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Do Now. Use the chart paper on your table to create a poster-sized copy of your instructional focus. 1. Redesigning a Better School Day – Strengthening Core Instruction and Developing Buy-In for Our Focus. United Providence - March 4, 2014. Feedback from Session 2.
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Do Now Use the chart paper on your table to create a poster-sized copy of your instructional focus 1
Redesigning a Better School Day – Strengthening Core Instruction and Developing Buy-In for Our Focus United Providence - March 4, 2014
Feedback from Session 2 • 10 participants chose culture and buy-In as the priority for our next session (Today) • 8 chose differentiated supports (Session 4) • 6 chose teacher collaboration (Session 5) What You Liked What Could Have Been Better • Work on Instructional Focus • Showing how important culture is before any other initiative can be executed • Having time to work together • More team work time • Time for schools to talk with each other • Less is more. Today was a lot to process well 3
Today’s Agenda • Focus on High Quality Instruction – sharing our Instructional Focus statements and developing next steps in implementing common instructional practices to support our Focus • Securing Buy-In from all stakeholders – • What does this look like? • What are the implications for our school? 4
The Process for Today : Team Work Time A little bit of teaching Planning Doing Calendaring Followed by… Sharing some resources and tools Your team learning from the resources… Differentiated team work time 5
Instructional Focus Reminders……. Instructional Focus… Cuts across all content areas Impacts every student AND every adult Becomes a central topic for collaboration/PD Comes to life through a set of common instructional strategies Provides a foundation for long-term academic success Is measurable . . . and drives your use of time 6
Team Time • Share each school’s Instructional Focus • Feedback from each team • Discuss and reflect on feedback • Refine you focus statement as needed • If time permits begin Start-Stop-Continue activity 7
Our Focus in Action – Steps to Strengthening Core Instruction Monitor the Work • Assess impact through data • Monitor implementation Strengthen Practice School-wide • Identify experts to support PD • Share practices, develop lessons and improve practice Assess Team Needs & Strengths • Teams and teachers assess their level of expertise and comfort level with the strategy Create Common Understanding • What does it look like for teachers? • What does the strategy look like in different grade levels? • What does it look like for students? Choose Common Instructional Strategies • 2 -3 Common Instructional Strategies • Pick one to begin working on • Linked to Instructional Focus 8
Instructional Strategies vs. Instructional Structures Strategies: Clearly defined teacher and student actions; Structures: the frameworks within which strategies operate Inst. STRUCTURES Inst. STRATEGIES Accountable Talk The Workshop Model T- Charts Partner Teaching Modeled Writing Push in/Pull out Supports Partner Read Aloud I Do, We Do, You Do Lesson Structure Think Pair Share Open Response Writing Guided Reading Direct Instruction 9
Focus Coming to Life at Dever-McCormack Choose Common Instructional Strategies Dever-McCormack K-8 (MA) Grades: K - 8 # of Students: 1,266 % Low Income: 83 Instructional Focus All students will accelerate their achievement in the four domains of language acquisition (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Success will be measured by MCAS, interim assessments, and state assessments for ELL students. Instructional Strategy: Accountable Talk • Teachers and students will talk about academically important content that supports development of student reasoning and improves their ability to communicate their thinking. There is accountability to the classroom community, to rigorous reasoning, and to correct knowledge. 10
Focus in Dever-McCormack’s Classrooms Create Common Understanding Teacher Actions Student Actions Ask planned questions to help students learn and push thinking Demonstrate active listening when partner is speaking Listen into conversations during “talk time” Explain their thinking with content-specific vocabulary Model effective talk strategies consistently Paraphrase their and partner’s thinking in share out Pace talk experience to keep momentum and focus Raise questions to class based on their discussions 11
Living Your Focus: Next Steps Yes Do we have common instructional strategies? Use the handout Creating Common Understanding of Instructional Strategies No How does this strategy align to your instructional focus? Use the handout How To Choose Common Instructional Strategies What does this strategy look like for students AND teachers? What potential strategies will align to our focus? What does this look like in different grades/content areas? How will our school explore and choose our strategies? When will we explore and choose our strategies? How can we strengthen this practice across the school? Create Our Action Steps 12
Plan Out Your Work Time: Strengthening Core Instruction Take 10 minutes to discuss “Living Your Focus” questions Review the resources that are appropriate for your team Determine your next steps 13
Silvia Elementary School Silvia Elementary School (MA) Grades: K - 5 % Low Income: 70 # of Students: 758 School-wide Instructional Focus Reading comprehension to strengthen background knowledge and vocabulary through various avenues. All students will implement this learning in a successful manner through their verbal and written skills. Choose Common Instructional Strategies • Instructional Leadership Team researched potential strategies • Narrowed ideas down to several that would best support their Instructional Focus • Presented to full faculty, who selected Interactive Read Alouds to Teach Comprehension Strategies and T-charts as School-wide common instructional strategies. 14
Focus in Silvia Elementary’s Classrooms Create Common Understanding Strategy: T-Charts Teacher Actions Student Actions Review question type (how, why, etc.) Ask clarifying questions with peers Using paraphrasing skills Prompt to go back to text, look for evidence Completed t-charts with paragraphs cited beside each piece of evidence Evidence is from text Review protocol/purpose of t-chart Asking probing questions Modeling difference between answer/evidence, strategies for understanding, inferred vs. literal answers Complete open response answer independently using t-chart 15
Assessing Team Needs at Silvia Elementary The Silvia ILT Drives the process of assessing team needs to strengthen core instruction by… • Including volunteers from every grade-level team, rather than principal-appointed school leaders • Encouraging these teachers to discuss the strengths and needs of their teams in the instructional strategy • Using these grade-level strengths and needs to begin planning their PD, with ongoing assessment throughout the professional development cycle • **To fill in any information gaps and ensure that administrators are kept in the loop, an administrator (the principal or vice principal) sits in on every collaboration meeting. 16
Strengthening the Practice at Silvia Elementary Grade Level Teams share what went well, what didn’t & artifacts The Silvia ILT plans and delivers Modeling a Lesson Faculty Meeting Full Faculty PD Grade Level Teams begin work Full Faculty PD Faculty Meeting “…We worked on this again and again until we were speaking the same language” –Sherri Carvalho, Dean of Teaching & Learning Discuss and define grade level differences Grade-Level Collab. Meetings Discuss Strategy & Plan Classroom Practice Grade-Level Collab. Meetings Classroom Practice Discuss Practice & Gather Artifacts 17
Focus Coming to Life at Brockton HS Brockton High School (MA) Grades: 9 - 12 # of Students: 4,029 % Low Income: 69 Instructional Focus In every class, students will develop literacy skills along four areas: reading, writing, speaking, and reasoning. All teachers will be trained to implement common strategies in each area, chosen by the school’s Restructuring Committee. Success will be measured by student performance on state standardized tests, weekly school-wide assessments, and informal classroom observations 18
Focus Coming to Life at Brockton HS Choose Strategy Create Common Understanding Assess Needs, Strengthen Practice Monitor Work Thu Week SAT Thu One Sat/Month 1st Thu/Month 3rd Thu/Month Each Week Restructuring Committee plans PD to train teachers on common strategies Strategies are disseminated to all staff during school-wide PD taking place after school Teachers meet in content teams (during after school PD) to infuse content with strategy from earlier PD Coaches observe all teachers each week to ensure consistency and quality in all content areas 19
Case Study: Brockton High School Take 20 minutes to read the case study on Brockton High School and look at the accompanying artifacts on in the packet. See case study and artifacts 20
Instructional Focus at Brockton HS CBS Evening News The Turnaround at Brockton High School 21
Assessing Team Needs & Strengths Process for Assessing Team Needs & Strengths • Teams and teachers assess their level of expertise and comfort level with the strategy 22
Strengthening the Practice Process for Strengthening the Practice School-Wide • Identify experts to support PD • Share practices, develop lessons and improve practice 23
Strengthening Core Instruction: Work Time Start here Be sure that you can answer the questions in purple before moving on to the blue Strengthen Practice School-Wide Assess Team Needs & Strengths What type of PD/training is best suited to our teachers’ needs How well do our teams operate now? When will we develop our teachers’ skills? How will we improve the team(s) that are not functionally well? Who are the best people to lead this training and provide support? Plan your PD. Use faculty meetings, PD meetings, and teacher team meetings How will we determine our teachers’ needs in our instructional strategy? Make timeline that leads to teachers using the strategy in their classes Create Our Action Steps 24
Plan Out Your Work Time: Strengthening Core Instruction Start by taking 5 minutes to decide with your team what you will work on during this time. We want to know how to best support you during this time.. Work time deliverable: Each team will share out what they have accomplished. Your scribe should write what your team accomplished on the chart paper provided and will record your team’s next steps on the Action Steps Notetaker, 25
Buy-In – How Does It Happen? “Leaders do not gain buy-in through inspiration, demands, pleading, or seminars. They gain buy-in through getting results that demonstrate that the effect of the change is in the best interests of all stakeholders.” “If you deliver a change . . . - all in one year or less – then you don’t wait for “buy-in,” but rather you make the change and use the results to gain sustained support.” • Douglas B. Reeves (2009), Leading Change in Your School. 27
Levels of Agreement Which Levels Represent Buy-In? • Team Activity • Review the line graph individually – Which of these levels represent buy–in? • Identify where you individually fall with respect to the implementation of your Instructional Focus • Share and discuss • Discuss where your staff is at on this continuum 28
What does each type need for your school improvement efforts to succeed? PIONEER TRAILBLAZER SETTLER SABOTEUR STAY-AT-HOME 29
Team Activity • Using the handout Five Types of Actors assign each member of your team to read about one type so that all five are assigned • Each reader should complete the chart What Does Each Type of Actor need for their assigned actor • Team share out on needs • Team discussion; implications for our school What actors do we have? What do we need to do? 30
Leading Change in Your SchoolDoug Reeves -2009 Survey of 6,000 teachers and Administrators Percent Experience in Change Initiatives 17% Willing to lead the effort 53% Willing to model the change effort in their classrooms, allowing others to observe them 28% “Fence –sitters” – were aware of the change initiative but had not yet implemented it 2% “The Toxic 2%” –or actively opposed them were definitely unaware of leadership expectations “The challenge for leaders is how to spend time and which faculty members to engage. . . . Leaders are better advised to lavish their time, appreciation and support on the 70% of faculty – 17% who are leaders and 53% who are models – rather than continue to engage in ineffective and emotionally draining combat with the Toxic 2.” 31
Final Thoughts….… Take a moment to jot down an “aha!” moment or a shout out that stood out for you today. Share out. 32
Thank You and Evaluations! Please fill out and return your evaluations THANK YOU!! 33
NCTL ELT Online Resources Additional school profiles, case studies, communication tools and planning resources are available at: www.timeandlearning.org. Materials from the previous United Providence! sessions are available at: www.timeandlearning.org/unitedprovidence For more information: Joe Rull jrull@timeandlearning.org Joe McKown jmckown@timeandlearning.org 34