Continuous Improvement

At Mattoon High School, we strive to embody the Paradigm of Change as an ongoing culture within our building. We identified three key areas in which our data showed a need for more development.

Areas of Growth

Systems of Support

Lighthouse Review Feedback - Develop consistent systems for Wave Time teachers to support Wave Leader students in
their teaching.

Service Learning Reflection

Lighthouse Review Feedback - Support student reflection and data collection on the impact of service learning.

Systems for Wave Time Goal Setting

Lighthouse Review Feedback - Provide systems to ensure that each Wave Time class is giving time and attention to goal
setting, reflection and celebration.

Systems of Support

Since the creation of Wave Time, there has been a need for consistency and support for teachers and students alike. The evolution of support began from a student generated idea after attending the Washington D.C. Symposium in 2023. Wave Time Facilitators, student leaders within each Wave Time, were established to teach the Leader in Me direct lessons and activities each Wednesday to help bridge the gap for the adults in the classroom. Since then, we have developed a system to further support Wave Time Facilitators. The first Monday of each month, all 56 Wave Time Student Facilitators gather together to collaborate on upcoming lessons for the month, student created activities, and review scoreboard data collection from each Wave Time. Notes and outcomes are shared with Wave Time teachers to help support the facilitation executed by Wave Time Leaders. In addition, Wave Time Facilitators are provided an incentive for their leadership by earning an additional "Off Campus" lunch day each week or a free parking pass. By creating a system that supports student leadership, teachers are more empowered to release responsibility and support the student facilitator within their Wave Time family.

Service Learning Reflection

Green & Gold Day

Green & Gold Day, our annual service day, has been a vital piece of every Mattoon High School student's learning journey. Utilizing a Green & Gold Day subcommittee, a mixture of staff and student population, we provided more opportunities for students to reflect on their service learning. This included a reflection activity to complete as an entire Wave Time family after our projects were complete and documentation of service within SchooLinks, a tool used to help prepare students for college and careers after graduation. Administrators within SchooLinks can track the analytics of documented service hours and identify trends and areas for future support.

SYSTEM FOR WAVE TIME GOAL SETTING

Goal setting is in integral and weekly part of Wave Time, and classes have always reflected on weekly goals on Fridays. Data collection, however, was a pain point for us. We struggled to strike the right balance between collecting data and students not completing the task due to it being "another thing". We felt, at times, that our data wasn't accurate, not because students didn't meet their goals, but because they simply didn't fill out the form that allowed us to collect that data. This year, Wave Time Facilitators will help with the data collection. While collecting it digitally was more efficient, it proved to not be more effective. Hand collection and calculation of data will, hopefully, prove to be a more accurate picture of student goal data and a more sustainable system.