AN INTERNAL STAFF E-NEWSLETTER

February 2014

Superintendent’s Message A colleague shared a great article on “What are the characteristics of an innovative educator?” by Rachel Wooten. As we enter into the second half of the school year, I encourage you to review these characteris-tics and do a little self – evaluation. Could you be more “innovative”? 1. Reflective – We must constantly examine our processes and our concepts to make sure they are what are best for the students we serve. 2. Learners – An innovative educator is always learning, reading and listening. They take responsibility and initiative for their learning. 3. Creative – An innovative educator is very uncomfortable with doing business as usual, especially when it yields no result. So they go to work brainstorming ways to make things better. 4. Connected –It’s hard to be innovative when you are disconnected from your students and trends in the profession. Innovative educators close the gap between the traditional images of teachers so he/she can determine what is best for each student. They are abreast of changes occurring in their field and how to best apply these new changes to their instruction. 5. Collaborative – When teachers work together to solve problems and share successes, our students perform much better in the classroom. An innovative educator is always exploring topics with other educators, sharing what they know with others. 6. Inquisitive – Innovative educators are always asking questions. How can I improve? What did I do wrong? What if I did it this way? 7. Principled – Innovative educators live life according to strong values. They want to make a difference. They believe in being a role model to the students they serve and look for opportunities to show they care by their actions not just with words. They stand up for their beliefs. What are some practical things you can do each day to become a more innovative educator? Start today! Our students and clients are counting on you! Greg

On Friday, February 7th, millions of women across the country will wear red in support of National Wear Red Day. Started 10 years ago by the American Heart Association, National Wear Red Day is an annual event to raise awareness of the #1 killer of women. Heart disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined, taking the life of one in three women each year, but studies have shown that only one in five women believes heart disease is her greatest health threat. By wearing red on National Wear Red Day, we’re speaking out against this silent killer and raising awareness for prevention and treatment.

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Heart Attack Symptoms in Women

We’ve all seen the movie scenes where a man gasps, clutches his chest and falls to the ground. In reality, a heart attack victim could easily be a woman, and the scene may not be that dramatic. “Although men and women can experience chest pressure that feels like an elephant sitting across the chest, women can experience a heart attack without chest pressure, ” said Nieca Gold-berg, M.D., medical director for the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health at NYU’s Langone Medical Center and an American Heart Association volunteer. “Instead they may experience shortness of breath, pressure or pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting, upper back pressure or extreme fatigue.” Even when the signs are subtle, the consequences can be deadly, especially if the victim doesn’t get help right away. ‘I thought I had the flu’ Even though heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, women often chalk up the symptoms to less life-threatening conditions like acid reflux, the flu or normal aging. “They do this because they are scared and because they put their families first,” Goldberg said. “There are still many women who are shocked that they could be having a heart at-tack.”

A heart attack strikes someone about every 34 seconds. It occurs when the blood flow that brings oxygen to the heart muscle is severely reduced or cut off completely. This happens because the arteries that supply the heart with blood can slowly narrow from a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances (plaque). Many women think the signs of a heart attack are unmistakable — the image of the elephant comes to mind — but in fact they can be subtler and sometimes confusing.

You could feel so short of breath, “as though you ran a marathon, but you haven't made a move,” Goldberg said.

Some women experiencing a heart attack describe upper back pressure that feels like squeezing or a rope being tied around them, Goldberg said. Dizziness, lightheadedness or actually fainting are other symptoms to look for.

“Many women I see take an aspirin if they think they are having a heart attack and never call 9-1-1,” Goldberg said. “But if they think about taking an aspirin for their heart attack, they should also call 9-1-1.”

Heart Attack Signs in Women

1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few min-utes, or goes away and comes back.

2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.

4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

If you have any of these signs, don’t wait more than five minutes before calling for help. Call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away.

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TECHNOLOGY TIP from Polly Onderko

Four Ways to Keep Your Smartphone's Battery Healthy, Happy and Juiced Up

Smartphones are magical, loyal little companions, there to give you your bank ac-count balance, directions to the movies, and a recommendation for a killer Chinese restaurant all in a few swipes. But, with a little neglect, they can die on you in the worst moments. Avoid this night-mare scenario and treat your little friend right, with these quick tips to maintaining your battery's health.

Less is More Back when nickel-based batteries were a thing, people were encouraged to “train” their batteries by completely draining them and then completely recharging them.

(The Yoda-esque idea being that they wouldn’t properly function without knowing their full potential.) Forget what you’ve heard. Pretty much every modern smartphone contains a lithium-ion battery, which are entirely different beasts. In general, you should keep your smartphone’s battery charged above 50 percent. If you want to take it one step fur-ther, you should try to do one full drain a month, for calibration purposes. But any more of this and you’ll be shortening your battery’s lifespan. Overnight phone-chargers take note! Technically you should not be charging your phone for extended spans of time. Though most chargers are designed to curb charging once your phone is all full, you should avoid juicing it to 100 per-cent and then leaving it connected to a charger. Overall, short starts and fits of juice are much better than constant zero to 100 charging. If you’re totally neurotic, the real sweet spot oscillates between 80 and 40 percent at all times.

Zero Is Bad Lithium-ion batteries sometimes get volatile at zero percent. Like good little robots, however, they are usually equipped with self-destruct circuits that will kill your battery in order to prevent an explosion or something. This obviously doesn’t happen every day, but better to be safe than sorry.

Chill Out Your smartphone is not invincible. Do not leave it on your car’s dashboard in 90 degree weather. Do not set it next to your bronzed body as you sunbathe. Do not bring it to your Bikram yoga class. It doesn’t matter if your phone is off, the heat will fry your battery. That’s because—good news for readers who live in miserably cold climates—your phone is most comfortable at about 32-degrees Fahrenheit (and even then, it will lose a small percentage of its maximum capacity per year). Once you get to up to more tropical temperatures, you risk losing anything from 20 to 35 percent per year. Not like you should forgo a trip to Hawaii just to preserve precious battery life, but just be mindful about where you leave it.

Plug ‘Er In Though wireless charging devices are convenient and chic, most inductive wireless chargers tend to waste energy by generating heat. Remember what we said about heat? (HEAT = BAD) The best method to charge a smartphone is by di-rectly hooking it into a wall (as opposed to connecting it to your computer). It charges faster and safer that way.

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WELLNESS TIP from Debbie Shannon

A healthy diet can be good for your heart as well as your waistline. “You can definitely reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease by eating cer-tain foods every day,” says Julie Zumpano, RD, LD, a dietitian with the Preventive Cardi-ology & Rehabilitation Center at Cleveland Clinic. “There is a great variety of fruits and vegetables that are good for your heart.” “Try to eat foods that are in their natural form, as they come from the ground,” Ms. Zumpano says, recommending what she calls the “whole-foods diet.”That diet includes, of course, heart-healthy foods such as fish, whole grains, vegetables and fruits, but don’t be afraid to treat yourself with a glass of red wine or a piece of dark chocolate, Ms. Zumpano says. She suggests using this list as a guide to cre-ate meals and snacks with a healthy focus. Just a few simple swaps could make a big difference for your cardiovascu-lar health.

15 foods that are good for your heart 1. Eat fish high in omega-3s, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring and trout.

2. A handful of healthy nuts such as almonds or walnuts will satisfy your hunger and help your heart.

3. Berries are chock full of heart-healthy phytonutrients and soluble fiber. Try blueberries, strawberries, cranber ries or raspberries in cereal or yogurt.

4. Flaxseeds contain omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and phytoestogens to boost heart health. Take them in ground or milled form to reap the greatest benefit.

5. Oatmeal: the comfort-food nutrient powerhouse.

6. Dark beans,such as kidney or black beans, are high in fiber, B-vitamins, minerals and other good stuff. Veggie chili, anyone? 7. A glass of red wine can help improve good (HDL) cholesterol levels. 8. Try marinated tofu in a stir-fry with fresh veggies for a heart-healthy lunch or dinner. 9. Red, yellow and orange veggies such as carrots, sweet potatoes, red peppers and acorn squash are packed with carotenoids, fiber and vitamins to help your heart. 10. Popeye was right – spinach packs a punch! Use it in sandwiches and salads instead of lettuce. 11. Fruits such as oranges, cantaloupes and papaya are rich in beta-carotene, potassium, magnesium and fiber. 12. Tender, sweet asparagus is filled with mighty nutrients such as beta-carotene, folate and fiber, and only pro- vide 25 calories per cup, or 5 calories per large spear. 13. Tomatoes – even sun-dried varieties in winter months – provide lycopene, vitamin C and alpha- and beta- carotene. 14. Dark chocolate is good for your heart health, but just be sure that it’s at least 70 percent cocoa. 15. Crisp, fresh broccoli florets dipped in hummus are a terrific heart-healthy snack with a whopping list of nutri- ents, including vitamins C and E, potassium, folate, calcium and fiber.

Time and health are two precious assets

that we don’t recognize and appreciate until

they have been depleted. Denis Waitley

Trivia Corner Which band

stormed the charts in the ‘70’s with hits like “Crazy on You”, “Barracuda” and “Magic Man”?

Trivia Corner

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LCA Students Welcome Special Guests for Thanksgiving Luncheon On Monday November, 25, students at the Lorain County Academy celebrated Thanksgiving a few days early. For the

second year in a row, staff and students prepared a meal complete with turkey and all the fixings including stuffing,

corn, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. But unlike last year, LCA welcomed some special guests for lunch. Inmates

from the Grafton Correctional Institute’s “Dope is for Dopes” program were here to present in the morning and stayed

to enjoy lunch. The inmates’ stories always have a strong impact on our students. Ninth grader Devin Partin said the

presentation showed that “everyone has a hard time in life sometimes.” The inmates speak to the students about

their lives and the situations that got them to where they are today. The hope is that students will learn to make bet-

ter choices and live a positive life.

9 Time-Management Tips for the New Year

1. Spend time like money (i.e., only on things that are important).

2. Keep track of which daily routines/chores can be changed or eliminated.

3. Outline topics for phone conversations so time doesn’t get lost.

4. Go to work early and/or leave later than others so that you have some uninterrupted time to complete tasks.

5. Discontinue unnecessary meetings.

6. Use the 24-hour rule. Respond to mail, email, phone calls, etc., within 24 hours and get them off your radar.

7. Don’t overdo planning. 8. Think of waiting (in lines, driving in the slow lane, at an appointment) as a gift of time. Take advantage by doing some busywork that never seems to get done at the office. With the right equipment one can connect with clients, send email, and go online for information, all while waiting. 9. Carry a small pad and pen everywhere. The best ideas come when least expected.

Trivia Answer: Heart, featuring Anne and Nancy Wilson, has achieved Top 10 albums on the Billboard charts in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2010s, with chart singles in each decade giving them the longest span of Top 10 albums by a female fronted band.

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Improving the District Value-Added Gifted Report Card Scores Professional Development Workshop

On Friday November 22nd The Gifted Consortium Supervisors teamed with the experts in curriculum research and technology to provide professional development for teachers to better understand how to grow our gifted students. According to the State, the opportunities provided to gifted students will ultimately reflect in their Value-added scores. The opportunities needed for success reflect a variety of teaching strategies and classroom settings. Teacher lessons need to be aligned to the Common Core but expand in depth and breadth with guidance from WEBB’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) during planning to determine the level of instruction. Technology integrates into classroom ac-tivities and provides innovative applications to meet student needs and interests. Teacher assessments are relevant to college readiness and prepare students for 21st century skills. Schools recognize and understand the various state-approved gifted service models and schedule students in settings that will accommodate their needs. Schools pro-vide the regular classroom teacher professional development opportunities to model differentiation for gifted learn-ers. The keys to unlock the minds of students, we believe, focus on creating a classroom environment that provides motivational and meaningful learning experiences.

Mary Lou Kaminski and Carissa Spitzer kicked off the day sharing first-hand knowledge of the various state-approved service models designed to meet the needs of gifted students that are in place within their serviced Lorain County Districts. The Value-added formula bases scores on gifted students’ perform-ance on OAA testing in reading and math and grades are assigned based on growth from year to year. The State believes that if students are given the opportu-nity (Opportunity Rank) to receive gifted services, students will perform (Performance Index) and their performance on OAA testing will reflect the student’s growth (Value Added Index).

The theme of the day revolved around how to grow our gifted students on the OAA state testing through best prac-tice teaching and building awareness of ways to dig deeper into their curriculum. Since this is the first year districts are graded on how well their gifted students are achieving on state tests and improving Value-added scores, this workshop was well-attended by over 40 educators from Erie, Lorain and Cuyahoga Counties. The topics for the day included an overview of aligning units of study to the DOK, understanding the value and imple-mentation of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments, and inte-grating technology in the classroom. This venue provided a wide variety of models for teachers to incorporate into their teaching. Classroom teachers Cathy Fischer (North Ridgeville), Justin Nacarato (Keystone), and Amanda Goran (Keystone) pre-

sented strategies of flexible grouping, flipped classrooms and units of study aligned to the Common Core that have

worked in their own classrooms to raise student performance and achievement. This was very well-received as the

strategies were not just based on theory, but on actual first-person accounts from teachers’ everyday classroom de-

livery.

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP (continued)

Presenters Moira Erwine, Vicki Fisher and Mike Pennington provided a variety of perti-nent educational topics to facilitate and model a learning community built around shar-ing techniques and best teaching practices to assist with the growth process for gifted students. The topics and presentations focused on ways to help our gifted students grow academically and advance on OAA tests in order to show Value-added. These in-cluded Identification and state-approved services for gifted students, aligning the Com-mon Core to classroom units of study, understanding Webb’s DOK as it compares to Bloom’s Taxonomy, and recognizing how PARCC Assessments need to be incorporated into everyday classroom learning in order to prepare students for college and 21st cen-tury skills.

Attendees were able to choose from four different lab sessions offered in the afternoon. These included hands-on computer based interactive lab sessions for Technology with Mike Pennington, Core Curriculum and Eduplanet21 with Moira Erwine, and PARCC with Vicki Fisher. This gave those in attendance the opportunity to gain more knowledge in a particular area of interest based on the snapshots provided in the morning sessions. Teachers require more professional development as an ongoing process to meet the ever-increasing demands placed on them to assure the growth of their students from year to year. EduPlanet21 was introduced as an affordable inter-active online PD for teachers and administrators to keep abreast of the most current educational practices. For more information to register for this online PD, contact Moira Erwine, ESC of Lorain County Director of Curriculum and Pro-fessional Development. Moira shared her expertise and research-based knowledge of the Core Curriculum and appli-cation into every day teaching. She provided phenomenal examples of how teachers should determine the appropri-ate levels of DOK as they plan their everyday lessons. Technology Integration Trainer Mike Pennington, the newest addition to NORT2H, also presented a variety of strategies and applications for student use in the classroom. He presented a very informative session on the important role technology plays to not only motivate student learning but to reach the ultimate goal of differentiating instruction. He also provided a variety of websites for teacher use as models for differentiated lessons. Teachers gave positive feedback in response to the value of Mike’s presentation.

Vicki Fisher, Avon Local Schools Director of Curriculum and Instruction, shared her insight and knowledge of the importance of PARCC and implementing the model in everyday lesson assessments. PARCC is a group of 19 states working together to develop a common set of computer-based K-12 assessments in English language arts/literacy and math linked to the new, more rigorous Common Core State Standards.

From the positive feedback we received from participants, we believe that the topics presented formed a great foun-

dation for educators to begin designing lessons that expand in depth and breadth to meet the needs of their gifted

students. Improving scores for all students is critical for all teachers, but improving scores for gifted students is an

even bigger challenge because of the structure of the OAA assessments. At no other time in history has it been so im-

portant for educators to collaborate and continue to think outside the box for ways to incorporate motivational and

meaningful practices into the classrooms to prepare our students with 21st century skills.

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WELLNESS TIP from Jill Orseno

Stress Relief in the Moment Using Your Senses to Quickly Change Your Response to Stress (excerpt from helpguide.org)

There are countless techniques for preventing stress. Yoga and mindfulness meditation work wonders for improving coping skills. But who can take a moment to chant or meditate during a meeting or a disagreement with a co-worker? For these situa-tions, you need something more immediate and accessible. That’s when quick stress relief comes to the rescue.

The best way to reduce stress quickly and reliably is by taking a deep breath and using your senses—what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. By viewing a favorite photo, smelling a spe-cific scent, listening to a favorite piece of music, tasting a piece of gum, or hugging a pet, for ex-ample, you can quickly relax and focus yourself. When you’re stressed at work, you can use your senses to soothe, comfort, and invigorate your-self quickly—in just a few minutes—and feel in control again. Of course, not everyone responds to each sensory experience in the same way. The key to quick stress relief is to discover the unique sensory experiences that work best for you. As for me, if you see me staring at the wall in my office (just back away and try me again later!), I’m actually looking at my “serenity now” pictures and that’s how I take a moment to de-stress and get back on task.

Another way to de-stress is to take a break from technology Taking a short hiatus from the television, computer, and cell phone will give you insight on what your senses respond to best. Here are some "unplugging" tips:

Try tuning into relaxing music instead of talk radio during your commute. Or try riding in silence for 10 minutes.

Stuck in a long line at the grocery store? Instead of talking on your cell phone, take a moment to people watch. Pay attention to what you hear and see.

Instead of checking e-mail while waiting for a meeting to begin, take a few deep breaths, look out the window, or sip some aromatic tea.

Get out of the building entirely, take a quick walk around the parking lot. The best part of quick stress relief is the awareness that you have control over your surroundings. We all have our stress hot-spots. Where are yours?

MARCH BIRTHDAYS Mary Lou Kaminski 3/1 Gary Friedt 3/3 Andrea Kalina 3/3 Mary Abfall 3/4 Brandy St. Hilaire 3/5 Beth Hopkins 3/6 Robin Wallace 3/7 Renee Banal 3/10 Martin Linder 3/10 Jennifer Fazio 3/15 Emily Yaggie 3/17 Yvonne Tinney 3/22

Debbie Hunt 3/27 Darrel Tyler 3/27 Scott Wuensch 3/28

APRIL BIRTHDAYS Mike Pennington 4/10 Donna Pickett 4/12 Melissa Folk 4/20 Kathryn Knapp 4/21 Miriam Pozzi-Arreaga 4/27 Joanne Doran 4/29 Gretchen Weber 4/29 Barb Conrad 4/30 Theresa Davis 4/30