Journey Homeschool High School held its winter professional development day, reported Erin Riley, vice principal. The kickoff for the day was a team-building activity: creating gingerbread houses based on a high school educational theme. Erin said, “Our staff enjoyed collaborating, using their creative skills and presenting their final product. The winning team promised that they did not use Gingerbread ChatGPT for their final product.”
After the team building experience, Principal Shirley Jones discussed the school’s goal for reading “The One Thing” book: to create a manageable balance between work and personal life.
Throughout the day the team discussed Write Score results, MTSS plans and focused on cusps students. They reviewed Write Score results and had conversations about how to help students do their best. They set goals for MTSS and each educational specialist provided information about 2-3 of cusps students. Erin said, “It was great to hear each ES share challenges and positive words about their students. Learning about students’ background stories and their academic strengths and weaknesses brought insight to our staff. It was truly amazing to see how much our teachers and instructional aides know about our students. You can see how much they care and want our students to do their best.”
Last on the agenda was test prep and CAASPP discussion. Staff had time to collaborate and share strategies with test prep. Collaboration among educational specialists and instructional aides brought up the need to focus on academic vocabulary, active listening and writing. They came up with several strategies and suggestions for students who need extra support. An example of one of the strategies was presented by ES Summer Knapp. She explained the importance of modeling how to work through a writing prompt.
Erin concluded, “Overall, we all agreed we need to continue to work together to make sure our students are successful! The day was productive and filled with joy!”
