Small Group Collaboration

PE, Music, Special Ed, EAs, Math teachers, and others had the opportunity to work together yesterday for several hours.  The idea was that like-minded teachers will get more done in smaller groups discussing relevant things than being placed in a large group setting with information that doesn't directly pertain to their work.  Having so many different breakout groups on campus days is a new thing and came about because of the feedback we received from you after last year's staff development days.  Please share your thoughts about yesterday's sessions, what went well, and what you might like to see in the future. 

Walker Creek Writing

Writing can be a very difficult thing to teach and an even harder thing to grade objectively.  Making sense of planning, teaching, and assessing writing is a challenge at every grade level.  The purpose of having Norma Jackson come and work with us was to provide you with practical tools for the writing process and to begin building vertical alignment with our approach to writing at Walker Creek.  The focus is on excellent writing and not on STAAR.  We want excellent results on STAAR of course, but we are really looking at something much bigger.  We want to develop life-long writing skills in our scholars that will continue to build throughout middle school and high school.  As I listened in the afternoon session yesterday, I thought about two things.  If we all have the same framework for the writing process and if we use the same tools for assessment, our scholars will be better equipped to write as they move into fourth and fifth grades.  While we don't have a writing crisis at Walker Creek, there is room to improve.  I believe this is a matter of getting on the same page with instruction and assessment and not about more, more, more writing.  What are your thoughts about the tools from the Norma Jackson's workshop and how they apply to us? 

Thanksgiving

 

This Thanksgiving was one of the best I can ever remember.  My folks were in town for 7 days; we had two huge parties at our house, we saw a great concert at Bass Hall, and we ate more good food than anyone should eat in a month.  The highlight of the week was having family over at our house after Thanksgiving for a party that lasted into the morning.  Having some time off puts things into perspective and reminds us of what's important.  We would all love to hear your Thanksgiving stories if you feel like sharing.  What was special about your Thanksgiving break? 

Putting It All Together

One of my signature strengths is connectedness.  I'm always trying to figure out how things fit together and what they mean for the big picture.  I hope you are making connections and finding value with the tools you are provided.  Consider the following and look at them through the lense of the 4 guiding questions: Lesson Planning, Collaboration, RTI, WOW, Assessments, Flexible Grouping, Professional Learning, and more.  How are these things fitting together and what connections are you making? 

WOW Collaboration

I was very pleased with the overall effort of our first Working on the Work Day.  I saw connections being made, I heard excellent clarifying questions, and I felt the energy as you worked through the process of picking TEKS/SEs and visualizing your portrait of success.  What are your thoughts, connections, and questions after WOW Day? 

Building an airplane in flight

 

Ever feel like this?  Building an airplane in flight is a powerful analogy.  While it makes sense to actually finish building the plane before you attempt to fly it, the reality of school life is you don't ever get enough downtime to complete the plane before it's time to take off.  How does this apply to us?  While it's tempting to focus on the frustration, anxiety, and tension of so much work and so much change - how do we turn this adversity into opportunity?  How are you managing to stay focused on the important things and continue moving forward?   

Homework

There are many thoughts about homework.  How much, what type, should it be graded?  And the debates go on and on.  Even the researchers can't give definitive answers when it comes to elementary age children.  Below are two links to articles that review research about homework in elementary school.  I encourage you to read these articles to arm yourself with knowledge on the subject before you assign homework or attempt to talk with parents about it.
                                                    
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar07/vol64/num06/The-Case-For-and-Against-Homework.aspx

http://www.greatschools.org/students/homework-help/1938-what-research-says-about-homework.gs?page=all

As we get ready for the school year, I want you to be very thoughtful about how your grade level constructs its homework policy. I believe that homework has its place within a few simple guidelines. I believe homework is an opportunity to deepen understanding of academics, develop a love of learning, build study skills, and create excellent relationships with parents.  Before we meet as grade levels, I want you to reflect on your own beliefs about homework.  Here are a few of mine.

• Homework should be consistent in all classes within a grade level
• Homework should be clearly communicated to parents
• Homework should take a reasonable amount of time (both articles explore this)
• Homework should be well-planned and not just whatever is not completed in class
• If assigned, homework should not be optional - if it's assigned it must be done
• I don't believe that homework necessarily needs to be graded, but I believe it must be addressed in some meaningful way if scholars are going to take it seriously 

Look at homework as an opportunity to hook kids and parents to get them on board with what you're doing in class.  Get them excited about school through homework.  When we meet as grade levels, be prepared to talk about what you think about homework.  Let's make Walker Creek a place where scholars and parents love their homework.