Friday Musings: April 7, 2017

I woke inspired today after attending a couple of great state-wide meetings with dedicated educators and leaders. This solidifies my understanding that educators have to find allies in order to do their jobs well--we need colleagues and leaders who inspire us, that's critical.

With that in mind, tomorrow Grafton is sponsoring a terrific edcamp, and if you're even in need of greater inspiration, an edcamp is the way to go. Follow this link to find the details: EdCamp Grafton 2017

What's ahead on the agenda this week and next:

Math Teaching/Learning
Some students are still working to complete their Fraction Test--that means it's taking some students up to three hours, that's a lot of time! I wonder if we can shorten these tests. Other students will receive their algebra tests, make corrections or study for a re-take then work on the study packet for next Wednesday's common assessment. After vacation students and I will focus on explaining their thinking as we review many topics in preparation for the early May MCAS tests.

Reading Group
My little reading group will continue reading the wonderful novel, Becoming Naomi Leon. 

Community Building
Yesterday I introduced the theme of clique vs team, and the school counselor continued that theme as she led an open circle meeting. We'll continue to refer to the chart below as we work to build a strong sense of team in the class.

Teacher Evaluation Notes and Information
I collect my teaching/learning evidence and information on a website, and next week I'll draw from that website in order to submit specific information and evidence to my evaluator for the yearly evaluation process. Currently, it's come to our attention, that the system has different expectations for teachers at different levels in our system. I'm sure this will be a topic of discussion by our soon-to-be created systemwide evaluation team. If you want to understand the evaluation system with greater effort, I created a website that reviews each attribute, TeachFocus, and a chart (see below) that leads to an explanation of the evidence--the chart can also be copied to use as one way to share your evidence as you can replace the hyperlinks for each category to links to your evidence.

Evidence Chart and Links:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rFpIcsaUUnp_HsG7wDiHG69cYCMeHse7rxWj6aafP4Q/edit?usp=sharing

Standard I Curriculum Planning and Assessment	Standard II Teaching All Students	Standard III Family and Community Engagement	Standard IV Professional Culture
A. Curriculum and Planning     Indicator Subject Matter Knowledge Child and Adolescent Development Rigorous Standards-Based Unit Design Well-Structured Lessons	A. Instruction Indicator Quality of Effort and Work Student Engagement Meeting Diverse Needs	A. Engagement Indicator Parent/Family engagement.	A. Reflection Indicator Reflective Practice Goal Setting
B. Assessment Indicator Variety of Assessment Methods Adjustments to Practice	B. Learning Environment Indicator Safe learning environment. Collaborative learning environment Student motivation	B. Collaboration Indicator Learning expectations Curriculum support	B. Professional Growth Indicator Professional Learning and Growth
C. Indicator Analysis Analysis and Conclusions Sharing Conclusions with Colleagues Sharing Conclusions with Students	C. Cultural Proficiency Indicator Respects differences. Maintain respectful environment	C. Communication Indicator Two-way communication Culturally proficient communication	C. Collaboration Indicator Professional Collaboration
	D. Expectations Indicator Clear expectations High expectations Access to knowledge		D. Decision-Maker Indicator Decision Making
			E. Shared Responsibility Indicator Shared responsibility
			F. Professional Responsibilities Indicator Judgement Reliability and Responsibility