Times Have Changed

I began teaching 12 years ago in the Elementary level.  Each week we had “team meetings” with our grade level peers and our administrators.  In these meetings we would turn in lesson plans, discuss our assigned reading, report our weekly assessment results and take care of any housekeeping materials. 

A meeting with a grade level team today looks different. Each week the “Professional Learning Community” meets to cover an agenda created by the team.  Grade levels chose professional reading material based on the needs of individuals or the team. Assessment results are reported, analyzed and the information is used for future planning among the team. Growth is noted and successes are celebrated in each meeting.  Housekeeping materials are handled through emails or memos, not during time set aside for a Professional Learning Communities.    

As an assistant principal, I have had the opportunity to be a part of several PLCs. Recently I was a member of a second grade PLC as they were analyzing data after an intervention cycle. For intervention, the students were divided up based on a math pre-assessment and what strategies might help each individual move forward.  As the teachers reported the post assessment, I noticed they were proud of all the students whether they made small growth or substantial growth. They celebrated students in the entire grade level, not just their individual classes. They also discussed what would be next steps for students that were still struggling with the standard and those that had achieved the standard.  It made me reflect on the past.  When I began teaching, my students were my students and the teacher across the hall was the teacher for just her students.  We did what was best for our class and didn't consult with each other about what specific strategies we were using to help the struggling learner or the gifted student.

I love seeing and being a part of this PLC change.  Teachers are not only taking ownership of their students but also the students in the entire grade level.  Teachers are helping each other with ideas to push students forward. In return, the teachers are meeting or succeeding goals they have set for their grade level. 

From PD to PLC: The Next Step in Our Writing Journey

Learning is always occurring whether in the classroom
 or PLC; with students or with adults.  

If you missed the beginning of our writing journey this school year, you can read about it here. At that time I mentioned that the journey had just begun and this is only the next step as our journey to better meet the writing needs of our students continues.

As with most everything, it's through much collaboration
that our systems are perfected. 

With resources in hand, our building began to use the Lucy Calkins materials to help guide writing instruction with a clearer idea of what grade level rigor should look like. Our principal provided  an opportunity for grade levels to talk about writing during a half-day PLC. During this time, we were able to bring unit writing samples and talk about grade level proficiency. Although calibration was not our primary focus, it was definitely a great opportunity to start those conversations. Administrators, facilitators and teachers all sat around the table to get a better understanding of grade level work and participate in the process. The rich conversations were enlightening especially since the provided rubric is based on grade level standards instead of generalized indicators. The positive feedback indicated how the rubric focuses on what the student can do and matches those indicators to grade level proficiency. We walked away from our time with a deeper understanding and writing SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals set for our next writing PLC. Because of our current level using data to drive instruction as Miss Mills discusses here, this protocol was a natural next step. This protocol for analyzing student data was introduced by another school in our district to the principles, and the assistant principals and finally to the instructional facilitators. With this common message presented at the district level, we were able to see how the benefits of this protocol could help guide the conversations at our building.

Once a few modifications were made, we were ready to implement. One thing I greatly appreciate at Jones is not having the pressure for a system to be perfected before we give it a whirl. As with most everything, it's through much collaboration that our systems are perfected.

These PLCs occurred at each grade level in late November/early December. Fast forwarding to January, we again focused our professional development on writing and used an entire in-service day to meet with grade level teams to reflect on student progress toward meeting goals, score additional writing, and start the protocol again with the current unit of study. The current information will be incorporated into grade level interventions. Learning is always occurring whether in the classroom or PLC; with students or with adults. 

We Read Because We Believe We Can Read

I teach all content areas in 5th grade and very much enjoy the variety of content I get to work with in doing so; however, teaching literacy to English Language Learners is the single most rewarding thing about my job. Saying that is actually quite surprising, seeing as I personally struggled with reading in school.  Being a native English speaker from a middle class family is a blatant cultural difference between me and my 27 students, but the fact that I struggled with reading as a young learner is one connection we most certainly have. Because of this, when I see them succeed in literacy I very much understand what that accomplishment means to them and their life and the freedom they will experience because of it.

When I start each new school year I ask my students what their favorite subject is and what their least favorite subject is. This is a part of an interest inventory that I conduct in order to learn a little more about my students.  The underlying question there is “what is your best subject and your worst subject” because I've found that they enjoy what they believe they are good at. This year the data collected wasn't much different than in years past.  22% of my class reported that reading was their favorite subject. Twenty-two percent. That’s only 6 out of 27 students. What I see in that number is loads of opportunity. When I was ten, I would have been right there with them. It wasn't until I no longer feared reading that I actually succeeded. It is my goal for each of my students to leave my room with confidence in their ability to read and to no longer fear it but embrace it.

One of the methods I use to develop a love of reading among my students is Close Analytical Reading.  The purpose of close reading is to teach students to access complex text no matter their reading level.  This has been extremely successful in my class especially with the implementation of digital text. Only 30% of my class started the school year at or above grade level in reading; yet, daily I challenge them to read above grade level, complex text.  The key has been scaffolding, asking text dependent questions aimed at pointing my students directly to evidence in the text that I want them to attend to and having open ended discussion about the purpose and meaning of the text. Some days this process is brutal, but I live for the moments in the day when I see wide-eyed “Ah-Ha”s all across the room. As the year goes on, those moments come more frequently and students begin to believe they can read whatever I put in front of them.  Once that transition occurs, there is no longer a ceiling on what we can read and the depth at which we can understand it.  Some days I look out at my class and think, “Are you really ten? Can this really be?” The reality is, not only are they ten, but most of them are still learning English! They inspire me beyond words and I am truly lucky to witness their strength and determination daily.

Below is copy of a close read we did last month, an excerpt from a letter that Leonardo da Vinci wrote to the Duke of Milan… it has been one of my students’ favorites!

“Most Illustrious Lord: Having now sufficiently seen and considered the proofs of all those who proclaim themselves masters and inventors of instruments of war, and finding that their invention and use of the said instruments are nothing different from common practice, I am emboldened, without prejudice to anyone else, to put myself in communications with Your Excellency, in order to acquaint you with my secrets, thereafter offering myself at your pleasure effectually to demonstrate at opportune times all those things which are in part briefly noted below:

I have a sort of extremely light and strong bridges, adapted to be most easily carried, and with them you may pursue, and at any time flee from the enemy.

I have kinds of mortars, most convenient and easy to carry, and with these can fling small stones almost resembling a storm; and with the smoke of these causing great terror to the enemy, to his great detriment and confusion.

I will make covered chariots, safe and unattackable, which, entering among the enemy with their artillery, there is no body of men so great that they would break them.

In case of need I will make big guns, mortars, and light ordnance of fine and useful forms, out of the common type. Where the operation of bombardment should fail, I would contrive catapults, mangonels, trabocchi (trebuchet) and other machines of marvelous efficacy and not in common use.

In short, I can contrive various and endless means of offense and defense.”

Purpose Driven Data and Collaboration

Stacks of writing, mounds of math papers and a plethora of checklists, but now what?  As an educator it always seems that you have more data than you know what to do with, but the big question is, “What now?”  What purpose will the data serve other than to use as a grade?  How can this help me with my instruction?  These are precisely the questions asked at Jones Elementary, and the answers we have found, have been pivotal in our students’ success.

 So the first question we asked ourselves is what was the purpose of this data collection, what were we looking for?  We found that the best practice was to identify the standard we wanted to focus on and develop a grade level assessment that would target such skills.  We also maintained consistency by administering the assessment on the same day.  Once the assessment was given it was then our responsibility to grade the assessments and record our findings for each student on our data collection sheet.
Then we worked to find the purpose of the assessment as well as the data we had collected.  We met with our grade level team and analyzed the data, looking not only at the students’ results but our results as teachers.  We had an open and honest conversation about the areas of the standard we felt comfortable teaching, as well as those we weren't so comfortable with.  After a deeper analysis of the data we began to group kids according to the gaps in their understanding.  We placed them with the most qualified teacher to help close the gap.  We also utilized our math instructional facilitator; she helped us develop our skills and provided us with various techniques to strengthen our teaching abilities.  Our 4th grade team then had an extremely focused and purposeful intervention time, where the students were immersed in the content that was specifically designed for their needs.  At the end of our intervention period we re-assessed our students and were pleasantly impressed with the results.  Not only had our students made significant growth after our first intervention, but as a grade level we became stronger as teachers.

At Jones Elementary we have found that collecting data for a purpose, analyzing what the students are doing as well as our teaching strategies, and intervening to close the gaps for our students have been pivotal in our success.  Each student receives an education that is personalized for them, while the teachers are receiving valuable techniques and strategies to perfect their own craft.  We tell our students each day we are life-long learners; it’s our journey of data collection and collaboration that make that very statement the truth.

Setting Goals for a Bright Future

The end of winter break always comes too soon...or at least that is what I read over and over again on my Facebook feed the night before winter break ended. I found myself joining the masses and even finding humor as my co-workers and I shared some back to work groans. I didn't want to drag myself out of my warm bed early in the morning, kiss my one year old daughter good bye for the day, and come to work. The end of break seemed utterly dreadful until 7:30 a.m. That is when students who had been standing in the cold for a good 40 minutes got to finally enter the building. Suddenly, getting up in the cold early morning, on little sleep, after a late night of baby cries immediately had purpose and being at work suddenly seemed like the only place I could be. Before I could utter a simple "Good morning", I was being hugged by a student and I was being given the detailed rundown of his Christmas break. The best part about it all? He isn't even a student in my class. I only get to see him for 45 minutes a day for language instruction and yet still there he was telling me how much he missed me and how he was happy to be back at school. Then came my own classroom full of students. There were a good handful of students who came with a light jacket, and some with no jacket at all despite the below freezing temperature. As I surveyed my first grade classroom and received my hugs and joyfully listened to Christmas tales, my heart could not help but hurt for the quiet students, the ones without smiles, and the ones with dark circles under their eyes from lack of sleep and hungry bellies from lack of nutrition over the break. This is why I let my daughter spend the days with her Grandma instead of me, this is why I stay up late perfecting lesson plans, and this is why I drag myself out of bed no matter how tired I am.

With a renewed sense of purpose I began to feel excited about the day ahead of me. I knew we would be setting new goals for the semester today and reviewing our progress from our previous goal. In August our class had set a big, audacious goal of having 17 friends on grade level in reading by December. Now 17 out of 24 students may not seem like much until you consider the following facts. We began the year with only six students on grade level in reading as measured by the Measures of Academic Progress or MAP assessment. Many of the students were reading at or below a kindergarten reading level. Of these 24 students, 19 are English language learners and all but 3 qualify for free or reduced lunches. These students and their families have barriers that so often get the blame for stopping student progress, but these kids didn't let those barriers get in the way. Although the goal was lofty, my students were determined and by December we were able to raise that number to 13. 

I was so proud looking at the data. I could not wait to show the students. We graphed the class scores and celebrated our growth. When students were asked what our goal should be for the spring semester my sweet Jonna quickly raised her hand and suggested our goal should remain at 17. Since we were creating a class goal I asked the other students to weigh in on Jonna's suggestion. Most students agreed with her. Then suddenly from the back of the room Kenneth raised his hand, "I disagree.", he said respectfully with a smile. When I asked him why, he simply said, "I think all of us should be ready to read." I could not resist the urge to test Kenneth's enthusiasm and so I asked, "Are you sure? That will be a lot of friends to help get ready to read." Not only did Kenneth hold to his opinion strongly, but all students, even Jonna decided to join Kenneth. When I asked them why it was so important to them that we all know how to read they answered with responses like, "So we can get a job." and "So we can go to 2nd grade." This wasn't our first talk about the importance of being a good reader.

We wrapped up our goal setting with talking about individual student goals that would help us reach our lofty class goal. Each student met with me or my intern to discuss their MAP data. They were given multiple choices for their individual reading goals. When I asked Jamie to come and sit with me she said, "Well, sometimes I have trouble you know, stretching out words. So which one will help me with that?" We quickly decided that she would choose blends and digraphs as her goal to help her improve her reading. All of my students were not only eager to pick a goal but they were also excited to share their goals with others. 

Remember those barriers I was talking about? Setting our goals high and working together as a class and as a school chips away at those walls. Suddenly 24 out of 24 kids being on grade level in reading did not seem so unrealistic. Not only am I teaching my students to celebrate little successes even if our goal wasn't met, but my students are starting to realize the importance of goal setting. This is a skill that will help them break down even more barriers as they get older. The lessons I learn from them daily about perseverance in a world that expects to see them fail will never cease to amaze and inspire me.

The Promise and Peril of Turning Student Learning Into a Number Justin Minkel

First grade teacher Justin Minkel's latest blog post for Education Week is a must read. It provoked excellent grade-level conversations during professional development Monday. It impacted our school so much that our mission statement was ammended to now read, "We will cultivate life-long learners through rigorous learning experiences and support for the whole child so they can live the lives they dream."

Published Online: December 30, 2014

The Promise and Peril of Turning Student Learning Into a Number

Students can set goals for themselves, and teachers can focus on growth when students celebrate their results.

—Justin Minkel

By Justin Minkel

• Printer-Friendly
• Email Article
• Reprints
• Comments
• Tweet
• Like
• 

I got an email from a former student yesterday that filled me with both joy and doubt.

Ava is an English-learner who lives in poverty, works incredibly hard, and loves school. She’s in 6th grade now, and her family of three sisters has swelled to five sisters with the births of little Magdalena and Yesica.

Ava was part of a home library project I did with my students in 2nd and 3rd grade, and she wrote to congratulate me on receiving a $100,000 grant this month to take the project to scale with 1,800 students. Here is what she wrote:

Hi, Mr. Minkel,

I wanted to ask you a question and that question is how did you start the home library project? That is a very good project and thanks to that project I am a very good reader. In my MAP test at the end of 5th grade my score was 232 and I went above my goal by 11 points. I still remember that in the beginning of 2nd grade my DRA level was 16 and at the end of 3rd grade I was in DRA 50. You know I re-read The BFG and took the journey with Sophie and The BFG again. Well bye and remember I miss you.