Ginger
Wilson reported on the success of the trip to Princeville.
An
assembly will be held on November 17 to share images and stories of the trip
with the community.
Leslie
Brinson requested that faculty ask to be put on the agenda to report on other
positive activities within the school.
Dot
reminded the faculty that Phil changed his announcement about graduation start
time.
Graduation
will be held at
Discussion: T – drive
Richard
Alston
M:
is private – keep unique files you do not want to lose
S:
for departments to share
T:
to share with the community
The
T: drive is operating as a public share drive.
Richard
used to clean up the drive in July; however, he had to restore many of the
files following this clean up.
Folders
on the T: drive can be protected. You
can restrict access to folders to certain students or just instructors. Some have not done that and there was concern
about students using each other’s work.
An example of a student file showed that is was full of homework and
other work that other people could use.
Richard
suggested that a better way to use the T: drive is to use a hand-in
folder. Some users can get full
permission to use the folder and then use it as a repository for the homework
assignments. Access can be denied to
students who would want to look at other homework assignments. Richard will not erase files but old
materials need to be cleaned out of the T: drive folders. Faculty will be warned when the drive needs
to be cleaned out.
Dot
suggested that the drive needs to be cleaned out now.
Other
faculty stated that the T: drive provides opportunity for students to share
notes and information (power points in WRRD) that has been presented in
class. This work is individualized and
students can not unfairly take information from each other in this format.
Can
we have two drives – one that only faculty have access
to?
The
T: drive is important for faculty using distance learning because the T: drive
is always available in the studios, whereas personal M: drive files can not
always be accessed.
Course
info server is available to all faculty through Bill
Link. He can provide user names and
passwords. There are tools in there for
communicating with students/ discussion boards and students can be divided into
sub-groups and share only with each other.
Students can submit files for grading.
Files will be given a descriptive title and you can access it and make
comments to return to the students electronically. It is a valuable tool to exchange
information. It can also grade multiple
choice tests.
Students
are using the T: drive in the EFC lab because they can not access their M:
drives in there.
The
danger is half-finished work that is sitting on the drive and that is available
to other students. Is there work out
there where students have the same assignment and if it is unprotected on the T
drive is it an invitation to plagiarism?
How can we make sure that the T: drive isn’t sharing the wrong
information? To restrict access, right
click on the folder and go into permission.
A handout on how to restrict access would be helpful. Everyone should send information on what they
need to chair of ATC and they should work out how to change the status and
correct the problems. Most people are
not bothering with permissions – it is the teacher’s responsibility – we need
to educate faculty on how to use shared drives.
What to do about students using folders inappropriately – can we keep
students from creating folders? Students
will always be able to create on the T drive – faculty should remind students
about how this can be misused. If
student assignments are out there – can faculty delete them?
Proposal
was made that the ATC take the issue up and discuss the solutions. Richard could come to the meeting. Jonathan Keohane will be the chair and he will
set up the first meeting.
He
should report back to the Faculty Council by the December 7 faculty council
meeting.
Richard
was thanked for his excellent work at Science and Math.
Discussion:
Ad-hoc calendar committee
Many
people wanted to volunteer for this committee.
The
committee wanted to ask questions of the faculty about their work.
Questions
of the committee: is there consensus?
1) When should faculty and
students return?
Points
to consider:
Are
students starting at different times than their home schools?
When
does distance learning staff have to begin working?
We
have a longer mini-term in 2000-2001 (10 days).
Does that change the start date of school?
Does
the end date of the school year change if we start earlier?
Do
we need to change teacher work-days to the beginning of the year – would that
make this year’s break shorter?
Does
first semester end at the holiday break?
Is
mini-term after return in January?
Pros
for early start:
Evens
out semesters
Enrollment?
Distance
learning
Planning
time
Is
second semester made shorter then?
Are
we trying to balance the result of a 10-day mini-term?
Does
a 10-day mini-term mean that we need to take away the number of teacher
work-day?
Are
the mini-term days taken from alt-days?
Where
else do those days come from?
Special
Projects week?
Class
days?
What
is the status of the 10 month contract?
Does
an early start date interfere with conventions?
Weren’t
those days intended for mini-term supposed to come from in-service and
alt-days?
When
we voted on min-term we were told that it would not change other numbers. Is it
possible to lengthen the mini-term and
not affect the calendar significantly?
In
actuality, is it possible to find the days necessary?
WE
have 195 and 205 days that we work.
We
stay right around 200.
We
do not have to have a certain number of in-service days that are required.
Old
calendars had 175 days plus 20 for teachers.
WE
should not work more than 200 days.
Do
we need more time in class.
Otherwise
are we keeping up with other good schools in North Carolina- are our students
behind?
Do
we push our students through more material in less time?
Does
that add to their stress?
Teachers
do a lot of work. If we lengthen the
year will we be compensated?
A
final draft of the calendar has not been finalized.
One
proposal is that teachers come on August 9.
Can
we get some more class days by coming earlier?
Even
quarters are good; however, coming back to school on August 8 is a hardship.
Will
break time for sli’s be cut? NO - Students are having the same time on campus.
If
we start early – we have to cut days off in June.
Is
there a better way to distribute alt-days and extends?
Some
alt-days happen too soon after an extended.
Alt-day
– Williamsburg - September
Alt-day
october state fair
February
ashme – exam
May
– science symposium
Are
alt-days stress days – or are they used as intended?
Remember:
Juniors should not come in on a Friday
It
needs to be a Saturday.
If
we are done earlier – are we really done?
Are
class days used up by alt-days and mini-term?
Do
we need alt-days?
Do
we need to look at mini-term being 10 days?
Who
decided that?
Is
mini-term a good idea?
Should
it be longer?
Mini-term
should end on a Friday and that would make it 8 days.
Could
we then end the school year earlier in June?
Can
we look at the calendar and say that we agree that we don’t lose class days for
mini-term. Should mini-term be changed
to fit individual years?
Teacher
work days before mini-term are actually for grading exams.
Are
teaching days that much more important than mini-term days?
We
thought SPW wasn’t academic enough so is mini-term not going to make us unique?
Isn’t that worth a few more days in class with regular material
It
is important as a recruiting tool.
Kids
are still learning – just not in regular courses.
Parent’s
day has always been around September 23.
Are
there advantages to an earlier family weekend?
Most
faculty voted that parents day should be earlier than Sept. 23.
Majority
voted that they want to keep the class days we have.
Should
faculty start on August 9 and not have in-service at the end of the year?
10
said yes/ 6 opposed
Are
we willing to start early if we can get out a week earlier?
16
yes
5
opposed
Approval
of the minutes 10/19 and 11/2.