Friday, October 6, 2017

Sign Up for Fall Grade Alike Sessions in WCSU!




One thing, I hear frequently from teachers (especially at our smaller schools) is how much they value having opportunities to collaborate with other teachers who teach at their grade level.  Last year, we changed things up and piloted three kinds of district-wide collaborative professional learning opportunities: Curriculum Topic Study, Benchmark Calibration & Revision, and Lesson Study.

In case you're unfamiliar with these activities:
  • Curriculum Topic Study involves: (1) Looking in depth at a topic of choice as a grade level cluster across schools; (2) Provides participants structure to address their needs and interests. See the video below for an example of the nerdy goodness we produced:

  • Lesson Study involves: (1) Looking at student data and planning a lesson collaboratively using backwards design; (2) Observing the lesson and collecting data; and (3) Debriefing the lesson, looking at the data and deciding instructional next steps.  See the video below to see an example of an upper elementary lesson study:
 
  • Benchmark Assessment Calibration involves: (1) bringing examples of student work on benchmark assessments, (2) using a calibration protocol for scoring; (3) tuning/revising tasks and instructions as needed.
Teachers appreciated and valued these opportunities, but noted some difficulty with arranging substitutes and the timing of the sessions. Based on feedback from WCSU teachers, I created a schedule for district-wide collaborative professional learning opportunities for semester 1.

The opportunities are designed to be modular and open to all teachers across the supervisory union who are interested in attending.  Teachers can opt to participate in half days or full days depending on availability and individual goals.  I am hoping that by providing this flexibility and the dates well in advance, I can make these opportunities accessible to all teachers.

I made a google form that teachers can use to sign up for sessions.  Please note:  The first one is for grades 3-4 and is on October 23.

Once you've signed up, please enter the dates into Aesop as soon as possible to give your building administrator and assistant the best chance to get you a sub.

If you have any questions/concerns or need any clarifications.  Please don't hesitate to let me know...  And thanks to all of you for providing me with the feedback I needed to put this together!  I look forward to collaborating with you...

*Lesson study participants may recognize that this communication tactic makes use of the primacy-recency effect!