Blaine Conley, Assistant Superintendent of Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation

By Blaine Conley, Assistant Superintendent

Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation

MENTONE — Over the summer months, teachers from Tippecanoe Valley participated in the Professional Learning Communities at Work Institute for four days, All Write Summer Institute for two days, IDOE training on the new high school science standards for one day, ACP training for two days, Project Lead the Way training for two days and the e3 Conference for two days. The time away from their families is a sacrifice during the summer months and demonstrates the dedication teachers at TVSC possess in improving instructional practices to meet the needs of our students.

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”  As we have completed the first few weeks of school, I’ve been reflecting on John Wooden’s quote.  The data shows that many teachers at Tippecanoe Valley continue to work during the summer months to improve their craft in preparation of the upcoming year. These individuals exemplify our school corporation’s vision by doing whatever it takes to equip all students to be outstanding today, tomorrow and beyond.

When over 40 percent of the staff works to improve over the summer, how do we implement these strategies throughout our schools when the year begins?  It starts with what Peter Drucker wrote in “The Effective Executive”, “Organization is a means of multiplying the strength of an individual.” Our teachers meet twice a week for 40-minute sessions before school during collaboration time as grade level and department teams. Using the problem solving method, teams work to address the basic needs of students and then address academic issues. Aligning curriculum, developing formative assessments and analyzing data are a few examples of how teachers at TVSC work collaboratively. Individual teachers produce amazing results in their classrooms, but when they collectively work together, we achieve so much more. The success of walking across the stage at graduation is a K-12 endeavor that takes teamwork, sacrifice and dedication from many adults working together.

In Carol Dweck’s work, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” the growth mindset versus the fixed mindset is discussed in detail. In a nutshell, the growth mindset focuses on a person’s belief that they have the ability to change their level of intelligence through the process of learning from one’s mistakes. The fixed mindset is a belief that you can learn new things, but your level of intelligence cannot substantially change. TVSC staff members work within their collaborative teams to meet students at their ability level and then challenge them through processes that focus on the growth mindset.

On October 2, 2015 four amazing men who positively influenced our community lost their lives in a tragic accident.  Those in education, no matter their roles, are nation builders as they work with students to develop greater intelligence through the growth mindset. The time educators sacrifice from their families to help students become valuable contributors to society is appreciated by the community and demonstrates the values exhibited by those lost on that October night.