Second Place, West Division, K-8/Middle Schools
Lillian Shelton, Principal
1811 Ferrell Street
Humboldt, TN 38343
Humboldt Schools
Recipe For Success:
The recipe for success at Humboldt Middle School begins with our dedicated faculty and staff. Everyone in our building is aware of the importance and the benefit of offering our students a quality education that will develop into a successful future. Teachers are encouraged to work together to ensure that all state objectives are met in each classroom. When a new teacher is hired, we have a mentoring process where an experienced teacher will meet with the new teacher and show how to set goals that focus on guaranteeing that all objectives will be met before testing time.
In addition, bi-weekly department meetings are held where teachers discuss what is being done in their classroom in order to ensure student achievement. I personally sit in on these meetings and offer insight to my teachers on how to make sure that all goals are being met, I outline where each teacher should be in their textbooks in order to have all TCAP materials covered before test time, and require all of my teachers to develop 5 minute bell ringer reviews to be utilized at the beginning of each class period. By using these techniques, we avoid “cramming” in the few weeks before test time and help our learners to create long-term knowledge of the materials.
In conclusion, I always make sure that my teachers and students know what is expected in the classroom and insist on having high expectations for all. Previous year test data is gathered, and teachers are expected to look at and use this information in order to find strengths and weaknesses in their students. Then, they use the strengths to help lessen the weaknesses. Students are also encouraged to work on their weaknesses and explain their personal goals. By working together as a team, we have created our recipe for success.