KCS Curriculum and Instruction
Teaching and Learning News for Fall 2017
Fall Reflection
- What are you most proud of from the first quarter?
- What are you least proud of from the first quarter?
- Name a student you did not reach this quarter. Why do you think that is? What will you try 2nd quarter with that student?
- How well did you work with your team this quarter?
- What are your reflections on how you assessed students this quarter?
- What do you want to change about your instruction starting next quarter?
- Set a Quarter 2 goal for yourself.
- Set a Quarter 2 goal with your team/subject/department.
- You probably have a PD evaluation in TimeKeeper today from your school's Fall Early Release Days. Some schools (FLW, WW) are folding those days into your yearlong PD, so don't be alarmed if you don't see one. Remember, in order to get credit, you have to fill out an evaluation. But in order to get the evaluation, you have to have registered! Please make sure you've registered for your workshop(s) in TimeKeeper all throughout the year.
- NC has new licensure requirements. You can view them here. The two major changes are 1) only K-5 teachers are required to earn 3 literacy CEU's --- effective now, and 2) all licensed staff (except Pre-K and Speech-Language Pathologists) are required to earn 2 Digital Learning CEU's --- effective with those renewing in June 2019. It is your responsibility to keep up with your licensure renewal credits, but please reach out if you need support beyond what your school provides.
- Speaking of PD, two resources for online PD are DPI modules (via NCEES) and NCCAT online courses through Canvas. Check out the links to see what's available!
- K-12 ELA and K-8 Math teachers will have new standards next year as part of the NC Standard Course of Study. We will make sure you have time to learn about the changes and the new resources that will be available in the spring, but in the meantime, why not take a peek and preview what's coming?
New ELA Standards (K-12)
New Math Standards (K-8) - To learn more about the new ELA standards, join the NCDPI ELA team for a webinar on November 7th, 2017 from 3:30 to 4:30. This webinar will provide updates on resources being developed, including a look at the new format, a sneak peek of the standards-based lessons, PLC ideas, and more! Click here to register.
- K-5 teachers, you have district grade level meetings coming up.
- 6-12 teachers, we are planning some spring times for you to get together by subject vertically to view new standards and discuss other vertical alignment needs.
Coming Soon: The KCS Instructional Strategies Site
I know...we said it was "coming soon" last time and that it would be ready, but... you know how things can go. Read below and view the picture to get an idea of what's to come.
In terms of Understanding by Design, these strategies fall into Stage 3: Designing the Learning Plan. Remember that when using the UbD framework, you must first be clear on what you want students to learn (Stage 1), know how you will find out if they learned it (Stage 2), and THEN use strategies like these and high-quality, aligned resources to plan your lessons.
Troubleshooting: Unfinished/Missing Work
Student:
- lack of support system at home to reinforce work completion
- lack of organizational, task-initiation or completion skills
- lack of motivation
- absences
Teacher/Classroom:
- lack of procedures for turning in work
- assignment too easy/difficult
- quantity of assignments graded
System:
- previous teachers managed paperwork so students haven't needed this skill
- previous teachers allowing unfinished work to stay unfinished or not turned in
- inconsistent expectations or procedures across classes/grades
Once you identify the most likely root cause(s) in your situation, it can be easier to identify a next step to address the frustration. It is likely a combination of some factors listed above and even others that aren't listed. However, what's important is it is never too late to do something about it immediately for your current students, while we work on systemic issues for the longer-term.
The main question we should be asking ourselves and each other is, "What are we doing when students don't complete/turn in work?"
No matter the cause, some obvious approaches are good for most situations:
1. Have brief one-on-one conversations with students who have not completed an assignment. Ask what's going on, what do they need? Just knowing you noticed and are concerned can be the motivation some students need. Let them know the assignment is for a purpose (insert purpose here!) and you need to see their thinking. Only some students are motivated by grades. Let them know it's about more than that - it's about learning.
2. Call home. If you care enough for the work to be done, the parent deserves a chance to be involved. You can't always rely on them to check PowerSchool or to see a paper that comes home.
3. Create a time/space for catching up. This will look different at different grades, but to send the message that NOT doing the work is NOT an option, help create the time and space for it to happen. (If they had plenty of class time to work, then I'm sure you noticed and addressed it at the time as you were circulating, right?) This is for students who were absent, didn't finish, or don't have the support systems at home.
Some strategies we use may end up sending the message that the uncompleted/missing work is acceptable. Giving a grade of any kind (an "L" for limited progress, or a zero in the traditional grade book) may send a message of finality and may indicate that the teacher is fine with the student not completing the work since he/she can just put in the lowest grade possible. Doing nothing (leaving it blank in the grade book, not addressing it) may send a message to students that the teacher didn't care if the assignment was done or not, or that there are no ramifications for not completing work. If this is the case, then ask yourself should you give (or grade?!) the assignment in the first place?
With your limited time and so much to manage, it's true that sometimes the most effective strategies become the most difficult to try. If you can pinpoint a major root cause, then consider what strategy would work for that issue. For example, if you believe students are unmotivated, consider strategies that build your classroom climate to be one that has high expectations, rewards learning, work completion, and organization. If absent students are the main issue, consider new procedures that help students access missing work. If it's a lack of student skills, consider how you can begin teaching some of those skills or work with the parent to improve this area.
Yeah, yeah, this all sounds nice in theory, you may be thinking. Maybe so, and it's based on research and best practice. BUT... there's no better way to find out what's working and share ideas then for you teachers to talk to each other. Please take a moment and add your ideas to this Padlet board. (Would a little bribe help??) Thanks for being resources for each other as you deal with many frustrations in a difficult job!
Spotlights on Teaching and Learning in KCS
A.L. Brown Instructional Leads
Thanks and Kudos to:
Barry Lentz, Science Instructional Lead
Lisa Emerson, Math Instructional Lead
Shane Dagenart, Social Studies Instructional Lead
Tiffany Fulton, ELA Instructional Lead
Special thanks to Holly Pore, CTE Instructional Management Coordinator, who supports over 40 CTE courses at ALB and KMS and has been their instructional lead for years. Her experience and leadership is a great support for the four who just took on this leadership role this year.
7th Grade Math Department at Kannapolis Middle
A special recognition goes to the 7th grade math team at KMS. They started the year with a new math resource that not only includes new materials but also uses a different approach to teaching math to students than they are accustomed to. This team has been open-minded and flexible, and while the work has been challenging, they have accepted to learn a new concept and engage with new resources. They've been supportive to each other and have had a positive attitude. Thanks to their leadership as well, especially instructional coach Yachannah Galloway, who has been constantly providing support for their work.
All Elementary Teachers....and Carl Hoffman!
A special shout out to Carl Hoffman, Technology Facilitator at KMS, who has been the mastermind doing the programming and training. He has used his genius to make a beautiful and functional product that allows us to stay true to our grading approach in K-5. Thank you!
AIG Spotlights
Olivia Myers: 4th Grade at Woodrow Wilson Elementary
As many of us do, Olivia had one student who was far ahead of his peers in most, if not all, subject areas. After speaking with the student, Olivia found out he was starting to dislike school because it lacked challenge for him. To help with this, Olivia developed a binder specifically for this student. Each week, he will read his self-selected text and work on a reading extension project (from a list of many options) that he had chosen. He would also choose a math extension such as making a to-do book for one of the math concepts, creating word problems for other students to solve, or doing higher-level problems of the week. Olivia is also going to offer this student a quarterly independent project (from the Envision curriculum- available to everyone!) that he can work on once he proves he understands the concepts the class is learning. Thank you Olivia for making school fun and challenging for a student that otherwise may dread school time!
Jenn Brazee: 5th Grade - Shady Brook Elementary
Not only does Jenn have AIG students in her class that she differentiates for, she has high-achieving students and students with potential (all her students!) that she includes in her group challenges. Jenn truly believes that practices that are best for gifted students are best for all students, and KCS agrees! During planning meetings, Jenn is extremely collaborative, providing ideas for all of her teammates to utilize. She also makes it a point to ask for rigorous activities for students that still need more stretching. Jenn has shared Poetry for Young People books with her students, is going to work on inferencing through different levels of mystery books, and has shared a wealth of materials for Math and Science with her team as well as other teachers in the district. Thank you Jenn for making sure all students are challenged in their own ways. KCS is lucky to have teachers like you!