-8 will also have two days of training provided by CORE. Day one will be working with Number Sense and Operations and day two will focus on Fractions. Grades 9-12 will be working with the consultant from CORE to design and organize Eureka Math Module 1 for implementation on the first day of school.
All WUSD Non-Math Teachers:
The Tulare County Office of Education’s model for Project Based Learning (or pblCORE) is a structured process designed to support educators in developing and delivering effective instruction focused on building transferable skills that prepare students for college, career, and life. The pblCORE process is an integrated approach for designing, implementing, assessing, and managing Project Based Learning. The ten characteristics of PBL, California State Standards and Instructional Shifts, 21st Century Skills, Depth of Knowledge, the Three Rs (Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships), and conceptual curriculum mapping are embedded in pblCORE.
August 9-11
9th – 12th Grade Teachers:
Once again, WUSD is excited to bring the Flippen Group back to our district. The Flippen Group will be working with grades 9-12 and will dedicate the two day training to Capturing Kids Hearts. Teachers can’t always control what comes into their classrooms. Capturing Kids’ Hearts shows them how to create high-achieving centers of learning by strengthening students’ connectedness to others through enhancing healthy bonds with their teachers and establishing collaborative agreements of acceptable behavior.
TK – 6th Grade Teachers:
An Integrated Unit of Study focuses on instruction connected around a central issue, problem, concept, or experience so that students make meaningful connections across academic disciplines. WUSD is committed to spending the 2016-17 school year developing common Integrated Units of Study in grades TK-6 that effectively engage students through real world application ensuring student readiness for college and/or a career. With the development of these integrated units, our students will be able to spend more time learning the content from the Next Generation Science Standards and the Social Science Standards while increasing their English Language Arts skills.
Classified Employees:
WUSD is excited to be working with all our classified personnel on August 9, 2016. The focus of the day’s learning will be centered around team performance. The model that we will be working with is identified as “The 8 Essentials.” We will be working on evaluating the performance of the team, identifying strengths, recognizing gaps, establishing targeted goals, and developing strategies to ensure sustainability.
Summer Reading Recommendations:
*If you are looking for a good book this summer, check out one of these!
Mindset by Carol Dweck | A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne |
Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College
by Doug Lemov |
The Core Six: Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core
by Harvey F. Silver, R. Thomas Dewing, & Matthew J. Perini |
We are excited for the opportunities to grow together this summer and hope that you will join us! Please see the attached Calendar of Summer Events for more information.
Calendar of Summer Events
*Breakfast (provided) and sign-in for all trainings July 25-29 will begin at 8:00am.
*Trainings will be from 8:30-3:30 with a 1-hour break for lunch (on own).
Grade Level | MONDAY
July 25 |
TUESDAY
July 26 |
WEDNESDAY
July 27 |
THURSDAY
July 28 |
FRIDAY July 29 |
TK-5
math |
Math Practices
(District Office) |
Math Practices
(District Office) |
Eureka Math
(District Office) |
Eureka Math
(District Office) |
Planning Day
(District Office) |
6-8
math |
X | Eureka Math
(WFMS Room 7) |
Guided Planning Day
(WFMS Room 7) |
Math Practices
(WFMS Room 7) |
Math Practices
(WFMS Room 7) |
7-12
non math |
pblCORE
(WUHS Library) |
pblCORE
(WUHS Library) |
pblCORE
(WUHS Library) |
Planning Day
(WUHS Library) |
X |
9-12
math |
Planning Day
(WUHS A-1) |
Eureka Math
(WFMS Room 7) |
Guided Planning Day
(WFMS Room 7) |
Planning Day
(WUHS A-1) |
Planning Day
(WUHS A-1) |
*More information and schedules for August 9-12 will be mailed closer to the date of the trainings.
Grade Level |
TUESDAY
August 9 (lunch catered) |
WEDNESDAY
August 10 (lunch catered) |
THURSDAY
August 11 (breakfast catered) |
FRIDAY
August 12 |
MONDAY
August 15 |
TUESDAY August 16 |
9-12 | Capturing Kids’ Hearts
(District Office) |
Capturing Kids’ Hearts
(District Office) |
Superintendent Address at District Office (Site PD after address) |
Non duty day | Teacher Duty Day | First Day of school |
7-8 | Math Teachers:
(WFMS Room 7) (WFMS Computer room) |
Math Teachers:
(WFMS Room 7) (WFMS Computer room) |
Superintendent Address at District Office (Site PD after address) |
Non duty day | Teacher Duty Day K-8 Back to School Night |
First Day of school |
TK-6 | Integrated Unit of Study Development
(WFES cafeteria) |
Integrated Unit of Study Development
(WFES cafeteria) |
Superintendent Address at District Office (Site PD after address) |
Non duty day Optional half day Guided Reading training |
Teacher Duty Day K-8 Back to School Night |
First Day of school |
Classified | Classified
E-colors (WUHS Library) |
Superintendent Address at District Office | First Day of school |