Our BOY data is in, actions plans have been created, iii groups have been formed, and teachers are immersed in teaching core curriculum and differentiating instruction. You may be concerned with those students who are not making gains despite your intervention strategies. Below is the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) which is a framework to ensure successful education outcomes for ALL students. The MTSS model uses a data-based problem solving process to provide and evaluate the effectiveness of multiple tiers of integrated academic, behavior, and social-emotional instruction/intervention supports matched to student need. Your teammates and case managers are here to assist with this process.
This problem-solving approach requires collaboration, organizing our tiers/iii time, and utilizing the strengths of those on our team. The conversations that are generated during child talk also require trust...trust in ourselves and in our teammates. This is the one point that hit home for me as I watched this video. EVERY student needs differentiated instruction. EVERY student needs to feel success. Sometimes we get into a negative frame of mind and get hung up on the how's and when's. In order for all of use to feel success, we must be willing to trust in one another, keep a positive attitude, and use our precious time wisely to generate meaningful intervention strategies that will assist all of our cubs.
First off, I want to personally thank each and every one of
you for making our first data day a success! I enjoyed working with each team
creating action plans with intervention strategies that will effectively reach
our student’s needs. Not only are we working within our teams, we are working
as a school- to raise the number of students proficient in each grade level. We
are all dedicated, determined, and devoted Deep Creek leaders that put forth
everything needed so that all of our students grow academically, socially, and
behaviorally. I thank you for all that you do, your hard work does not go
unnoticed.
With that being said, it’s important that we include our
students in the goal making process. Students should be aware of how to create,
work towards, and meet goals. For us, and students, goals help us in all
aspects of life. We should be exposing and allowing all of students the chance
to work toward a goal/s. Research shows that students' learning, motivation,
and self-regulation can be improved when students pursue goals that are
specific, proximal, and moderately difficult, receive feedback on their goal
progress, focus their attention on learning processes, and shift their focus to
outcome goals as their skills develop. We all do this at one time or another.
It’s important that students are held accountable and have expectation to work
towards, just like we do. On both ends, it required effort, time, and
perseverance. We all hear those three words too often. We can help by
maximizing our resources, working together, sharing ideas, and planning
collaboratively.
In our data day we formulated goals of where we wanted our
students to end, they can do the same thing. We set strategies to reach those
goals and will revisit them every so often to track our goal progression. They
should have specific learning outcomes that they can work toward and reach too,
but in small steps. We are not superheroes although sometimes we wish we were.
We have to break apart our goals into small digestible chunks
before reaching our end. With that being said, help them strategize ways to
reach their end goal by allowing them small steps along the way. We all have to
cross a hurdle one time or another. Teach them that is okay. Allow for
mistakes, everything is a learning opportunity to strengthen ourselves. Our
children are active participants in helping us meet our teams, and schools
goal-as well as their own. It’s vital that they understand what it is we both
are hoping and striving towards. I included each team's action plans so there is an awareness with everyone on campus. We are in this together-Deep Creek Cubs are
ONE- One Message One Voice One Team!
“Remember the Titans” is my favorite movie for several
reasons. Partly because I love every movie
that has Denzel Washington as its star,
I love sports, but mainly as a coach/teacher I love the way the team becomes
unified as the players and coaches learn to depend on and trust each other.
If you haven’t seen the movie it takes place in Virginia in
the early 1970s at two separate high schools.
To start the new school year, these
two high schools integrate together to create TC Williams High School and a new
African American coach, Denzel Washington, is appointed as the new football
coach. The movie goes back and forth as
the players, coaches, adults, and the community come to grips with integration
and all the changes that
await for them in the school year.
Change is
hard. In the movies, changes happen in 1.5 or 2 hours
and everything comes out great. In real
life, it takes work, struggles, setbacks, and sometimes feeling like everything
is stacked up against us. Right now,
watching the teams go through their data days is painful for me; I want to support you, cry with you (I don’t
cry though), give tough love and tell you not to give up. When I first got here year last year, Mrs.
DeGroot, was going through the LESRA model and changing the way Math was taught,
the reactions were the same. Later in
the year, I remember hearing many of the staff say that they have seen
improvements. I believe the same will
happen with the hard work you put in on these data days.
I have never heard one person at
this school say, “I don’t want Deep Creek to be a great place,” or “I do not
want to help my students learn.” I know
that your days are often difficult and challenging. I know that some of you feel “fun” has been
taking out of teaching. I know that some
do not agree with common core. I see your struggles and I never want to forget
what it is like in the classroom. But,
at the beginning of this school year we all sat in our cafeteria and talked
about success, doing our best for our students, and having positive attitudes. We can’t forget these things 4.5 weeks in to
the year. WE have to be unified, depend
on each other, and trust each other.
Back to my movie, “Remember the Titans.” There is a scene where the captain of the
team is complaining to another player on the team about everyone giving up and
having a poor attitude. That player
looks up and says, “attitude reflects leadership, captain.” That line has stuck with my whole teaching
and coaching career. My team, my
classroom, and my family reflect my leadership.
Your classroom reflects your leadership.
My role has changed, but this school reflects mine and Adrienne’s
leadership. We want to be proud of that
reflection.
I know I was supposed to use my MMM week to talk about
attendance and behavior, but I just wanted to let the staff know I feel your
struggles, I see your obstacles, but we cannot use them as excuses. We have to keep moving forward and accept Nothing Less Than Our Success.
This week we start our beginning of the year data days and I am so excited to see the teamwork and collaboration between our fabulous teams. We have worked on a structured standards based immediate intensive intervention plan that we hope will elevate our student proficiency scores to the next level. Our goal is to be the best elementary school so we still have lots of work to do. Change is hard but we can do it if we do it together.
If a team is effective, then people learn from each other. They accomplish far more than would be possible alone. They inspire and challenge each other. An individual's strengths can be exploited, and we don't have to do the stuff we're not so good at. Again, this is an efficient approach to undertaking a huge project (transforming a school, for example) and it feels good. I couldn't agree more with the five characteristics below:
1. A good team knows why it exists.
It's not enough to say, "We're the 4th grade team of teachers" -- that's simply what defines you (you teach the same grade), not why you exist. A purpose for being is a team might be: "We come together as a team to support each other, learn from each other, and identify ways that we can better meet the needs of our fourth grade students." Call it a purpose or a mission -- it doesn't really matter. What matters is that those who attend never feel like they're just obligated to attend "another meeting." The purpose is relevant, meaningful, and clear.
2. A good team creates a space for learning.
There are many reasons why those of us working in schools might gather in a team -- but I believe that all of those reasons should contain opportunities for learning with and from each other. I have met very few educators who don't want to learn -- we're a curious bunch and there's so much to learn about education. So in an effective team, learning happens within a safe context. We can make mistakes, take risks, and ask every single question we want.
3. In a good team, there's healthy conflict.
This is inevitable and essential if we're learning together and embarked on some kind of project together. We disagree about ideas, there's constructive dialogue and dissent, and our thinking is pushed.
4. Members of a good team trust each other.
This means that when there's the inevitable conflict, it's managed. People know each other. We listen to each other. There are agreements about how we treat each other and engage with each other, and we monitor these agreements. There's also someone such as a facilitator who ensures that this is a safe space. Furthermore, in order for there to be trust, within a strong team we see equitable participation among members and shared decision-making.
5. A good team has a facilitator, leader, or shared leaders.
There's someone -- or a rotation of people -- who steer the ship. This ensures that there's the kind of intentionality, planning, and facilitation in the moment that's essential for a team to be high functioning.
Being aware of these five characteristics will help your team grow and learn together. I know this week you will synergize to do great things. I hope everyone has been taking time to reflect daily (or as often as you can). Remember keep it simple with a "Wow" and a "Yikes" each day. This simple habit can go along way.
