September 29, 2017

September 29

Read here about how one teacher let go of control to focus on student centered approaches. Kristine Riley took the step towards student centered learning by letting go of some of the controls she set in her classroom. 

Check these out on Twitter

5 tools to leverage Learning: 1. @Flipgrid 2. @quizizz 3. @nearpod 4. @goformative 5. @EDpuzzle

Character Trait for October is Caring click HERE for lesson plan ideas

Please remember we are ALL teaching a 10 minute lesson on Caring everyday.

Garden Fall Clean Up and Chili Cook Off will be Oct. 7th- free homework pass for those students who participate in garden clean up.

NO EXCUSES UNIVERSITY – ASSESSMENT PLAN

Culture of Universal Achievement

Collaboration

Standards Alignment

Assessment Plan

Data Analysis

Interventions

“We spend time at our Institute distinguishing between formative and summative assessments and how grade level teams can take responsibility for gathering or creating formative assessments that make sense for them.  We emphasize the importance of this work as a support to teachers, because this allows teachers to track those students who are not making adequate academic progress towards proficiency, and then identify specific content areas that require intervention.”

There are some key topics to consider when implementing an assessment plan:

#1:  Assessment is NOT about the teacher, it’s about the student

#2:  Balance between of and for learning assessments

#3:  Scheduling, benchmarks for growth, and continuous improvement are crucial

Assessment is NOT about the teacher, it’s about the student:  One of my favorite quotes from the summer institute was that data did not belong to the teachers.  It was on loan from the students.  In order to help students achieve proficiency, we must support the teacher in analyzing the data and making the necessary adjustments.

Balance between of and for learning assessments:  There needs to be a balance between formative and summative assessments.  Think about the teachers on your campus.  What percentage of the instructional time is dedicated to formative assessment?  What percentage of the instructional time is dedicated to summative assessment?  In a NEU school, both assessments are equally important.

Scheduling, benchmarks, and continuous improvement are crucial:  When you get your data…what do you do about it?  Is it used as a learning opportunity to better understand what your students know and don’t know? Everything we do should be about providing opportunities for continuous improvement.  Do we have systems in place that allow for such a process?

You may have started to hear the new acronym MTSS (Multi-tiered System of Support) last year. It is an acronym we will be using at all school sites and district wide.

WATCH THIS VIDEO TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MTSS 

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grade teams for having data ready and ready to discuss DATA!!!

Play: 8^th graders are ready to play, learn, and have fun at Yosemite all week!

Choose your attitude: Your attitude can decide how you will feel for the rest of the day- EVERY DAY!!

Make Their Day:   THANK you Julie and Sarah for making my day!