A New Look and Plan
To kick off 2013, I thought we should refocus our attention to our plans for improvement. Please view this draft of our CSIP and respond to the following:
1. Plus
2. Delta w/ Suggestions
3. How do you plan to change your daily practice without adding to it?
We have viewed our CSIP document and we feel as though we are currently doing alot of strategies to improve student performance across the curriculum. we are using DEA data to readjust groups in both reading and math. This allows us to have smaller groups as to focus on individual needs of students. DEA probes are sued to model for students how to solve questions missed during testing flashbacks). We also use math journals (blue books) to teach students how to examine reading problems, solve and explain how they arrive at an answer. We have used these during centers and are currently planning to use them whole group weekly to explain model drawings by Catherine Jones Kuhns (writing across the curriculum). First grade incorporates the three types of writing by using Do Whats?, math journals, extended response on test questions, and graphic organizers.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we are working smarter and not harder,
Peggy and Candy
I reviewed the CSIP and think the implementation of the strategies and activities will move us in the direction we need to meet our goals. I think many of the activities we are already doing to some degree. The key is the level we take the activities to refinement. The book studies we are doing are the best in that subject area in my opinion. Building capacity through peer buddies is an excellent way of looking at the whole school needs as well as looking at curriculum vertically. Implementing model drawing across the grades will ensure student success in multi-step problem solving. I also think implementation of writer's workshop in all grade levels will ensure students understand process writing. Students being able to communicate their though process clearly through writing builds skills necessary in aiding them to think through problems across the curriculum. Suggestions I might have would be make sure we are working smarter and not harder (as Peggy and Candy said). I firmly believe we have in our CSIP document the plan to meet our goals successfully as well as (this is the most important part) PREPARE our students for their next level of learning when they leave us. That is what is key - preparation for the future so they can be successful. We are laying the foundation. I will take a good look at my daily routine and get rid of what is not working and replace with strategies and activities from this CSIP that are not already in place.
ReplyDeleteAfter revisiting the Comprehensive Plan, I believe that some positives that are going to definitely take us in the right direction are the peer buddies that will enable us to encourage each other, learn from each other,and support one another, the focus on books and research studies that allow us to work smarter and spend our time on what is proven to get us where we need to be, and finally, a strong focus on writing at all grade levels consistently that will surely prove to be effective as students spend more time writing for a purpose more often.
ReplyDeleteI feel that time is our enemy as always. We must try to find ways to "multitask". The CSIP has been written well with only the important and attainable goals for improvement which means we can accomplish these things focusing on the end result.
May we all find the energy and determination to make a difference and be VERY successful at what we do. Every child....
After reviewing the CSIP, I believe that following this plan will lead us "up the road" to improvement. Providing multiple exposures to critical vocabulary is definitely key for moving us upward and onward. Another positive from the CSIP is the “Peer Coaching”, I think that teachers should be encouraged to visit and work with other grade level teachers. This is one of the things I like best about being a resource teacher. I can steal, I mean borrow a lot of strategies that I see going on in the different classrooms. Most of these strategies can be applied across different grade levels.
ReplyDeleteFollowing this plan should make us work smarter and not harder. I agree with Leigh. I need to step back and look at what I do daily and see what is working and what is not working. Today as I saw each bright little face, I thought, how can we not give them the greatest learning opportunities as possible.
After reviewing the CSIP, I believe we are working to implementing these strategies and activities. I am changing things often in kindergarten as my students are learning to read and write. I am really changing what is expected to be more challenging for them. I agree with Christie that time is the enemy. There is soooo much to work into each day and must continue to find ways to get things done. I am the building base of learning at UTES with Jeanie and we know all of you are depending on us just as we depend on you to strive for excellence.
ReplyDeleteI just revisited the CSIP and it looks as if we have some very positive things going on at UT. I believe that our peer coaching will be a great thing for us. Through constructive criticism and encouragement, we can make great gains together. We also need to focus on research based strategies that work and do all we can to stay focused on writing across the curriculum. I plan to continue to use DEA, Automaticity, and Dibels scores to modify my teaching.
ReplyDeleteMy husband recently asked me why I can't use the same lesson plans that I used last year. Well, we change our strategies almost weekly. We have so many different levels of students that we need to reach and keep engaged. Times have changed and we must be willing to change with them.
I reviewed the CSIP and know that we are on our way to new and improved approaches.
ReplyDeletePLUS: The implementation of vocabulary instruction is much needed. The lack of vocabulary is obvious during DEA flashbacks, when all I have to do is reword the question and the students "get it"! I also believe Writer's Workshop will show big gain in our students creativity and writing abilities.
DELTA: I, like many others have mentioned, need to review my daily/weekly "habits" and see what is effective and what is truly a habit. I feel that I have done this but need to look at it again in order to work smarter not harder.
My Plan: I plan to begin making changes to my instructional practices with the implementation of flashbacks as a morning warmup, allowing students to track progress in order to see their own improvements. I plan to continue me Writer's Workshop and research this method in order to carry it out to its fullest. I plan to better implement vocabulary instruction through meaningful stations during language Arts instruction.
After reviewing the CSIP we feel we are already doing many of the activities to lead us toward proficiency. We plan to incorporate the model drawings daily into our math classes. We have also started incorporating the CHAMPS behavior system and it seems to be effective! We will continue to have high expectations that will carry over to all school areas.
ReplyDeleteKaren and Marta
I agree with the others that we are already doing many activities to lead us to proficiency. Sometimes though it seems we have to do so many new things that we can't do some of the old things that are proven to be effective because of time constraints. I believe CHAMPS is helping train all of us to be more positive in our talk. The plan has a lot of good ideas on it overall. I hope we all can keep moving upward and without getting more stressed.
ReplyDeleteAs I read over the CSIP and each of the comments, I can tell one of our main pluses is that everyone is committed to achieving our goals. I believe a plus at my level is the phonics program our preschool class was able to begin this year. I have always taught letter sounds, but this program is more in depth and incorporates more than what I was doing before. On the delta side, the program began sounds by putting together compound words that were easy for the kiddos to hear. Now that we are starting to break it down into smaller sounds they are struggling to hear how the sounds blend together to make the words. I am hopeful that through repetition and peer modeling my students will be able to make more progress. I spend some time over Christmas break thinking about what I do during the day...what works and what is not really making us move forward. I definitely came back from break with a whole new mindset and an anxious to get busy!!
ReplyDelete