You are what you eat

 

    We all need nutrition to thrive. Recently my husband has discovered the benefits of this in his own diet. He has researched and continues to each day. He is making gradual and sometimes radical changes in what he eats with positive benefit. His goal is to be healthier and live longer

     Raising achievement also requires good nutrition for teachers and staff. Our essential nutrients are creating an engaging & safe classroom, focused instruction, and planning authentic task. We exercised and 'feed' our progress with professional development and feedback from one another.

    Having great schools requires having great teachers and staff. Helping them grow is job number one for school principals who want to make a direct impact on student learning. This sounds simple enough, but schools are complex systems. Much like a bountiful garden requires planning and attention to the processes that help plants thrive, school leaders have to develop systems that promote teacher growth. Plants thrive when surrounded by the right conditions (good soil, water, sun) and so do teachers. Individuals develop capacity when they are learning and getting feedback from the powerful interactions around them. Meaningful feedback serves as the fertilizer for teacher growth.

    One of the reasons crafting effective feedback is so difficult is because teaching is a complicated endeavor. There are a lot of things happening in a classroom at any given moment. The antidote to this has been to use cumbersome rubrics and/or checklists that include every aspect of teaching. Science and experience have taught us that we can’t improve multiple things at one time. Focusing feedback requires being clear about what needs improved and then defining it in a tangible way.

Our School will excel when we use the following look fors.

Clarity/Implementation:  

• Learning intentions and success criteria are written for a standard, and not specific to certain lessons or tasks.

• Learning intentions and success criteria are posted, and stated in clear, student friendly language.(One and Two)

• Teacher references learning intentions and success criteria before, during, and after the lesson.

• Students are able to use the language of the learning intention and success criteria through the lesson. 

• Workshop in literacy and math represents the GRR(gradual release of responsibility) i.e. concise launch/mini lesson, guided instruction, collaborative learning and independent practice.

Last week I was in Abby Oswald's classroom and took some pictures so I could outline and show evidence of these look fors. Her clarity of expectation along with how to engage in the content was so precise. Please look at the photos and reflect how you could #levelup your nutritional regimen this year. When Abby spoke to kids her language was very precise and connected to the learning intention. She used the opportunity to double dip and teach kids talk moves while engaging them in the language of the learning. She has started strong! Please think about walking through and learning from her.

Post Learning Intentions/SC

Confer with students

Use Graphic Organizers to support

 

Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get. 

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Helping everyone in a system grow and develop is no small task. Creating the conditions for growth requires ample doses of focused and relevant feedback connected to school improvement processes. Feedback serves as the compost for cultivating a culture of collective action. Rooting it in a comprehensive model for supervision and using tools and strategies that promote relevance ensures that the teachers and students in your care will grow beyond measure.