Personal Best Staff Bulletin
Volume IV Number 5 April 7, 2016
Response to Intervention
At our faculty meetings we have been speaking about Response to Intervention (RtI) and the strategies that we employ to help our most at risk learners. We are looking, as a faculty, at how we define and address these needs. Our ultimate goal is to put in place a process or protocol whereby we can formalize our best practices so that we are all utilizing consistent strategies with our most at risk kids.
I have been rereading a book on this topic, Simplifying Response to Intervention by Mike Matos, Chris Weber and Austin Buffum. One of the core principles of the book is that a good school has a strong core approach to instruction that meets the needs of approximately 80% of its students. If you consider that 12% of our students are receiving services through special education and hence, are, by definition, in Tier 3 of our RtI Model, then we are really talking about only 8% of our kids. 8% of our kids who live in this murky zone of intervention resistance.
We know they’re out there in front of us, in our classes, these kids who struggle and don’t easily get it? So we need to ask ourselves some questions about this core program:
What strategies do I employ because I know that many of my students have executive functioning deficits?
What strategies do I employ because I know that I have English language learners in my class?
Knowing that reading is a challenge for many of my students, that many of them are anxious, or that they have family and social problems, what strategies to I incorporate into my everyday lessons and to my classroom environment to account for this?
Also, what do we do AS A SCHOOL because we have students who present these issues?
These are the questions we will continue to consider at our faculty meetings. We'll look at case studies of these intervention resistant kids as a lens through which to reflect upon our core instructional program and develop plans to help them.
Best Practice
True story. Elisa Waters stopped at a supermarket on her way to work and noticed that there were Hanukkah decorations set alongside Passover decorations. Noticing this discrepancy, she pointed it out to her class and took a picture. The Seedlings elective class called the supermarket and spoke to the manager about it. The purpose of this activity was not to berate the manager but rather to point out and help the students question their assumptions about privilege and the dominant religions and cultures in our society.
Theresa Cantwell and James Lawlor hit the ground running immediately after the February break talking about current events. They dissected the Republican primaries and the debates as well as the entire election landscape. It is amazing how young people have been energized by this election cycle. Theresa drew students' attention to an article in Newsday about an antitrust case involving a local business right here in Jericho.
Dennis Demetres was teaching his grade 7 social studies class about democracy. He asked them if the class was organized as a democracy, “Does everyone have a vote about the important things we do?” The kids were quick to point out that they do not. When Dennis asked what they would vote for/against if they had this right, they were quick to vote to eliminate homework. Hey what about optional homework!?
Dyanna Lambe has students write “smiley” or “frowny” emoticons on their papers to indicate how well they understand a concept. Inviting this kind of formative assessment is essential and it communicates to students that it’s ok if they’re struggling and we want to help them.
Araceli Vidal had students create short videos in which they demonstrated that they can spell their names and “sign” them in American Sign Language (ASL). She also Tweeted the videos so parents and the world could see the awesomeness. Here’s a sample: http://bit.ly/1M62NTC. There’s so much cool stuff going on here! Araceli took a fairly mundane but important skill for kids and energized it with the addition of ANOTHER challenging skill, ASL, and the authenticity of video that allowed the kids to connect with a wider audience than could be reached within the walls of her classroom.
Links and Resources
Cause that's helpful...
Real graffiti observed in high school boys bathroom...
hmmmm....
asked custodians to clean it...
or I think I did...
Could somebody please remind me to e-mail the custodians...
Principal's Staff Bulletin
Email: dgately@jerichoschools.org
Website: dfgately.wordpress.com
Location: 99 Old Cedar Swamp Road, Jericho, NY, United States
Phone: 516-203-3620
Twitter: @Donald_Gately