Voc Director

A Few Reminders

2013-04-11T10:05:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe it is April already! Just a blink ago it was the beginning of SY 2012 - 2013! Now we are beginning to prepare for the last couple of month and look at graduation preparations for graduation.

While we are doing all of that, please be mindful that the students may also be coming down with "Spring Fever"! Here are some of the symptoms; wanting to go to the nurse, guidance, library, bathroom any number times of the day. This is sometimes code for "I am going to meet up with my girlfriend/boyfriend" This can also be code for " I don't want to listen to you and need to go for a walk"

We have seen an increase of hall wandering of late, especially around the 1:45 - 2:10 time period! I will be stopping everyone in the hall. I will be checking for passes, purple passes, and work passes. Please, if a student leaves your classroom, they must have a pass! Otherwise they will receive a "pass" from me for 2 hours for being off limits!

Purple passes are the only passes that I should be seeing during the beginning of 9th period.

Academic teachers! Do not issue a pass to the student's shop! If a shop instructor wants to see them, the instructor will give them a pass.

Shop instructors! It does not take 3 students to empty 1 recycle bin :)

All Staff! If you leave the building to go home, out for something at the store, etc, you must sign out at the office. You must also have approval from an administrator. This is very important for security reasons. We need to know who is in the building at all times in case of emergencies.

Shop clean up should not begin until 2 pm. Why am I seeing students sitting around, doing nothing at 1:45? Remember that school does not end until 2:25!

Related teachers, just a reminder, when you are not teaching in the classroom, you should be in the shop assisting with instruction.

Planning Periods - are those periods equal in length to a teaching period during which the teacher is not assigned to an activity, but is engaged in work related to his teaching assignment. It shall be utilized for such planning

Have a great vacation!

Deb

April's Happenings!

2013-04-06T12:04:00.001-04:00

Here is a recap of the Vocational Department Meeting from last Friday April 5, 2013

Thank you all for attending! There are lots of wonderful initiatives happening at SSVT.

CTE Projects for the Summer http://www.doe.mass.edu/cte/Teacher-ProjectApp.pdf

Deadline April 17, 2013

Please look at the above link! Great opportunities to use your expertise and have a voice in what need to be taught in the CTE arena!

Connecting for Success MAVA Date Change www.connectingforsuccess.org

Related classes name change - Due 4/8/13

Please send them electronically or put the document in my box in the front office.

Vocational grant due 4/8

You may turn in any application to Pam, in the guidance office

General advisory meeting. May 9. Notify advisory chairs , write up a summary for them.

Make sure that you have representation at the dinner! Let your requests be heard!

Senior showcase May 22

I am always amazed at the talent of our students! This is a time for them to shine!!!

Please refer to the email from Martha to find the project deadlines

VTCTS for Seniors - Due by May 16

Please include strands 1,2,4,5 & 6. If you have included any of these in you curriculum, please document it

Curriculum maps. Align to new frameworks Due Date June 15, 2013

NEASC will be looking at each and every curriculum! This activity will also be on your check out list for the end of the year.

Need advisory minutes from March - electronically only!!

One more thing: Please Plan Your April and May Department Meetings and email the dates to me!

Have a Great Week! :) Deb

2013-01-25T11:27:00.000-05:00

Hello Folks!

We are at day 88 as of today! Everyone should be well settled! NEASC self study is almost done, the mid year reports are about to go out, and at 2 degrees, everyone is looking forward to the spring.

Please be mindful of the students that are coming in late to you class/shop. They should have a pass from guidance. If they do not, you should send then back for a pass.

SkillsUSA:

We are currently sending over a hundred students to the District competition in March. Advisers, please make sure that they are studying the skills/safety information as well. This is usually a pivotal point in the scoring.

Advisory Members -

Next meeting will be on March 7. You need to have at least 2 advisers, one parent and one student. This does not include vendors or consumers or staff .

Again if you need time away during school time to contact new advisers, please email me. If you have questions about what an advisor is supposed to do or what their responsibilities are, and what your responsibilities are, there is a manual on the DESE website.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/cte/resources/acguide.pdf

Senior Showcase!!!!

For the past 2 years, Carolyn Ruktowski from Graphic Communication has planned a "Senior Showcase". This year, Martha Paradise and I will be taking on this event. I will be coming around to all of the shops or related classes to talk to the seniors about how they can participate in this. We have lots of very talented student here at SSVT and I am sure that many of them would love a chance to show it off!. Remember how fabulous it was last year?! Let's do it again

Have a great weekend!

Deb

Private Time with the Iron Chef !

2013-01-11T13:56:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon All!

SSVT has recently become a member of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce.

What does that mean to us? We now have more opportunity to meet and greet people from the community with business and industry experience that match what we have here at South Shore.

Once a month, a different business will host a "Business After Hour" gathering. Before Christmas I went to one at the Holiday Inn. The food was great and I met a number of people from all over the south shore who did not know that we were here!

As a result of this meeting, the CA students and their instructors have been invited to have a private meeting with Chef Geoffrey Zakarian at the Roomscapes building in Rockland on January 31 from 4-5. The invitation is also extended to our staff. Chef Zakarian is on the Food Network in New York.

The gala event, takes place on January 31 from 5:30 - 7 for Chamber members. The private meeting for South Shore is 4 - 5 pm.

If anyone is interested, please contact me by Tuesday Afternoon
Chef Geoffrey Zakarian

Have a great weekend!
Deb

Happy New Year!

2013-01-04T11:41:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe that we are almost at the half way point!

Beginning January 4, the juniors will begin taking the on line Workforce Ready System. I have scheduled every student either during their shop time or related time and I have emailed every vocational instructor. Please check your mail.
I will remind everyone the day before your scheduled day. I will either be meeting you at the library or in your classroom, (if you have your own laptops).
These assessments are going to be used to establish a baseline only. In the spring, 2013, the assessment will be administered again but this time with the sophomores. These same students will be retested in Spring 2014. This data will allow you to see student growth. Data, Data, Data.....

The Work Force Ready Assessment gives you a maximum of 90 minutes, most students are done in less than 60!

You will also have access to the certificates and the grades for each of your student
Workforce Grades & certificates

Comings and goings:

Just an FYI, we will be hosting a South Shore Chamber function in the Lecture Hall on Monday January 7, 2013 from 8:30 to 12:00. For those concerned about security, there will be someone posted in the New Wing Lobby to assist with directions to the rest rooms and back to the Lecture Hall. I will be in attendance also!

A gentle reminder about Advisory Committee! Some of the vocational programs are in need of more advisers If you need time at the end of a day to go and meet an industry person, contact me. I can let you go early, or leave for a period of time in the morning. If you have the email address of your advisers please keep in touch with them! The next Advisory Committee is March 7, 2013! Please start lining up your peeps!

Department Head Meetings:

Watch for the email invites but here is a preview for your scheduling!
January 29 in ex related room At 1 PM.
February 26
March 19
April 25
May 29

You will be receiving agendas in the email.

Have a great weekend

Deb

Tours, Open House, Ipass

2012-11-25T15:13:00.001-05:00

Hello All

Thanksgiving is over and soon it will be Christmas! The time is flying by!

The next big thing on our agenda is the Open House! Remember this is your night to shine! Have you thought about a demonstration? Have you arranged for students to be there? The ads are in the paper, and the signs are up in stores. It is now up to you!

A word about tours. Sometimes the having 5-6 groups coming through your shop can be disruptive, and tedious. I remember those days, but without these tours, the students won't come. Where would we be then? That being said, when the tours are planned, please put your best foot forward and woo these students. If you are going to have a student run a demonstration, please rehearse it with with them. Make sure all is ready and make your shop shine!

Ipass. Have you ever looked at your student's progress reports as a parent would? What exactly does Ch. 4 pg 22 review really mean? What does an 80% in achievement mean in the vocational area? Is it an 80% working on the siding project, setting a perm, reparing brakes, takig a Blood Pressure, preparing a salmon? Are these assignments clear? Does it match up with any of the standards?

Over the course of this year, one of the our school goals is clearer, accurate and authentic reporting through ipass for the parents and students. During the next vocational department head meeting we will further explore authentic and accurate reporting.

2012-11-01T15:01:00.002-04:00

Greetings!

Hurricane Sandy is gone and we sure did take some waves across the bow, but everything seems to be ship shape at the moment! Still hoping for far winds and following seas! or is it far seas and following winds? Hmm

I know that this is early but it really is never too early to begin making plans for the summer!! Please make some time to go to "Connecting for Success" Summer Conference and Pre-Conference It will be held this year at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School on June 25 - 27, 2013 because Assabet is going to be involved in a 3 year building project and will be unavailable.

MAVA is looking for assistance with the planning of the sessions for this summer's conference.

Volunteers to become steering committee members. A teacher or administrator currently working and can attend a meeting once a month
Best practices that could become sessions at the summer conference
Suggestions for pre-conference topics - topics that lead to licenses, certifications, and or need multiple hours of training

Time to start thinking!

Just a reminder that there will be a Vocational Teacher Technical Literacy Test (VTEL) prep course for those instructors that still need to take the VTEL. It is scheduled for 2 Thursdays; November 8, 15 at 4:00 pm - 7 pm and one Saturday November 10, 8:30 - 2:30 pm at Tri-County. There is still room! Go to MAVA.us for registration and further information The VTEL is scheduled for November 17

How are your budgets coming? A followup to my email on November 1 about the draft frameworks. Do you need any new equipment or supplies to comply with new frameworks? That should be worked onto you budget also!! :)

Deb

Advisory Committee Meeting

2012-10-19T09:26:00.001-04:00

Hello to All of the Vocational Instructors

Vocational Frameworks You may remember that last spring, DESE formed new committees to review and evaluate the existing Vocational Frameworks. DESE has just released a DRAFT of the revised frameworks. These drafts are currently on the school website. Go to www.ssvotech.org, click on "faculty and and staff" scroll down and you will see Draft CTE Curriculum Frameworks
click on that and you will see all of the VTE Frameworks for all vocational programs. Scroll down until you find yours.

Please preview this draft before the meeting. During our Fall Advisory meeting, you will be reviewing these drafts with your committee and voting whether to validate them or not. I will be sending each department a validation form.

Budget Reviews.
This is just a reminder that Tom has sent the cost center information (budget info) to all departments. Over the next couple of weeks, I would like to sit down with the department heads and review your budget with you. Please take a particular look at your line item for office supplies. Do you know how much you are spending for pencils and pens? Is this something that you might be able to control? Any suggestions?

Advisory Member List
Update your advisory list. Please get the email addresses so that we can communicate more efficiently with our members. Remember to invite a parent and a student to meet with the advisers If you have a student on Coop, or is working in the industry in some way, please invite their supervisor to come to the meeting. The more the merrier.
Adviser can't make to the meeting? Can you communicate by email? video chat? Have you set up a conference call? If you communicate in any of theses ways, please document this in your minutes

Remember there is a Department Head meeting at 1pm on Oct. 24 We can talk about this in more depth then

Deb