Don't Be the Lid

 I have used this video to illustrate that when we put on a lid we are limited by the container.      What does it make you think of?

This week you will begin to mark and measure progress of your instruction on our Data Wall Graph documents.  You will use the student work results from your daily lessons that match your learning intentions and success criteria.  The key to our higher achievement will be in working to ensure that kids are meeting these intentions and that they are written at grade level expectations.  The success criteria map our what kids need to know to accomplish the learning.  You are in control of this along with your team.  When kids leave the mini or focus lesson you should have some level of assurance that 80% of them can meet the standard when they go out to work.  Those who can not should have an explicit plan from your tool kit that will support kids in meeting the success criteria.  This is differentiation and it is the key strategy in our school improvement plan.

Last week when I observed in Katie Naughton and Emily Baxter's classrooms I saw these concepts in action,  Kids were working in specific groups designed by the teacher.  Emily had kept a group of seven kids with her to reteach the lesson.  The other 18 kids were working in partners to work on the activity.  When I gave her feedback i asked her if kids were able to meet the learning intention she posted.  She said yes with about 85+%.  It's the precise actions that she made to support those 7 kids to meet the objective.  Sure there may have been 1 or 2 who didn't but without that tiered intervention and the clarity of her lesson there would have been far more.

In Katie's room I observed her teaching a group of about 4 students who have targeted intervention.  They were working at a lower level that the other students in her classroom.  She modified the learning to support the kids with concrete scaffolds to help them eventually reach the grade level expectation.  It is this additional teaching outside the tier of special education or intervention that has created the conditions of growth in students year after year.  In addition, she's differentiated workplaces with students so they work at a level that supports their learning.  Finally, her use of Dreambox with individuals rounded out the room.  

Making a difference in achievement doesn't happen by accident.

You need to think and plan for the efficient use of the entire workshop.  I trust you to utilize it within the conditions that have been presented to you.  You have the opportunity to put on a lid or lift it so students can reach their fullest potential.  It is you and you along with your team hold the secret.