Culture+is+Big+Business-NMSA+Conference+2009


 * TITLE OF PRESENTATION:** Culture is big business!


 * **YOUR NAME: Maria Ras** || **DATE:** 11/6/09 ||
 * **SCHOOL:** Heskett || **GRADE/DEPARTMENT: 8th Grade Language Arts** ||
 * **LOCATION:** NMSA Conference, Indiannapolis, IN || **SPONSOR:** NMSA ||


 * PRESENTER: Rosalind Martin

Please provide the key points from the presentation or workshop.** The focus of this workshop was school reform. Mrs. Martin transformed her low-achieving middle school into an achieving school in the matter of a few years. Her focus for this drastic change was changing the school climate, as opposed to the school culture.

Due to the nature of this presentation, I will focus on how this information could be utilized in my school building. Mrs. Martin's school utilized extra math practice and school-wide SSR at the beginning of each school day. These two activities (called "Primetime") were monitored by the homeroom teachers. They focused on a different OAT skill each week. I can see "primetime" being useful for Heskett as we continue to review for the OAT.
 * How do you see this material/strategy being integrated into your classroom instruction?**

Who would create the lessons for our primetime activities? How would school-wide novels be chosen, and where would our resources come from?
 * What questions do you still have or barriers do you see relative to the implementation of this strategy?**

I feel that this related closest to communication and collaboration, as well as critical thinking.
 * To which 21st Century Skill(s) does this strategy most apply?**

[|Notes from the presentation]
 * Are there other resources (links, titles, etc) to which we can go for information about this strategy/workshop?

Would you recommend this workshop to others? I would recommend this workshop to our administrators looking to make big changes in their school buildings.

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