Communications Committee

SIPSUsage100406.xls

New Action Items 9/28/06
1.      Infrastructure group to assume overall responsibility for defining and progressing the IT workplan.
2.      Kent to upgrade our application server (XSERVE) to latest version of Tiger and attempt to run the centerpoint installer again.
3.      Committee to consider a better means to post and track action items.
4.      Committee to review and contribute to the Committee Data sheet as posted (as attachment) on the committee BLOG.
5.       Infrastructure group to progress implementation watershedhs.org email addresses

Communications Committee Meeting Notes
Tuesday, Sept 28 2:30 PM (Scott’s Office)
Attendees, Scott Cole, David Woolley, Endel Kallas, Debra Pelinski, Kent King:
New Action Items 9/28/06
1.      Infrastructure group to assume overall responsibility for defining and progressing the IT workplan.
2.      Kent to upgrade our application server (XSERVE) to latest version of Tiger and attempt to run the centerpoint installer again.
3.      Committee to consider a better means to post and track action items.
4.      Committee to review and contribute to the Committee Data sheet as posted (as attachment) on the committee BLOG.
5.      Endel to resend Rudolf Steiner School statement on technology to Deb for distribution to faculty
6.      Endel to draft meeting notes, distribute them and post final draft on the communications committee group home page and/or blog
7.      Deb to provide article on “Alignment of Curriculum Instruction and Assessment of Standards” for posting/sharing
8.      Infrastructure group to progress implementation watershedhs.org email addresses

For a complete listing of Action Items including Carry-over/ongoing and completed  items click the following link:

http://watershedhs.org/currents/lyceum/commcomm/action-items/ 

Next scheduled meeting: Tuesday Oct 3 2:30  PM in  Scott’s Office

Notes
SIPS/Centerpoint (4:0)
Centerpoint was still inactive/down as of the start of the meeting as cmERDC was working with Pearson support representatives.
Kent explained the immediate problem as a failure of the Centerpoint installer software to execute on our application server. (XServe generates a JAVA crash error when the installer is run). The installer is used to reinstall the Centerpoint application and had not ever been run on our server (ostensibly because the installer did not exist when we initially installed Centerpoint and prior to the current need to rebuild the application from scratch we have been running upgrades on an established application). The installer ran successfully on Kent’s laptop (MacOS10.4.7). however the server is running 10.4.3 and even for the same versions, desktop and server software differ. Scott suggested that we upgrade our server software to latest version of Tiger (10.4.7) and try running the installer again as a next step. 
David asked if we have a backup that we can restore. Scott indicated that we need to set-up the server platform correctly first (install correct MacOS version, PostgerssQL version, Centerpoint Version etc) Kent affirmed that we had a back up of our data but could not reestablish the schema files (data structure) behind the data. Endel observed that whatever the details, we could not restore the application given what we had backed up at this time.
Recognizing the need to switch back and forth between “fire fighting mode” and “audit mode”, the following observations were made:

• The current situation was not due to shortcomings with the Centerpoint software and it is important that this is generally understood. Endel cited several examples were recent efforts to restore credibility and promote the use of Centerpoint had suffered as a result of people perceiving this most recent interruption in service as a “SIPS problem”. The current situation arose from “server issues” and appears to have been back-up related. For a yet unknown reason, critical files were overwritten or corrupted (FC directory on the primary drive). Furthermore these files could not be recovered because they were not being backed-up properly (back-up configuration was flawed), hence we could not run centerpoint from a back up drive,
• Hardware and software support and recovery are exacerbated by a broader set of issues. Proper support of our SIPS application and the applications server requires several “layers” of expertise with knowledge currently dispersed across several support resources. Layers include the operating system (ours is MacOSX, cmERDC is more comfortable with MS environments), the relational database management system or RDBMS (for Centerpoint we run PostgressQL, cmERDC and others run on  SQL), the Centerpoint application itself  (knowledge is poorly documented and dispersed between Pearson, cmERDC, and end users), and related utility applications such as those used for system back-up and recovery (TriBackup, Retrospect).
• WHS is best served by minimizing its exposure to risk and not wandering into the problematic, potential “quagmire” outlined above. Having learned the overall support situation firsthand in “crises mode” just last January/February, under no circumstances should we be performing server maintenance, particularly during critical in-session time periods,  without the ability to quickly restore the entire application with comprehensive system recovery measures ( back-up server, back-up drives,  a mirrored application host, quality RAID software). This becomes proportionaly more critical as our use and dependence on computer-based applications increases.
• If circumstances prevent WHS from committing the necessary resources to maintaining the redundancy and back-up required for prompt system recovery. Another possibility is to have the application hosted in an environment that provides all necessary redundancy. In any case we should avoid being “penny-wise and pound foolish”.
• Scott proposed that a next step is to develop a set of options for further consideration and evaluation as to viability, risk vs. cost etc. Scott also noted that our current in-house hosting arrangement is till a viable alternative. In retrospect, our current situation could have been avoided by bringing in external expertise earlier to evaluate and clean-up the server configuration..

IT/The Admin Review Process & Comm Comm Role (24)
Kent’s IT function is currently allocated at 10%. Scott pointed out that role was intended to address answering first level help desk questions, moving computers around etc, not troubleshooting major server problems and other time consuming tasks. Citing the admin review process, Endel noted the opportunity and need to address more comprehensive IT planning. Given that  no single group has overall responsibility for IT, Endel proposed that the Communications Committee Infrastructure Group assume responsibility for this role and develop appropriate objectives and initiatives as part of our workplan. Topics to consider include:
·         Identifying IT roles and responsibilities, documenting workflows and procedures. This includes laying out all requirements for maintaining our IT and environment and specifying how they are to be fulfilled
·         SIPS reliability. Stability of our infrastructure and overall environment.
·         SIPS alternatives and a calendar and plan for evaluation and decision making
·         Developing the school Technology Plan – State Planning Guide in coordination with state funding/grant cycle.
·         Exploring the formation of a separate IT committee possibily drawing on expertise in the parent community  (e.g. Clinton Little)  29.
BLOG organization and use
The organization and navigation in our BLOGS was discussed. Endel mentioned the use of keywords and the ability to create “static” pages as two ways to organize related content. (Possible way to post and track action items?) . David presented the plan for navigating BLOGS and web pages throughout the school web presence and demonstrated progress to date. Endel talked of the immediate need to start using BLOG tools  even as the navigational design and “look and feel” of the web site are in progress. An advantage of posting materials on the BLOG and sending links via email is that the “central storage” of materials is more efficient and avoids the need for storage on  individual hard drives.
The Snippets BLOG was discussed. The school web site link now points to the BLOG rather than continuing to maintain an on-line archive. While we may want to consider weaning people off of the emailed version of Snippets sometime in the future, the immediate plan is to continue with both means of distribution.
We are
EMAIL Use and effectiveness
Kent pointed to the need to establish functional email communication. He currently is still unable to email the parents of his students.
Endel spoke of plans to train parents and setup SIPS to facilitate faculty/parent communications. David spoke about the availability and potential use of electronic mail lists/listserves. Kent would like to set up a list for his parents to report weekly class progress. David also spoke to the availability of watershedhs.org email addresses. Kent is also interested in the posibility hosting email on our server.
Alignment of Curriculum Instruction and Assessment of Standards
Following up on last meetings discussion on Data-driven decision making and her action item, Deb cited the need to develop this over time. Current focus in Pedagogy committee has been on NWEA (We will continue to administer this measurement tool and time is needed to study the results), Deb cited a publication distributed with NWEA materials that captures her sense of where we want to be headed and will share it with the committee.
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 Next Meeting
As discussed, the next meeting will be an infrastructure session on Tuesday Oct 3 2:30 PM in Scott’s Office

Communications Comm Mtg - Thursday 9/28 2:30 PM Scott’s Office

Please indicate your additions as comments to this post.

1. Review Action Items, last meetings Notes
2. Present/discus New Blogs (Snippets, Silent Auction, Community Council, Comm Comm) 
3. Review Communications Committee Data Form/Work Plan (WIP Category)
4. Match inventory of content to be communicated with tools.

Communications Committee Meeting Notes
Tuesday, Sept 19   10:45 AM (Scott’s Office)
Attendees, Scott Cole, David Woolley, Endel Kallas, Debra Pelinski,:
Action Items:
1.      Deb to contact Barb Clarity about doing Snippets assembly this year. Scott to contact Theresa about recruiting a Sr. class parent.
2.      Endel to draft Communications Committee Data Sheet/Workplan
3.      Endel to set up Comm Comm and other committee groups in SIPS.
4.      David/Endel to establish Comm Comm blog ( Also blogs for Silent Auction and CC)
5.      Endel to load State Standars on SIPS as local standards by 09/29  (viability of this approach was confirmed with cmERDC )
6.      Endel to track on report of  loading of syllabi and assignments for a progress report at  9/29 in-service
7.      Endel to compile Parent Volunteer submissions and propose a means for communications (SIPS/Blog etc).
8.      Endel to set up access to School Directory Query on SIPS for class sponsors and provide instructions so that they can obtain up to date parent contact information on demand.
9.      Deb to contact Connie (and Pam?) to start development of questions related to the assessment of student learning characteristics abd styles  (see data driven decision making below)
10.   Endel to draft initial cut of phone tree and distribute to clas sponsors
11.  Endel to draft meeting notes, distribute them and post final draft on the communications committee group home page and/or blog. 
Next scheduled meeting: Thursday Sept 28 2:30  PM in  Scott’s Office
Notes
Committee Activities Communication/Tracking
Scott has initiated a master accountability/tracking tool (using Excel). to monitor committee initiatives/work in progress. All committees are to complete initial Committee Data Sheets for compilation into master spreadsheet. Endel to address Communications Committee Data Sheet. Communication of committee information is yet to be determined. Initial communication of progress tracking will be “manual”.  David suggested posting it on the website. Scott requested that initial access and distribution be limited. until things are running smoothly.. Initial audience is the leadership circle which includes all committee conveners, the faculty chairs, the board chairs, and the CC chairs. David suggested “security by obscurity” i.e. establishing a web page but not publicizing the URL.  Endel suggests SIPS as a more secure option but access is limited to to faculty/staff user accounts. SIPS is also a logical place to organized committee minutes, calendars etc.
Note: Subsequent to this meeting it was agreed to set up committee groups on SIPS as well as investigate a committee blog starting with the Comm Comm.
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Snippets
A parent volunteer is still needed to assemble materials by Fridays for Scott to edit and produce by following Monday. Mary Newby-Elder declined this role  but will serve as a Senior Class rep. . Deb will contact Barbara Clarity to see if she will possibly reconsider helping out in this role. Scott is planning to ask Theresa to try and  recruit a senior parent
State Standards on SIPS
Deb reconfirmed her interest in advancing the tracking of state standards possibly using the SIPS facility for this. Given that the State Standard import is not working properly and only the grade 9-12 standards are needed Endel agreed to load the 9-12 standards as local standards.
Note: this was confirmed as a viable approach with cmERDC, our SIPS support people. The use tracking of graduation requirements was also discussed as a needed initiative and should be pursued as well.  Implementation of standards/requirements tracking is target for in-service on the 29th.
Comm Comm Schedule
Alternating weekly committee meetings between content and infrastructure was discussed. We agreed to proceed on this basis with a joint meeting in the afternoon on the last Thursday of the month.
Data Driven Decision Making
Deb spoke on the value of gathering data on the level curriculum and instruction from students and parents. The objective is to help evaluate what aspects of the curriculum are working and to enhance instructional strategies by obtaining input from the students. Topics to explore include:

• Which  methods and techniques etc do and do not works for different types of students and different leaning styles?
• What are student attention spans?
• How much chaos in the room courses disruption and loss of focus?
• How many students need visual information? How many visual learners? What are the other learning styles? (e.g. Auditory, visual, kinesthetic)
• How often do students need a stretch or break of some sort?

This information would be used to direct more conversation and faculty work around teaching and instruction. It would be nice to have a profile of our student body and match different needs with different teaching approaches. It would be used to start (plant the seeds) for  the process of self awareness and assessment.
We have several tools available to deliver questions and surveys once the content is determined. Synergies with initiatives involving Connie Grestcsh and Pam Lien were also noted. Endel is planning to work with Connie and providing students with simple training on the use of SIPS course management features.
Volunteers List/.Want Ads etc. - Understanding and matching new Tools to content communications needs
Now that we are hosted on Bluehost, we need to better understand a greatly expanded technological tool set and match potential solutions     to our inventory content communications needs. Tools for developing and posting Phone trees, maillists, volunteer listing, wand ads, and organizing and communicating among “communities of interest” such as the Silent Auction organizers are needed immediately. David pointed out the list of tools we can ultimately consider is not limited to the listing on the BlueHost web site and could include any free, open-source software. In addition to hosting our our Web Site (moved as is) , we are currently set up with WordPress (a tools for quickly and easily setting up individual blogs), and Lyceum which is an administrative tool for managing multiple blogs under the same umbrella. Technical support is a forte of BlueHost.
Progress on blog design was explored. The Snippets blog was explored. Endel requested blogs for the silent auction, communications committee, and community council.  David is continuing to work on our ‘Themes”  which will control the “look and feel” of our blogs and provide the constant/universally visible set of links.
Next Meeting
As discussed, the next meeting will be the monthly combined content/infrastructure session on Thursday 9/28 a t2:30 PM in Scott’s Office
 

Clickon the following link to open the form:WHS Committee Data Form