Monday, February 17, 2014

February 21 Professional Development

February 21st District Professional Development


*Materials for the day may be found on the Southeast Polk Professional Development site at this link: February 21st Professional Development


MORNING SESSION 8:00-11:00


Secondary Teachers (6-12) meet in the High School Auditorium
All teachers please bring laptops and note-taking materials.


“Linking Differentiation to the Gradual Release of Instruction Delivery Model”


Elementary teachers meet at respective buildings for building-focused professional development  unless previously approved with your building principal.


  • Elementary PE teachers will meet at the high school during the morning session


AFTERNOON SESSION 12:30-3:30


Elementary Teachers (K-5) meet in the High School Auditorium
All teachers please bring laptops and note-taking materials*.


“Linking Differentiation to Lesson Design and Implementation”



*There will be about 90 minutes for a grade level breakout session for math.  During that time, some buildings will share what strategies they used last year for the final two units of study, then you will have time to plan out your last two units of math and explore resources. It might be helpful for you to bring the materials you use to plan.



Secondary teachers meet at respective buildings for building-focused professional development unless previously approved with your building principal.



PK Teachers


PK will be meeting from 12:30-3:30 on February 21st at the TLRC in the conference room.  Please bring your laptops and data teams binders.  The focus will be on Differentiation and Rigor in the Preschool Classroom.


Nurses


AM - meet as PLC and brainstorm how we can help each other be a part of the RtI process in our respective schools.   


1:00pm - Dr. Joyce Vista-pediatric psychiatrist at Mercy Behavioral Health.  Dr. Vista will speak about common mental illness diagnoses, current medications used and side effects, and red-flag behaviors that may be seen in the classroom that warrants referral to a mental health specialist.  We are also going to explore potential mental health screening tools that we can use in the educational setting.  We would like to invite the counselors to this session if they are available.

Location Change: HS Multipurpose Room (ppt is on the Professional Development site-Pediatric Behavior and Mood Disorders)

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

January 3rd Professional Learning

We are looking forward to our professional learning in January.  Part of the day will offer district trainings and the other half will be dedicated to our district focus of Response to Intervention.  Based on your feedback from the survey on September 23 and the work of the Professional Development Steering Committee, we will be providing some differentiated opportunities on how Tier 2 interventions and enrichments are being provided in the core classroom.


Elementary
District Level Trainings (please choose 2 sessions)


Session 1 Options


At-Risk Plan/Identification of Homeless Students 8:15-9:15 - HS Multipurpose Room
This session will focus on the identification and supports for homeless and at-risk students.  What exactly does ‘at-risk’ or ‘homeless’ mean?  Who is at-risk in our district and why?  What makes a student homeless?  This session will present the criteria established for Southeast Polk students as required by the Iowa Department of Education (at-risk) and the Federal McKinney-Vento Act (homeless).  Included will be the early warning system developed through Infinite Campus, identification of students, associated interventions, and outcomes to determine the effectiveness of interventions to support homeless and at-risk students.


Parental Custody Issues and Schools 8:15-9:15 HS Auditorium
Shannon Woods, Attorney at Law with Whitfield & Eddy will provide information and answer questions related to custodial issues and the obligations of schools.  


Cultural Competency  8:15-9:15 JH Orchestra Room
Did you know there are more than 24 languages other than English spoken among families whose children attend Southeast Polk schools?  Our district is becoming increasingly multicultural and multi-ethnic.  Cultural competence is a key factor in enabling Southeast Polk educators to be effective with students from cultures other than their own.  Join us for an opportunity to learn about the cultures represented by the students in your classroom.,and effective ways to support student success. A panel of community members, ESL educators, classroom teachers, and students will share their experiences and answer your questions.


Session 2 Options
Mental Health First Aid 9:30-11:30 - HS Band Room
What are the mental health issues that affect our students and what can you do to assist these students as they work their way through your class? These are some of the things that we will discuss during this Mental Health and the School refresher. If you find that you are having difficulty with understanding students who are struggling with a mental health diagnosis and would like to know what you can do to help them be successful then come and learn a few ideas that may help.


Green Team 9:30-11:30
Green Team Scenarios
Location: Green Teams will meet at their respective buildings
During this session, Green Team members will practice at least four health emergency scenarios and walk through what these situations may look like within their respective settings.  There will be an opportunity to examine and evaluate Iowa Emergency Guidelines for Schools.  Participants will conduct a debriefing of each scenario and simulation.


Co-Teaching Model-HS Multipurpose Room 9:30-11:30
This training session will further participants’ understanding of the six co-teaching approaches that can be implemented in classrooms as well as providing information on when each approach may be most appropriate to use.  The effective implementation of collaborative consultation will also be covered during this training.  To maximize effectiveness it is recommended that co-teaching teams of both general education and special education teachers attend this training.


12:30-4:00: Response to Intervention
For PK-5 grade level RTI meetings, please bring your laptops and 8 copies of one math or ELA example on how you differentiated instruction with interventions or enrichment.
As you are sharing your differentiation examples with your team, you will consider the following information:
*To what standard is it linked?
*In what unit is it taught?
*What has been the impact/response with students?


Locations-Grade Level Teams
PK-Altoona Elementary--Media Center
Kindergarten-Four Mile Elementary
1st grade-Willowbrook Elementary--Media Center
2nd grade-Delaware Elementary
3rd grade-Clay Elementary
4th grade-Runnells Elementary--Library
5th grade-Centennial Elementary


Job-Alike Teams


Counselors - Centennial Elementary Guidance Office Room 110
Level III Special Education - Delaware Elementary Room 1
Music - Willowbrook Music Room
PE - Four Mile Gymnasium
Art - Willowbrook Art Room
Nurses - The Homestead, Altoona
Secondary
8:00-11:30: Response to Intervention
For 6-12 content level RTI meetings, please bring your laptops and one example on how you differentiated instruction with interventions or enrichment.


As you are sharing your differentiation examples with your team, you will consider the following information:
*To what standard is it linked?
*In what unit is it taught?
*What has been the impact/response with students?


Locations-Spring Creek and Jr. High
All SPRING CREEK and JR. HIGH (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, etc.) staff (except secondary job-alikes) initially report to the JH Auditorium for further information on team location. *Those who have breakout meetings at the High School do not need to report to the Jr. High first--you may go directly to your job-alike meeting.


High School
ELA - N248
Math - N375
Science - N325
Social Studies - N362
CTE - N165
World Language - N148


Secondary Job-Alike
Counselors - Jr. High Library 158
Art - High School Art Room 108
Music - High School Room 122
PE - High School Conference Rooms N124 H and J
Level III Special Ed - High School Room 132
Nurses - Jr. High


District Level Trainings (please choose 2 sessions)


Session 1 Options


At-Risk Plan/Identification of Homeless Students 12:30-1:30 HS Multipurpose Room
This session will focus on the identification and supports for homeless and at-risk students.  What exactly does ‘at-risk’ or ‘homeless’ mean?  Who is at-risk in our district and why?  What makes a student homeless?  This session will present the criteria established for Southeast Polk students as required by the Iowa Department of Education (at-risk) and the Federal McKinney-Vento Act (homeless).  Included will be the early warning system developed through Infinite Campus, identification of students, associated interventions, and outcomes to determine the effectiveness of interventions to support homeless and at-risk students.


Parental Custody Issues and Schools 12:30-1:30 HS Auditorium
Shannon Woods, Attorney at Law with Whitfield & Eddy will provide information and answer questions related to custodial issues and the obligations of schools.  


Cultural Competency 12:30-1:30 JH Orchestra Room
Did you know there are more than 24 languages other than English spoken among families whose children attend Southeast Polk schools? Our district is becoming increasingly multicultural and multi-ethnic.  Cultural competence is a key factor in enabling Southeast Polk educators to be effective with students from cultures other than their own. Join us for an opportunity to learn about the cultures represented by the students in your classroom.,and effective ways to support student success. A panel of community members, ESL educators, classroom teachers, and students will share their experiences and answer your questions.


Session 2 Options


Mental Health First Aid  1:45-3:45 - HS Band Room
What are the mental health issues that affect our students and what can you do to assist these students as they work their way through your class? These are some of the things that we will discuss during this Mental Health and the School refresher. If you find that you are having difficulty with understanding students who are struggling with a mental health diagnosis and would like to know what you can do to help them be successful then come and learn a few ideas that may help.


Coaches' PLC 1:45-3:45 - Jr. High Vocal Music Room  *New Session*            

During this session, participants will revisit the Vision, Mission, and Core Values of the Southeast Polk Community School District as they pertain to Activity Programming.  Participants will revise and finalize the Activities Department culture contract.  We will begin to examine what it means to provide activity participants with a "preferred experience". This session is open to all athletic coaches as well as sponsors for Band, Vocal, Speech, Drama, Cheer, and Dance.



Green Team 1:45-3:45
Green Team Scenarios
Location: Green Teams will meet at their respective buildings
During this session, Green Team members will practice at least four health emergency scenarios and walk through what these situations may look like within their respective settings.  There will be an opportunity to examine and evaluate Iowa Emergency Guidelines for Schools.  Participants will conduct a debriefing of each scenario and simulation.


Co-Teaching Model -HS Multipurpose Room 1:45-3:45
This training session will further participants understanding of the six co-teaching approaches that can be implemented in classrooms as well as providing information on when each approach may be most appropriate to use.  The effective implementation of collaborative consultation will also be covered during this training.  To maximize effectiveness it is recommended that co-teaching teams of both general education and special education teachers attend this training.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

September 23 Professional Learning--Response to Intervention

September 23 District Professional Development

The focus of our learning on Monday will be looking at Response to Intervention through the lens of "what we teach."  Our work on  learning progressions will be an important foundation for how we- 'scaffold up and scaffold down'-how we provide interventions and enrichment to improve and extend the learning from strong core instruction.  Another goal of our RtI model is to examine academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs together to determine the best and most effective interventions.

Our schedule for the day is as follows:

8:00-11:15--District Focus: Secondary Teachers (6-12)
Location: HS Auditorium

8:00-11:30--Building Focus: Elementary Teachers (K-5)

12:45-4:00--District Focus: Elementary Teachers (K-5)
Location: HS Auditorium

12:30-4:00--Building Focus: Secondary Teachers (6-12)

The district pd will be organized into 3 sections:
  • A shared understanding of the Southeast Polk Response to Intervention Model
  • Job-Alike Collaboration
    • This will be differentiated--those teaching math and reading will collaboratively study and identify instructional practices based on an item analysis of the Iowa Tests.  Other subject areas will have an opportunity to reflect on and discuss guiding questions related to the RtI model.
  • Summarizing and sharing
The job-alike sharing (other than reading and math teachers) will take place in the commons area of the high school.  You will have a structured note-taking guide to facilitate discussion and whole-group sharing around the RtI model.  If you finish this task, you may work on additional collaborative tasks related to student learning.  If you have been working on some projects with your job-alike group, you may want to bring this information and/or student data to the pd session.  You may bring laptops if it facilitates your learning, but they would not be required for the district sessions.

Teacher teams working together around our focus areas leads to improved outcomes for students.  We are looking forward to this day of professional learning.

Teaching and Learning Resource Center--Open House

Our curriculum team has moved!  Our curriculum coaches, coordinators, and special education team have moved to the "Teaching and Learning Resource Center" (formerly Central Place).  It has been great to have a central location for learning, planning and collaboration.  The center also offers some meeting spaces for small groups.  You are welcome to stop by and visit at any time, but we will be hosting an open house next Tuesday, September 24 from 3:30-5:00.  Stop by to visit, look around, and have some refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!

Learning Opportunity--EdcampDSM

Looking for a FREE PD opportunity?  Join 200+ educators from around the midwest on Saturday, September 28th at Crestview Elementary in Clive for EdcampDSM.

What’s an Edcamp? “Edcamp is a form of unconference designed specifically for teachers and their needs. What makes Edcamp an unconference? Unlike traditional conferences which have schedules set months in advance by the people running the conference, Edcamp has an agenda that’s created by the participants at the start of the event. Instead of one person standing in front of the room talking for an hour, people are encouraged to have discussions and hands-on sessions. Sponsors don’t have their own special sessions or tables, all of the space and time are reserved for the things the people there want to talk about. People could pay hundreds of dollars to attend another conference, or they could go to Edcamp for free.

Built on principles of connected and participatory learning, Edcamp strives to bring teachers together to talk about the things that matter most to them: their interests, passions, and questions. Teachers who attend Edcamp can choose to lead sessions on those things that matter, with an expectation that the people in the room will work together to build understanding by sharing their own knowledge and questions (edcamp.org).”

For more information on EdcampDSM, visit the website, register to attend, or contact Jamie Fath!


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Professional Learning

Southeast Polk Professional Development

We have increased our time for professional learning this year.  Collaboration and professional development increase the quality of instruction and this time has been used to continue and sustain our focus on increasing academic achievement for all of our students.  Additional time for professional learning allows us to improve our craft as we carry out the mission of the district: "Engage all students in learning a challenging curriculum delivered through quality instruction."

In a recent study*, the authors found that effective PD that has these characteristics:

-   It goes beyond one-shot presentations and is sustained over time.

-   The content is anchored in the standards, content, curriculum, and assessments being used by teachers.

-   It involves teachers in analyzing students’ work and group discussion.

This release time is well structured to maximize teaching and learning. Teacher leaders are particularly important in facilitating this process, and we have many great examples of this at Southeast Polk.

Delaware teachers collaborating on the design of productive group work tasks.



Teacher leaders from the Gradual Release Cadre creating model lessons.












Spring Creek teachers discussing authentic literacy tasks that support meaningful learning.














The Iowa Core Leadership team designing professional development to implement at their buildings.

* “Shaping Professional Development to Promote Diffusion of Instructional Expertise Among Teachers” by Min Sun, William Penuel, Kenneth Frank, Alix Gallagher, and Peter Youngs in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, September 2013 (Vol. 35, #3, p 344-369)

Bullying Prevention Summit
Southeast Polk continues their efforts to provide safe and supportive schools. We will be taking a team of more than 30 educators and students to the 2nd Annual Bullying Prevention Summit on November 4th in Des Moines. At the summit we’ll hear from Iowans and national experts, including young people, about how students and adults can make a difference. It is encouraging that Southeast Polk and many Iowa schools - and their communities - have launched anti-bullying campaigns. Let’s continue to build momentum for change. This is a challenge we can meet.

“I see what is right with you, despite your struggles. And I believe what is right with you is more powerful than anything that is wrong.” The message communicated by a teacher, counselor, nurse, bus driver, school secretary, or volunteer that makes the difference to a student, quoted in “Havens of Resilience” by Nan Henderson in Educational Leadership, September 2013


Tech Tool of the Week--Padlet

Looking for ways to  check for student understanding and feedback?  Padlet is a tool that can help you do this. 
Padlet allows you to add stickies to the board. You can place text, videos, weblinks, documents and images into your stickies. 

Looking for more ideas?


Try it out!


Thursday, August 29, 2013

Up and Running

The new school year is off to a great start, and we appreciate everyone's efforts that contribute to this smooth beginning.  As we welcome new students to our district, our rosters are beginning to finalize.  We should be getting closer to all students represented in Data Director and orders filled or placed for increased needs.  If your rosters are still not showing up accurately, please complete a Tech Tracker ticket with specific information.  If you are short on textbooks due to additional students and/or sections, please submit an Increased Needs Request Form. 

Perseverance in Math
 As we shift to the new Iowa Core standards, math is less about the math facts and more about the problem-solving processes.  My favorite quote from this article summary from the Marshall Memo--"wrong answers are a part of the learning process."

In this thoughtful Education Week article, Kentucky teacher Alison Wright describes how two students in her Algebra II class reacted when they got back a quiz on which each had the identical score: 6/10. The first student looked at the grade, rolled her eyes, threw the paper on the floor, and loudly complained that the test wasn’t fair and shouldn’t count. The second student read Wright’s comments, reworked the problems to figure out her mistakes, and talked to her after class to set up an after-school meeting to go over the questions and discuss her study skills. “This scenario is troubling to me,” says Wright. “Multiply this incident by how many classes the students take, by how many assessments they will have in each class, by how many years they are in school – the possible ramifications are staggering.”
            After doing some research, Wright came up with approaches she’s going to implement in her classes this coming year:
            Teach students that wrong answers are a helpful part of the learning process. “Over the years, I have seen so many math students shut down because they are so afraid of having the wrong answer and ‘failing,’” says Wright. She wants her students to be adventurous, to take control of their own learning, and not let fear of bad grades get in the way of learning. A helpful tool in this regard, she says, is Leah Alcala’s Teaching Channel video, “My Favorite No” – https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/class-warm-up-routine. Alcala has students write their answers to a math problem on 5x3 cards at the beginning of class, then quickly sorts the correct and incorrect answers and displays her “favorite” wrong answer (without mentioning the student’s name) and discusses with the whole class what was right and what was wrong. Alcala believes this is superior to using “clickers” because the teacher can make a judgment call on the most interesting and informative wrong answer – plus, it’s cheaper.
            Use cooperative group work as often as possible. Wright gets groups working on  Math Design Collaborative assessments - http://map.mathshell.org/materials/index.php – and finds this helps them grapple with the content and think about their own learning processes. “Not only are students developing social skills necessary for teamwork,” she says, “but they are also constructing arguments and providing valuable feedback to each other in a non-threatening environment.”
            Use “A” and “Not Yet” as the only two possible grades. Wright believes this might have helped the first student in the scenario above address her math learning issues rather than throwing a mini-tantrum about her grade.
 “Developing Non-Cognitive Skills: A Math Teacher’s Perspective” by Alison Wright in Education Week, Aug. 21, 2013, http://bit.ly/12mlcT2

Text-Dependency and Higher Level Questioning
A shift in the Iowa Core standards for reading and language arts includes supporting claims with text-based evidence.  As we focus on our questioning and text-dependent answers, we will need to be careful not to ask a litany of literal level 'memorization' questions.  Timothy Shanahan emphasizes this in his blog post below.  Shanahan reminds us that there is a difference between "close reading" and "thorough reading".  It is not necessary to remember every detail through intensive literal reading.  Rather, "the key is to ask questions that are not only text dependent, but that guide the reader to accomplish interpretive goals."  


Resources--Visual Arts and Arts Education

This week's resources support Visual Arts and Arts Education...enjoy!