It takes time to bake a cake If your cake is not cooking in the middle, then pop it back into the oven and cover tightly in tin foil. The tin foil will trap the heat and help to cook the inside of your cake. Bake for another 10-15 mins checking after 5-7 mins to make sure it's working.
It's happened to me. I learned to use a toothpick, knife or cake tester (thank you pampered chef) to monitor if the cake is done. It's really an easy way to formatively assess whether the cake is ready to leave the oven and become 'proficient'.
This isn't the TASTY app this is a blog about school improvement and raising achievement at Bloomer. However, I do think that this is a metaphor that works when thinking about instruction and knowing when students have learned what you've taught them. Consider math instruction if you will.
We often are puzzled why students aren't able to successfully navigate grade level math problems. Math is an abstract concept. When you are learning a topic, pure abstraction can be a good way to get lost. It helps to find a specific, concrete meaning for the abstract ideas. I challenge you to move students through these stages and when they get stuck or seem to not understand look toward concrete to insure understanding.
Concrete “doing” stage: Make sure you spend time here with student evidence of solid understanding. When you have a few students who may not 'get' the math. Differentiate and give them manipulatives to use while other students move on to the next stage.
Representational “seeing” stage: The resource takes lessons here quite quickly. When you find that you are explaining more bring in manipulatives as a scaffold to support transition.
Abstract “symbolic” stage: Clearly this is the quickest and most efficient phase. However, kids can not move to automaticity without concrete and representational understanding. Simply memorizing will limit how they use strategies.
If you want students to 'learn' and 'understand' you need to make intentional decisions that are based on student work. Don't rush; use your instincts and choose to bring manipulatives in when it seems that kids aren't being strategic.
It's time. We know how our plan will change and will prepare to serve children five days a week. This week's blog has the purpose to encourage, update and supply you with the support and encouragement that will sustain you through this transition.
Please note the following few items to prepare you for a strong start on October 12th.
We will work on you IBPD during professional development today
Plan Time: You will have 8 am - 230 pm Monday October 5th. Additionally, you will have the 45 minutes each morning to plan and prepare. You will also have your PE/Music and Art times available.
NO PLC this week. This time will allow you to prepare your room, class lists etc. I would encourage you to plan collaboratively. If you need other time please let me know.
Recess: Please make arrangement to share duty until we can come up with a shared duty schedule.
Planning: As you work with your team please focus on writing clear learning intentions and success criteria. Review where to post them in your classroom. Focus on using them during instruction and then assessing kids using their work as compared to the success criteria.
Class Lists: We will be making calls this week to discover what parents will choose as an option. We will be making changes so class lists are balanced ie HYBRID/IN person etc. We will work to stay near the 60-80% range. Please note that there is a color code. Virtual. HYBRID day 1. HYBRID day 2. 5 Days
Virtual YES/NO
Continue HYBRID
Choose 5 days a week.
You have what it takes to persevere.
I believe in your abilities and willingness to problem solve with your team.
For the Comment Section: What are your greatest hopes? What are you concerned about?
A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intention. They thrive because someone expends effort on them. Liberty Hyde Bailey
Understanding the patient labor and attention needed to have a thriving garden helps describe the commitment required for school improvement processes. A bountiful garden doesn't just happen. Gardening is a deliberate process. The gardener starts with a clear vision for what they want to sow. Once this is identified a suitable plot is found, taking into account the soil and location. Before rushing in and planting the skilled gardener takes time to design the garden, giving careful consideration to what different vegetables or fruits will be planted, how far apart the rows need to be and the depth of the variety of seeds needing planted. After all of this is done the gardener plants the seeds and maintains the garden by tending to it on a frequent basis. Maintenance requires skill on the gardeners part so that only weeds get pulled and fertilizer applied appropriately. the degree to which a gardener attends to the soils, design, planting and on-going upkeep determines the abundance of the harvest. The interdependency between the soil, seeds, upkeep and weather conditions determine the success of the garden. A landscape design on paper without putting in the hard work to make it happen.
What does gardening have to do with our work at Bloomer? Our school improvement plan, strategy is the catalyst so that we may reach our vision to become the school where everyone wants to be. It's a deliberate process that we plan, teach, assess, reflect and revise.
The core of our work is centered around clarity. It is in your control to purposefully plan or design the path for your students to learn at high levels. It starts with a clear learning intention. Consider the following examples from your colleagues. Compare those you right to the quality shared below. It's with clarity that you begin to design a thriving garden.
Kindergarten
LI: Students will be learning to recognize and extend patterns using sounds/actions created with their teacher. SC: I am successful when I can recognize the pattern created with my teacher. SC: I am successful when I can extend the pattern created with my teacher.
First:
Learning Intention: I will be able to quickly recognize quantities so that I know all the ways to make 10.
I am successful when
I can recognize and represent a given number using counters.
I can tell how many more to make 10 using a tens frame.
I can write an equation for combinations of numbers that make 10.
Second
Learning Intention: We are learning how to find key details in a fictional story. Success Criteria: I am successful when: I can find text evidence to show my thinking I can tell how a detail helps me better understand the story. I can reread to add details in my graphic organizer.
Third
LI We are learning how to solve big words with the CVCe patters so that we can fluently read and understand books.
SC: I know I'm successful when: I can find the CVCe pattern. I can break a big word into parts, blend the parts back together and read the word.
Fourth
I - I am learning how to focus on an event by using precise words and dialogue in my writing that helps to create a picture in my reader's mind.
SC - I will be successful when I can: Focus on an event that describes -why Dan ran for class president -dialogue about what Dan is thinking -Precise words to describe Dan's feelings and reactions.
Fifth
Learning Intention: I am learning how to multiply whole numbers using the 'ten times" strategy.
Success Criteria
I can use an open array to show my thinking of whole number multiplication.
I can use basic facts to help me solve multiplication problems that are ten time bigger.
I know that when multiplying by ten, the product is ten times the factor. Which is why a zero can be placed to the right of the answer.
The garden analogy requires maintenance. That means executing the intention through quality teaching moves and clear feedback. You monitor through assessment, reflect on the result and then roll through the process again and again. We will work on all of these areas, however, we begin with clarity.
The harvest is coming in the spring. You are planting the seeds and will monitor growth. Make it happen.
My grandson is 20 months old and is such a joy to watch as he plays and interacts with those around him. He loves to play ball with his dad. Max was quite a player in his time so I'm sure that thrills him. The relationship between the two of them is based on a mutual love and understanding. However, Luke has learn the purpose of his little bat, a ball and the tee they use to hit. He stays focused as Max coaches him through how to hold the bat and when to swing Finally, as you can imagine, it's quite challenging for the little guy to hit an object and then run after it. Luke did this over and over. Perhaps for 30 minutes at a time. I'd say he was engaged in the activity and began to show growth as he went through the paces.
I thought a lot as I watched him play and began to make the connection to the reading I did from a book titled Engagement By Design by Doug Fisher, Nancy Frey, Russell Quaglia, Dominque Smith & Lisa Lande.
Understanding engagement-and actively pursuing it-can make all the difference between forging a real connection with students and having a classroom that's simply going through the motions. Engagement By Design
There are three essential components to engagement as outlined by the authors of this book.
1. Relationships: The connection between teacher and content, Student and Content & Teacher and student.
2. Clarity: The focus given toward the direction of learning.
3. Challenge: The expectation of a rigorous outcome as designed by the activity.
When we think about our work and and how we will continue to make the difference in achievement; we can make a connection to our school improvement plan.
Relationship: We are focused on building an safe environment for students. We do this actively by collaborating with our peers and student support team. We know that when we support students early in their struggle we can turn a corner to help them realize success. Consider the example of Emily Baxter reaching out to individual parents and students through email and video. She works diligently to ensure each individual's success. This is very difficult within our current platform so she needs to continue to find new ways to connect with her students.
Focus: I observed in many classrooms this week where learning intentions and success criteria were posted. This is an initial first step to remind students what is expected. However, when the language of the intention is repeated throughout the lesson that creates conditions of focus and engagement. Additionally, I had the opportunity to watch all three teachers in one grade level and the collaboration around the focus was evident. Students were engaged at high levels both in person and remotely. So impressive!
Challenge: Challenge comes through deliberate questioning and patience. During a fourth grade math lesson on arrays this week I observed wait time as students contemplated a prime number. Becky did not overcorrect as students tried to share criteria for a rule. They were working with the number 23 (1x23 and 23x1). Becky asked students to develop a rule. One student said that 23 was odd. Rather than correcting she began to take kids through other numbers 18, 15 until they realized that wasn't a viable condition for a prime number. She also asked kids to set up factors to make certain that 1x23 was the only option. That's challenge, she allowed students to do the thinking and problem solving.
All three of these examples illustrate high levels of engagement. All of them from teachers at Bloomer. All of them with students who were virtual.
It Can Be Done!
We begin our week with professional development with the intention to review quality learning targets. This is a topic that will begin to reach all three areas of engagement. Reflect on your practices and consider how you will develop new systems, activities and relationships to engage your students in this challenging environment. It is possible because you collaborate and work toward excellence.
Engagement is an outcome.
You can purposely create the conditions to make it happen.
Question for the comment box: What is your strength within the three components of engagement outlined in this blog (relationship, focus, challenge)? How do you know? What is your evidence? Which area will you work on with your team? Why is this important? What will you do?
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
Teddy Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States. He championed pure food and drugs, conservation, and the common man. He wanted there to be an even playing field. John Meacham, a Pulitzer prize winning historian, names him as one of the better angels who replace fear with hope and reverses injustice and expands equality. Roosevelt is an inspiration.
I find this profile a fitting springboard as we begin to see the results of our labors. This week we will be getting results from MAP in reading and math. We can expect that it may not be as we wish. It may seem like an insurmountable task. However, we must believe in the worthy cause of hard work and strong mission. We can make it happen around data analysis and differentiated instruction. We will realize high achievement. When we feel like it's not enough or results aren't as we hoped we get up, learn, analyze, collaborate and begin again.
We will do this together in three steps:
1. Analyze student work as a team. Our professional development plan for the rest of the month will be to discuss and conduct the screeners in reading and math. We will analyze this data along with MAP results. We will create plans to address gaps and move forward toward a path of high achievement.
2. Collaborative PLCs begin this week: We will share a schedule this week to follow. We will have grade level teams who meet with Kim and Julie or Bri. We will work together to find paths for teams to meet the goals and objectives of the grade level. We will meet one time for math and once for literacy from 8-8:40. The schedule for this week only: Wednesday K-1, Thursday 2-3, Friday 4-5. Beginning the week of the 21st the schedule will start with PLCs of grade level teams only. You will have the other PLC times to plan and learn together.
3. Feedback. We will begin feedback loops this week. Kim will come into your room for a mini observation and then meet with you individually to celebrate your work and reinforce what you've worked on with your PLC. Feedback is our friend and will drive our success.
You do matter. Your voice matters. Please remember to answer the two surveys sent to you last week. You should have received one from Mark Schuldt about supports. K-1 teachers should have received a second survey from him about returning to school with enhancements to the HYBRID plan
This well known gentleman is Albert Einstein. He had uncombed hair and never wore socks! Even at posh dinners he would arrive all untidy with crumpled clothes, and of course not socks! He couldn't SWIM yet he loved sailing and was on the water as often as possible. Einstein won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1921. He was named person of the century in 1999!
He Said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
You are working to conquer the unknown and with a desire for excellence! You are working and exploring the depths of your imagination and abilities by putting kids health first by teaching remotely and directly. You are using Google Classroom and working to connect with kids through a computer screen. It's not easy! Lean in and keep moving. Your ability to reaching kids will supercede what limitations you think you have.
There is data to back up these assumptions; check it out!
100% of classroom teacher have a Google Classroom!
Hi, I'm John Hattie. I hear Kazmierczak has been sharing my work with you.
"We should focus on the greatest source of variance that can make the difference - the teacher." -John Hattie
Mind Frame #4 - Teachers see assessments as feedback about their impact.
Effectiveness occurs when you become a master at adaptation and persist in finding ways to maximize learning. Formative assessment data gives us valuable information about students' progress and is instrumental in shaping instruction. You are the "change agent" that can mold student perception of "their potential." Success is achieved through the choices you make. Use formative assessment as a measure to inform your decisions and as a reflection of your impact.
based on 10 Mindframes for Visable Learning: Teaching for Success by John Hattie and Klaus Zierer
"One of the most powerful, high-leverage strategies for improving student learning availabe to schools is the creation of frequent, common, high-quality formative assessment by teachers who are working collaboratively to help a group of students develop agree-upon knowledge and skills. (Fullan, Hargreaves & Fink)
We can not wait for assessment results to develop a plan of action to change the outcome of achievement. This can only be accomplished through a structured look at student achievement through student work and daily assessments. These assessments serve the purpose that others can not. They measure daily learning and help to create target for you. You have the power to influence achievement through the clear application of your learning intention and success criteria. Your team can reflect and analyze on daily checks to create a "powerful synergy for learning."
Dufour states in Learning by Doing:
"Common, team-developed formative assessments are such a powerful tool in school improvement, that, once again, that no team of teachers whou be allowed to opt out of creating them."
What do your assessments look like?
Do they directly measure the success criteria planned?
What are your doing with the results?
Measuring student achievement is not enough you must develop an interal plan of action that seeks to change the outcome. Assessments facilitate a systematic, collective response to students who are experiencing difficulty. In the video below you can hear Emily coaching this pair on how to successfully navigate the workplace. Her prompts, cues and questions do not do the thinking for the students, rather she helps them focus on the sucess criteria of using mutiple strategies to add two digit numbers with a sum less than 20. You can develop a common understanding of proficiency and misconception when you have created a road map to guide students through a clear learning target implemented through a structure of gradual release.
Hattie recommends that teachers focus on three things: diagnose, intervent, and evaluate.
Don't hesitate or underestimate the power of feedback in your instructional plan!
Know thy impact!
PS
This week as we reflect on all that is going on please note the influence and positve affect you have on our culture and team.
Alone we can do so little...Together we can do so much!
Reflection:
What is your plan as a team? How will you make a difference in the achievement for all kids in your grade level?
Geese have a mission. They fly south for the winter and then north in the spring. The barriers are enormous. Yet they do it. Year after year efficiently with a collective effort to 'get it done.' They communicate; they share responsibility; they trust one another.
Lawyers, scientists, policemen, physicians all use similar methods
What do they do when they reach a deadend?
They enter into a dialoge and solve the problem collaboratively.
How do teachers collectively overcome barriers and limitations? They work as a group with a collective belief in making a students' yearly growth in reading and math a reality. They do not dwell on parental issue, lack of student motivation or preparedness rather they work together to find ways to address deficiencies.
Say...
"I cause Learning!"
Together...
"We get Results!" The key to success is using an evidence-informed mindset and a belief that all of your students are capable of reaching one year's expected growth.
Focus on the impact of your teaching not just the moves you deliver. You and your team are stronger together and far more efficient when you have collective dialogue, triangulate data and student work. Additionally, share what your students' voice as they learn.
Consider this formula and formation
Outcome:
I collaborate with my peers and my students about my conceptions of progress and my impact.
Success Criteria
I cause learning.
High expectation for all students. We are jointly responsible for each student.
Evaluate the impact of teaching
Use I skills: I am self aware. I am a student of my impact. AND We skills: I am socially sensitive. I trust and respect the views of others.
I work with others to seek evidence of impact.
I work with others to agree on levels of growth for the year.
I am prepared to focus on the diagnosis of students and how to address their needs.
I work with colleagues to have a common perceptions of progress.
I maximize administrative support, trust and time.
based on 10 mindframes for Visible Learning: Teaching for Success by John Hattie and Klaus Zierer.
Flying in formation at Bloomer means working together to make a difference in the lives of your students. You have your own voice but it's through the collaborative efforts of your team can you write learning intentions and success criteria that produce results. . An example is from this week is a second grade math lesson in all three sections. They were working with students using a 25 frame through the context of money. They all implemented and focused on a common learning intention of skip counting by 5's and 10's. As the week went on they used concepts of cardinality and maximized workplace opportunities with a common intention. What were the results? 90% on daily formative assessments. How did this happen? Collectively planning, sharing ideas and working to evaluate their impact.
Can you do it? Yes, you Can!
This week please reflect as a PLC on the following questions: How effective are we on the 9 success criteria listed above? What will we do to maximize our effectiveness to reach our goal on one year's growth?
One last shout out to Samantha Mohr! She is the star from our professional development session last week on workplaces! Check out the pictures and note the clock. She used time wisely and BAM hit workplaces at 1145 exactly! Thanks for flying in formation Sam!
This is Alan Fry. He is often listed as the man who invented post-it-notes. He worked at 3M and used a colleague's low tack adhesive and put it on a slip of paper to mark his hymnal. and... Voila'! the Post-It-Note is invented revolutionizing one's ability to jot down a note to remember essential information on a scrap of paper. I can't imagine a day that I don't use one. It helps me keep informaiton front and center and ready to use!
Clear ➽Concise ➽ Consistent
The clarity you expect is directly related to where you post and how you use learning intentions and success criteria. Posting allows the learner and teacher focus on what to expect for the day
LI: describe what students should know, understand or be able to do by the end of the lesson/series of lessons
SC: list what students should demonstrate to show they have accomplished the LI. They specify the main things to do, include or focus on
5th Grade Learning Intention
Together the LI and SC should help your students answer three feedback questions: What am I trying to achieve? How much progress have I made so far? What should I do next?
Posted by the 2-3 team on their annotation doc
Clarity is maximized when classroom stakeholders have access to review, read, and respond to the posted intention/success criteria. The student, paraprofesisonal, teacher, coach, SAM or administrator won't need to infer what students are learning for the day or how to ask them about their progress. They can read or review a chart and know with immediate clarity what will be accomplished.
Options are only limited by your creativity.
We reviewed a variety of options last week, charts, questions, checklists, I Can statements, models, and pictures. The key is sharing it with your students and repeatedly referring to it throughout your lesson.
4th Grade Formula
Sarah and Becky post their intentions and success criteria in the exact space each day. It provides a formula and consistent routine. Students know were to look if they need to. When they write these it reminds them of what is essential for the day. Additionally, they refer to it throughout the lesson and often punctuates success criteria prior to the daily formative assessment.
Co-Constructed Model In Sarah K.'s room
Success criteria is front and center as students use the charts that accompany the posted descritions. Sarah used a co-constructed model that allowed students a crystal clear picture of what success looked like. They took their own notes on clipboards as a student modeled.
Becky used a chart with models she created. Students worked on problems at their tables and had the option to check their work.
Both teachers used the posted learning intention and success criteria with charts that supported student learning. These examples illustrate and support our work as we continue to make the learning visible for our students and maximize their achievement.
Reflect on these questions and respond in the comment section this week. Your interaction with with feedback allows our school improvement plan to advance and supports our professional development efforts. Thank you!
What are the benefits of posting learning intentions and success criteria?
What are the ways you would like me along with other stakeholders know what your intentions/success criteria are? What is your next step?
You are contributing to our vision and culture of making learning clear and visible.
Explicitly inform students and achievement will happen!
Pull back the curtain on learning!
Learning requires clarity in process and product. Specifically, it is how the students will learn through thinking or demonstrating and the measures of quality of the student work.
What is the solution, clear and explicit success criteria!
The criteria can be revealed at any point in the lesson. Timing depends on the goal of the lesson. For example, if you wanted students to demonstrate problem solving you would reveal explicit criteria later.
The most critical idea to remember, however, is that the student knows when they have reached the learning intention by the end of the lesson.
Five Components to create and understand learning intentions and success criteria.
(Hattie, 10 Mindframes for Learning, 2018)
Challenge: Students can learn to reflect and respond to where they are in the learning process as compared to success criteria. They discuss their strengths and weaknesses.
Self-Committment occurs when students are aware take responsibility for the learning. This can be accomplished individually or within a group.
Self-Confidence allows the learner to take risks to 'have a go' and perservere through the task.
Expectations are revealed and allow learners to see the path toward successful completion of the task.
Conceptual Understanding is the journey between surface to deep understanding. Deep understanding allows the student to retain the knowledge, skill or concept to help with more complex tasks in the future.
Consider the following examples as ways success criteria can be used in classrooms. Notice how these Bloomer teachers used the 5 components in their lessons last week.
Success Criteria: Poster
These posters allows the student to visualize learning in a second grade classroom. Kate and Ken are working collaboratively to teach students how text features influence comprehension. The learner can use the visual and written clues found on this chart to commit to the learning and choose an action to take when reading informational text. Kate used the specific language found on the chart when conferencing with students. Ken shared a student example at the end of the lesson
Success Criteria: Model
A model is an opportunity for students to complete assignments successfully with the support of an example. Amanda used components found in the literacy resource to help students find key ideas and details. They used them to write their own main idea. She found that over 80% of students were able to reach the expectations of the learning intention. This opportunity allowed students an independent pathway and achieve confidence with the learning.
Success Criteria: Student Work
Paige used student response as sucess criteria and asked students to analyze the work against posted success criteria. Students used the knowledge to revise their own writing. She used student work that met and were close approximations so kids could evaluate quality. They discussed in pairs allowing for socialization and analysis. The result was a deeper understanding and ability to write to sources. An option for the creative use of conceptual understanding and challenge.
Success Criteria: Description with I can statements
Having success criteria posted is a tried and true response. Writing them in the form of I can statements allows the student a visiable option for action. I can describe, I can analyze, I can cite evidence, I can reread. Becky has the intentions posted in plastic sleeves on the left side of the picture. Additionally, she projected them during a lesson using the close reading companion. She asked students to review their work against the criteria and revise. This is a powerful option for students to commit to the expectations and provide confidence to learners.
The examples shared this week are from literacy lessons. Each example can be utilized in math as well. Models, student work, I can statements, co-constructed charts allow students an option to learn math skills and concepts. Paul, Linday and Carol all use versions of these types of success criteria in this third grade math lesson. These were used throughout the lesson and not at launch. The expectation was that students inquire first in the problem solving. What was the result. Lindsay's students scored 93% proficient on the daily formative!
Your committment to making learning visible is directly related to the success you expect your students to achieve.
Consider the following student questions and statements:
What are my next steps?
What is my goal today?
Why is it important to me?
When do I succeed?
Now I have to show what I have learned!
What I want to say to the lesson.
Question to comment on this week:
What influence do success criteria have on how you use dialogic talk and the gradual release of responsibility? How can you use the student question and statements in your planning and assessment?
There are days that feel as if you are in survival mode; I'm sure. We ask a lot of you and so do your students. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel; one that is guaranteed not to fall on top of you and smash you flat. It is the shining light of student self-regulation and higher achievement. How can you tell? How will you know? Just look at your latest District or formative assessment results. If they are less than what you expect; you have the time, knowledge and ability to change the bottom line.
Your efforts in PLC will be the difference.
Michael Fullan has written a book titled The Six Secrets of Change. Secret two states: Connect Peers with Purpose. He says that"the key to achieving a high functioning team lies more in purposeful peer interaction." You are in groups created for purposeful peer interaction. One of these groups at Bloomer is our second and fourth grade teams. They move simultaneously with each individual contributing with their own voice and practical application. An observer can walk into their classroom and see clear evidence of a learning target and success criteria. They have threaded the target throughout the gradual release process. You can see Jess deliver a mini lesson with a mentor text, Kate, Ken and Heather confer, Katie comment on writing or Becky lead a group and tell that they are inked arm in arm through the PLC process. You will notice the target in their language and student work. Students are knowledgeable and are growing by leaps and bounds.
Think about your implementation as compared to this chart.
Curriculum GRR Resource
I can write quality learning intentions and success criteria I can plan instruction using the gradual release of responsibility. I can maximize use of District resources
Students can participate and collaborate in all settings
I can give written and/or oral feedback based on success criteria
Students will respond to teacher’s comments,
Student work displays will have a clearly posted focus, and teacher comments.
The difference in making higher achievement a reality is a cohesive plan and meaningful direction. Your team will navigate the curriculum with laser focus and guide kids to higher achievement. You will react with purpose. Your results will consistently rise. You have the receipt in the form of assessment to prove your impact. Julie and Bri are available to help navigate when your team needs a boost. I'd love to learn with you!
All grade level teams are engaging in the same process. You have the capabilities to achieve a high level of implementation.
Individuals working alone are sometimes better at solving simple problems, but well-functioning groups are always better at addressing challenging tasks, and there are few things as complex as making systems work." Fullan
Our problems are not simple. They are serious and complex and must be solved. You have the power to make this system work.
Our goal is clear.
Our path is drawn; the measures designed.
Use the PLC process and link arms with your colleagues.
You will survive and reach the light!
Bloomer, A place where everyone wants to be!
Question for reflection this week:
Please read through the blog individually and then plan to warm up with a reflective discussion on these questions. One person can write for the team. No need to respond individually this week.
How do we know collectively that we are functioning well and working toward a high impact?
Teachers and staff have been working diligently for a full semester with accomplished result.
What makes this a reality?
ONE WORD
Belief that your students can achieve!
Belief that your efforts can overcome all challenges tht a student may experience.
Belief that a caring and invitational environment shaped by quality relationship make the difference.
Belief that you have the ability to raise achievement
Belief that you through collaboration will move an entire grade level's achievement.
Belief that your students can achieve!
AND
Working Our Plan
FIRST: Consider first how well the learning intention and success criteria are written.
Plan, Post Learning Intentions/Success Criteria
Crystal Clear.
We will learn about tropical and temperate rain forests so that we can compare and contrast them. We will show this by filling out the compare and contrast graphic organizer.
I can identify that there are 12 inches in 1 foot.
I can pick the most reasonable tool to use.
I can explain why it is easier to measure bigger spaces in footworms instead of inchworms.
I can explain why there would be more inces when measure an object than footworms
This example is one written by a second grade teacher. Heather used student friendly language that represents how the learning will be accomplished in one day. The success criteria breaks the learning into meaningful chunks that allows the teacher to provide students feedback throughout the lesson.
Second: Consider how you say what you say. Intentional Explicit Instruction
Dialogic Talk
Powerful example.
Can you show me the strategy that you used to compare the heights of the two penguins?
I loved what you did. You used your math symbols to show your work and used precise language to describe your thinking. In this example the first grade teacher had her success criteria posted under theheading "NAILED IT' which is what students shouted before they went out to work independently. Sarah used the language throughout the lesson and called on students to be teachers. Yes, they used the same language.
Third:
Where
GRR Components
The key to maximizing learning is strategically using the Gradual Release of Responsibility model daily. In this series of photographs the Kindergarten teacher has assigned students to specific tasks based on the data she's collected. In the first photo Stacy is working with a group os students who need to learning guided. She's assessing, prompting and cuing as students work. She's noting their porgress on her clipboard. It's worth noting that she's moving between groups after giving the students just enougth scaffold to complete the assignment.
Strategic Work
These are three examples from teachers at Bloomer. The evidence is mounting and proving that when we put our minds and will toward achieving our mission we are becoming a school where everyone wants to be.
How do I customize and individualize learning for my students?
If you want students to 'learn' and 'understand' you need to make intentional decisions that are based on student work. Don't rush; use your instincts and choose to bring manipulatives in when it seems that kids aren't being strategic. 
