Team Talk
The Road To Distinctions Week Of January 25, 2016
Culture of Feedback and Support
The second section from the climate survey we will look at from the lens of Culture and Feedback. The seven items are listed below:
1. Culture of feedback and support 54.4%
2. My campus leadership helps me improve the quality of my instruction 51.5%
3.. The instructional feedback I get helps me improve the quality of my instruction 53.5%
4. I have sufficient opportunities and encouragement to develop my leadership potential 48.5%
5. The PD sessions at my school this year helped me improve instruction 48.5%
6. My team experiences with colleagues this year helped me improve instruction 72.7%
7. My school has an effective instructive leadership team 48.4%
In an effort to have a two way feedback system, you will have the opportunity to give the leadership team feedback on the quality of the feedback we provide to you on Spot observations. A google doc will be used to facilitate the two way feedback system in addition to school net.
Key Action 1
Improve the quality of Instruction and increase student achievement through effective and purposeful lesson planning. (Linked to district key action# 2. Implement the TEI system, tying teacher evaluations to student achievement results).
Key Action 2
Key Action 3
Mock Exam
Kudos are in order for Ms. White for organizing the mock exam for the ELA team! Data from the exam will inform plans for interventions.
Thank you Ms. White.
Kudos
Your Turn
"I Am Roosevelt, The Power of One"
Do your actions embody our core beliefs, values, and vision?
Values:
Sense of urgency
Commitment
Development of the craft
Vision
Franklin D. Roosevelt will improve the quality of instruction for all scholars by committing to developing, supporting, and monitoring systems that will transform our community to embody a culture that leads our scholars to college and post- secondary success.
Spot Observation Look For's
Identifying a Focus Question
The observed teacher's selection of a focus for the observation—articulated through a question—serves several purposes. First, it positions the teacher as the primary learner, ensuring that the process focuses on an area he or she is interested in learning more about and one that is relevant to his or her challenges, content, and students. Second, the focus question narrows the observers' attention so the data they collect will address the teacher's targeted area. Without a focus, the data collected are likely to reflect the interests of the observers more than those of the observed teacher.
A focus question should require the collection of classroom data; in other words, it should answer a question a teacher can't answer on his or her own. And grounding a focus question in an area of evidence-based instruction—a specific instructional strategy or curriculum standard—ensures that the teacher's learning will improve student learning. Effective questions we've seen teachers use include, How does my use of cold calling contribute to student engagement in class discussions? How can I more effectively use think-alouds to teach students how to represent math problems visually? and Do my instructions facilitate or impede transitions between activities?
Look For's
- Good First Instruction
- LO/DOL alignment matching the TEKS/SE
- Student engagement
- Maximizing of instruction
It is suggested that you continue to review the rubric not just for the spot observation indicators, but domain 2.4 checking for academic understanding and 2.6 for activating higher order thinking skills.
Student Engagement
Strengthening Student Engagement: What Do Students Want
(and what really motivates them)?
Richard Strong, Harvey F. Silver and Amy Robinson
Students who are engaged in their work are energized by four goals—success, curiosity, originality, and satisfying relationships. How do we cultivate these drives in the classroom?
Ten years ago, we began a research project by asking both teachers and students two simple questions: What kind of work do you find totally engaging? and What kind of work do you hate to do? Almost immediately, we noticed distinct patterns in their responses.
Engaging work, respondents said, was work that stimulated their curiosity, permitted them to express their creativity, and fostered positive relationships with others. It was also work at which they were good. As for activities they hated, both teachers and students cited work that was repetitive, that required little or no thought, and that was forced on them by others.
How, then, would we define engagement? Perhaps the best definition comes from the work of Phil Schlecty (1994), who says students who are engaged exhibit three characteristics: (1) they are attracted to their work, (2) they persist in their work despite challenges and obstacles, and (3) they take visible delight in accomplishing their work.
Most teachers have seen these signs of engagement during a project, presentation, or lively class discussion. They have caught glimpses of the inspired inner world of a child, and hoped to sustain this wonder, enthusiasm, and perseverance every day. At the same time, they may have felt stymied by traditions of reward and punishment. Our challenge is to transcend these very real difficulties and provide a practical model for understanding what our students want and need.
Classroom Management
Along with well-designed and clearly communicated rules and procedures, the teacher must acknowledge students' behavior, reinforcing acceptable behavior and providing negative consequences for unacceptable behavior. Stage and Quiroz's research (1997) is instructive. They found that teachers build effective relationships through such strategies as the following:
- Using a wide variety of verbal and physical reactions to students' misbehavior, such as moving closer to offending students and using a physical cue, such as a finger to the lips, to point out inappropriate behavior.
- Cuing the class about expected behaviors through prearranged signals, such as raising a hand to indicate that all students should take their seats.
- Providing tangible recognition of appropriate behavior—with tokens or chits, for example.
- Employing group contingency policies that hold the entire group responsible for behavioral expectations.
- Employing home contingency techniques that involve rewards and sanctions at home.
Establish Clear Learning Goals
Teachers can also exhibit appropriate levels of dominance by providing clarity about the content and expectations of an upcoming instructional unit. Important teacher actions to achieve this end include
- Establishing and communicating learning goals at the beginning of a unit of instruction.
- Providing feedback on those goals.
- Continually and systematically revisiting the goals.
- Providing summative feedback regarding the goals.
Attendance Matters
Last Week:
Teacher attendance-91%
Student attendance- 93%
Pathway To Impact
Teacher as Leader, It begins in PLC's.
The Many Faces of Leadership
Charlotte Danielson
Teachers can find a wealth of opportunities to extend their influence beyond their own classrooms to their teaching teams, schools, and districts.
In every good school, there are teachers whose vision extends beyond their own classrooms—even beyond their own teams or departments. Such teachers recognize that students' school experiences depend not only on interaction with individual teachers, but also on the complex systems in place throughout the school and district. This awareness prompts these teachers to want to influence change. They experience professional restlessness—what some have called the “leadership itch.” Sometimes on their own initiative and sometimes within a more formal structure, these professionals find a variety of ways to exercise teacher leadership.
Let's continue to blaze a pathway that will have a profound impact for our scholars. We must provide the platform that gives our scholars hope because, "Hope Lives Here".
Re-Tester Data is Back
U.S. History 38%
English I 37%
English II 30%
Biology 33%
Algebra 35%
It is imperative that the 60/30 model is effectively used within the classroom the one day a week as designed during our P.D. session on January 4th. If you have re-testers in your class but not sure who they are, please reach out to us for assistance.
Together, we can and will reach our goal of earning distinctions.
Biology Goal
Algebra I Goal
Algebra I re-tester Goal
English Re-testers Goal
English I Goal
English II Goal
Happening Now
1-25 A Day
Spot Observations
PLC
1-26 B Day
Spot Observations
PLC
1-27 A Day
Spot Observations
PLC
1-28 B Day
Spot Observation
PLC
1-29 A Day
Spot Observations
PLC
Coming up
2-1 B Day
Spot Observations
PLC
Mustang Academy (SLO progression)
2-2 A Day
Spot Observations
PLC
2-3 B Day
Spot Observations
PLC
2-4 A Day
Spot Observations
PLC
2-5 B Day
Spot Observations
No PLC
Academic pep rally (refer to email Ms. Morris sent)
On The Horizon
Spot Observations
PLC
2-9 B Day
Spot Observations
PLC
2-10 A Day
Spot Observations
PLC
2-11 B Day
Spot Observations
PLC
2-12 A Day
Spot Observations
No PLC