Falconer Central
Schools are off to a great start in the new school year. Bus routes are meeting
their scheduled times, our buildings are clean and neat, and staff is hard at
work providing the best possible climate for teaching and learning.
During the first few weeks,
I have had the opportunity to meet many of our students and visit many of our classrooms.I am so proud of what I have seen; both from
students who are respectful and eager to learn, and teachers who are doing so
many new and creative lessons. I have been amazed at the quality of instruction
I see in classrooms throughout the District. I continue to arrange my schedule
in a way that allows me to spend as much time as I can in classrooms.Our teachers are making good use of the
technology they have and are involving students as active participants in the
lessons.If you have not been to the Web
site lately, please take the time to view it. We want the community to share in
the school’s accomplishments and activities.You can find many pictures and news updates at the site. We will
continue to add highlights to the Web site each week.Our Web site is www.falconerschools.org!
Education is undergoing
change throughout our state and country and Falconer is no exception. In order
to meet the challenges of the recent changes in standards and assessments, we
are exploring new models of instruction. This will require professional
development for our teachers and administrators as they work to provide a
rigorous instructional program and meet new mandates.
We also continue to
expand our understanding of how students learn through their individual
learning styles, so that we can better differentiate our instructional
practices.We are looking closely at our
curriculum and setting our priorities for the future so we can:
•teach the most important skills and competencies, and spend the
appropriate amount of time on these skills
•teach the skills in a logical and sequential order with key
concepts and vocabulary that are aligned to the standards and assessments
•allow data to direct instructional planning
Our District continues
to utilize teams at each school to analyze test results and identify our
instructional strengths and areas that we will need to redirect instruction. We already have many teachers who are being
successful with students at a variety of different levels, and we need to continue
to explore those "best practices" and share them with others. Falconer will continue to use new and
innovative instructional practices, and I know our teachers enthusiastically
support this new focus in instruction.
I am excited about
our educational future and our commitment to excellence here in Falconer.
Providing an enriched and challenging program will better meet the needs of all
students.
