Professional Learning Community:  Planning - formative learning check - adjustment

In PLCs last week, you used MAP and your Envision Placement Tests to group students according to math learning needs.  Use this data to fill in gaps for students using center time and differentiated homework  and/or morning work.  This week in PLC, bring your exit slip/formative check data from your math lesson Wednesday to review and plan for adjusting instruction for Friday.   The product for this week is the next step plan/adjustment for instruction.

With every lesson, think about the following:

What do I want students to know or be able to do at the end of today's activity?

How will they demonstrate their knowledge and learning?  What makes a high quality product?

How will I know who got it and who didn't?  How will I use this information to make adjustments for tomorrow?

• Time -- Scrutinize your schedule to ensure you are working on subjects at the time you have set up in your class schedule.  
• Students need predictability and the structure of a daily schedule, this also decreases anxiety for students
• Tighten transitions between activities and from one location to another; also use restroom break time for students to read a passage, review flashcards, or answer questions

• iRead -- Using classroom computers, iPads, and Nooks students should be logging 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week in grades K, 1 and 2.  Set a schedule for student use, it doesn't only have to be during reading instructional time.  We know we have students who struggle with reading, use this tool with fidelity.

• Writing to demonstrate learning 
• Students should write daily -- journals, prompts, notes, responses to questions in complete sentences, showing work in math, work on cycle 2 writing pieces

PLC Collaboration Video:

Using Google Docs

If you need to contact Mr. Tomanic for technology needs, information, or support, please click on the Who to go to for What document from the living calendar and click on the Google form next to Mr. Tomanic's name and complete it.

For maintenance or custodial needs, there is a link on the Who to go to for What document that will send information to Ms. Angie.




We have two new employees at King; Katelyn Spivey (preferred substitute) and Krista Drybrough (ESS - math).  Both ladies have been with us for the past two weeks, working and supporting students.  Currently, Ms. Spivey is filling in for Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Drybrough works in room 301.

• Check the living calendar daily and add updates as needed. 
• Halloween dress up is allowed for staff and students.  Please remind students and parents they can NOT wear masks and no weapons (real or toy). 
• Thanksgiving lunch -- parents invited -- November 14th.

The Power of PLCs

Professional Learning Communities (PLC) are not just the meeting on Thursdays (Tuesdays for kindergarten), but can take place each day of the week!  Let's review the purpose of the professional learning community; at King this means each grade level and special area team.

Each grade level has common plan times.  If you are not using this time to engage in PLCs -- planning together, reviewing student work, sorting results from daily learning checks, and planning next steps together, splitting the work -- you are working in isolation and making your work more difficult and cumbersome.  Never has it been more relevant to work SMARTER not HARDER.

I take great pride in having an incredible staff that loves and supports students and each other.  It's time to take our collective efficacy to the next level -- truly collaborating with one another.  Below is a 2 minute video from Rebecca DuFour one of the pioneers of the PLC process discussing the work of PLCs.

Now that we've reviewed the purpose of professional learning communities in schools, let's take a quick look (5 minute video) on how one team uses their PLC time and approaches learning as a team.

This week in your PLC, you will review and bring your Envision Placement Test results, MAP data, and your laptop.  Using this information, you will group students according to skill needs/levels and create math groups for center work and planning lessons -- some of you are ahead of the curve :).  The end product will be student groups for purposeful skill work and how you plan for upcoming math instruction.

Faculty Meeting Agenda 10/24/2017
Let's transform faculty meetings to Lions' Share time!  This means we will use this time to discuss a strategy, gain vertical feedback (K-5 progression), review student work, or meet within committees (will be the last meeting of the month beginning in November).

• Writing workshop implementation
• Writing workshop materials

• View PLC video

• Let's transform faculty meetings to Lions' Share time!  This means we will use this time to discuss a strategy, gain vertical feedback (K-5 progression), review student work, or meet within committees (will be the last meeting of the month beginning in November). 

• Student personal narratives and rubrics -- reviewing the work, pulling themes from student performance.
• Understanding of writing genre
• Mechanics
• Voice
• Handwriting
• Writing length
• Implications for writing workshop, centers, homework, daily practices, K-5 progression

For your information:

2017-18 State Testing Areas by Grade Level

Wednesday, 10/25, Computer Education Service trainers will come to King and provide embedded PD/training on navigating the Google environment.  All staff members will attend and sessions are scheduled during planning times beginning at 9:05 in room 303.  We are going digital at King, this is a non-negotiable and a sign in sheet will be in 303.  Bring your laptop, if you don't have one, machines will be available for you to use.  If you are support staff and consider yourself a novice to the Google environment, I suggest you attend the 9:05 or 2:45 session.

The grading window closes at the end of the day Monday, October 23, 2017.  All grades should be put in for report cards -- they go home October 26th.

Picture day is Monday, October 23rd -- see the living calendar for schedule.

Red Ribbon Week is this week

Engagement, Objectives & Feedback

Student engagement with routines:  View the first few minutes of this video.  A student leads the class through the daily learning target and learning focus-- notice the purposeful use of vocabulary.  How would your routine look if you use a focus wall daily to support student knowledge?

• Faculty Meeting (10/17/2017): Ms. Jones will provide information regarding test administration.  This training is mandatory for all instructional staff.

• Please review the living calendar for upcoming events and due dates.

• Please update your bulletin boards to show student work (include the learning standard).  

• Joe Leffert, our assistant superintendent, is visiting our school Wednesday.  We will walk through the building and visit classrooms.  

• Weekly SRT data is now linked live on the right, click to view.

Strategy Focus:  Classroom Instruction that Works:  Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001)

Setting objectives and providing feedback-- Setting instructional objectives and targets provide information as to what the student will learn.  Marzano et. al., (2001) suggest setting general goals and have students set sub goals/targets that will forward their individual learning.  This example came from the above text (p. 95).

The students in Ms. Gershwin's 4th grade class have been setting their own personal goals for each unit since the beginning of the year.  She always provides the general targets, but then students personalize the goals.  For the unit on the human body, she explains that her goal is for them to understand how each of the main organs work individually, as well as,how the organs work together as a system.  Based on those broad goals, Josh writes his personal learning goals.

• I want to know more about the kidneys and how they work.  My grandpa is having a kidney replaced soon.
• I know that the heart pumps blood through the body, but I want to know how a heart attack happens
• I want to know if the intestines are really four miles long.

Ms. Gershwin found that if she provided the sentence stems (e.g. "I want to know..." and "I want to know more..."), the students were able to create more interesting goals.

Feedback

• Feedback should be corrective - Provide students an explanation of what they are doing that is correct and what they are doing that is not correct
• Feedback should be timely-- Immediate feedback following a task is best.  The more you delay giving feedback, the less improvement there is to achievement.
• Feedback should be specific to a criterion -- For feedback to be most useful, it should reference a specific level of skill or knowledge -- Use of rubrics specific to tasks.
• Students can effectively provide some of their own feedback-- Use of student self-assessment, learning chart, reflection (weekly in student agenda), student goal setting.

October 9, 2017

Introducing Dylan Terry...

And now the business -- Gold Day Agenda


9:00-10:00
Reading Trends- Kindergarten (Ms. Fields) - Room 101
First Grade (Ms. Buckley) - Room 208

iRead Growth and Grouping Data - Second Grade (Ms.Camp) - Room 203

MAP Data & Student Goal Sheets- 3rd-5th (Flener/Stith) - Library

10:00-11:30
Team Planning -- Assessment data and goal setting

11:30 - 12:00
LUNCH on your OWN

12:00-2:00
Math Manipulatives with District Resource Team -- Library

2:00-3:00
Team Planning

3:00-3:45

All meet in the Library- Student Learning Focus -- E2

Be sure to turn in your Parent Teacher Conference Schedule before you leave today!