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Administrators' Collaborative Meets

School and district administrators met today to collaborate and learn together. Group members are reading Cultures Built to Last, Systemic PLCs at Work by DuFour and Fullan. Objectives of the meetings include:

Create a collaborative culture in schools with a focus on learning Understand why systemwide reform is most effective Review and revise district Strategic Plan and Professional Development Plan Share ways we are facilitating professional growth Develop procedures and a protocol for walkthroughs Share walkthrough updates and data from each school Determine next steps

The learning target for today's meeting was:

1. I can articulate with clarity the specific practices and conditions we should expect to see in every school.  

 Reading and discussion centered around the exact conditions one should expect to see in every school.  The non-negotiables include:
1. Collaboration.  Educators will not work in isolation.
2. The work of the team will include establishing and implementing a guaranteed and viable curriculum, unit by unit.
3. The work of the team will include monitoring student learning through a balanced assessment that includes formative assessments.
4. The work of the team will include using evidence of student learning to meet the needs of individual students.
5. A coordinated plan to provide additional time and support for students who struggle
6. Schools must interact with other schools.

Each school shared updates on the data they are collecting, how they share the data, and examples of data collection tools.

Educational Leadership  May 2014 | Volume 71 | Number 8   Professional Learning: Reimagined Pages 36-40

Edcamp: Teachers Take Back Professional Development

Kristen Swanson

What Does an Edcamp Look Like?

It's difficult to capture the Edcamp experience. That's because a "typical" day of learning at an Edcamp doesn't really exist. Each Edcamp is based on the needs of its participants.

When you arrive at the location, there is no preset schedule of sessions or presenters. Instead, there's just a big, blank sheet of paper with a grid on it.

From that blank slate, everyone builds the schedule together. As people mingle and chat over coffee and doughnuts, they put up potential discussion topics on a board. The entire process is positive and organic. Occasionally, people who don't even know each other realize they have similar interests and end up running a session together. Other folks come with an idea, throw it out to the group, revise it, and post it with a refined focus. Because anyone who attends an Edcamp event can be a presenter, it's an empowering experience for everyone.

Sessions at Edcamp are diverse and eclectic because they grow out of the interests and expertise of the participants. However, the participants themselves also actively control the quality of each session via the "law of two feet" (Boule, 2011), which states that participants in an Edcamp session can leave the room at any time for any reason. Because leaving midstream is actually encouraged, sessions with weak content or too much presenter talk often end up sparsely populated, whereas high-quality, interactive sessions are often bursting at the seams.

Most sessions are informal conversations or demonstrations. It's common for many different people to take the floor during an event to share an idea, show student work on their laptop, or ask questions. In short, the experience is closer to a vibrant summer camp than a routine day of conference sessions.

The Edcamp day ends with a "Smackdown," during which any willing participant takes the floor for 30 seconds to share an idea, tool, or tip with the crowd. There's typically music, laughing, and cheering as folks try to condense their learning into such a small time frame.

Paine Primary teachers jumped in and very successfully implemented a mini EdCamp Monday afternoon.  Mrs. Schmitt began the professional learning by having the staff read a short article to introduce the concept of Edcamp to staff members who were unfamiliar with the concept.  After a few questions, teachers signed up for a session, and the learning, collaboration, sharing, and talk began!  

Building Reading Stamina

I received the following email and pictures from second grade teacher, Kay Shumate.  Thank you, Kay, for purposefully developing readers in your classroom!

Mrs. Bruno, 

Thank you for the article in your blog about reading stamina!  I couldn’t agree more.  I love when Mrs. Brockman calls my students “frequent flyers” in the library because they are checking out so many books.  They love to read in their favorite spot in our room when they have completed their work. (see attached pictures)  I find that AR is a great tool to use to help my students chose the “just right book” on their level.  In 2nd grade, I get to see many of my friends move from picture books to more complex texts such as expository nonfiction and chapter books.  They get to see that they indeed have the stamina to read, comprehend and remember longer story lines and fact packed books. 

Kay Shumate

Preparations Underway for ACT Aspire Testing

Administrators and counselors met Friday to finalize details regarding ACT Aspire testing that will occur in April.  Schools will use a combination of wired computer labs and Chromebook sets.  All technology staff will be onsite during testing.  The testing schedule will be:

April 11-15     Hewitt-Trussville High School (10th Graders Only)
April 18-22     Hewitt-Trussville Middle School  (All Students)
April 25-29     Paine Elementary (3rd-5th Graders)

Students at Paine Intermediate are getting practice by taking ACT Aspire Interim Assessments on their Chromebooks this week.  

A Silver Bullet? Maybe.

Please read the following article by Laura Robb.  She has eloquently and clearly stated what I have been preaching for 20 years.  There is no silver bullet, but if we really put these things in place, I am certain students would succeed at rates we have never, ever seen before.  We simply are not expecting enough reading, and we aren't putting things in place in every classroom to make this volume of reading happen.  I do believe that we have classrooms where teachers set these expectations and provide the support necessary to make it happen.  But this expectation needs to be in every classroom in every grade, K-12.  Try to imagine what it would look like if every TCS student read 40 or more books every year.  Try to imagine what it would look like if we developed this reading habit in all of our children and they all liked to read.  It would change lives.

Ten Surefire Tips for Maximizing Student Reading Stamina

Laura Robb January 7th, 2016

I have just invited eighth grade students to select books and find comfortable places to read them. During the first ten minutes, Adam does everything in his power to avoid my request.  He goes to the bathroom, gets water from the fountain in the hall twice, sharpens a pencil, considers three books, chooses none, and instead, hastily leafs through a magazine. Clearly, Adam has a lot of energy. He also has the ability to concentrate while playing sports and talking to friends. But invite Adam to read, and he becomes exhausted after ten minutes, often complaining that his eyes and head hurt. These are all common symptoms of students who lack the stamina to read for extended periods of time.

Reading stamina is having the energy and the concentration to focus on reading for at least thirty continuous minutes a day. For students who lack stamina, reading is a frustrating and unpleasant experience, so they tend to read as little as possible. However, today, reading is a life skill needed for college and career success, as well as for the joy that a personal reading life brings. The good news is that you can help students boost their reading stamina at school and at home by using the ten tips that follow.

Have students start small. Have them gradually build stamina by reading self-selected books in five-minute intervals--then ten minutes, and so on, until thy reach one hour. Remind students that developing reading stamina is like training to run a mile in less than eight minutes. Both require regular practice to increase energy and concentration.

The Ten Surefire Tips for Maximizing Reading Stamina

1. Value Independent Reading. At school, this means setting aside twenty to thirty minutes at least three times a week for students to read self-selected books. Teach students how to choose books that they can read with ease by showing them the two- finger method.  Students read a page in a text. If they encounter more than two words they can’t pronounce or whose meaning they can’t figure out from context, they save the book for another time and choose a different one. Teaching students to choose books that are accessible and enjoyable will also motivate them to read at home.

2. Use Classroom and School Libraries.  Students of all ages need access to books. Seventh-grader, Lucas, put it this way, “ Having a classroom library means I can find a book when I need one right away.”  Continually work on enlarging your classroom library: Shoot for 1,000 to 2,000 books at a variety of levels, on a range of topics, and in multiple genres.

Schedule a weekly school library visit for your students—and be sure to accompany them so you and your librarian can suggest great reads.  If your classroom library is still a work-in-progress, encourage students to check out several books whenever they visit the school library and store them in their class cubbies or lockers, so they have enough to read until their next library visit.

3. Read Self-Selected Books. Educators such as Donalyn Miller, Richard Allington, and Steve Krashen agree that choosing their own books is the key for students to become motivated to read at home and in school.

4. Diminish Distractions.  Reading is social. There will be times that a student wants to share something he or she just read which is terrific because it shows engagement with the text. But it can also be distracting to classmates. So encourage students to use a soft voice while sharing with a classmate. Keep the door to your room closed to diminish noise from the hallway.  The fewer distractions, the easier it will be for students to concentrate.

5. Create Comfortable Reading Spaces. Think about the places at home where you read. Most likely it’s in a comfortable chair, on an oversized pillow, or in bed. Visit a carpet store and ask the owner to donate small remnants that students can sit on while reading. Carpet remnants are easy to store; they can be stacked in a corner or closet. Avoid requiring students to read for pleasure sitting at their desks. Instead, invite them to find a comfortable space in the classroom. Some will sit under desks or lean against the wall. If you have a limited number of beanbag chairs and large pillows, create a rotation system so students take turns reading on them.

6. Advertise Great Reads. Students respect and value suggestions from peers. So set up systems that foster sharing book suggestions. Here are three:

Teach students to book talk and have them present a talk each month. The benefit of consistent book talking is huge! Over ten months, a class of twenty five students will hear about 250 books from peers.
Set up a graffiti wall by posting a large piece of construction paper on a bulletin board.  After completing a book that they enjoyed, have students write the title and author on the graffiti wall and one sentence explaining why they enjoyed the book so much. Then, a few times a week give students several minutes to browse the graffiti wall to discover peer-recommended books.
Teach students to give a 60 second elevator talk about a book they enjoyed reading. Their goal is to convince peers to read it. When a student’s desire to present an elevator talk strikes, schedule it during that class or as soon as possible.

7.  Set Monthly Goals. Share with students the research findings by Donalyn Miller and Steve Krashen--that reading 40 books a year independently can ramp up their reading achievement by enlarging their vocabularies and expanding their knowledge base. Negotiate monthly reading goals with students to help them meet the 40-book challenge. Books of 500 or more pages should count as two to three books. Students who can read books of that length presumably have stamina, and you want to encourage them to continue reading long and complex texts.

8. Take Brain Breaks. A seventh grade class lobbied their teacher for “brain breaks”-- time to chat and stretch after they had been reading deeply for thirty minutes. Brain breaks offer students a few minutes of down time to relax, re-energize, and yes, gain stamina. Tell students that when they plan to read at home for an hour or more, they should take a break, walk around, have a snack, and then return to reading.

9. Hold Small-Group Discussions. Organize into small groups students who have completed different books that are in the same genre. Students discuss such things as literary elements in fiction or text features and structures in informational materials. As such, they not only expose their peers to a range of reading materials within a genre, but they also tend to become better at clarifying their thoughts and become more reflective when they share their thinking.

10. Have Students Self-Evaluate. Four times throughout the year ask students to review their reading logs and reflect on the number of books they completed, favorite books, books they reread, and the amount of reading they completed at home. Then, ask students to use their self-evaluations to set reasonable independent reading goals which might include: extend reading time at home by fifteen minutes, read longer books, try a different genre, add a book to the graffiti wall, or read other books by a favorite author.

You can also give students a checklist to measure their reading stamina as part of their self-evaluation.

My Reading Stamina Cheklist

Name_______________________________Date___________________

Checklist for Evaluating Reading Stamina: check items that apply to your reading.

____I quickly found a comfortable space to read.

____I concentrated on my reading and met my goal of _____minutes.

____I read for_____minutes beyond my goal.

____I can read and concentrated for all of silent reading time.

____I read without jumping up, getting a drink, or moving around the room.

____If I was distracted, I worked hard to avoid distracting others.

____I recognized I was distracted and was able to return to my reading on my own.

____I have a reading stamina goal and use it to increase the amount of time I read deeply at school and at home.  [end checklist]

Final Thoughts

Showing students how to self-select “just right’ books is a giant step toward improving students’ reading stamina. Choice creates engagement and engagement nurtures students’ desire to read. As they improve their stamina, commend students. Celebrate small but consistent improvement as well as big improvement. Keep in mind that all students will not improve their reading stamina at the same rate. In fact, some students might need more than one school year to be able to read for long periods of time. That’s okay. Coordinate your efforts with other teachers, celebrate progress, and give students the gift of time.

Learn more about building students' reading stamina in Laura Robb’s book, Unlocking Complex Texts.

http://edublog.scholastic.com/post/ten-surefire-tips-maximizing-student-reading-stamina

TCS Hosts 1st EdCamp for Classified Staff

TCS hosted its first EdCamp for classified employees, January 5.  Facilitators were April Chamberlain, Stephanie Hawthorne, and Diane Byars.  

Quotable Quote

“I will follow the upward road today; I will keep my face to the light. I will think high thoughts as I go my way; I will do what I know is right. I will look for the flowers by the side of the road; I will laugh and love and be strong. I will try to lighten another’s load this day as I fare along.”

—Mary S. Edgar (1889-1973)
Author

What a great quote!  I had to share.  I hope you have a wonderful day and travel that upward road.

Helping Students Set Goals

Scholastic has posted a really good article about helping students set SMART goals.  Click here to read the entire article by Genia Connell.  

Strategic Teaching Professional Learning

TCS middle and high school teachers participated in professional learning this morning on strategic teaching.  Seven instructors from the Alabama Reading Initiative facilitated sessions that included groups of teachers from both schools and all subject areas.  In addition to learning about the components of strategic teaching, the group gained understanding of the conceptual framework for learning and adolescent brain research.  Middle and high school teachers will have the opportunity to learn more this summer about planning for strategic lessons.  ARI will offer two days of training in June.  

Building a Culture of Learning in TCS

Teachers may or may not know that throughout the year, all administrators in our district are invited to participate in the TCS Administrators' Collaborative.  The group typically meets at HTHS from 8:30 until about 11:00 four or five times throughout the year.  This is the second year the group has been meeting.  The goal of the collaborative is to learn with and from one another.

Objectives of the Collaborative Meetings for 15-16:

• Read and discuss Cultures Built to Last, Systemic PLCs at Work
• Create a collaborative culture in schools with a focus on learning
• Understand why systemwide reform is most effective
• Review and revise district Strategic Plan and Professional Development Plan
• Share ways we are facilitating professional growth
• Develop procedures and a protocol for walkthroughs
• Share walkthrough updates and data from each school
• Determine next steps

On December 2, using the Michael Fullan and Richard DuFour book, Cultures Built to Last, Systemic PLCs at Work, the group did a "deep dive" into Professional Learning Communities, discussing why PLCs are the best hope for sustained and substantive school improvement.  The administrators examined the six characteristics of high-performing PLCs as described by Rick DuFour and his colleagues:

1. Shared mission, vision, values, and goals which are all focused on student learning.

2. A collaborative culture with a focus on learning

3. Collaborative inquiry into best practice and current reality

4. Action orientation or "learning by doing"

5. A commitment to continuous improvement

6. A results orientation

As a culminating activity, the participants wrote 10 to 15 word gists to summarize Professional Learning Communities:

• A community of learners who value collaboration, results, shared values, all with the purpose of improving student learning
• A PLC is a team with a growth mindset and shared purpose and vision focused on learning.
• Participatory, learning focused, ongoing, growth mindset, collegiality, communicative
• A community of learners committed to continuous growth for students and self
• Collaborative efforts to inspire student achievement through data and discourse
• Learning together to improve student achievement
• Collaborative, shared mindset, continuous improvement, process (not a program)
• Collective group of learners working on common goals
• People, practices, processes, student learning, reflection
• Working together in all capacities to continuously improve student and teacher learning
• Together resolute improvement
• Organization that focuses on teacher and student learning
• Collaborative learning, culture focused on student achievement and growth, shared vision, continuous
• Collaborative culture of shared learning, mission, vision with commitment to continuous learning
• Everyone learning together intentionally

The TCS Administrative Collaborative will meet again January 27.