Thursday's Thoughts
August 22, 2019
Collaborative Time (75 minute planning time)
1. The role of each team member: Your collaborative time will be most beneficial if your meetings run efficiently. In order to help with this, assign the following roles:
*Team Leader: The Team Leader will design your meeting agenda—organizing the information that you need to consider—and then share the agenda with the rest of the team. The team leader will also guide the team through the agenda, starting conversations and moving the team to new bullet points. Because the Team Leader's role depends on communicating with others beyond the grade level team, this is a role that depends on consistency. (This the team member that attended Luis Cruz this summer).
*The Time Keeper:The Time Keeper is responsible for keeping the team on time and on task. When conversations become something other than productive—drifting from the agenda or focusing on something that we just can’t change, The Time Keeper is going to politely redirect the work of the group.
*The Scribe: The Scribe is the meticulous sort who is good at keeping track of everything the team decides. She (or he, as the case may be) needs to design a system for recording decisions and then needs to be able to track down results whenever we can’t find them! The scribe is easily one of the most important roles in the group.
*Sister Sunshine: Sister Sunshine’s job is an easy one: Remind the team—early and often—that we are all good teachers who are working hard and doing the right thing. If it looks like the team is discouraged or frustrated, slip in a bit of unexpected cheer. Staying positive is what Sister Sunshine is all about.
2. Create your team norms. (ex. be on time, be prepared, stay on topic, no cell phones, etc.)
3. Unpack your Promise Standard from last year. Do not assume that every team member clearly understand the standard. Look at the support document, sample assessment questions, etc. Make sure, without a doubt, that every person on your team fully understands what students must be able to do to master your Promise Standard.
4. Rewrite your Promise Standard in kid friendly language.
5. Identify your common formative assessements for your Promise Standard. You will need at least 2-3.
6. Set your CFA proficiency.
7. Identify your second Promise Standard in math. Ask & answer these questions when identifiying your next Promise standard: Does it have endurance? (Do students need to know this beyond the test) Does it have leverage? (Will knowing this standard affect other subjects/areas?) Does the standard prepare students for success at the next level? Will the standard prepare students for success on SCReady?
7. Share your notes from your collaborative meeting with me and Matt.
Make sure you clicked on the link to our Master Schedule. I sent this email yesterday. If you sign up for alerts, you will get notices each time something new is added to the calendar.
Upcoming Dates:
August 29th: Fire Drill
August 30th: All Internet Acceptable forms signed and turned into Reggie by this date
Sept. 2nd: Holiday!
Sept. 3rd: Independence Day! (We are encouraging independence by having all students walk in alone on this date), Open House/Hot Dog supper from 6:00-8:00.
Sept. 11th: Kindergarten teachers to West Pelzer for PD
Sept. 12th: 1st grade teachers to West Pelzer for PD
Sept. 13th: Second grade teachers to West Pelzer for PD
Sept. 16th: Guiding Coalition meeting at 3:15
Sept. 18th: Faculty Meeting to break out in team meetings