Communicating the Vision at Westlake

Cool Hand Luke

For Westlake High School…

• Teaching Skills Critical for the 21st Century

• Creativity and Innovation

• Professional Learning Communities

For Westlake High School…

• Consistency within Teams and Departments

• TAKS – Exemplary for ALL Groups

• Student and Teacher Recognition Programs

Establish Good Communication with Students and Parents

• Well-formulated syllabus

• Clear Classroom expectations

• Website with Lesson Plans/Testing Dates

• Skyward Grades

Setting the Expectations of an “A”

Parents and email…..

• Don’t fear formality.

• Shun emotions.

• Mind your punctuation and grammar.

• Curb the cc’s and reply alls.

• Respect your contact’s privacy. Think before your forward.

• Make a graceful exit.

• Public Record

Call me

The Best Email

Call me.(“All great things begin with a conversation

between two people.” Margaret Wheatley, Turning to One Another

With our community….

Expectations:

Exemplary Campus Highly Involved parents

Approximately 95% go to colleges

Over 90% go to 4 year colleges

Ranked # 72 in Newsweek

With each other…..

• Email (Individually and as a group)

• Teachers learning from teachers

• Professional Learning Communities

The three “Rs”

Respect,

Respect

Respect

With the office….

• Your needs

• Movies

• Grades

• Lesson Plans (Dept. Heads)

• Issues

• Fund-raising, activity funds, etc.

With principals…..Discipline

• Be concise

• Just the facts

• Specific words, time, events

Communicate the vision….

Westlake High School engages its educational

community in the intellectual, social, and creative

development of successful and responsible 21st

century citizens.

Rigor• High Expectations

• Honor Code

• Expect and accept only the best

• Individualize

Relevance• Spend time in planning.

• Make your lessons relevant.

• Help students see connections.

• Encourage collaboration.

• Investigate alternative assessments.

• Work toward authentic student engagement.

Relationships

• Build relationships with students, parents, the community, and the staff.

• Kids won’t care what you know until they know you care.

INSPIRE