Advancing the Vision 9-7-18

With our focus for September being on teamwork, I'd like to encourage you this month to think about how you are being a good teammate.  As I first began learning about the PLC concept, I got a completely new understanding of teamwork.  When I was in the classroom I thought that being a good teammate was limited to running copies for my grade level teammates, taking turns doing the newsletter, and each of us being responsible for the planning for a subject.  When I started looking at schools who had eliminated achievement gaps and who were top performing in overall achievement, teamwork took on a whole new meaning.

I saw lots of examples of teamwork this week when I observed the way we are working together to provide intervention for our students.  First, intervention is not going to work unless you have strong Tier I instruction.  Whenever I go into Ms. Hay's room I can count on her to be providing high-level Tier I instruction that is congruent to the learning target.  Something particularly special about Rose is that every time I observe her, there is an engagement strategy planned that also perfectly matches the learning target!  Whether she is having students write on whiteboards to demonstrate learning of the target or having them rally robin the concept, the children know to be on the hook during the direct instruction because they have grown accustomed to having the opportunity to demonstrate the learning target before the exit slip.  

The way our staff is using push-in this year makes for SUPER STRONG Tier I instruction...and shows the POWER of "collaboration with the intention of impacting our results and classroom practice."  In our co-teaching classrooms all students will benefit from the small groups and differentiation--not just students with IEPs.  

 

Teamwork is crucial once we get to Tiers 2 and 3...
Here we have Miss Brumfield providing Tier 2 to a small group of students in her classroom based on the classroom learning targets...

...while Mrs. Valentour provides prerequisite skill intervention in the lab.

To ensure that her students use their iready time effectively when they are in the lab, Mrs. Best has her students set goals!

 

When our students need that extra level of support, they can count on Ms. Griffin to coach them to reading success.  If you have never seen a Reading Recovery lesson in action, you simply must.  It is an amazing example of coaching, overt responses, formative assessment, and feedback!  No wonder Amy's students enjoy amazing results!!!

We are truly blessed to have such talented staff who works together so well.  Everyone really does their part here to layer on strategies and support so that our students are successful.