Dear Karin, thank you for your extraordinary patience!!!
Ronnie Feder, Principal
P.S.101Q
(718) 268-7230
Fax: (718) 575-3571
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
so, here is my first attempt at blogging. wish me luck because i have no idea what will happen when i press 'send'
i know a lot of us started reading 'text savvy.' the quote i am posting is right out of the acknowledgements section. i just love it! i have this quote hanging in my office and several teachers have displayed in their classrooms as well.
We thank the people in our lives who have watched us grow up and have been our biggest fans for quite some time...we acknowledge the students who have watched us grow up as teachers in their classrooms. It was their thinking, their challenges, and their successes that probed our thinking and changed our instruction. Every student makes an impact on us as teachers and pushes us to grow as learners. So thank you to the students in our past, [present] and students in our future, for your contributions to our growth as practitioners.
- Text Savvy
- by Sarah Daunis & Maria Cassiani Iams
*danielle
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Notes from Our Study Group
Dear Colleagues,
Attached please find my notes from our stimulating and
informative study group meeting this morning. I am thankful to all of
you who contributed your ideas and shared your best practices so that
our network can benefit from our shared wisdom. We missed those of
you who couldn't join us and hope these notes will keep you informed
about the assessment work. Please mark your calendars for May 7th for
our next meeting at PS 21 from 8:00 to 11:30. Take good care and hope
to read your comments on our blog.
Attached please find my notes from our stimulating and
informative study group meeting this morning. I am thankful to all of
you who contributed your ideas and shared your best practices so that
our network can benefit from our shared wisdom. We missed those of
you who couldn't join us and hope these notes will keep you informed
about the assessment work. Please mark your calendars for May 7th for
our next meeting at PS 21 from 8:00 to 11:30. Take good care and hope
to read your comments on our blog.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Agenda for March 11th Study Group
Dear Colleagues,
Attached please find the agenda for our study group meeting on March 11th at PS 188.
A big shout out to Janet for hosting our meeting and for arranging classroom visits and a conversation with her teachers and to Karin Kelly for helping us understand how to make the most of the blog she has created for us.
I am looking forward to seeing each of you and continuing our study of the narrative continuum. Please bring with you evidence of implementation, stories of successes and challenges, and things you have learned since our last meeting.
Take good care- see you on Tuesday.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Sharing of Best Practices
December 20, 2007
Strategies for Continuing the Focus on Reading Logs
An evening ELA workshop for parents was held to help parents understand the importance of literacy in school and at home. Last year only 12 parents attended, but this year there were over 65 parents. The coach created an overhead displaying an exemplary reading log entry to share with parents to demonstrate the expectations for students to become accountable for building their reading volume and stamina. Conversations about ways parents can support this effort were lively and interactive. The principal attributes the higher participation rate this year to an increased communication campaign to outreach to parents and help them sense the urgency to establish the habit of reading each day and night. Reminder letters, additional parent workshops and the continual conversations from teachers to parents about reading logs also helped boost attendance.
During extended day time once a week, all the students in grades 2-5 gathers in the gym with their books and reading logs and everyone (including all students and their teachers, the principal and assistant principal who are reading the same book together) finds a comfortable spot and reads. At the end of the time which is hushed and focused, the principal stands up and says to all assembled, ”Thank you readers. Please log your work.” This practice has worked amazingly so far. On Fridays and before vacations, the principal gets on the PA system and reminds the students to read and log their work. This clear expectation is becoming embedded in the school culture.
One principal looks forward to her Friday announcements where she begins with a quote of the day and then states the goal for all students to read a lot and use the logs to set goals. The visits to the classrooms reinforce the message.
Each classroom reading visit begins by looking at reading logs which are on students’ desks as they begin accounting for their reading time. The principal can easily assess the progress of a few children quickly. Public goals for each week’s reading, written and displayed by each child, can also be a way to assess progress.
*One way to continue the conversation is to put reading logs on the agenda at the beginning of each grade level meeting. Teachers can begin by looking at student reading logs and discovering patterns which can be addressed during minilessons or conferring or small group instruction. For example, in the fifth grade teachers noticed that their students only wrote fiction to describe a wide variety of books that could be broken down into more specific categories like realistic fiction or historical fiction or fantasy.
TC staff developers and school based coaches have continued to revisit reading logs during professional development. They have helped teachers to plan lesson based on identified needs and how to group students most effectively. Often, meeting are also focusing on the ritual of looking at other kinds of assessment material like conferring notes. What kind of conferences are most often taking place? What is the evidence of growth in the student?
Principals have noticed that helping teachers to see assessments as practical tools to analyze results and improve instruction instead of collecting data because of mandates driven from above requires a change of culture and lots of time for conversation.
The small group lesson modeled in Wendy’s school by Mr. Lam was replicated by one principal to show teachers that students were very capable of analyzing their own logs and then able to set their own goals. One student noticed that she doesn’t read long enough at home and stated that it was because she read with the TV on and that distracted her. Her goal was to read without the TV for longer periods of time. The ability of students to reflect on their actions, notice the patterns and then clearly articulate the problem and solution was a big aha moment for teachers and changed their expectation of what students could do for themselves.
Certificates for students who complete their goals or move up one reading level are one way to demonstrate celebration of successes.
In this intense pressure filled testing season, teachers appreciate principals who can listen to their concerns about acuity results and keep them calm and feeling productive. Clarifying questions like, ”What are the percentage of students who weren’t able to answer the questions?” are helpful. The reassurance from the principal that reading and writing workshop are the most important way to prepare students to do well on the tests during the school day (along with appropriate and strategic test preparation after school or on Saturdays or over vacation) are also important to keep teachers focused on what matters most.
The attention to making sure that our most struggling readers have additional time for reading just right books and are not pulled away from reading or writing workshop for intervention services led many principals to schedule interventions before or after school through flexible scheduling. Many principals are exploring how to use extended day time for more reading and are monitoring how much time students can read during reading workshop.
Strategies for Continuing the Focus on Reading Logs
An evening ELA workshop for parents was held to help parents understand the importance of literacy in school and at home. Last year only 12 parents attended, but this year there were over 65 parents. The coach created an overhead displaying an exemplary reading log entry to share with parents to demonstrate the expectations for students to become accountable for building their reading volume and stamina. Conversations about ways parents can support this effort were lively and interactive. The principal attributes the higher participation rate this year to an increased communication campaign to outreach to parents and help them sense the urgency to establish the habit of reading each day and night. Reminder letters, additional parent workshops and the continual conversations from teachers to parents about reading logs also helped boost attendance.
During extended day time once a week, all the students in grades 2-5 gathers in the gym with their books and reading logs and everyone (including all students and their teachers, the principal and assistant principal who are reading the same book together) finds a comfortable spot and reads. At the end of the time which is hushed and focused, the principal stands up and says to all assembled, ”Thank you readers. Please log your work.” This practice has worked amazingly so far. On Fridays and before vacations, the principal gets on the PA system and reminds the students to read and log their work. This clear expectation is becoming embedded in the school culture.
One principal looks forward to her Friday announcements where she begins with a quote of the day and then states the goal for all students to read a lot and use the logs to set goals. The visits to the classrooms reinforce the message.
Each classroom reading visit begins by looking at reading logs which are on students’ desks as they begin accounting for their reading time. The principal can easily assess the progress of a few children quickly. Public goals for each week’s reading, written and displayed by each child, can also be a way to assess progress.
*One way to continue the conversation is to put reading logs on the agenda at the beginning of each grade level meeting. Teachers can begin by looking at student reading logs and discovering patterns which can be addressed during minilessons or conferring or small group instruction. For example, in the fifth grade teachers noticed that their students only wrote fiction to describe a wide variety of books that could be broken down into more specific categories like realistic fiction or historical fiction or fantasy.
TC staff developers and school based coaches have continued to revisit reading logs during professional development. They have helped teachers to plan lesson based on identified needs and how to group students most effectively. Often, meeting are also focusing on the ritual of looking at other kinds of assessment material like conferring notes. What kind of conferences are most often taking place? What is the evidence of growth in the student?
Principals have noticed that helping teachers to see assessments as practical tools to analyze results and improve instruction instead of collecting data because of mandates driven from above requires a change of culture and lots of time for conversation.
The small group lesson modeled in Wendy’s school by Mr. Lam was replicated by one principal to show teachers that students were very capable of analyzing their own logs and then able to set their own goals. One student noticed that she doesn’t read long enough at home and stated that it was because she read with the TV on and that distracted her. Her goal was to read without the TV for longer periods of time. The ability of students to reflect on their actions, notice the patterns and then clearly articulate the problem and solution was a big aha moment for teachers and changed their expectation of what students could do for themselves.
Certificates for students who complete their goals or move up one reading level are one way to demonstrate celebration of successes.
In this intense pressure filled testing season, teachers appreciate principals who can listen to their concerns about acuity results and keep them calm and feeling productive. Clarifying questions like, ”What are the percentage of students who weren’t able to answer the questions?” are helpful. The reassurance from the principal that reading and writing workshop are the most important way to prepare students to do well on the tests during the school day (along with appropriate and strategic test preparation after school or on Saturdays or over vacation) are also important to keep teachers focused on what matters most.
The attention to making sure that our most struggling readers have additional time for reading just right books and are not pulled away from reading or writing workshop for intervention services led many principals to schedule interventions before or after school through flexible scheduling. Many principals are exploring how to use extended day time for more reading and are monitoring how much time students can read during reading workshop.
Rave Reviews to PS 154!
Classrooms were organized for student independence with materials clearly labeled and accessible. The teaching charts contained explicit teaching points, visual illustrations, and student print. They included What Good Writers Do, Partnership Booktalk, What Kindergarten Writing Shoulc Look Like etc. Students referred to the charts when explaining how they grew as writers and what materials they used to get smarter.
It was clear that students were fully engaged and working with great rigor. They continued to write despite the number of visitors or many distractions we presented. Teachers had high expectations and students met them.
Collaboration between teachers was very evident in the consistency of the classrooms, the shared units of study, and the work displayed on bulletin boards. Some bulletin boards were created collaboratively by teams of teachers. All reflected the focus on units of study and all demonstrated volume and stamina.
Students were demonstrating what they had been taught by practicing independently strategies like using the finger for counting the number of words and to space the words, rereading their own writing and reflecting on next steps,and thinking about the ending. We noticed conversations between students about how to sound out words and the excitement about a new alphabet chart that is coming soon.
Clear expectations about writing workshop were well established in kindergarten and grew more rigorous in first grade. Students were reminded about the expectations in a variety of ways including a chart inside each kindergarten folder reminding them that good kindergarten writing has pictures, labels and words.
Each classroom has an assessment binder for each child which includes all the TC assessment data as well as samples of student work. They are beginning to be used by teachers to help students set their own goals.
The school is alive with student work which captures the voice and energy of students and the deep understanding of the teachers. The process of creating the unit of study is displayed along with the student work from each member of the community as well as the essential elements of each unit and student reflections of their learning. The hallway bulletin boards are consistently exemplary.
Danielle and Tarsha are model learners and enthusiastic teachers and the school reflects their energy and their partnership.
It was clear that students were fully engaged and working with great rigor. They continued to write despite the number of visitors or many distractions we presented. Teachers had high expectations and students met them.
Collaboration between teachers was very evident in the consistency of the classrooms, the shared units of study, and the work displayed on bulletin boards. Some bulletin boards were created collaboratively by teams of teachers. All reflected the focus on units of study and all demonstrated volume and stamina.
Students were demonstrating what they had been taught by practicing independently strategies like using the finger for counting the number of words and to space the words, rereading their own writing and reflecting on next steps,and thinking about the ending. We noticed conversations between students about how to sound out words and the excitement about a new alphabet chart that is coming soon.
Clear expectations about writing workshop were well established in kindergarten and grew more rigorous in first grade. Students were reminded about the expectations in a variety of ways including a chart inside each kindergarten folder reminding them that good kindergarten writing has pictures, labels and words.
Each classroom has an assessment binder for each child which includes all the TC assessment data as well as samples of student work. They are beginning to be used by teachers to help students set their own goals.
The school is alive with student work which captures the voice and energy of students and the deep understanding of the teachers. The process of creating the unit of study is displayed along with the student work from each member of the community as well as the essential elements of each unit and student reflections of their learning. The hallway bulletin boards are consistently exemplary.
Danielle and Tarsha are model learners and enthusiastic teachers and the school reflects their energy and their partnership.
Report from a Study Group - The Narrative Continuum
PS 154 - December 20, 2007
Teachers had a compelling need to simplify the continuum document to make it easier to use to evaluate on demand writing 3x a year and as a tool to evaluate all the narrative writing that students produce during the school year.
It was important that the study group worked across grades to break down barriers between teachers, end the blame game, and clarify the meaning that could be derived from on-demand writing.
One teacher explained that in the past while looking at student writing it was hard to notice anything besides misspellings or things the student could not do. With the studying of the continuum, she learned the essential elements of narrative writing and the differences between lower and higher levels of proficiency and can now better help students move up the levels.
Discoveries
No child will ever be a perfect level because they cannot so easily fit into a category.
Teachers began the process of simplifying the narrative continuum document by focusing on learning a range of levels(3,4,5) well by looking at the samples of student work and the language of the document. Then they underlined parts of the student sample that matched the language and made their own notes describing the work on the booklet. Then they looked at all the jottings on the page to create a simplified description of the characteristics.
They then tried the revised continuum to evaluate student writing and worked with partners to reach agreement. They found that the first few writing samples took much conversation and time but got quicker and less controversial with practice.
The teachers talked about the excitement of the thinking that was involved and the energy that comes from conversation with like minded colleagues. They worked during preps to type the document and came to each study group meeting prepared so that the work could progress in the time they had to complete the task. They never doubted their ability to complete the revision but they weren’t always sure what form the work would take.
They saw the need to create a teacher observation checklist for the on demand writing which would help to discover what students could do alone and what minilessons or small group instruction might be needed. Some teachers are using the tool as a checklist and others are adding comments and making it more of an anecdotal.
The excitement about producing something new which would help teachers and students drove the work and made the teachers proud of what they could accomplish. They admit that they love their charts and are constantly exchanging them and revising. During the sharing of the culminated projects, teachers are able to mark the pages they want to copy with a post-it note. This leads to increased exchange of ideas.
Rubrics that are created by teachers help them to manage and make sense of the data.
Teachers are covered by subs for their study group time and are given make up preps for additional time. They all agreed that study group time is time well spent.
Teachers had a compelling need to simplify the continuum document to make it easier to use to evaluate on demand writing 3x a year and as a tool to evaluate all the narrative writing that students produce during the school year.
It was important that the study group worked across grades to break down barriers between teachers, end the blame game, and clarify the meaning that could be derived from on-demand writing.
One teacher explained that in the past while looking at student writing it was hard to notice anything besides misspellings or things the student could not do. With the studying of the continuum, she learned the essential elements of narrative writing and the differences between lower and higher levels of proficiency and can now better help students move up the levels.
Discoveries
No child will ever be a perfect level because they cannot so easily fit into a category.
Teachers began the process of simplifying the narrative continuum document by focusing on learning a range of levels(3,4,5) well by looking at the samples of student work and the language of the document. Then they underlined parts of the student sample that matched the language and made their own notes describing the work on the booklet. Then they looked at all the jottings on the page to create a simplified description of the characteristics.
They then tried the revised continuum to evaluate student writing and worked with partners to reach agreement. They found that the first few writing samples took much conversation and time but got quicker and less controversial with practice.
The teachers talked about the excitement of the thinking that was involved and the energy that comes from conversation with like minded colleagues. They worked during preps to type the document and came to each study group meeting prepared so that the work could progress in the time they had to complete the task. They never doubted their ability to complete the revision but they weren’t always sure what form the work would take.
They saw the need to create a teacher observation checklist for the on demand writing which would help to discover what students could do alone and what minilessons or small group instruction might be needed. Some teachers are using the tool as a checklist and others are adding comments and making it more of an anecdotal.
The excitement about producing something new which would help teachers and students drove the work and made the teachers proud of what they could accomplish. They admit that they love their charts and are constantly exchanging them and revising. During the sharing of the culminated projects, teachers are able to mark the pages they want to copy with a post-it note. This leads to increased exchange of ideas.
Rubrics that are created by teachers help them to manage and make sense of the data.
Teachers are covered by subs for their study group time and are given make up preps for additional time. They all agreed that study group time is time well spent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)