DIY (Do It Yourself)

     Yes,  I did this one year.  My husband and sons were doing some drywall in our basement and I thought they were going way, way to slow.  So... I decided to watch a youtube video and do it myself.  In this case I did learn and yes I was able to mud the seams.  However, I do think there was some flaws.  I think many many of them.  They had to go over my work.  In reflection there are a few things that occured to explain why I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be. First, I didn't get enough training and certainly no positive feedback to make me better.  Secondly, I didn't believe that I could do it well enough to pass my husband's inspection.  Third, I didn't have clear guidelines to show me how to do it with quality.  Seriously, I watched a video and thought it was enough!  In the end I felt like I accomplished something but wasn't proficient.  I needed more coaching, more practice, and more feedback.

    Accomplishing the goals of our school improvement plan requires coaching, practice and feedback.  It isn't enough to JUST WATCH IT.  We have to work together, refine and then go back in and try again.  Last week we began our data collection and analysis.  Data is like looking at the wall and checking for errors and areas that need more refinement or work.  In some cases there may be a need to redo.  Working together makes the work easier and clearer.  You can discuss and decide in your PLC or with a coach.  I am your partner providing feedback.  This is the cycle and this is how we will make our goals a reality.

You do need to do it yourself.  You have help but YOU are the person to make achievement happen.  I've seen it happening in classrooms at Bloomer.  Last week I observed Carol Bigley and Jen Temeyer who were absolutely crystal clear in their language.  In addition, Carol had students working independently and was conferring with individuals.  Rather than supporting completion of the problem she used questions to support thinking.  "Can you explain to me how you did #6." and "Where did that come from?".  She praised them and said, "Do you see what happens when you think through your work?".   The look for that I found to be closely aligned with her work was: Teachers will increase student engagement by facilitating the use of talk moves during all parts of the lesson. The students responded to her prompts and because they were working in partners it allowed the opportunity to increase engagement through the use of talk moves.

So here are the three components that make achievement happen.  Review them. Discuss them and decide where your next move will be.

Let's Review

How

2021-2022 Look Fors

Why

    Making achievement happen isn't accidental. You need to be specific and driven. You need to believe in your students and your ability to get it done. Work with your team and a coach. Embrace feedback and ask for more. It's the way to getting our project done this year. Your students only have this year in the grade level you teach. Let's get it done.

Yes, in the end your Do It Yourself.
It's possible.

    

Let's Do Whatever It Takes

Whatever it takes (chorus from the song shared above)

by Imagine Dragons

'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins; I do whatever it takes

'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains; whatever it takes

Yeah, take me to the top I'm ready for whatever it takes

'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins; I do what it takes.

Let's Get Fired UP!

    Last week I mentioned writing about highlighting the profile of teachers in the District who have realize high levels of success year after year.  Last summer Marty Shudak asked  a few principals to write a profile of teachers and why we thought these individuals were so successful. Yes, we have someone in the building who meets the criteria. 

Marty's question. 

What do you see in these teachers which would make them THAT consistent over three years? 

Here is what I said:

High High expectations and consistency.  They believe their kids can do it and they are relentless in making it happen.  They also have the content down pat. This creates the condition, I believe, for them to be precisely planned and diagnostic.  Additionally, it provide them with the confidence to be able to flex, make learning more authentic based on student needs and they don't rely heavily on a resource. They understand the standards and student development.

His response to my summary:

Wow, what's a great summary of what I heard from four other principals.  I'm amazed at how consistent theses principal reflections were on this question about what these teacher have that makes them so good and successful.

Here are a few things to reflect on so you can reach our milestones at the end of the year.

One:  You have a set of data available that is both a compilation and individual.  If you are to be diagnostic you need to know where each student lands on the achievement continuum.  If you choose to dive into the standards and analyze the results from MAP and student work you can target students and skills.  Focus first on the 'bubble' kids.  These students grew but not enough.  They are +/-5-10 points of proficiency.  You need to be relentless as they work with you each day.  Don't let them "off the hook" with learning.  Chase them down literally and figuratively.  That's doing whatever it takes.

Two:  Choose to work with a coach to modify and/or maximize the workshop so you can get to students readily.  The key to this work is individual conferring strategies in reading and math.  Once you have students working independently you are available to target kids and track them down in their learning.  Providing feedback during the learning is most powerful. Find them as they work; be clear in your language; align the language to the standard(learning intention/success criteria). Doing whatever it takes.

Three: DIVE INTO THE STANDARDS.  Make it your mission to know them so well that you can find misconceptions and progress as students learn.  Make an effort to be precisely planned.  This doesn't mean having worksheets ready.  It's knowing what you are to teach(intentions) and how you will know kids are successful (success criteria).  Learning and activity is aligned and relevant.  Reading and writing is key.  Get them in books and writing authentic response.  Capitalize on math standards during independent work in math as well as in work places.  Yes, doing whatever it takes.

Finally, the absolute KEY is believing that all kids can achieve.  Think about 100% of them making expected growth and potentially accelerating this growth. Do you believe that your class can do this? Think about 90% of your students being proficient. Do you believe that your students can be this proficient?  It's possible.  YOU HAVE TO REALLY BELIEVE they can and YOU CAN!  Believe in Whatever it takes.

The adrenaline in your veins is the feeling of efficacy!  It's knowing you can, kids can and are able to share how you did it.  That's doing whatever it takes!

New Year New You

 

It's a new year and time to reassess and get ready for the road to the finish line. As teachers, you constantly help your students work towards their learning goals and targets.  But have you ever stopped to think about how important it is for your to set goals for yourself too? When you are working at your highest level of performance there is a great likelihood that your productivity(achievement) will go up also.  Consider how you could use your time most effectively and move toward higher capacity in teaching and learning.  

You have been given more time to use as you please to meet the achievement goals of our school improvement plan. You can use it to meet the variety of demands that are placed on you each day.  Please consider these items as you begin to plan your time.

1. Collaborate with your peers:  Remember that teaching is complicated and each of your classrooms are unique.  Working together with your team allows for sharing the load.
2. Lesson Planning:  When you are precisely planned your day is a smooth as glass.  You know what to expect and are able to spend your cognitive energy on supporting individual students rather than working to figure out what is next in a sequence from the resource.
3. Data Entry and Analysis:  It is important that we are able to predict how kids will do on standardized testing as well as notice when students are falling behind grade level expectations.  Entering your data each week (DFA) and month (CFA) allows your team to analyze the results and make decisions on universal instruction and intervention.
4. Professional Learning Communities (PLC):  Professional development is the big gear that drives our improvement efforts. It give you the opportunity to learn new and efficient ways to teach that will result in higher achievement.  Renew your focus with your team.  Make sure you have taken the time to build consensus around your agenda.  Your time is valuable and you need to make the most of it.  Plan to learn from one another. Create lessons and units that allow you to appreciate and get a deeper understanding of curriculum.  Share effective implementation strategies that are making the difference with students.
5. Classroom Culture: Take some time this week, now that testing is over, to review your classroom expectations and procedures.  Reteaching and potentially relaunching how and what to do in your classroom is essential to a smooth winter and productive spring.

You'll give yourself your best shot at success if you set a goal that doable--and meaningful too.