This Blog Has Migrated

The blog can now be found at the following link: http://www.yadkin.k12.nc.us/webpages/drsheek/myblog.cfm.

Check your email for the password. Jas

Writing

I am work the system-wide writing committee, I am wondering why writing is such a complicated and process. As students go through the writing process, it does move students to the upper end of Bloom's. So...what do you think about writing in the context of learning. Why is it so important? Why is it so difficult? How can we improve students as writers? How can we improve ourselves as writers? I am really struggling with understanding how to help students with their writing. I would really like to know what you think. Jas

Engaging Students in Learning

In Working on the Work: An Action Plan for Teachers, Principals, and Superintendents, Schlechty (2002) indicates that, "Authentically engaged students see meaning in what they are doing." Schlechty also talks about the idea of teacher as leader and inventor as opposed to teacher as performer.

What are your thoughts on these ideas, especially in the context of Bloom's? How do we engage students to ensure they find the work in the classroom meaningful and of interest to them? What do those classrooms look like (factoring our the nonnegotiable of the NC SCS)?

I loaned a book to a teacher, titled, Never Work Harder Than Your Students. The idea being, the work of the teacher should not overshadow the work of the students - what are students doing in the classroom? Give me your thoughts.

Read, Think, and Respond

Click on the link below, read the article, and give me your reactions.

Article

If your class sizes were larger by, say, 10%, how would the things we've talked about in our blog help you do that more effectively?  As you, especially in this economic time, work to help students learn at higher levels, how would this scenario encourage you to work differently?  How would this change how you use your (and your students') time in class?  

Hypothetical Scenario

One of my favorite episodes of the Simpson's (cartoon on Fox) is one where Bart steals all of the teacher editions of the text books from his school. The teachers are in the lounge chain smoking and having apoplectic fits, wonder how they will teach. It's just plain funny, because it is true in some places.

Luckily, not here! So, what would you do next year if you had no textbooks? You've got your computers, SmartBoards, Internet, classroom libraries, support materials...but no textbooks of any kind. Oh, and you have your Standard Course of Study - with the essential skills specified.

What would learning look like in your classroom? How would you plan for learning? How would you structure your short-term and long-term goals? How would you address the needs parents have to see "stuff" come home?

How could we use learning teams to address learning in this scenario? What could the role of Bloom's Taxonomy be?

Bloom's Taxonomy

Let's talk about higher levels of learning. The new teacher evaluation instrument is based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (click on the links to see examples - take a look at the Bloom's Taxonomy activity for lesson ideas - look at the active verbs that are used).

How do you think we can use this information with our learning teams to improve student learning?

How can you structure lessons you are teaching now to move students to higher levels of thinking/understanding/learning?

Talk about what you have read and discussed so far to make connections and extend your thinking.

90 90 90 Schools

90 90 90 Schools are schools with 90% Free and Reduced Lunch, 90% Minority, 90% on grade level. The research on these schools (and yes, they do exist) indicates they have these things in common:

1. A Focus on Academic Achievement
2. Clear Curriculum Choices
3. Frequent Assessment of Student Progress and Multiple Opportunities for Improvement
4. Emphasis on Writing
5. External Scoring
6. Non-proprietary Instructional Practices (using more that just one program to teach the curriculum)

What are your thoughts on this in relationship to what we do at school?

Something to think and talk about

Take a brief look at this article - I think you can get the gist of the article quickly - (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3994/is_200501/ai_n9483894).

Respond to the following with your thougths: If we use educational practices that do not have a research base, are we engaging in educational malpractice? Explain your response. What implications does the idea of educational malpractice have for our classrooms and student learning?

I ask this not to indict anyone, but because federal legislation is moving us in that direction.

January 21, 2009

Please take a look at the previous post for how you will structure your learning today. We are glad to have the staff from East Bend joining us on our blog. Remember, the entire day is devoted to learning about the concept of PLC's and how we can implement them in our schools. There is no "one right way"; it will be a unique create based on our learning. Feel free to take time for lunch at that time. Remember, let your conversations be reflected in your blog responses so you can share your thoughts with others outside your teams. I will be walking around some, but will spend most of my day reading your posts. Let me know if you have questions.

I thought I had all books in, but am missing some. Let me check my Amazon order. I will fix it.

Have a great days and share your learning, Jas

Now that we have our books...

In your groups, take a look at your texts and decide how you want to structure your learning. You might want to break up the chapters over 10 weeks. I would like for us to plan to finish our study by the end of March. Be aware, this does not mean we will be experts at that point.

Once we finish with our texts we will share some ideas and maybe even share our text with other groups. Our goal will be to develop a personal plan for how you will use PLC's to increase student learning in your classrooms and grade levels/groups.

Our first activity will center around common formative assessments. In your groups, you will develop a common formative assessment around one objective from one goal in the Standard Course of Study. You will, as groups, decide on the goal to be assessed, create the assessment, administer the assessment, analyze the assessment data, then decide how to use the data to inform your instruction. Remember, this is not about grading, it's about improving instruction to meet student learning needs. We may repeat this process several times to improve our understanding of and ability to create common formative assessment. This is becoming one of the expectation for all teachers everywhere (see data regarding NCLB, IDEA, and RTI).

We will spend an extended period of time in this process via the blog on the protected workday on Wednesday, January 21. Teachers from East Bend School will be participating on our blog on that day. Be ready to share, discuss, disagree, and learn.

Common Assessments

One of the tenants of the PLC process involves the use of common formative assessments among grade levels and/or content areas. If you as grade levels or content areas have implemented common assessments, talk a little about the steps used to implement them.

What do you see as the benefits of common formative assessments on student learning?

How could common formative assessment improve your classroom instruction?

(Common formative assessments can be defined as assessments created collaboratively by a team of teachers responsible for the same grade level or course in order to improve student learning. They are developed and administered multiple times throughout the school year. Results are used to modify instruction in order to improve student learning. The value of the assessment is not in the grading of the assessments, but the feedback it offers about student learning. The assessments can also provide teachers with feedback regarding the effectiveness of their instruction.)

Some Good Thoughts From the Last Post

Let's get a little more focused and think about the question.  Are there some things we need to eliminate in our practice of teaching in order to help students achieve at higher levels?  

Again the goal is not meant to be inflamitory, but cause us to reflect on what we do.  Are we in a place of continually "recycling" lessons from year to year, or are we "refining" them to better meet student needs?

Is there pointless stuff in our day that needs to meet with the ax?

Video and Thoughts

There will be a video playing on channel 68 tomorrow every hour from 8:00 until 3:00. Watch the video. Talk with your Learning Teams and respond to the blog with your thoughts. Frame your responses with this question, "What would YES look like if each one of us made the decision that no student failed?" In that I mean, did not fail a test/quiz/assignment, a class, make an F on a report card...

(Keep in mind, this is not an indictment of our practices. Just a question. Focus on things we can do at school - not what should happen at home. How would our school have to change? What would instruction look like? - just a few ideas to prompt discussion.)

A Book

Now that you have ideas about books, I need a little more information.  I need the information from one person from each team (give me the name of your Learning Team as well):

Title of text

Author(s) of the text

Number of copies for each member of your team

Keep this response simple so I won't get confused.  Remember, we may have as many different texts as we do teams - that's okay.

This Makes Me Think...

Take a look at this short article - Grades.

With this in mind, what would happen if schools abandoned grades (A-F) in lieu of report cards that reflected acquisition/mastery of skills/knowledge (like our K-2 report card)?

What do you think this would mean for student learning?

(One of the components of PLC's is close examination and consideration of grading practices.  I know this will make some people really uncomfortable - just relax.)

Hands-On Science

Take a look at this short article - Science.

After reading that and thinking about what you know now about PLC's - how does science fit in?

What is the role of science in a 21st century education (PreK-through 12, 13, 14, 15 - my way of saying after high school)?

Look...Up In the Sky...It's...

A lot of bad airplane jokes. I didn't realize how many aviation reference were in my postings.

Your work in your teams today was amazing. I enjoyed hearing your comments and reading your posts (and hear you laughing together). My fear was we would "crash and burn". We did not! You are exceptionally "high fliers".

Regarding texts, we can have many different books to facilitate our learning. The decisions are yours, but I want you to decide based on your research. Find a book that meets your needs. I have a few of the books here at school for you to reference. There are many others out there.

As I am trying to model some 21st century learning techniques for you, think about your own learning during this process (metacognition). What implications could blogging have for student learning? Please respond.

Reminder, make sure we can identify who you are when you post (your user name). It makes it easier for everyone to make associations and respond based on who has posted.

Our First meeting

We are beginning the process of implementing Professional Learning Communities, which we are calling our Learning Teams, at YES. Much of what we do will be blogged so that we can share our ideas, questions, and learning in a manner consistent with 21st century learning. We will make time to meet face to face as we see the need. Remember, we are building this plane while it is in the air - and I don't have many answers for you. But, as you have shown me before, there is a great deal of learning we can do together.

I, and others, will post questions for our consideration and response. We learn when we use questions to find new questions, so read, consider, reflect, write, and participate. Please remember, this is a public blog and can be viewed by anyone. We should not use any proper names or any references that would violate anyone's privacy.

Enjoy this new and different way of learning. Jas

Let's Decide on a Book

What are your recommendations on a text for our book study? Two that have been discussed are Schools as Professional Learning Communities by Roberts and Pruitt and Learning By Doing by Dufore, Dufore, Eakers, and Many.

How can we use a text to guide our learning of PLC's?

PLC's - Learning Teams

How will PLC's support high levels of student learning?