Weekly Coaching Communication
Make it a great day -- every day!
11 -- 15 December 2017
Hats off to you!
Here's the past week's amazement:
- Thank you, Mrs. Larson, for attending Teacher Clarity: Learning Intentions and Success Criteria (Day #1) with me -- looking forward to more learning with you in March.
- Thank you teachers for completing Assignment #2 -- it is difficult work on top of all of your other responsibilities, but the practice and the feedback are necessary for moving forward.
- The Social Studies Team, with the help of Jed Wyse'S transcription, created a much appreciated and timely presentation for Wednesday's homeroom session -- nice work!
- Thank you, Mrs. James, for a great field trip to KCC and opening up students' minds to the great possibilities in health professions; and thank you for the advance notice of students being gone so teachers can plan accordingly.
- Thank you, teachers and Mr. Libolt for giving up your prep time to cover teachers when a sub cannot be found -- several of you were more than gracious this week;
- Thank you Mr. Tjaden and his classes for making THE Famous Butterfinger dessert and sharing with select staff members.
- Several college football coaches have been in the buildings thanks to Coach Burke helping his seniors connect.
- The Birthday Celebration goodies (past, present and future) are DELICIOUS and much appreciated.
- Thank you Mrs. Kruckenberg for helping Mrs. Pickering's subs and taking on the extra students to complete Spanish oral assessments.
- Thank you to all support staff, teachers, and administrators for supporting JDRF (White-out with JDRF Basketball games, 21 December).
#nobetterplacetowork
Pope's Professional Learning -- Sharing to Build Capacity
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria with Larry Ainsworth
Teacher Clarity stems from the three student-centered questions:
- What will I learn today?
- Why am I learning that?
- How will I know when I've learned it?
STEP 1: Identify a single standard for instructional focus.
When we met as a staff to identify priority standards, we used Ainsworth's protocol. He's suggesting to start with the priority standards already identified, choose one, and then continue the process. Eventually, the same steps would be used for all priority standards to develop the clarity for teaching and learning.
STEP 2: Re-state the standard as a LEARNING INTENTION (the what?) in student-friendly language.
Re-stating is different than unwrapping the standard into learning targets. The LEARNING INTENTION is what we want students to learn in terms of the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values within a particular lesson or unit; hence it is the WHAT of the standard. The goal of writing a LEARNING INTENTION is to maintain the rigor and intent of the standard. The trick . . . you, as a teacher, must understand the standard.
STEP 3: Identify the PURPOSE for learning (the why?).
Beth and I agreed that this is the step that many teachers (and students) skip because of the auto-expectations of school. Students are in school to learn, so no matter what the teacher puts in front of them, the students should learn it. Unfortunately, the auto-expectation for learning leaves many students disengaged from learning and unless a "real" purpose is disclosed for student AND teacher, the learning is not authentic.
STEP 4: Identify the SUCCESS CRITERIA of the LEARNING INTENTION (the how?).
Success criteria are the common understanding of what is to be learned and what successful achievement looks like. Success criteria outline how a student will move forward in their learning and gives the students the tools to exercise power over their learning. Examples make the success criteria even more powerful in telling students how they need to proceed in their learning.
STEP 5: Determine the LEARNING PROGRESSIONS -- pathway to the LEARNING INTENTION.
LEARNING PROGRESSIONS are the sequenced building blocks of instruction that lead students to understand the unit LEARNING INTENTIONS. Note -- this is what the teacher does with instruction to make students capable learners; it is the only step that focuses mainly on the teacher's actions.
The SUCCESS CRITERIA identified in STEP 4 should be reflected in the LEARNING PROGRESSIONS, as this is where also where teachers can best use FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT to know where students are currently performing and the steps yet necessary to move forward. Students are also to better self-assess their skills, knowledge and understanding when they have the SUCCESS CRITERIA and a next step from the LEARNING PROGRESSION.
Writing LEARNING PROGRESSIONS is not an exact science, but teachers need to keep the intention of the standard in mind, use verbs that convey the different levels of complexity, and provide a pathway that chunks learning into manageable pieces for students to be successful.
Coaching Schedule -- see Google Calendar for specific "Busy" times **schedule subject to change**
Monday, 11 December
- Out of District
Tuesday, 12 December
- Out of District
Wednesday, 13 December
- Rigorous Reading Book Study Assignment DUE TODAY
- 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM SBL Council MTG
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Thursday,14 December
- 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM ASCD Presentation Planning
- 12:30 - 1:15 PM IC/Principal MTG
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Friday, 15 December
- 7:30 AM - 8:20 AM IC Christmas Breakfast -- Primary Building
- 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Blended Learning Planning Session
- Beth Swantz visiting Blended Teachers
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
- 1:00 - 3:30 PM IC Team w/ Program Leads Data MtgBenton Community for ASCD Planning @ Vinton KCC Campus
ARCHIVE LINKS
Click on the link to access 2015-16 prior weekly communications.
Pope's IC Weekly Communication Archive & Index 2016-17
Click on the link to access 2016-17 prior weekly communications.
Pope's IC Weekly Communication Archive & Index 2017-18
Click on the link to access 2016-17 prior weekly communications.
Contact Information
Center Point - Urbana CSD
C: 319-560-6980
Email: epopenhagen@cpuschools.org
Phone: 319-849-1102+91015
Twitter: @Epopenhagen