Hamilton County's Finest

This past Thursday and Friday I was privileged to stand along side some of the finest literacy experts in Hamilton County as we welcomed our newest K-5 teachers! With the PD room filled to capacity, we introduced these new recruits to the very best ways to support literacy in their classrooms....in other words, the Hamilton County Schools way.

From our Strategic Framework, to the Benchmark Assessment System, to the First 20 Days, we made sure that these teachers had what they needed to be successful. I was inspired by their excitement. I was in awe of the tremendous responsibility we have to create a literate society. I am truly looking forward to what the 2012 school year has in store!

Welcome New Teachers!

Normally, I'd say attending professional development in the middle of summer is like waking up in the middle of a great dream, or climbing out of the hot tub just to go jump in an icy pool. Today, we hosted training for teachers new to Hamilton County Schools, and--I don't know how the attendees felt--but I was pleasantly surprised. What a great morning! And, why wouldn't it be? I was in the company of 87 enthusiastic, professional  educators.

The Benchmark training went long, and only the primary samples were used; there wasn't enough time for the intermediate samples. One brilliant participant asked if the intermediate video clips were online and took extra copies of the running record home so she could practice before the year starts. Well, the videos are now uploaded in response to the request. (Thank you for asking.) See below for videos of Level O and U.

Whenever you are looking for something that you can't find, please let us know by leaving a comment here, by telling the coach in your building, or e-mailing Julie Legg, Jeana Turner, or Jeff Paulson. We'll get it here as quickly as we can.