Standard 4: Assessment

Refocus on Assessment

There has been several professional learning opportunities for the Stronge Teaching Standards this year, so I'd like to come back around to one of the standards that will be on the forefront of your thinking this week: Standard 4: Assessment. Stronge's work with teaching standards provides a solid foundation in best practices that will lead to high levels of student growth and achievement.  Let's look at a couple of opportunities this week to refocus on assessment.

Standard 4: Assessment

The teacher systematically gathers, analyzes, and uses relevant data to measure student progress, guide instructional content and delivery methods, 

and provide timely feedback to students, parents, and stakeholders.

Monday's Day 6/PLC

This is a purposeful opportunity for you to share the F&P of a student with your colleague, one that you're not sure how to report progress on.  Use this time to calibrate your thinking on how to most effectively measure student progress, as well as to determine how to best provide feedback about the student's progress with parents.

Collaboratively looking at a student's F&P will also provide an opportunity for a discussion about what to do next.  You have been working with these students all year, trying to identify what is going to work - use the professional knowledge of your partner to brainstorm next steps for instructional delivery methods.

Report Cards:

This is our second opportunity to provide feedback about the student's progress with parents.  You have been gathering, analyzing, and using relevant data to measure student progress, and now are providing feedback about this progress with parents.  Much of this was probably already shared at conferences, but our progress reports give parents a full picture of their child's progress in school.

This week will be busy, with the anticipation of spring break, getting things organized for report cards, students missing school... but in the few moments of calm, use your natural assessment abilities to look at where students were in the fall, where they are now, and where you want them to be by year's end.  And above all, use your assessment data to celebrate the growth you've seen so far this year!

Innovation

A Night Under the Stars

What an amazing Houlton community event that occurred this past Friday night - A Night Under the Stars!  We had about 75 people, young and old, show up for our first annual Night Under the Stars - and the excitement was everywhere!  We had the two large telescopes from the Minnesota Astronomical Society, as well as 6-8 other telescopes that families had brought with them.  We saw the moon, Jupiter and its moons, and the International Space Center even fly by!  The Girl Scouts served hot chocolate and sold their cookies - it was community at its best.

Thank you to the 3rd grade team thinking outside the box, and planning an event that not only instructionally aligned to their Space IUI, but provided an opportunity to families to come together to learn and have fun.  This is innovation at its best.

I encourage all of you to think outside the box.  Be creative, be innovative.  What we need to teach remains the same - but how you go about it is the  exciting part of education. How can we best reach our students, and engage them in learning?  Identify what you want students to learn - and then plan a unique way to teach it.  This is where your creative strengths are invaluable!!

Bring me your ideas...  I'd love to support your innovative spirit!
Sue

Balance

During the past week, I have sensed a little more work-stress than I have thus far... Could it be the inside days? Upcoming conferences? Mid-winter blues?  Remind yourself to breathe... we will get through this!!  These next two weeks are busy.  Be sure to give yourself permission to breathe, and remind yourself of the importance of balance between home and work.

Several years ago, a study looked at professionals from around the world on how they balance their personal and professional lives. As you will see from the results of his survey, the responses provide some food for thought. 

Define Yourself by Something Other than Work:

• Have hobbies or do volunteering
• Always take at least one day off a week from schoolwork

Be Realistic:

• Expect to have periods when you are not productive-you need down time. 
• Avoid trying to meet unrealistic deadlines; prioritize deadlines that matter and try to work on them early

Family:

• Place family first is a common response, some indicated they didn't do this and have regrets
• Have a set time of going to and leaving work every day

Professional Lives:

• Copy what others do to work efficiently
• Let things slide that don't really matter; don't be a perfectionist about your own work or that of your students
• Learn to say no (less time is spent on guilt than on doing the project if you said yes)

Best Advice:

Personal life is the energy supply for professional life; about three times every day I need to sit back and really appreciate something in my life.

Turn and Talk

Dear Staff;

At last week’s staff meeting, Lori talked about Turn and Talks and how they support several of our priority standards. Below is a condensed version of what she shared, for your convenience.  I’d like to see an increase in quality, frequency and length.  Please let Lori know if you’d like planning assistance, or if you’d like to work with her on tracking (either Lori’s teaching, or your own classroom).  Just let her know!

Thanks!

Sue

Turn and Talks

• Assign partners (A/B)
• Seating arrangement with aisle
• Determine Gradual Release
• Think Aloud- Compare your thinking to mine
• Think Together- I heard _____ say…  
• Guided Practice- Share your thinking
• Determine PURPOSE (can be more than one)
• Engage and Motivate: provides opportunity to process
• Trust and Teamwork, Routines, Engage: kids are more comfortable and likely to participate; rehearsal before going public
• Assessment: Review (what do they recall from previous teaching) and Preview (what do they already know about upcoming instruction)

3 Factors for Turn and Talk
QUALITY	1 Students answer question with “yes/no/one word”	2 Students answer question using sentence (s)	3 Student answer question by defending/explaining thinking
FREQUENCY	Every 1-2 minutes
LENGTH	not too long to respond (not everyone will finish their thinking)	give thinking stems for students with processing issues	how long with the same partner