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I can definitely see the need for improvement in rigor. We must challenge our students' thinking with more creative aproraches. Many of them are satisfied with providing superficial answers but a part of our job as educators is to help them develop habits of looking for meaning and understanding. This will give them the problem solving skills that they'll need in the future.
--Jammeh

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1. ACT prep classes for sophomores( 2nd semester) and juniors (1st and 2nd semester).

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1. ACT prep classes for sophomores( 2nd semester) and juniors (1st and 2nd semester).

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2. An organized and accessible student tutoring program. Especially for upper level courses .
3. Introduced high rigor in the sixth and seventh grade. We need to collaborate with elementary 6th grade teachers.
4. Course selections that are closer together for high school students. Core courses should not be taken 1.5 or 2 years later. Students need to build on what they have learned.

Boswell

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I agree with the majority of posts that say we need to prioritize rigor.  The top paying jobs want students that can perform meaningful tasks and possess meaningful skills.  If we can produce “thinkers” then our students can become contributing, responsible adults when they graduate and the majority of our other problems would be solved (engagement, discipline, etc.).

One of the hindrances with teaching at a high level of rigor that I see (particularly in a math class) is students not remembering skills that they have learned and relearned on a yearly basis.  I think some kind of ACT Prep / Math Intervention class (with a strong curriculum) could keep students’ basic skills sharp so that we can study a deeper level of the curriculum rather than skim the standards and only look at DOK 1 types of problems. It is difficult to even get to some of the higher rigor problems and concepts when students are constantly needing support on low level skills like fractions, basic sign rules, simple conversions, etc.

- Conner

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I would like to see two MAJOR adjustments.

1. Transition back to standard 50-minute bell schedule.
About 45 minutes into my classes, no matter how entertaining my lessons, my students are no longer engaged.  They need more transitions with shorter, more rigorous instructional time. When the block schedule was introduced, it was intended to give students the opportunity for a smooth transition to longer, college-based learning environments.  Now, colleges offer a variety of class times and lengths.  Additionally, an increasing number of our students are more career-focused. Yes, block schedule provides students with the opportunity to retake a course if they fail.  However, students know they have the opportunity to try again later, and they literally lay in wait for their next opportunity instead of rising to the challenges before them.  On a standard bell schedule, students and teachers will have more instructional time, be able to cover more material, and teach for mastery.
Disclaimer: I am unsure if the district controls the schedule, but I threw it out there because this would solve several of our issues with student engagement.

2. Built-In Teacher Collaboration.
The middle school teachers are great about collaborating.  The high school teachers need significantly more of this.  Dr. Vann submitted a plan to allow each department to collaborate one day a month during school.  That plan did not come to fruition.  I would like to see that happen. Grade-level collaboration may not be ideal because several of us teach multiple grade-levels, but each department should meet during school hours.   We could use that time to develop standard approaches to document-based questions, analyzing primary sources, and interpreting political cartoons, for example.

Pretlow

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Top 3...
1. Student engagement-  I want students to have a desire to learn and gain knowledge.  Most students just want to get by with the bare minimum. I want them to have a passion for  learning as much as they want to get on their phones.

2. Rigor is another issue with me. The students shutdown when they feel the material is too hard. Most don't understand that they may have to work hard at something just to gain the knowledge of understanding. We are doing the students a favor by taking it easy on them. They will thank us in college and the real world for being hard on them.

3.  Formative assessments  such as exit slips are an awesome way of a daily way to assess the students.  I have used it in the past and it works great.

-Julie Arman

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1.  I think student engagement is top priority.  If students see value in what they are doing then in my opinion they will be more likely to be engaged.  For many students the value of a grade in the class in not enough.
2.  Rigor is important.  I feel that rigor has to do with the application of gained knowledge.  Making open ended questions is one way to do it.  Multiple choice questions can be rigorous, if they are not just rote memorization questions.  If students have to apply the vocabulary they have learned within the questions then that increases the rigor.  Making a student justify a multiple choice answer could be another way.
3. Daily formative assessments like fist or five, exit slips, or A/B/C/D cards are all good ideas.

Shawn McLeod

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As the art teacher, my classroom is more “creative” than the traditional academic setting.  I like to teach my kids to think and solve problems.  As a school overall, I feel that our first priority should be rigor.  As Mrs. May suggested, I think a schoolwide definition of rigor would be helpful.  As an observer, I hear kids discuss the “hard” classes.   Those teachers are my favorites.  I wish our students had to work harder for A’s.  It is a disservice to our students to allow easy A’s and let them perform poorly on the ACT and as college freshmen.  Secondly, I agree that effective writing should be priority #2.  My projects often require an artist statement and students struggle to write.  Lastly, while not all of our kids are on a college track, we need to get our ACT scores up.  Higher scores will open doors for the students, not to mention provide a sense of pride.  In addition, PGHS is an amazing school and our scores should reflect it.  Perhaps our second block could be schoolwide ACT prep…every day…all grade levels.

-          Suzie Newbill

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I think we need more student engagement. I feel our students get bored easily and we lose their focus during lessons. I know in the math classroom, students get easily frustrated by what they don’t understand. If we could come up with more real life situations that interest them, I feel more student engagement would start happening.

Faile

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I agree about the writing, but we need more rigor; not just memorization of facts and re-wording them to answer a question. I would also like to see more students actively engaged in their education, (see #2). We need these students to "own it."

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I agree about the writing, but we need more rigor; not just memorization of facts and re-wording them to answer a question. I would also like to see more students actively engaged in their education, (see #2). We need these students to "own it."

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McCrary

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I think that we have issues with understanding rigor and I would like to see everyone get a better definition or explanation, so that we are all on the same page. Rigor is not just giving students a large amount of work, or work that's on the level they "should" be at and it is definitely not a simple worksheet.

I agree with Clowdus that we have a done a better job with getting students to write more, but we do need to show them why it matters and what they can do with their writing. Maybe keeping a portfolio of their writing throughout their high school career might help?

-Hogan

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For next year, I would like to see more student led assignments as opposed to teacher led . Just like the SREB team stated , teachers are working harder than the students and it should be the other way around. I want to see students initiate class discussions similar to the Socratic method . Teachers should act as facilitators during lessons  and allow the students to lead the lessons.

I would also like to see more project based learning. From my experience , I found that students actually retain more when they are trusted to present the lesson to the class in their own creative way. Allowing the students to present in front of the class will give them the confidence to present outside of the class as well because our ultimate goal is to prepare the students to become life - long learners .
- Tamisha Williams

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I would like to see improvement in number 3.  I think if I would somehow create or use more assessments on the computer, then hopefully it would be less difficult for them when it really counts. I just don’t give them enough opportunities.
Jaime

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I would like to see folks practicing with recognizing what evidence of standards mastery looks like - what the rigor involved with our standards really looks like when students achieve it - then we could all get on the same page with expectations for student results. I’d also like to see how we should differentiate for those guys and gals who don’t get it the first time around. What does Tier II look like in the classroom? I know that we need to do it, but what should it look like in my classroom?

Landrum

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I would like to see a standardized definition of what Rigor looks like for PGHS. I would like for all teachers to know what it is, what it looks like, and how to implement it.
I would like to see more formative assessments that are physical- IE Fist to Five, Thumbs Up-Thumbs Down, etc.
I would like to see writing take the place of multiple choice, True/False tests. This leads back to rigor. One hundred multiple choice questions is not rigorous. Twenty five short answer with multiple perspectives and connections to the topic is rigorous.
-Britani May :-)

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I think we’ve done better with getting our kids writing, but I would love to show kids it serves a purpose. We could put their writing up on display, or provide more feedback just to show them we care.
Clowdus

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PGHS Teachers in preparation for next school year please list the top three issues you feel we need to address academically. My examples are:

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PGHS Teachers in preparation for next school year please list the top three issues you feel we need to address academically. My examples are:

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1. Rigor / Quality Questioning - Means the quality of the assignments not the amount of work.
2. Student Engagement - a student's interest, passion or motivation for what is being taught.
3. Formative Assessments - Assessments conducted during teaching and learning of a concept to gain feedback of a students knowledge up to that point.

Mr. Watkins