Updating Instructional Levels

Updating Instructional Levels
September 27th PLC Conversation

The Elementary Assessment Calendar asks you to Update Guided Reading Instructional Levels using Spring Score and/or Running Record/Comprehension Interview in Skyward (by Oct. 12th). What does this mean?

In an effort to lessen the assessment load at the beginning of the school year, the district recommendation is to use the spring scores to get started. As we approach the 6-week mark in October, teachers are asked to update the students' instructional levels - without doing an F&P - so we can make informed decisions about our groups.

Why do we want to update instructional levels? This helps us to know where our students are at, and how to best design our instruction to meet their reading needs. There is a fine balance between building a confident reader, and stretching his/her reading ability. Through the use of formative assessments (i.e. running records and comprehension tools), we can make sure we keep our students in their Zone of Proximal Development - keeping instruction not too hard/frustrating, but hard enough to keep students progressing.

Here are some suggestions on how this might look:
(and what you will dig into at your PLC on Tuesday, Sept. 27th, with Lori B.)
1. Identify areas of concern or question for your students, through guided reading and/or conferring.
2. If accuracy is a question, complete a Running Record 100 word until the student falls below 95% accuracy. Then, do an error analysis and identify the types of errors the students are making, and adjust instruction accordingly.
3. If comprehension is a concern, start with the F & P Bookmark during guided reading/conferring, or complete the Keene Comprehension Conversation or Comprehension Interview Aligned to F&P. I'd suggest using a guided reading book (or a book you are familiar with) so you can ask deeper questions. This will provide insight into your students' level of comprehension.
4. Using a Running Record and/or comprehension check (F&P Bookmark/Comprehension Conversation, or Comprehension Interview) will provide information to help determine the student's instructional level.
5. Optional: You may want to record your students' levels, using either Running Record Student recording sheet and/or Running Record Class summary sheet.
6.  When finished, update students' instructional levels in Skyward, by October 3rd, so we can use the data for our grade level roll throughs on Oct. 4th.  See Sue with any questions.

FAQ
What if a student is considerably lower than last spring's data says?
For the most part, students will be close to their spring level.  I caution moving students backwards, as they were successful at that level at one point.  However, if the student is performing several levels below, instruct him/her where they are to avoid frustration, but make an effort to get them back up to speed.  Hopefully, this isn't very many students. Remember - we want to keep students in their Zone of Proximal Development, so Guided Reading should require them to work.
Can I determine my students' instructional level through guided reading?
Guided Reading provides an excellent opportunity for teachers to determine students' "performance" at a given level.  Most often, it becomes clear which students are above or below the level of the book being used, in accuracy and/or comprehension.

Additional Resources:

Professional Learning Opportunities for Running Records/Comprehension Interviews (Hudson School District Professional Development)

3-5 Presentation

K-2 Presentation

Day 6 PLC: 9-19-16

This week's Day 6 PLC: 9-19-16

Focus on:

1.  Familiarity with grade level Reading Curriculum Map
2.  Familiarity with Criteria for Success document
3.  Begin to identify upcoming Learning Focus

1.  Reading Curriculum Map 
Start with your grade level's Reading Curriculum Map by going to the Hudson Elementary School Professional Learning Google site and finding your grade level on the Essential Document tab
(2nd grade example:  Essential Documents tab - 2nd Grade link - 2nd Grade Literacy folder - !Literacy Curriculum Documents folder - 2nd Grade Reading Curriculum Map document)

2.  Monthly Overview
Focus on the September and October guides, looking through the Making Meaning unit, Learning Objectives, Assessments, and Learning Target Suggestions.  Explore the links provided.

3.  K-5 Criteria for Success
In the !Literacy Curriculum Documents folder, find the document K-5 Comprehension Strategies Criteria for Success - Hudson which identifies the vertical growth for the comprehension strategies across the grades. Begin with your grade level, and then look at the grades above and below you to identify what is specific to your grade level.

4.  Learning Focus
Start thinking about a Learning Objective (second column) from the September/October maps that could be the Learning Focus for your grade level.  (2nd grade example:  Monitoring Comprehension)
Consider these criteria as you decide:

• Endurance: Do students need to retain the skills/strategies/knowledge to be successful in future learning?
• Relevance: Is this skill/strategy something your classroom data has identified as an area of need?
• Leverage: Is this skill or knowledge applicable to many academic disciplines?
• Readiness for the next level of learning: Is this skill or knowledge preparing students for success in the next grade or course?

5.  Houlton PLC Process: 

Select a Learning Focus and begin the planning process with your team, using the Process Protocol.  Share your work on the September PLC Product document.  Fill in any questions for Sue and/or Lori on the bottom of this PLC Product document.  You may or may not have anything to link to this document this week - which is fine!

6.  Repeat for the following month(s).  Contact Sue with any questions!  All of these links can be found on the Blog, on the PLC tab.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence

At this week's staff meeting, we are going to be talking about our individual Emotional Intelligence (please complete these questions if you haven't done so already: Emotional Intelligence).  In the book, The Art of Coaching Teams, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as the knowledge and awareness we have about our feelings.

Emotional Intelligence has four components:

• Self-Awareness - recognizing your own feelings and the impact of your emotions.  It's about knowing your strengths, and your limits, and how these impact the things you are involved in.
• Self-Management - the ability to make conscious decisions about how to respond to emotions, including self-control, transparency, adaptability, and initiative; anticipating the consequences of your choices and responding in a way that aligns to your values
• Social Awareness - the ability to recognize and understand the feelings that other people experience, to include empathy, understanding perspectives, and organizational awareness.
• Social Management - the ability to manage conflicts with others, to form healthy relationships, to collaborate, to offer feedback and guidance, and to motive and inspire others.

So why are we talking about Emotional Intelligence?

The Art of Coaching Teams goes on to say, "You can't manage your emotions effectively if you're not aware of when you're experiencing them, and it's challenging to navigate other relationships when you aren't clear about and managing your own feelings."

Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of successful job performance and that 90% of top performers are high in emotional intelligence.  So we are going to spend a little bit of time on Tuesday getting to know ourselves a little better, as well of developing an understanding of how "who we are" impacts "what we do".  My hope is that our conversations will be about recognizing our emotions when they arise and making choices about how to respond.

Emotional intelligence allows us to act in integrity, to experience joy, to build strong connections with others, and to create communities of resilient educators and children.  Seems like kind of a big deal!

Please complete the Emotional Intelligence checklist before the staff meeting, 

so we can get to know each other even better!

Collaborative Work for Kids

The focus of our first week back was on building a system that will best meet the needs of our students.  Todd Whitaker talked about going the extra mile for kids, and we spent most of our staff time talking about collaborating with your colleagues to develop the best plan for helping kids succeed.  Now it's time to put it all together, and develop your vision for the year.

It is essential for you to spend time up front to build relationships with your students.  Get to know them - identify their strengths, start to devise a plan to help develop their areas of growth.  Let students know that you are their number one cheerleader, and that you want nothing more than for them to love and excel at school.

Work closely with your teaching partner, and the other people and resources we have in our building. Collectively, we are stronger.  Debate, synthesize, consider perspectives, contribute, listen, and recognize the many gifts we have in this building.  We are blessed in so many ways.

As we begin week 2, I am excited for the things that this year will bring.  I appreciate your reflective and professional approach to the work you do.  Together, we are amazing!

With thanks, 

Sue