Teaching Tools

Over the last week or two, you have been given lots of things to think about when it comes to your work in the classroom.  As you plan your path ahead, here are some things to think about...

WHAT to teach...
Hudson's SMART Goal is focused on reading.  At the elementary level, reading skills and strategies are aspects of just about everything we teach.  When you think about your instructional goals for the year, it will be helpful to focus on reading, as it will be the district priority for professional development, Day 6 collaboration, and the development of your SLO.  Houlton's SMART Goal Action Plan breaks down our reading work into three areas: achievement (grade level expectations), growth (for all students), and closing the gap (identified students who aren't reaching their expected growth).

HOW to teach it...
Our Educator Effectiveness Priority Standards are Instructional Delivery, Assessment, and Learning Environment.  Most recently, we dug into Standard 3: Instructional Delivery.  Think back on the conversations you had in your table groups, and reflect on some of the ideas you considered implementing.  An area we are going to dig into as a school is engagement.  What can you do to engage your students, in both whole and small group instruction?

SUPPORT for teaching...
As mentioned above, the district is supporting the SMART Goal and the Teacher/Specialist Priority Standards through staff development, district-wide collaborative lesson planning, and time set aside to dig into these areas.  In addition, our Instructional Coach is here to offer support in instructional areas you are focusing on.  Most recently, Lori introduced Student Centered Coaching, which puts the needs of the students front and center.  Through this approach, coaching is focused on specific goals for student learning, and Lori can work with you on a plan that will have an impact on increased student achievement.

Seven Core Practices for Student-Centered Coaching

1. Setting student learning goals for coaching cycles
2. Creating learning targets for coaching cycles
3. Using student evidence to co-plan instruction
4. Organizing coaching through coaching cycles
5. Co-teaching with a focus on effective teaching practice
6. Measuring the impact of coaching on student and teacher learning
7. Partnering with the school leader

Please let me know how your work can be supported. 

There's a lot of pieces to put together, 

and I'm here to help!

Have a great week!

Sue

OPTIONAL: First Month Feedback survey

September 24  Late Start 

Standard 3: Instructional Delivery

The district has identified three priority standards, which we will be digging into in the upcoming Late Start/Professional Learning days. This Thursday is our first Late Start, and we'll be looking at Standard 3. 

The HSD Vision for Thursday is:

1. Hudson educators know, understand and practice at the effective and distinguished levels in each of the Stronge Educator Standards.
2. More importantly, Hudson educators have a strong sense of efficacy about their profession, leading to increased student learning.

Below are some things to look at to get your thinking started... Instructional Delivery is something you do each and every day - how can we fine tune it to make sure it includes high impact strategies that meet the needs of our students?

Here is the presentation for Thursday from 8-10:30.

Bring a device and your log in for My Learning Plan

Looking forward to our learning together on Thursday!

Sue

Teacher Standard 3 ~ Instructional Delivery (Priority Standard)

The teacher effectively engages students in learning by using a variety of instructional strategies in order to meet individual learning needs.

Criteria	Distinguished	Effective	Developing/Needs Improvement	Unacceptable
	In addition to meeting the effective standard, the teacher optimizes students’ opportunities to learn by engaging them in higher-order thinking and/or enhanced performance skills	The teacher effectively engages students in learning by using a variety of instructional strategies in order to meet individual learning needs.	The teacher inconsistently uses effective instructional strategies that meet individual learning needs.	The teacher does not use effective instructional strategy or inadequately addresses students’ individual learning needs.

• How do I stay involved with learning targets throughout the entire lesson?
• How do I connect the real world with content?
• How do I incorporate higher-order thinking strategies (metaphors/analogies,compare/contrast)?
• How do I maximize higher-order questioning?
• How do I integrate standards with other content?
• How do I engage students through collaboration and active learning?
• How do I involve every learner in intellectual work?
• How do I create open-ended problem solving/inquiry?
• How do I facilitate learning?
• How do I incorporate students’ creativity and design?
• How do I use instructional approaches and techniques that are based on student choices, interests, passions, and ambitions?

Reflective Questions of Teaching Standards

Specialist Standard 5: Program Delivery (Priority Standard)

Distinguished	Effective	Developing/Needs Improvement	Unacceptable
The educational specialist uses professional knowledge in an innovative manner to provide a variety of exceptional services for the targeted learning community.	The educational specialist uses professional knowledge to implement a variety of services for the targeted learning community.	The educational specialist attempts to use professional knowledge to implement services, but efforts are inconsistent in addressing the needs of the targeted learning community.	The educational specialist rarely uses professional knowledge to implement services to meet the needs of the targeted learning community.

• How do I select, develop, organize, implement, and support curriculum for specific learner and/or program needs?

• How do I use technology, materials, and other resources to deliver services and programs?
• What varied and personalized strategies or approaches am I using to meet the needs of the learning community?
• What specific examples demonstrate my collaboration with instructional staff to design, implement, or support services for specific learner or program needs?
• What methods do I use to consult with administration, parents, community agencies, school, and support personnel to resolve issues and/or communicate progress related to the provision of programs/services to individual learners?
• How do the services I provide  support mastery of state and national standards?
• How do I interpret policies, programs, and procedures related to the delivery of services to learners?
  

  
  

  
  

  Reflective Questions of Specialist Standards

Bucket Fillers

Fill a Bucket

Our mission is to create a world of bucket fillers. A person can be a bucket filler or a bucket dipper. The way to fill a bucket is to be kind to someone.

For our Students...

Our students come to school each day with a variety of experiences - some bucket filling, some bucket dipping.  As an educator, our hope and dream is to be the bucket filler for all of our students.  There are days that it is difficult, when our patience is being tried, but try to remember that positive teacher-student relationships can enable students to feel safe and secure in their learning environments, and provide the scaffolding for important social and academic skills (Baker, et al, 2008).  In addition, teacher-student relationships can have a significant effect on the peer acceptance of students. Teachers' interactions with students can affect classmates' perceptions of individual students, in turn affecting which students classmates choose to interact with and accept (Hughes, et al, 1999). So the bucket filling you do will have a huge impact on the social and academic success of your students.

For each other...
The Houlton staff family knows each other so well that you all just seem to know what each other needs. The bucket filling to each other is endless. I have seen you do things such as adjusting a recess schedule to accommodate others, cleaning tables for a colleague, writing positive notes in the staff lounge, helping each other with challenging students and/or transitions, being flexible with intervention times - compromising to help meet the needs of a teacher or team, or to best meet the needs of the entire school.  These all showcase our way of doing something for others - filling a bucket by being kind to someone.  Your actions serve as an inspiration to adults, and build you as a role model to our children.

This bucket filling for each other not only contributes to our colleagues, but it has a positive impact on our students.  It is no surprise that students of high-ability teachers outperform those of low-ability teachers, but studies have also found that gains are highest among students whose teachers were both high-ability AND have stronger ties with their colleagues.  Research has found that even lower-ability teachers can perform as well as teachers of average ability if they have strong relationships with coworkers.  When teachers trust one another, they are more likely to reveal their weaknesses, and perhaps even address them, using the support and guidance of their peers (Washington Post, September 10, 2014). 

So continue your work as Bucket Fillers.  Collaborate, compromise, be playful, work hard, make student success a priority - and continue to support your students, and each other, in this exhausting yet invigorating journey called education.

Bucket Filling Song (if you want to introduce this concept to your students)

Find Your Marigold

As we were sitting on the cabin deck this weekend, my niece (an elementary speech pathologist) told me about an article she had seen for first year teachers.  I found it and read it - and realized that it was helpful not only to new teachers, but to any teacher - especially these first few weeks of school.

Advice is available everywhere you look, and some of it is very good. Still, with everything you have to do right now, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. And the fact is, a lot of those tips won’t work very well if you fail to follow this one essential rule: Surround yourself with good people. By finding the positive, supportive, energetic teachers in your school and sticking close to them, you can improve your job satisfaction more than with any other strategy. And your chances of excelling in this field will skyrocket. Just like a young seedling growing in a garden, thriving in your first year depends largely on who you plant yourself next to.

The Marigold Effect

Many experienced gardeners follow a concept called companion planting: placing certain vegetables and plants near each other to improve growth for one or both plants. Among companion plants, the marigold is one of the best: It protects a wide variety of plants from pests and harmful weeds. If you plant a marigold beside most any garden vegetable, that vegetable will grow big and strong and healthy, protected and encouraged by its marigold.

Marigolds exist in our schools as well – encouraging, supporting and nurturing. If you can find at least one marigold in your school and stay close to them, you will grow. Find more than one and you will positively thrive. If you feel good around this person, chances are they have some marigold qualities.  Once you’ve identified your marigolds, make an effort to spend time with them. Having a hard day? Go to your marigolds. Not understanding how to do something? Go to your marigolds. Confused by something the principal said at the faculty meeting? Marigolds. Make the effort. Find your marigolds and stick close to them. Grow big and strong.

These first few weeks are hard.  We often forget the hard work that goes into building relationships, establishing routines, and beginning to build opportunities for student success.   Whether you search out the marigold… or you are the marigold… may we find Houlton to be an environment that is 

encouraging, supporting, and nurturing.