You are type: Gold
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Congratulations! You are a primary gold. You're a reliable organizer who can be counted on to implement other people’s ideas and get the job done. Your complete color spectrum is shown above. Janet
Are you a thinker, always analyzing, like a GREEN? Do you prefer inspiring people and building their self-esteem as a BLUE? Are you the responsible one who is always on time and keeping everyone else on time like a GOLD? Or do you thrive on entertaining and persuading people, like an ORANGE?
Paralysis by Analysis Blue Hat
My most recent “paralysis by analysis” has be the use of the Blog for reflection. Although I have been intentionally more reflective of my teaching this year, I have been stymied when it has come to writing it in my Blog. Part of my paralysis has been because I am not a big proponent on putting all thoughts, feelings, and whims out there for the rest of the world to see. (I am out of tune with the human needs that some of our technology today proposes to fulfill. One example is Twitter.) I have had an internal fight between what this class is requiring of me, and my belief that others might get a hold of my thoughts and misuse them to harm my professional integrity in some way. I guess after our conversation at La Crosse
Professional Green Hat Proud Moment
I have been on a committee to improve math instruction in our school district with elementary, intermediate, and middle school teachers (Tony being one of them.) I am proud of the fact that teachers are now using word walls for math, and more teachers, including myself, are using math notebooks for vocabulary and daily work samples. One of my “ah-ha” moments came when a student told me he didn’t know how to find median, mode, outliers, and clusters of data, after we had been working on this for over 2 weeks. I pointed him to his math notebook and the word wall, and with very little intervention from myself, he was able to work himself through the homework. It was great to see those pieces allow him to be more independent!
Are Teachers Blue Hat Thinkers?
I am not sure that all teachers are blue hat thinkers to begin with. I wonder if we become more “blue hat” because of our role in the classroom; observant, comments, summarizes, the chairperson, the one who’s in charge, controls, organizes thinking, and enforces discipline. Those sound somewhat like the role of a teacher. My thoughts can be changed by better thinking! I’d love to hear other thoughts on this.
Conflict with the Six Thinking Hats
I read about the white and red hats from Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono. The white hat is neutral, like a computer, giving facts and figures, in an objective manner. Using the white hat is a practice that encourages the thinker to separate clearly in his mind what fact is. There are believed facts and checked facts. Your opinion is never allowed with a white hat. Math is very white to me. I can see facts and figures; I can see right and wrong.
The red hat is described as warmth, feelings, emotions, intuition, and hunches. In using the red hat one does not need to justify his emotions. The red hat gives official permission for the expression of feelings. There is no attempt to explore or change emotions.
In doing the exercise to think of a situation at work where I felt I needed to resolve something, I chose a coworker relationship. I realized that I have a lot of emotion tied up into this relationship from the past 5 years or so, and those emotions were clouding or overriding my judgment. I was viewing everything that was going on between my coworker and I through an emotional lens. I see that I was allowing more stress to enter my life than I needed to, and it’s possible the stress I was allowing was the accumulation of years of baggage that I was unwilling to dismiss. If taking each day on its own, such as today, I would find little to warrant my negative feelings toward my coworker. Yes, there are bothersome things I see, but no worse than what I might see in others (or what they might see in me). I think I let myself be ruled by my emotions. These chapters remind me to wear different hats and see things from different perspectives. All hats are wanted, at their respective time, to look at a situation or resolve an issue.
8/2011 Puzzle Piece - At our fall class, we needed to decide on t-shirt design. After we agreed that a puzzle piece might be best, I looked online and got a puzzle piece that was also divided up into puzzle pieces. We decided that would make us look like part of the solution, but others were needed to make the picture complete.
8/2011 Puzzle Piece - At our fall class, we needed to decide on t-shirt design. After we agreed that a puzzle piece might be best, I looked online and got a puzzle piece that was also divided up into puzzle pieces. We decided that would make us look like part of the solution, but others were needed to make the picture complete.
9/12/2011 Summer Math Work - I finished making promethean flipcharts for my grade level. These included a Handwriting Flipchart (to use with student worksheets), 5 Minute Math Flipcharts (to use when going over this homework with students), a CABS Flipchart (samples of excellent math problems for students to solve at fourth grade from the Milwaukee Math Project), three revised Unit 1 Math Investigation Flipcharts (I added vocabulary review for each day and student homework pages for going over homework with our classes), a Fourth Grade Math Review promethean (to be used before the fall WKCE test), and one revised Unit 1 Reading Flipchart (I added words and pictures to help guide the lesson and made it more interactive). This all took a substantial amount of time, but on the upside, I learned how to use a copier/scanner, and I felt a lot more prepared for the start of another school year!
9/12/2011 Math Coaching - This year I will be coaching two teacher in math. Our grade level shares almost daily about how our math teaching is going. One teacher at my grade level has been sharing a lot this fall; she is allowing me to come into her room in October and then again later in the school year. I will also coach a third grade teacher. I am excited about the opportunity to share best practice with them. Knowing these opportunities are coming is making me more reflective. I am spending time reviewing the materials I received last year, including the book, Coaching: Approaches & Perspectives, edited by Jim Knight.
ASCD: Teacher Leadership Article – October, 2011
I just read "What Good Coaches Do", from Educational Leadership magazine, October, 2011, Volume 69, Number 2. This entire month is devoted to coaching as a leadership skill. The article was by Jim Knight, a coaching expert.
Coaching should be a partnership where seven principles can be found. 1. Equality - both share ideas and make decisions together as equals. They communicate respect, have belief in each other, and listen attentively. 2. Choice - Coaches allow teachers to be the final decision makers. Most people want a say in what and how they learn. 3. Voice - Coaches need to seek out and act on teacher opinions, asking them what they would like to focus on. 4. Reflection - The partner coach is a thinking partner for teachers and the coaching is a meeting of minds. With reflective conversations, both will be energized, may laugh, talk enthusiastically, and enjoy themselves. 5. Dialogue - The goal is not for my idea to win, but the best idea to win. Coaches need to be humble and radically honest that they don't have all the answers. 6. Praxis - Praxis is the act of applying new knowledge and skills. We engage in praxis when we learn about a new teaching practice, think about it deeply, and when we decide to use it, or not use it in our classrooms. 7. Reciprocity - The belief that each learning interaction is an opportunity for everyone to learn. True partnership in coaching means we come into a conversation respecting and valuing the other. Other points of the article site the actions of good coaches: they enroll teachers, they identify teachers' goals, they listen, they ask questions, they explain teaching practices, and they provide feedback.
I believe there is partnership in my grade level as we meet in the hallways or eachothers' rooms after school and discuss student behavior or teaching frustrations/highlights from the day. Who is the person in your building, or profession, that you feel offers you that nonjudgmental, listening, enjoyable conversation that leads to energizing you or giving you new ideas? Do you believe you have already participated in "coaching as a partnership" without the coaching label? Karen already gave a good example of this in another strand.
September & October, 2011 Team Teva plans assignments for Teacher Leadership using UbD. We worked cooperatively on line to post assignments on the Hudson 2 Calendar.
Stage 1: Desired Results
Established Goals: Students will integrate teacher leadership into practice. Students will apply teacher leadership into the workplace setting and communicate via technology.
Students will. . .
1.Explore leadership possibilities in school
2. Identify key stakeholders and the impact/pressures exerted on school system
3. Make connections between current trends and personal workplace
4. Develop political awareness of educational trends
5. Modify their PDPs
6. Develop professional portfolios
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
1. Students will post on D2L how their district is changing curriculum to comply with the new Common Core Standards; students will also reply to at least one other post on the topic. Post by midnight, Sunday, October 30.
2. Students will write about RtI and reflect on the changes necessary in their schools/classrooms and how RtI can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Post by midnight, Sunday, October 9.
3. Students will identify one group of stakeholders in their district. Students describe the impact and/or pressure exerted by the group of stakeholders and the effect it has on the district. Students will share ideas on D2L for comments and support. Ongoing discussion, post by midnight, November 20.
4.Students will share 2 grant options on googledocs. Post by midnight, Sunday, November 6th.
5. Students will continue to modify, as needed, their professional development plans and portfolios. Ongoing all semester.
6. Students will write up a reflective summary on what they were able to share with their own district from all activities this semester. Post by midnight, Sunday, December 4th.
11/4/2011 Leveled Literacy Intervention Training
I was able to take part in training for below grade level readers. One of my students had poor behavior last year, and was removed from LLI, which is 3:1 reading instruction. She is reading at least 2 years below grade level. I volunteered to work with her during my class Spanish time, but asked for training. I learned a great deal about how to teach within the LLI model. I do not have a kit, but can use these ideas to make sure this student is reading at her instructional and independent reading levels. I can also make sure she gets plenty of word work. I plan to begin a spelling intervention with her, as she needs work with vowels. The intervention I am learning about is "Words Their Way". Her behavior has been good enough this year, so she is back in LLI in a 1:1 setting for 30 minutes each day. During this instruction time, the teacher is implenting "Sounds Abound". I work with her 1:1 for 30 minutes every other day. We have a Student of Concern Meeting tomorrow, and I will share the LLI rationale and handouts with my coworkers.
9/12/2011 Math Coaching - This year I will be coaching two teacher in math. Our grade level shares almost daily about how our math teaching is going. One teacher at my grade level has been sharing a lot this fall; she is allowing me to come into her room in October and then again later in the school year. I will also coach a third grade teacher. I am excited about the opportunity to share best practice with them. Knowing these opportunities are coming is making me more reflective. I am spending time reviewing the materials I received last year, including the book, Coaching: Approaches & Perspectives, edited by Jim Knight.
The Perils and Promises of Discovery Learning, by Robert J. Marzano. Educational Leadership, September 2011.
Do you believe that discovery learning is superior to direct instruction learning? Current research from 2011 found that direct instruction is superior to discovery learning in most situations. They also found that “enhanced” discovery learning was superior to either of these approaches. The trouble with unsupported discovery learning is that students are left on their own to learn the target content. It will not help if two students work on this together, because neither has the target content.
Enhanced discovery learning involves preparing students for discovery learning and providing assistance along the way. This might involve some direct instruction. Unless a teacher will design lessons that ensure that students have the knowledge needed to understand the content and that provide guidance and interaction along the way, then enhanced discovery learning can be a powerful learning experience for students.
Right now our Investigations math has students discover ways to find how many in an array, and sometimes this can be done in 3 or 4 different efficient ways. I have found that some students want to count by ones. These need me to step in and help them discover a smaller problem within the bigger problem. Other students solve this same problem on their own easily, and can be challenged to solve the problem in another way. This article is forcing me to reflect on my math practice! Different students need different amounts of support.
Are there topics you teach where you find direct instruction the most effective and efficient method? Are there times you have found that you let your students “wander in the wilderness” too long? I’d really like to know how to get students to ask for help sooner. Any ideas?
ASCD: Teacher Leadership Article – October, 2011
I just read "What Good Coaches Do", from Educational Leadership magazine, October, 2011, Volume 69, Number 2. This entire month is devoted to coaching as a leadership skill. The article was by Jim Knight, a coaching expert.
Coaching should be a partnership where seven principles can be found. 1. Equality - both share ideas and make decisions together as equals. They communicate respect, have belief in each other, and listen attentively. 2. Choice - Coaches allow teachers to be the final decision makers. Most people want a say in what and how they learn. 3. Voice - Coaches need to seek out and act on teacher opinions, asking them what they would like to focus on. 4. Reflection - The partner coach is a thinking partner for teachers and the coaching is a meeting of minds. With reflective conversations, both will be energized, may laugh, talk enthusiastically, and enjoy themselves. 5. Dialogue - The goal is not for my idea to win, but the best idea to win. Coaches need to be humble and radically honest that they don't have all the answers. 6. Praxis - Praxis is the act of applying new knowledge and skills. We engage in praxis when we learn about a new teaching practice, think about it deeply, and when we decide to use it, or not use it in our classrooms. 7. Reciprocity - The belief that each learning interaction is an opportunity for everyone to learn. True partnership in coaching means we come into a conversation respecting and valuing the other. Other points of the article site the actions of good coaches: they enroll teachers, they identify teachers' goals, they listen, they ask questions, they explain teaching practices, and they provide feedback.
I believe there is partnership in my grade level as we meet in the hallways or eachothers' rooms after school and discuss student behavior or teaching frustrations/highlights from the day. Who is the person in your building, or profession, that you feel offers you that nonjudgmental, listening, enjoyable conversation that leads to energizing you or giving you new ideas? Do you believe you have already participated in "coaching as a partnership" without the coaching label? Karen already gave a good example of this in another strand.
September & October, 2011 Team Teva plans assignments for Teacher Leadership using UbD. We worked cooperatively on line to post assignments on the Hudson 2 Calendar.
Stage 1: Desired Results
Established Goals: Students will integrate teacher leadership into practice. Students will apply teacher leadership into the workplace setting and communicate via technology.
Students will. . .
1.Explore leadership possibilities in school
2. Identify key stakeholders and the impact/pressures exerted on school system
3. Make connections between current trends and personal workplace
4. Develop political awareness of educational trends
5. Modify their PDPs
6. Develop professional portfolios
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
1. Students will post on D2L how their district is changing curriculum to comply with the new Common Core Standards; students will also reply to at least one other post on the topic. Post by midnight, Sunday, October 30.
2. Students will write about RtI and reflect on the changes necessary in their schools/classrooms and how RtI can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Post by midnight, Sunday, October 9.
3. Students will identify one group of stakeholders in their district. Students describe the impact and/or pressure exerted by the group of stakeholders and the effect it has on the district. Students will share ideas on D2L for comments and support. Ongoing discussion, post by midnight, November 20.
4.Students will share 2 grant options on googledocs. Post by midnight, Sunday, November 6th.
5. Students will continue to modify, as needed, their professional development plans and portfolios. Ongoing all semester.
6. Students will write up a reflective summary on what they were able to share with their own district from all activities this semester. Post by midnight, Sunday, December 4th.
Stage 3: Learning Plan
Common Core: Students will discuss on D2L how their districts are changing to comply with common core standards. Post one from your school. Respond to two others. Keep the responses and conversation going.
RtI: Students will write about and reflect on the changes necessary in their schools/classrooms and how RtI can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Share something you are doing personally.
Grant Writing: Students will share 2 grant options, online if possible, on googledocs.
Stakeholders: Students will identify and define a group of stakeholders and the impact and/or pressures exerted on the public school system, (parents, students, school board, administration) on D2L.
School/district Leadership: Students will choose one topic or activity from the semester to share with their team, school or district (Ubuntu, technology, Common Core, RtI, stakeholders, ASCD, Teaching Tolerance, online grants, etc). Reflection/analysis due in Dropbox.
Grant Opportunities:
Common Core: Students will discuss on D2L how their districts are changing to comply with common core standards. Post one from your school. Respond to two others. Keep the responses and conversation going.
RtI: Students will write about and reflect on the changes necessary in their schools/classrooms and how RtI can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Share something you are doing personally.
Grant Writing: Students will share 2 grant options, online if possible, on googledocs.
Stakeholders: Students will identify and define a group of stakeholders and the impact and/or pressures exerted on the public school system, (parents, students, school board, administration) on D2L.
School/district Leadership: Students will choose one topic or activity from the semester to share with their team, school or district (Ubuntu, technology, Common Core, RtI, stakeholders, ASCD, Teaching Tolerance, online grants, etc). Reflection/analysis due in Dropbox.
Grant Opportunities:
| Janet Anderson | info@annmariefoundation.org Our art teacher got a kiln for our new intermediate school when there was no money in the school budget for this purchase. He uses it every year; many students benefit. |
The AnnMarie Foundation is an independent philanthropic organization committed to enhancing the quality of life in the Wisconsin communities it serves. The foundation provides monetary awards to schools and non-profit organizations to promote educational, humanitarian, cultural, and recreational activities.
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| Janet Anderson | Deadline: Rolling Grants will be awarded on the 28th of every calendar month.) http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/ digitalwish/grant_awards Heather Chirtea, (802) 375-6721 heather@digitalwish.org After each technology purchase, Digital Wish will automatically donate an additional 2-10% in immediate cash-back funding to the recipient school to fund their next technology project. | Digital Wish is now offering a program that matches teachers with donors. To find a donor, teachers must build a wish list of Digital Wish classroom technology products. Teachers may then tell their stories and share their lesson plan ideas. Prospective donors can review a classroom profile and donate funding or purchase a wish list item for a school. |
11/4/2011 Leveled Literacy Intervention Training
I was able to take part in training for below grade level readers. One of my students had poor behavior last year, and was removed from LLI, which is 3:1 reading instruction. She is reading at least 2 years below grade level. I volunteered to work with her during my class Spanish time, but asked for training. I learned a great deal about how to teach within the LLI model. I do not have a kit, but can use these ideas to make sure this student is reading at her instructional and independent reading levels. I can also make sure she gets plenty of word work. I plan to begin a spelling intervention with her, as she needs work with vowels. The intervention I am learning about is "Words Their Way". Her behavior has been good enough this year, so she is back in LLI in a 1:1 setting for 30 minutes each day. During this instruction time, the teacher is implenting "Sounds Abound". I work with her 1:1 for 30 minutes every other day. We have a Student of Concern Meeting tomorrow, and I will share the LLI rationale and handouts with my coworkers.
Teacher Leadership, Semester 3 Assignment
Grant Writing: Students will share 2 grant options, online if possible, on googledocs.
Group Member:
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Grant Name & Location
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Description
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Karen Hull
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Limeadesforlearning.com
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Limeades for Learning allows SONIC customers and fans to make a difference in their local communities by voting for public school teacher projects they want SONIC to fund.
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Karen Hull
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Donorschoose.org
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An online charity, where teachers post projects and others can donate to it.
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Amanda Schmidman
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http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-031767
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Target offers lots of grants for schools, including early childhood reading grants, grants for the arts, and field trip grants.
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Amanda Schmidman
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http://www.toyota.com/about/philanthropy/education/grants/
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Toyota has a few grants for teachers, including one for teachers to experience a global perspective through travel.
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Tony Thielke
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National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
*provides funds to support classroom teachers in improving classroom practices and increasing teachers' mathematical knowledge. *offers grants for prospective teachers and NCTM's Affiliates | |
Tony Thielke
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NEA Foundation - Student Achievement Grants
*grants to improve the academic achievement of students in U.S. public schools |
Janet Anderson
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info@annmariefoundation.org
Our art teacher got a kiln for our new intermediate school when there was no money in the school budget for this purchase. He uses it every year; many students benefit. |
The AnnMarie Foundation is an independent philanthropic organization committed to enhancing the quality of life in the Wisconsin communities it serves. The foundation provides monetary awards to schools and non-profit organizations to promote educational, humanitarian, cultural, and recreational activities.
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Janet Anderson
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Deadline: Rolling
Grants will be awarded on the 28th of every calendar month.) http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/ digitalwish/grant_awards Heather Chirtea, (802) 375-6721 heather@digitalwish.org After each technology purchase, Digital Wish will automatically donate an additional 2-10% in immediate cash-back funding to the recipient school to fund their next technology project. |
Digital Wish is now offering a
program that matches teachers with donors. To find a donor, teachers must build a wish list of Digital Wish classroom technology products. Teachers may then tell their stories and share their lesson plan ideas. Prospective donors can review a classroom profile and donate funding or purchase a wish list item for a school. |
Paula Berth
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Collaborate to Increase Literacy
Deadline: Unsolicited proposals reviewed on a continuous calendar-year basis from January 1 through October 31 http://foundation.verizon.com/grant/guidelines.shtml?THEBIGDEALBOOK=634200545559567425 |
Verizon Foundation Literacy Grants are available to organizations committed to basic literacy skills in the United States. Verizon has invested in a network of collaborative literacy partners, offering a wide variety of programs with a focus on e-learning. Verizon’s leadership in technology and communications provides the distribution network. A sample application is available online for reference only; you must log in to actually submit a proposal. Grant requests of $10,000 or more are required to include a project budget breakdown, which is shown in the sample form.
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Paula Berth
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Support a Safe, Healthy Environment
Deadline: Grant application opens on October 1 and closes on October 29, 2010 http://www.ussoccerfoundation.org/site/c.ipIQKXOvFoG/b.5482625/k.CF87/Annual_Program__Field_Grants.htm |
U.S. Soccer Federatation Field Grants support projects throughout the U.S. that focus on keeping children in vulnerable communities active, healthy and safe from the dangers of the streets. The foundation awards grants to help pay for field development, uniforms, player equipment, travel costs, facility rental, registration costs and training for players, coaches and referees. The amount of the award varies. Eligible organizations include municipalities, colleges or universities, public or private schools and sovereign tribal nations that meet the established focus for the 2011 grant cycle, which is the development of players, coaches and referees in economically disadvantaged urban areas encompassing populations of 50,000 or more.
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Abby Marish
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Provide Movement Activities for Children with Disabilities
http://info.cvscaremark.com/community/our-impact/community-grants |
CVS Caremark Community Grants provide funds of up to $5,000 for public school programs that promote a greater level of inclusion of children with disabilities in extracurricular activities.
Proposed programs may include either physical activities or play opportunities for youth under age 21 and should address the specific needs of the population served. |
Abby Marish
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The purpose of this grant is to increase the breadth and depth of the mathematics content knowledge of one elementary school teacher who has a demonstrated commitment to mathematics teaching and learning. The applicant must have the support of the school principal in becoming a mathematics teacher-leader within her or his school or district. For the 2012–2013 school year, grants with a maximum of $6,000 each will be awarded. Only one teacher per school may receive the award. The desired outcome of the funded project is the development of an elementary school mathematics teacher with mathematics content expertise.
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Rick Stewart
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The NEA Foundation:
http://www.neafoundation.org/pages/educators/grant-programs/grant-application/ |
Grant writing tips are available on the NEA website. These grants are available to a wide range of content areas and grade levels.
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Rick Stewart
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The Sprint Foundation :
http://www.sprint.com/responsibility/ourcommunities/sprint_foundation/index.html |
Sprint supports education and has these grant opportunities available.
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Mary Roberts
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http://www.wisconservation.org/index.php?page=teachers-outdoor-enviro-ed-fund
Grant due: Jan. 17, 2012 |
The “Teachers’ Outdoor Environmental Education Fund” provides grants of up to $1,000 for public school teachers (K-12) to undertake outdoor environmental education projects.
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Mary Roberts
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http://eeinwisconsin.org/resource/about.aspx?s=52809.0.0.2209
Applications must be postmarked by March 15, 2012. |
The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation is accepting applications from public schools and libraries in the U.S. and its protectorates for program or event minigrants of $500 each.
Programs funded in the past have included: Ongoing pen-pal projects bringing disparate communities together Multi-cultural portrait projects Art projects culminating in art shows, murals, or quilts Bookmaking Creation and performance of puppet shows Inter-generational journals |
Teacher Leadership – Sharing within my School Community – Third Semester, Fall 2011
Inquiry Project - Research Project – My research project came out of our need to add inquiry projects to each of our eight reading units. All teachers, K-5, need to implement this, and we are doing a lot by trial and error. I was able to share at a meeting this fall the things I have tried. Here are some ideas that I shared from my research thus far. 1. Use a rubric for student interactions where they grade themselves and each other. 2. Take time for students to ponder and wonder about the topic. 3. Gather books for students to peruse, and give time for them to share what intrigues them. 4. Even though the unit is 4 weeks, student research doesn’t have to be started the first week when they are just beginning to learn about the topic. Keep the lessons going and then at the end of the unit there will be consecutive days for students to really dig in to their project.
Social Justice – This fall I updated the social justice lesson that I created last year, using Abby’s poem. It now includes famous people who struggled in school, were diagnosed with ADHD, or learning disabilities. It culminates with the book The Junkyard Wonders, by Patricia Polocco, a famous children’s author. The story is based on her and her classmates’ experiences in a learning disabilities classroom. I was able to share this with coworkers, and know that two other teachers at my grade level shared these lessons with their classes. My class was deeply moved by the lesson and book. I believe it is helping them to see themselves and others as a work in progress. Students also participated in the “Tap Someone Who” community builder. This was another way to show them we are all different with different strengths, but that everyone counts.
From a La Crosse session I was able to copy and share the Diversity Children’s Literature Book lists and descriptions with 30 teachers in my building. Our librarian emailed that we have about half of these books in our collection. She ordered for preview many of the others, and I and other teachers will be able to preview, share them with my class, and recommend for purchase.
I attended Leveled Literacy Intervention training, and brought back writing ideas for my grade level. The trainer said that teachers find a very strong connection between their students’ reading and writing ability, and use both to determine how the students are progressing. From this sharing our grade level is requiring written responses to weekly small group readings. We also brought back spelling sentences for the last four words on our spelling lists. One teacher made the worksheet we will use; another teacher created the sentences we will use. Common and worthwhile assessments are one result of this training.
As a Math Coach, I have been spending time discussing classroom best practices and teaching strategies with two teachers in my building. The third grade teacher has asked for help with a math intervention. I have checked out two kits on addition and subtraction. He is also thinking that maybe a behavior intervention is needed first. I sent him to Intervention Central. I will continue to assist him with either or both interventions, and move forward our building learning community initiatives. The other teacher wants to begin the observations by coning into my room. We will set that up for December. I am hopeful that they will see everything we do together to be centered around student performance.
I implemented a weekly language activity in my classroom this year called Making Words. Students take the letters presented on a Monday and work to make 2-letter, 3-letter, 4-letter, etc. words. Their goal is to make at least 20 words and find the mystery word that these letters create by Friday. Students are motivated and collaborate throughout work time during the week. Many times they find 60-90 words. This activity gets students working with spelling patterns, prefixes, and suffixes. After sharing several times with my team, two other teachers are beginning to use this activity. A fifth grade teacher saw this when she was in one of those classrooms and emailed wanting to know more. I have one student who is two years below in reading and spelling. She has been benefiting from Making Words at a lower level during my one-to-one time with her.
I have asked our librarian if she would like to catalog my ASCD Educational Leadership magazines from this past year and into next year, to share them with teachers in my building.
I have modeled new technology by using the HPLL Cart and sharing with my team the experience of requesting the program, cart, and room. I commented on how interactive, motivating and educational the program was. I am looking to collaborate with a teacher from the Atlantic States with our reading curriculum. This is something all fourth graders could benefit from. I will keep my eye out for other programs, and continue to encourage other teachers to use this technology.
Common Assessments in Math – We began the process of using End-of-Unit common assessments in math last year. I have taken this a step further this year. At the beginning of each unit, I bring the other progressive assessments to our meeting. I use the series expectations and mark student responses that fit the benchmark, partial benchmark, and not-reaching the benchmark requirements. We are talking about how the middle of the unit formative assessments can be used to further inform us about student understanding. These students may benefit from small group re-teaching. It also informs us of students who may need challenges if they are consistently scoring proficient in these ongoing curriculum assessments.
Updating Promethean Flip Charts for Math – I have given my math homework procedures a lot of thought since beginning this program. I have shared with my team that I want to go over homework in class, rather than correcting it, grading it, and then sending it home with my students. So, I obtained a password to the middle school scanner/copier, scanned our student worksheets, and put them into the first two flip charts. All five of my colleagues benefit from having the homework pages within the math lessons. We are using best practice in viewing homework as practice. Everyone at my grade level is using the homework pages. A colleague volunteered to put the third unit worksheets in. I added homework pages to Unit 4. If someone volunteers, I will let them do the next five units. Otherwise, I will do this, as it meets the goal that I set for improving math instruction this year.
Reading Vocabulary Power Point – Last year a first grade teacher shared with the K-5 staff that she runs a vocabulary power point during a transition time in her room. I inquired, and she shared with me how she set this up. I took the first two units (four weeks per unit) and created these power points for my grade level. There were about 36 words for each week, for 8 weeks. I shared these with my grade level. Another colleague volunteered to add our language vocabulary to them, and has made the four power points for Unit 3, and said she will continue to do this for the rest of our reading series. I am empowered by her support and feel good that all fourth graders are having this practice with their many vocabulary words. All teachers have found this a valuable use of transition time during reading at least a few times a week.
From La Crosse Conference, I shared with my team the session on using Twitter as a professional connection to new ideas. I have not implemented it, and I don’t believe other teachers in my building have either. I explained that teachers of different grade levels connect on a certain day of the week at a certain time. It is all about time right now; when I and other teachers feel we have the time to investigate this, we will join in the Twitter conversation.
Teacher Leadership – Sharing within my School Community – Fourth Semester, 2012
Teacher Leadership – Sharing within my School Community – Fourth Semester, 2012
****Opportunities for Continued Teacher Leadership into the 2012-13 School Year ****
Math Promethean with Student Worksheet Pages - I have updated the rest of the math prometheans with student worksheet pages. I am hopeful that the great winter testing results will continue in May when students MAP Test again. Going over homework in class is one practice that I believe has led to the nice gain in math scores during the first half of the year. My students are also working together with turn and talk and completing homework through discussion and collaboration.
Math Promethean and the Common Core - We will adopt the changes that Pearson has made to our math curriculum this summer. We will roll out the changes in the classroom this fall. I will be updating our math promethean with the new changes over the summer. It is something I want in place, and I will share this out with my team in the fall.
Common Core Training at CESA - I attended two workshops at CESA and began the work of writing I can statements and writing a rigorous assessment for decimals. This was good training, and will help us move forward this summer with our work with Common Core.
Common Assessments in Math, continues - My team continues to preview skills and backward plan at the beginning of the units. I bring these to our meetings, and we discuss skills and scoring. We are beginning to make progress on sharing the results of these tests. If we can all be at a closer pacing next year, we could bring the actual tests to our meetings and have better conversations about what went well and what we will change for next year.
Making Words - I became familiar with the activity of making words through LLI training, and was the first teacher to implement at our grade level. Now, three other teachers are using Making Words each week in their classrooms. I like that it offers students a chance to work with word patterns, and an opportunity for them to work together. Many students even work with their parents to generate 40 - 120 words, and to locate the mystery word. Even though this has been a successful activity for my students, I want to read more about it this summer to see if there are any other practices within Making Words which will help my students gain even more from this practice.
Research - Inquiry Projects - I am in the process of putting together my presentation for my master's research to present to my staff. Along with the presentation I am in the process of developing a K-5 document (with our media specialist) that teachers can use to see the units, skills, text coding, skills, and projects being completed at the varying grade levels. I think a document like this could ensure that students are moving forward in their collaboration and research skills, and is a must for our district!
Lumberjack Day - The Lumberjack Day I posted about is another example of leading more than I had in the past. It was a successful day. It gave us a reprieve from the constant push of curriculum pacing guides, and allowed us to see our students learn and have fun while being lumberjacks. We will do this again next year. Materials were requested from CESA.
Math Coach - I coached a 3rd and 4th grade teacher in math this past winter and now this spring. I have learned a lot about best practices in math and am excited to be able to share with others.
Math Promethean and the Common Core - We will adopt the changes that Pearson has made to our math curriculum this summer. We will roll out the changes in the classroom this fall. I will be updating our math promethean with the new changes over the summer. It is something I want in place, and I will share this out with my team in the fall.
Common Core Training at CESA - I attended two workshops at CESA and began the work of writing I can statements and writing a rigorous assessment for decimals. This was good training, and will help us move forward this summer with our work with Common Core.
Common Assessments in Math, continues - My team continues to preview skills and backward plan at the beginning of the units. I bring these to our meetings, and we discuss skills and scoring. We are beginning to make progress on sharing the results of these tests. If we can all be at a closer pacing next year, we could bring the actual tests to our meetings and have better conversations about what went well and what we will change for next year.
Making Words - I became familiar with the activity of making words through LLI training, and was the first teacher to implement at our grade level. Now, three other teachers are using Making Words each week in their classrooms. I like that it offers students a chance to work with word patterns, and an opportunity for them to work together. Many students even work with their parents to generate 40 - 120 words, and to locate the mystery word. Even though this has been a successful activity for my students, I want to read more about it this summer to see if there are any other practices within Making Words which will help my students gain even more from this practice.
Research - Inquiry Projects - I am in the process of putting together my presentation for my master's research to present to my staff. Along with the presentation I am in the process of developing a K-5 document (with our media specialist) that teachers can use to see the units, skills, text coding, skills, and projects being completed at the varying grade levels. I think a document like this could ensure that students are moving forward in their collaboration and research skills, and is a must for our district!
Lumberjack Day - The Lumberjack Day I posted about is another example of leading more than I had in the past. It was a successful day. It gave us a reprieve from the constant push of curriculum pacing guides, and allowed us to see our students learn and have fun while being lumberjacks. We will do this again next year. Materials were requested from CESA.
Math Coach - I coached a 3rd and 4th grade teacher in math this past winter and now this spring. I have learned a lot about best practices in math and am excited to be able to share with others.
