The WHY...

My administrators asked us to write a simple statement declaring why we chose our profession.  This seems like a pretty cliche task.

We are exactly 6 days away from Thanksgiving break.  We are looking a little haggard, tempers slightly shorter, peers more annoying, emails increasing, etc., etc., etc.

So this felt like a small relatively mindless task I could produce in moments, during the commercials of reruns of The Big Bang Theory.

I found that I turned the TV off and all my attention was on the reflection of my choice to be an educator.  I wish this was a required essay for student teachers and then we could mail them back to them after they had been teaching for 5 years, then 10 , and 15years in the trenches.  To see the changes in who we have become as the potters of the clay we mold.  My response to "The Why" is as follows:

I am addicted.  I am driven by the moments when my young scientists arrive to a conclusion that had previously been an enigma.  I am motivated to see the growth as their dendrites form pathways from trying new and interesting things.  I am fascinated by the struggled and frustrated faces trying their best and busting through the ceilings they create for themselves or have been placed upon them by others.  I am infatuated with the failure of lessons with the promise of a new idea waiting to be implemented.  I am renewed by the sweet smiles of excitement at the beginning of each bell.  I am addicted to falling in love with a new batch of scientists each year and fostering a relationship that makes me tearful on the last day of school.  I have been in a classroom for almost 2,000 school days and I have yet to break the addiction, I refuse to find sobriety in a job that is less important than molding the minds of young people.

To my fellow educators I wish you a snow day, coffee in real coffee mugs, warm fireplaces, time with family, bellies full of home cooked meals, and homes filled with laughter this season.

Rest and rejuvenate your souls, minds, and bodies, our work is hardly over and the desks will be filled with promise and hope.

Leadership Training: Days 3 &4

These past two training days certainly appealed to me so very much!  Number crunching and geeking out on data.

I love numbers because they are not up for interpretation, negotiation, or emotions.  It is what it is and there is not much you can refute about facts based on numbers.  I LOVE IT!  So these two days looked at using data to guide instruction just about had me standing in my chair shouting in true baptist form "Preach It, Brother!".  All decisions in your classroom should be purposeful, intentional, and prioritized.

I enjoy structure.  It allows me to run an effective classroom with policies and procedures that create an environment for my students to be successful.  However, there are times that I neglect the simple tasks.  So one of my largest struggles is expressing the WHY to my team, students, and even myself at times.  But really when I thought about it is the most simplest of truths.  Why we do EVERYTHING in our classrooms is so that all children can learn and grow to their full potential.  The team planning, organizing of supplies, purchasing of materials, allowing for controlled chaos, and the like are all for the kids who just hasn't got it quite yet, need the additional challenge, or a new way to look at something.

Looking at data has always be a pleasurable task for me.  Even when my scores are at an all time low I feel such great hope in them.  They tell me where to go next with my kids, if instruction was effective, and what is our greatest strength/weakness.  At its very essence it is purposeful, intentional, and prioritized.

So to help beef up my team's planning I will be instituting some new techniques.  We will begin using a UbD (Understanding by Design) template to really delve into what the state requires of our students.  Here is the template.

In addition we will be following a new agenda so that our planning is purposeful, intentional, and prioritized.  Are you seeing a theme?

Before planning teachers submit all of their great lessons and resources to a common area so that we can look at what we already have access to and evaluate what needs they would fill and the instructional gaps that still need to be filled.

Below is our planning guide.  I will write a blog following up on this process.  If you see any areas that could be changed be sure to email me so that I can put that on our next attempt at this style of planning.

5^th Grade Science

Earth Science Extended Planning

Planning Frame

·         We Will unpack the TEKS and align instruction to fulfill the TEKS and ensure success for all students.

·         I Will evaluate lesson components presented in planning to see if they meet the needs of my students through regular instruction, extension of learning, or intervention.

Re-establish Team PLC Meeting Norms

Why are we here?

1.

2.

3.

Celebration related to the Why.

1.

Norms for Presenting Lessons

1.       Presenter: hand out paper copies or direct team to location of your artifact (1 min.)

2.       Presenter: tell the gist of the lesson component (2 min.)

3.       Presenter: How would you use this piece in your classroom (1 min.)

4.       Presenter: supplies needed to complete this lesson (1 min.)

5.       Team members: “I likes” related to the resource and the TEK it intends to fulfill (2 min.)

6.       Team members: “I wonders” possible considerations or adjustments to component presented to meet the needs of your students (2 min.)

7.       Team will make notes for their own reference and personal planning time and place item into the Case Study Matrix. (1 min.)

Based on Our Planning, Our Next Steps Are…

1.       Possible Materials Needed:

2.       Additional Lessons/ Resources Needed:

3.       Professional Development:

Parking Lot (space to write down your thoughts while everyone is presenting their lesson ideas):

Case Study Matrix

TEK: Readiness or Supporting
Data based on Pre-Assessment for this TEK	1st Period: 3rd Period: 4th Period: 5th Period:
What is it we expect students to learn?
How will we know when they have learned it?
How will we present this material?
How Will we Respond when they don’t learn it?
How will we respond when they already know it?