Reindeer Games - 9th Grade Style

Scott County Ninth Grade School's Lisa Fierro had the teachers and staff playing real Reindeer games the day before break.   

Participants received an envelope with a pair of women's hose along with ten balloons.  The objective was to inflate the balloons, stuff the balloons in the stocking, place the stockings on the head of a teammate (resembling antlers) and sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  The team that can complete the task the quickest, wins.  

This is a great team competition that involves team work along with celebrating the spirit of the season.  Thanks to Ms. Fierro for introducing me to this new competition.  

Team Work 

Winning Team 

Great Spirit

Oh My!!!!

ECS Roller Coaster Physics

What better way to apply the fundamentals of physics, engineering and math than to place a roller coaster in the hallway.  The photos below highlight engineering teacher Doug Klein teaching the principles of physics as participants such as Dean of Students John Noll prepare to apply the formulas on an actual roller coaster.  

Students at Elkhorn Crossing School participated in this real world lesson the day before their holiday break.  I hope the students enjoyed this real world application of lessons learned in the classroom as well as enjoy their holiday break.  

Mr. Klein teaching formulas 

Students applying formula after the first run

Where does this end????

Mr. Noll preparing for his maiden voyage

International Holiday Celebration

Being away from home can be difficult during the holidays, being thousands of miles away from home in a completely different culture as a high school student can be very challenging. Christie Bray, Scott County Schools ESL teacher, tried to make this time a little easier on the students as well as teach our staff and other students about other cultures.  This was a great event for all and I want to applaud both Mrs. Bray and the students for all of their hard work.  

Below is the email inviting us to the celebration of cultures as well as pictures from the event.  

Good morning! I hope all of you will get a chance to drop by our ESL Holiday Open House today! The students have done a great job of preparing their stories and today I hope they get a chance to tell you a little bit about themselves. They are also bringing delicious treats from Guatemala (tamales), Ethiopia, Mexico, India, China, and El Salvador~!! 

Holiday Picture Match Game - Scott County High School

Scott County High School celebrated the holiday season with a Holiday Picture Match Game. Teachers and staff submitted pictures of themselves as children in front of the Christmas tree, on Santa's lap, opening presents or other holiday themed shots. 

The pictures were placed in frames and displayed in the library.  The staff's jobs was to guess who was in each shot. Although prizes were given for the most correct, the real fun is watching the staff try to guess and the conversations that ensue from a time gone by.  

Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest - 9th Grade School

The teachers at the Scott County Ninth Grade School  had an Ugly Christmas Sweater competition with a twist - they let the students judge.   The four teams met in the library this morning and had their pictures made with everyone on their team.  The team pictures were posted at lunch and the student's were allowed to vote on their favorite or least favorite group of sweaters.

The ninth grade teachers did a great job of showing Christmas spirit and finding a way to have students participate in the team competition.  Great idea!!

Librarian Lisa Fierro 

Special thanks to librarian Lisa Fierro, who not only leads the competition but dressed up like a Christmas elf herself.

You can click on any of the pictures below to enlarge.

OH MY!!!!

The Real St. Nick

Gingy - The Gingerbread Man

Tonight's blog highlights Scott High School's Twelve Days of Christmas.  The description below is provided by Lauren Feeback, SCHS librarian.  The pictures below are four of this weeks winners posing in his or her own special way with Gingy the gingerbread man.  You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge.  

For the last twelve days of school before Christmas break, Gingy the gingerbread man appears in different classrooms, offices, etc. We use a random number generator app and pick a number each day. Then I count down that many people on the phone list -- that's who Gingy goes to. We "break" into their rooms once they have gone for the day or in the early morning and leave Gingy in their chair, at a desk - somewhere. All the winners then get a free lunch on the last day of "The Twelve Days of Christmas, SCHS style."

Coach of the 6A State Champs - Jim McKee

Kristy Collins - Preparing Gingy in her own Family and Consumer Science way. 

Jennifer Marshall welcoming Gingy to SCHS

Val Pope preparing Gingy for Christmas

Six Additional Great Motivational Ideas

      Today's blog highlights six additional ideas shared by Michelle Cassady.  Michelle is the Director of Instruction for Woodford County Schools and this is her third  addition to the blog.  Her original blog ideas was one of the most viewed and I really appreciate these additional ideas.


      If  you have ideas you would like to share, feel free to send ideas to csworth@windstream.net.


.        Brag and Breakfast Event—fix breakfast for your staff with a huge (chart paper size or SMART Board size) thank-you note from you “bragging” on your faculty

2.       Send an email invitations for a movie date with your staff (for anyone that wants to show up)—name the time and place—Saturday at 12:00, Cinemark Fayette Mall—The Big Wedding

3.       Have a “Shooting for Success” game of HORSE in the gym after school—Invite your superintendent (or other central office staff) to compete

4.       Sundae Showdown—have a contest to see who can make the most creative ice cream sundae.  Take photos and post them.

5.       Take orders from a restaurant (like Roly Poly  http://www.rolypoly.com/  )—each staff member pays for their own—have it picked up prior to lunch blocks.

6.       Have grade level teams/departments design logos to put in the mailroom….prize for the most creative/outrageous/etc. 

Central Office Staff - Good Ole' Days

A great morale booster is to create a poster of employees as a child or teenager.   Lori Weeks created the poster board on the right for the Central Office Staff at Scott County Schools.   She then challenged everyone to match the correct names with the people in the pictures.

During this time, there were many conversations about not only who was in the picture but about memories of times gone by.  We discussed areas such as  clothing styles, traditions and technology of the 50's through the 80's.

The real objective was not to match the name with the picture it was to give a welcome break in a sometimes mundane day. Taking time to create this poster pulled our staff closer and put a smile on our face as we passed it each day.

FFA Food Drive - Happy Thanksgiving

Members of the SCHS FFA

As we celebrate our bountiful harvest this Thanksgiving, I want to thank all of the schools and organizations across America and the World that conduct food drives to help the less fortunate.  In our little part of the world, Scott County High School students and educators donated over 30,000 items to assist the food banks in our community.  Our food drive, like many, is led by the Scott County High School chapter of the Future Farmers of America.  The student's leadership along with their advisers have made such a profound difference in hundreds of lives throughout the year.

Choral Department preparing for assembly

 I am thankful that every day I get to work with students and educators that find ways to help others.  A simple thank you goes to the FFA advisers (Regina Fritsch, Nathan Sewell and Lindsay Wayne), the officers and members of the Scott County FFA that organized the drive.  The FFA have led this food drive for decades in Scott County and their work and generosity is well documented.  I would also like to thank  Mr. Nick Maxwell (counselor) and the students he organized  for  donating over 8,000 items.  

Members of Mr. Maxwell's students 

Donations from Ms. Sunda's class

Students delivering food before the assembly

ECS - The EVENT

This morning at 9:15 sirens went off at Elkhorn Crossing School.  "The Event" had started!!!

Local first responders set up a mock plane crash in which evidence was everywhere to be found.  The students worked collaboratively to assist the wounded, investigate the crash and document the disaster.  

The list below gives  examples of each village's role in the reenactment.  

Health Science - Assist the wounded 

Bio-Medical - Conduct autopsy and collect forensic evidence. 

Law and Justice - Collect evidence and prepare for a court case. 

Engineering - Determine the cause of the crash using physics. 

Media Arts - Document the disaster through video and photography.

Special thanks to all of Georgetown and Scott County EMS/Police/Sheriff and other first responders for making this happen!!

The Event has Started 

Thank you to EMS and other First Responders 

Evidence to be investigated

The Walking Wounded 

More walking wounded 

ECS students investigating 

Student collecting evidence 

Triage 

Special Investigator 

Growth Mindset from a Teacher's Perspective

Click on any picture to enlarge

At a recent Professional Development our teachers studied the book "Mindsets" by Carol Dweck.  The teachers jigsawed different sections of the book and as we discussed the different excerpts, the teachers  began to list ways they could demonstrate teaching methods to help students to develop a "growth mindset".

The five pictures depict teacher ideas of the five different groups.  There is some redundancy on the list as teachers came up with similar ideas.  The teachers were able to put a check mark besides three of the ideas they were willing to try in order to develop a growth mindset in his or her students.

The following are highlights from the list:

• Learn along with your students.  Admit you don't know everything.  ( I love this one. This teaches students that learning is a lifelong process.)
• Use think time to allow students to formulate his or her answer. This holds all students accountable.  
• Focus on rewarding student effort as much as intellect. 
• Consistent praise for effort. 
• Celebrate achievements.  Even small steps. 
• Give specific and honest feedback on student work.  
• Raise expectations and give students the tools to get there.  
• Incorporate Kagan teaching methods. 

During this process, teachers naturally apply the concepts of the growth mindsets not only to his or her students.  They also apply to his or her own children and personal lives.  Everytime I work with teachers on Carol Dweck's book, I learn more about myself.  I highly recommend taking time to find out more ways to create an attitude that you have control of your abilities. 

If you want more ideas on how to work with teachers on developing a growth minds, feel free contacting me at csworth@windstream.net or look at an earlier blog I wrote about the book Mindsets at http://teamcompetitions.blogspot.com/2013/01/mindsets-book-study.html