General – Page 79

February 6, 2015February 7, 2015 Lisa.Taylor Assessment, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, General, Planning, Report Cards

Updating the IEP

With the end of Term 1, comes the IEP review and update process. While the intention is that the IEP is regularly reviewed and updated, many IEPs lay stagnant all term and are dusted off at reporting time to be updated. Teachers are excellent at setting goals, supporting goals, working with children to achieve goals, and even revising and modifying goals along the way. We often slip up in the record keeping portion of the process. How many times have we called the parent of a student on an IEP to talk about how they are doing, what they can be working on at home to support progress, etc., and not logged it in the IEP contact record? I often forgot to include that until it was IEP review time and then I would grab my communication binder and update. It is so important to keep the IEP up-to-date always. If you set a goal for a student to be able to count up to 50 and notice that they can count to 60, that goal needs to be changed on the IEP immediately! The whole point of the IEP is to have goals that are attainable, but not too easy. The hope is that we will push the student beyond their current ability level to extend their knowledge, hopefully closing the gap between where they are currently working, and the level their class is working at.

When recording communication, goals, assessments, accommodations, etc. on the IEP, I find it helpful to include as much detail as possible. Many IEP engines have drop-down menus, check boxes, etc. This might not always provide you with everything you need to paint an accurate picture of the student. Don’t be afraid to use the “other” box and explain. If you are doing something that is “outside of the box” for a student and it is working, document it!

We like to think that those students will be at our school forever and so will we, but that is not always the case. Unfortunately, families move, teachers move, people get ill, things happen. If you are suddenly not able to be at school, it is important that those records are up-to-date. Last year, I became ill and was quite abruptly sent home from work to await surgery. I was given next to no notice that I was not going to be at work, and the duration was undetermined. In the time that I was gone, two of my students moved. Had I not had their records up-to-date, I would have had to come in off of my sick leave (which might have jeopardized my leave) to collect up my data to update their records. Keeping things thorough and detailed also means your colleagues who have the student in the future know what things have been done for the student, what works, where the strengths are, etc., without having to track down previous teachers. With Lay-Offs, School Surplus, Transfers, etc., the staff in a school can change pretty rapidly. That document might be he only thing left in the school that really knows a student by the end of the staffing process in a given year.

There are lots of sites that will help with writing goals, scaffolding to ensure goals are progressing toward a larger goal, etc. It is often easy to get the IEP completed once you sit down and get to work. It is feeling the urgency and the importance that the document holds that really motivates a teacher to keep the IEP updated on paper, not just in their daily planning.

January 31, 2015February 2, 2015 Shawna Rothgeb-Bird General, Professional Learning and Growth

Working With a Mentor

As a new hire, all Ontario teachers participate in the provincial New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP). While the specific details of NTIP vary from board to board, one common component is working with a mentor teacher to develop your professional skills.

I was fortunate to go through NTIP in a school where I had already completed a Long Term Occasional assignment. I knew the staff, and as such I had developed great working relationships with many teachers in the school. Before my principal could even ask me who I would be interested in working with, I had discussed the idea with a colleague – my teaching partner from the year before. We knew we had similar teaching styles but different strengths, so it was as much an opportunity for her to learn from me as vice versa.

In my board, we are given three release days to be divided between the NTIP teacher and his/her mentor as they choose. These days can be used for time outside the classroom for planning, time observing either the NTIP teacher or the mentor in the classroom, attending professional development opportunities, etc. It was really nice to have it be so open and undefined because it allowed us to decide what my priorities were and how we would address them.

We started with a very general question: “What am I good at?” This question would give us a starting point for discussion. My mentor had already come up with a few things areas in which she felt I was strong. I added a few more, though it was an incredibly difficult question for me to answer because I was so new. It was really beneficial to see what she considered my strengths because I hadn’t yet had a TPA, so I had never heard someone talk about my teaching skills from an outside perspective. Many of my strengths were things I had already decided were priorities.

The next question, perhaps predictably, was, “What do I want to improve?” While it’s easy to criticize your own teaching style and come up with a list several pages long, I tried to really focus on a few things I felt were particular areas of need for me. It wasn’t going to be possible to touch on all of them with our limited time, so together we decided on one thing that we could work on together. For us, that was assessment. Together we planned a unit for my class and a unit for hers, with the plan being to work together to assess students before starting the unit and again at the end. For all of the assessment during the unit, we would be flying solo (because realistically, that happens on such a daily basis that it would be impossible to do together).

We never had a chance to finish our units together because of a family emergency, but to be perfectly honest, the planning and discussion was beneficial all on its own. Just by having a frank conversation about our strengths and needs and by planning units together, I learned more in two days than I had thought I would. I’m not certain that our discussion would have been as meaningful or helpful had we not been familiar with one another already. My mentor already knew a considerable amount about my teaching style, my strengths, and my areas of need – so we were able to dive into professional discourse and develop a plan.

I suppose my point with all of this (disjointed though it may be) is to strongly encourage you to find a mentor with whom you can work in an open, candid manner. Be realistic about your expectations: you won’t be able to address everything you want to address. Most of all, have fun learning from one another!

January 30, 2015February 12, 2015 Tammy Axt Classroom Management, General

Managing a three-ring circus

Classroom management can be challenging at times but add in 30 instruments, noise and tons of movement and you could have a three-ring circus. Some of the extra challenges that planning time teachers have to face are the constant transition of classes, teaching hundreds of students and managing a multitude of materials. With a little forethought, planning and well-trained students, managing a planning time subject can be a dream instead of a nightmare!

First of all, make your expectations of behaviour very clear and transparent. I also make my expectations short, catchy and to the point. Right now we are doing a bucket drumming unit, so I take 10 seconds in the hallway before the students enter to say “If you play before I say….” and the students respond with “Then I’ll take your sticks away”. The students know what is expected of their behaviour before they even walk in the room. Furthermore, follow through on what you have said. If anyone even plays a little bit I walk over to them and just hold out my hand. I do not stop giving instructions and I don’t give the student a hard time. If he or she looks confused I point to the sign posted in the class. I hold onto the sticks for the first five minutes of class. Once I have taken one pair of sticks on the first day, the students usually remember the rule. It is impossible to talk over instruments, especially drums, so I stick to this rule in every class. I briefly review the expectations of behaviour almost every class.

Secondly, the arts are amazing as there are many opportunities for sharing performances. Groups or pairs are often presenting their creations so audience behaviour is something that needs to be explicitly taught and reviewed. I refer to some of the symbols above to help students do their best work. Strategic grouping and seating can also go a long way in preventing problems. I put a big focus on group work at the beginning of the year so that activities in my class can run more smoothly.

Another tip is to make your materials accessible to students. In the hallway, I quickly tell the students what instruments to take out or what materials will be needed that day. I will either assign a few students to be in charge of taking out the materials or everyone will get their own as they enter. Materials should be in a clearly labeled location and at a height that students can access. Since I only have the students for 40 minutes twice a week I need to maximize the time in which students are engaged in fun music activities. This also speeds up transition time which is where some of our students get themselves into trouble.

I’ve realized after a few years of teaching that good classroom management is 95 percent about planning. If you are well-planned you will often have fewer management problems to deal with. I was walking down the hall the other day past our drama/dance room and the teacher had put the outline of a giant mitten on the floor. Even I was intrigued. What were they using this mitten for? I know if I am that interested, every kid who walks in this classroom will be doing the same. I also know that the students in French class are doing crazy fashion shows and in music they are talking about music that is important to them. Planning engaging activities will keep students on track.

Finally, You can implement a reward system in a planning time subject. Our French teacher has a straight forward and simple system that is very effective in encouraging the students to do their best. She divides the students in groups and they work towards rewards.

January 30, 2015February 2, 2015 Beverly Papove Building Inclusion, General

Celebrate Fabulousness

In my grade 3 French Immersion class, the following is something we do to help everyone feel special on St. Valentine’s Day. You need a few days to complete the activity, depending on the number of students in your class and how fast they work.

The idea is to make an “I am Fabulous” book. I like to use, « Je suis fabuleuse – une histoire vrai de (nom d’élève) » (I am Fabulous – the true story about (student’s name) for the book’s title. Each student writes the opening page of the book telling why they think they are fabulous, then they do the same thing for all their classmates. As a bonus, I send home a page for the parents to complete about their own child, and I also fill one out for each student. The pages are all collected and compiled so each student will receive their own ‘true story’ on Valentine’s Day and read about their Fabulousness/Fabulocité (words invented for this activity…).

To get ready, I make a chart to help students keep track of who they have written about and have them start by writing something about themselves.

Example/

Name/ Nom	Fabulousness / Fabulocité	Example/ Exemple
Me	I can do difficult things on my skis	I can do flips with no hands
Alison	She is an inventor	She invented a game called Oidar
Benjamin	He loves music	He likes to bring in CDs for the class to enjoy and we like them, too

After the students have written about themselves, I read a few samples to help create categories of fabulousness. On chart paper, in a web graphic organizer with the word Fabulousness/Fabulocité written in the middle, students see themes or categories emerge, such as; sports, kindness, perseverance, generosity, imagination, etc. You could also do categories following Bloom’s Taxonomy of Multiple Intelligences. In grade 3 language, this could be simplified to the terms Math Smart, Nature Smart, People Smart, Body Smart, Music Smart, Logic Smart, Self Smart and Logic Smart. Creating categories helps students avoid repetition and guides them to think about their classmates and themselves in many more ways.

A strategy I use to help students learn to express their opinion and justify it, is something called “Les 3 Ps” (Je PENSE… PARCE QUE… PAR EXEMPLE…). You can use a template for the students to complete as in a cloze activity, write it on the board so students can copy it and complete it in their own handwriting, or have them type out a few a day on the computer. There are probably a million other ways to do this more quickly and conveniently, however, once they get going, it does go remarkably fast. Students use the ideas they generate in the chart graphic organizer to fill in the blanks and complete these sentences.

Example/

Je pense que ______________ est fabuleux/fabuleuse, parce que ____________. Par exemple, ___________________________________________.

In English, it could look something like this;

I think that __________________________is fabulous because ________________ . For example, ___________________________________________ .

For the cover of the book, students are invited to bring in a photo of themselves or they can draw their portrait if they choose. For the pages inside, students are encouraged to illustrate their message to their classmates to help decorate the book and make it more special.

Although it takes a little planning and organization, creating the book is a nice activity to help remind students of the talents they each have.

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 Tammy Axt General

Passion for Teaching

I learned something this fall that will stay with me as a teacher for a long time. I always encourage my students to be creative and be risk takers but I am a planner that usually takes small cautious steps to learn something new.

However, by pushing myself out of my comfort zone I learned that…..CHOIR IS AWSOME!

Let me explain. I am a music teacher who had NO INTEREST in ever running a choir. I trained as a taiko drummer in Japan and am able to play the piano reasonable well. All of my training has been instrument based and I have never once stepped foot in a choir rehearsal. Due to my inexperience, I was very nervous to run a choir so my colleague always led the way.

Due to circumstances this year, I had no choice but to step up and take over the choir. I put in an announcement for choir in October and I started with about 40 students. All of a sudden, I realized how fun it was to join together in song with 40 people and I think my excitement rubbed off on the students. Soon my 40 student choir turned into a 150 student choir and all fall we were having a blast singing holiday songs during our nutrition break. I never in a million years would have thought that I would look forward to Monday and Wednesday choir practices so much. My main focus while running this choir for the students was to have fun and that is exactly what I did as well.

I did my usually research about how to run a choir by reading books and watching videos but this time I really tried to just share my love of music with them. It is a passion of mine but sometimes I think I forget to show the students my passion when I am busy helping them with their technique or teaching them to read or write music.

There is something so powerful about stepping outside your comfort zone and stumbling into a whole new world of possibilities.

January 13, 2015January 13, 2015 Beverly Papove Assessment, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General, Report Cards

No Report Card Surprises

Way back in October before the first reports were issued, I was busy inviting half of the parents into my class for heads-up interviews regarding their child’s progress. So many of my students were reading and writing below grade level, had serious behaviour issues, or were just plain struggling to meet the basic demands of the grade 3 French Immersion curriculum. Many students had the “progressing with difficulty” box checked off. In fairness and for reasons of professional integrity, parents need to know before the reports go home. Experience has told me that, although the conversation may be difficult, especially if it’s being heard for the first time, inviting parents in with the idea of forming a support team for their child is a smart way to start off the school year. Start the collaboration early and it can be so much easier if, later on down the road, there is some information you need to share that will be difficult for them to hear.

So, the highest needs were addressed, all parents were contacted and the pre-Parent Teacher Interviews went really well. By seeing many parents in the weeks before the official Parent-Teacher Interview period, I was able to have enough time to discuss in more detail how things were going in school and to have a more relaxed conversation than the 15 minutes provided on interview night allows. Some parents confirmed by examples from home what I was drawing to their attention, while others were positive about setting up supports for their child. However, when the proverbial dust had settled in the weeks following the Progress Reports, and I thought that I had touched base with the administration, learning support colleagues and parents regarding the progress of all the students with the highest needs, I suddenly realized that there was one student who had received `progressing well` on the report, but who was not progressing as well as I had originally believed. In hindsight, I realize that I had been focussing on behaviour goals with this student more than academics, and this is what had overshadowed the challenges the student was experiencing in the first few reading and writing assignments completed in class. What to do?

Firstly, I let the administration, learning support teachers and the parents know. Since lines of communication were already well established with the parents, I was able to be honest with them and explain that while progress was being made in the area of behaviour in class, their child was exhibiting difficulties with more demanding assignments. Showing samples of work done in class following the progress report period highlighted the need for help to meet the demands of the grade 3 curriculum.

Secondly, I was able to attend a Student of Concern meeting with the administration and the learning support teachers where we explored how we could determine areas of need for this student, the kinds of supports we could provide at school and what the parents could seek, if they chose to.

Thirdly, I scrutinized assessments, samples of work, and my note book, to make sure I had an accurate profile of the student, and to make sure that the parents had all the necessary information to pave the way for the first Report Card in February. Although the Fall Progress Report may have indicated a student who in general at the time did not appear to be progressing with difficulty, the first term Report Card will indicate what the child`s challenges are in detail, and thankfully, the parents are already aware.

The value of communicating regularly with parents cannot be underestimated. In this case, it was beneficial to avoid any confusion or defensive reaction and to convey the fact that I have the child`s best interest at heart. The positive effects of Parent-Teacher collaboration for the child are also significant and hold each of us accountable.

January 11, 2015January 12, 2015 Mike Beetham Celebrating Success, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General

Communicating With Parents

Part of our professional responsibility is to communicate with parents about the progress their child is or is not making in your classroom. How much communication? How often to communicate? What way is best? There is no one answer to that. The answer is determined by what is both comfortable and effective for you as a professional.

I use a variety of ways to ensure that my parents know about what is happening in my classroom as well as how their child is doing. The following is a list of the types of communication and what I hope to accomplish with each.

Weekly News – this is a one-page summary that I compose at the end of each week of school. In it I summarize what has been our curriculum focus, as many good news items as possible, important upcoming dates and I typically try to add ways that parents can support their child at home. In addition, our weekly awards’ recipients are listed by name. It goes home on Monday and is due back signed by the following Monday. At the end of the year it is a yearbook for each child. As well I use it as a personal reflection of what I had accomplished that week and what direction I need to go the following week.

Sunshine Calls – these are random calls home where my sole focus is to share good news and celebrate each child. I try to time them with specific deeds of the students as the timing also provides a powerful mode of feedback. If I have to make a call home where the news is not good, I try to ensure that I increase the number of positive calls home after that.

Student Work – I constantly try to share as much of our finished work as possible with parents (not just the evaluation aspect). I will have students share their poetry, a story, read to their family and have the family sign it to show they have had it shared. At times, we invite families in to look at our art displays, attend a poetry recital or drama performance.

Monthly Calls – these are extra calls that go to families of my students who have academic or behavour struggles. It is important to keep families updated and to offer ways for them to support their child. It is too late if I wait until reporting time. There have been times when the frequency of these calls increase to bi-weekly or weekly updates.

Meetings – I work hard to have a face-to-face with each family regardless of whether their child has struggles or is working from an enriched curriculum. There are situations where these meetings are scheduled on a regular basis.

Surveys – Occasionally when I am looking at a special event (often a field trip) I will send a survey home outlining what my intended outcomes are, the proposed cost, details and get them to share their thoughts with me. This is sometimes easier for parents to do in written form.

I have made a personal choice to not use email or any kind of social media as a vehicle of communication to my families. There are pros and cons to this decision and should be left up to each teacher. I just caution you to make sure you are aware of the risks that can be associated with that practice so that you can ensure your protection. If you need more information about communication via social media, I would recommend you contact the ETFO Provincial Office.

The final item I would like to mention is that even though as teachers we have a professional responsibility to communicate to parents, we do not have to endure a parent’s tirade, be yelled at or verbally abused. You have the right to stop any meeting or conversation that is deemed inappropriate. Should you need support with a parent, contact your principal or your local ETFO leadership. The one thing my experience has taught me is that a parent’s approach or view about their child’s schooling is often influenced by the experience they had as a student (good and/or not so good).

January 4, 2015 Alison.Board Celebrating Success, General, Learning About Your Students

Setting Goals

Last year at this time, I introduced my class to goal setting. Although this is often done in September, I feel it is more effective in January when students have had the opportunity to received feedback in all subject areas. During our Writing Workshop, we discussed and wrote goals that were particular to student success at school. Many of the goals were vague or too broad, so we used the SMART goal process (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely). This framework really helped students create better goals that suited their individual needs. Once the goals were created, students wrote them on foam discs and we hung them around the classroom to refer to and measure against.

This January, I plan to do the same goal setting work with my 6/7 class. I have found an article on edutopia that articulates the process effectively:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/smart-goal-setting-with-students-maurice-elias

It shows how students are more engaged with their learning and goals when they know what they have to do and in what timeframe to achieve them. The article also provides information on goal setting for character traits, using peer review.

In The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning, an activity is provided to align students goals, strengths, and beliefs as they relate to their life in school. The activity is suggested as a first day of school activity, but it would also work well in January, when students are comfortable to share more in their established classroom community. You can find this activity on page 36.

Goal setting is a task that correlates with the idea of growth mindset. Students should be encouraged to set goals for themselves at any time in the year. By helping them create goals that are attainable, you will also help them feel success.

December 31, 2014December 31, 2014 Shawna Rothgeb-Bird Assessment, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General

Engaging Parents in Assessment and Evaluation

One of the most common questions a teacher gets asked by parents is, “How is ______ doing?” The question pops up no matter where or when you run into the parent of a student. I’ve had parents ambush me with this question at these (and other) times:

– During school hours when dropping off their child’s lunch, with the entire class sitting there patiently waiting.

– On the yard at recess when I was on yard duty.

– On field trips, usually on the school bus, always surrounded by students.

– At school events, like the book fair, art show, or holiday concert.

– The second day of school.

– The last day of school, after report cards have already been sent home.

It’s a perfectly legitimate question, one that parents and guardians are always entitled to ask, but I am often asked this question at a time when I’m not really able to answer it properly. Either my students are eavesdropping, I haven’t had time to formulate what I want to say, or I have other duties to attend to and can’t give the conversation the attention it deserves.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I needed to find a way to be more open with parents on an ongoing basis so that they didn’t feel as though they needed to ask this question every time they saw me. A few years later, I think I have a few good strategies/suggestions for how to keep parents in the loop and prevent any surprises when report cards come around.

1. “Ask Me About” – In students’ agendas, they write an “Ask me about… _________” sentence a few times a week. This is supplied by me and is usually about a specific topic we are studying in class or an upcoming school event. It gives parents something to prompt their child with and keeps kids accountable for knowing what is going on at school.

2. Send Assessment Plans Home Before Starting – Any time I assign a new task with a rubric, set of success criteria, or other assessment scheme, I send the assessment home BEFORE students start the task. Parents are expected to sign it to indicate that they’ve seen it and are aware of the deadline, expectations, and criteria for the assignment. This keeps students accountable for getting their work done on time.

3. Send Completed Assessments Home, Too! – Once a project has been completed and assessed, I send it home again, with strict instructions to bring it back to school signed by a parent/guardian. Parents get to see their child’s work along with the mark they were given. They’ve already seen the criteria, so the mark shouldn’t be a mystery to them when they see it.

4. Collect Completed Assessments in a Portfolio – I keep all of my students’ assessments at school. I don’t keep every piece of work, but I do keep the rubric, checklist, etc. that was used/sent home/signed in a duo-tang for each student. This allows me to pull it out and show parents/students the progression of the student’s work over the year and also gives me back-up in case any of my grades are called into question. (I’ve never had a grade called into question, but there’s a first time for everything.) I also put any tests/quizzes in those duo-tangs along with the GB+ reading assessments that I complete.

Those are four really simple little things, but they’ve made a world of difference in my teaching in terms of keeping parents apprised of what is happening with their child’s education. It has stopped nearly all questions about students’ academic progress outside of parent/teacher interview times.

Anything to save me from those awkward, flustered conversations where I try to answer the “How is ____ doing?” question in a vague but diplomatic way so that my room full of students doesn’t overhear anything they shouldn’t!

December 31, 2014January 2, 2015 Lisa.Taylor Assessment, General, Student Ownership

Student Self Assessment

Our students need to be reflecting on their own learning and skills to ensure they are understanding. Having a child that is struggling with a concept and knows it is much better than having a child who is out to lunch and believes they are on the right track. We need to teach our children to reflect on their learning regularly and ask questions about their learning. Do I understand this? Could I do this on my own? How is this different? How is it the same?

Self Assessment isn’t the only assessment, we aren’t setting ourselves up to not need to assess our students by any means. But we do need to teach our students how to accurately self assess. There should be no surprises for them. If they don’t understand something, they should know that. It is essential that they are able to self assess so they can seek assistance when needed.

Some tools that I have used in my class that I have found to be extremely successful:

Post-it chart – Give each student a post-it and have them answer a question on a topic and put a smile, straight face or sad face on the back and put their answer on their number square of the chart when they leave (for lunch, gym, etc.). Kind of an exit slip, but with some self reflection. The happy, straight, sad face corresponds to how they feel about their answer – did they get it, kind of, not at all.

Stop Lights – I love this one! Give them a question or activity and have them work through it, and when they hand it in, they put it in the green, yellow, or red bin. They hand their work into the red bin if they feel like they aren’t really getting it, yellow if they are kind of getting it, and green if they think they have it. You can also do stop lights as a post-it activity. I used to keep a laminated stop light on my wall for post-its to be handed in. They just numbered their submission on the back so no one knew where they were putting it.

Self Assessment Form – In Math, I have a standard assessment form for problem solving that I staple to each problem. It has the rubric I use and space for comments, etc. This year I modified it to include a self assessment portion and now the student staples it to their work and fills in the self assessment portion before they submit their problem to me. This way, I have their problem, and their self assessment together and I can refer to them both in my assessment which is all on the same little sheet.

Make sure you do something with student self assessments. It is just as important that you check to see that they are accurate and talk to them about it. It is tricky to tell a child that they aren’t getting it when they think they are, and that is one of the very difficult parts of this job, but it is necessary. Students need to know what they can do and where their needs are so they can seek help and work to become more successful.

Work self assessment into everyday if you can. Even if it is small, like in a game, it is necessary.