Limiting Teacher Talk

We have made it through our first full week!  I appreciate your patience and flexibility as we work out the kinks of our everyday procedures and routines.  Thank you for your feedback and suggestions on how to improve.

We have enjoyed getting into your classrooms through out the week.  Our goal is to try and hit every classroom every day.  We will provide feedback at least once every one to two weeks.  Some of the highlights from our walk-throughs include: Great problem solving math activities, awesome writing activities, guided reading groups, technology centers, cooperative learning activities, and journal writing.

Ashley Hickman shared an awesome article with us about limiting teacher talk.  It is a very easy read and is loaded with great information.  Please visit the following URL to read the article.

http://achievethecore.org/aligned/limiting-teacher-talk-increasing-student-work/

Have a wonderful week!

"Put me in Coach"

We survived our first few days of the new school year.  It was terrific to see the team work and effort that went in to creating a successful start.  There was a lot of information that we shared with all of you during our pre-week.  Our team theme this year emphasizes the importance of recognizing us as your coaches. When we decided on our team theme, the song “Centerfield” by John Fogerty, continued to play in my head continuously.  Coaching is such a vital component of school improvement, but often schools miss the mark completely when it comes to improving practice (of all staff, including administrators). Why does this happen?

We found a blog this weekend that hits the nail on the head about the vision we have for coaching and school improvement.  It reads as follows:  (Cain’s Corner)

Student achievement and the continued improvement of instruction should be central to your mission as the school leader. As the school leader most of your time everyday should be spent observing classroom instruction. If you have a leadership team, perhaps made up of yourself, an assistant principal or instructional coaches --- you need to have a system in place at your school that prioritizes coaching and providing feedback to teachers. Feedback is what enables teachers and school administrators to grow and improve. Infrequent drive by's into classrooms and then reacting to what you see isn't going to cut it. Focusing on your state or district mandated formal observations a few times a year isn't going to be enough. Nor is having a practice where teachers can opt out of coaching. From a sports perspective, would a MLB player opt out of batting practice before a game? Would Tom Brady or Von Miller tell their coach, nah I'm good today, I'll pass on practice? The answer of course is no. Yet, in some schools and districts it's the practice that coaching is optional. Inherently, everyone who works in education from the Superintendent of your district at the top of the organizational chart on down to the building level staff can benefit from coaching.

Instructional coaching needs to happen at your school. It should not be an option, but rather a service that is provide to everyone, including the school leader from whomever supervises them. In "Leverage Leadership" Bambrick-Santoyo says "by receiving weekly observations and feedback, a teacher develops as much in one year as most teachers do in twenty." This notion is spot on. In athletic coaching, you would provide frequent opportunities for your players to receive feedback and opportunities to practice. Find a great PE teacher and you will see this happen regularly in their classroom throughout their instructional day. Similar, we need to provide our staff with frequent opportunities to receive feedback and practice. John Wooden once said, "the importance of repetition until automaticity cannot be overstated. Repetition is the key to learning." I'd add, effective feedback that's bite-sized and precise enables the teacher to make shifts in their practice creates small wins for them and their students. Just like we would intentionally plan to support a student's growth as a Reader through focused, targeted instruction, we should do the same throughout the school year to support the growth of our staff. If your school does not have an instructional coaching system or plan in place, make it happen. Your staff, your students, and your school community will be better because you are in it together to get better for all your kids.

Hargrove (2003) said, "A masterful coach is a leader who by nature is a vision builder and value shaper, not just a technical who manages people to reach their goals and plans through tips and techniques. To be able to do this requires that the coach discover his or her own humanness and humanity, while being a clearing for others to do the same." This quote is a great reminder of heart, soul, and service to others that comes with coaching. Great leaders know the importance of adding value to others. Coaching is a vehicle to add value to others and improve outcomes for everyone in your school community.

A coach, whether it be an Instructional Coach or Athletic Coach, is in fact a teacher. Whatever your coaching role is, be a role model for those you serve. There is great value and joy in bringing the best out of a group of individuals to create a unique team that successfully works together. Set the example for those you serve, love everyone, work hard, be patient, remain loyal, and put the needs of your school community ahead of your own. Doing so will take your school and you to new heights this year. 

We know that we will have a terrific year.  We hope that this will be a year of growth, one of service, and one that we make magic happen for our communities.  Have an awesome first full week of school with our students.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04KQydlJ-qc

5 Things You Need to Tell Your Students...

First off, welcome back! It is always hard to come back from summer break and get into the swing of things. As much as we look forward to a new year, new memories, and new challenges, it is tough to take the dive into room decorating, lesson planing, scheduling etc.(The list never ends ;). Even though we constantly hear the dreadful alarm clock noise each morning now, we are still very excited and eager to start the year together. We are embarking on this new year as a "team.". Teamwork makes the dream work- our moto! Together we will tackle obstacles, share new ideas, teach and inspire children, and lean on one another. We are looking forward to another successful year! 

I ran across a great article that I had to share. The article lists 5 things that every students needs to hear the first week-they are good, I promise. Each one plays a vital role in their first week of school. It's our duty to leave a lasting impact on our students hearts day in and day out. They are just as excited and eager as we are, if not more. Please take a few minutes to read over each "thing" listed below. Enjoy your first week getting to know your students. I can't wait to see everyone's smiling faces in two short days! :) 

Picture This: 
It’s the first day of school and you are standing at the front of the classroom, staring into the faces of a brand new bunch of kids. They are waiting patiently for you to begin the day, to impart knowledge, to encourage and challenge them. You open your mouth and say…what?

The first week of school is crucial for setting the tone in your classroom. You have a new group of students to get to know, to inspire, to invest in. What you say and do in those first few days will leave a lasting impact on those students – so it shouldn’t be taken lightly. 

What you say in those first few days of school will leave a lasting impact on your students. Here are five things every student needs to hear.

Here are 5 things that every student needs to hear the first week of school:

1. You are important.

Every student needs to know that they have been planned for and anticipated when they walk in your classroom. They were placed in your class on purpose – they need you and you need them. The first week of school, make sure you greet each student by name as they walk in the door. Put forth the effort to get to know them – memorize details about their families, their hobbies, their preferences. Keep a list if you need to. The students will feel valued – and that will go a long way towards giving them a successful school year.

2. You are listened to.

Make time in every day to give each student the opportunity to speak with you individually – it will take time, but it will be well worth the effort. Students today are searching for a safe place where they can find trusted adults that care enough about them to listen to them. To listen to their hopes, their fears, their commentary on daily life. You could be that person they are looking for.

3. You are responsible for your actions.

While students often clamor for freedom, they need consistent expectations and follow-through from their teachers. We need to set the bar high and hold our students accountable for their behavior. They need to learn now that choices have consequences. We do them no favors by “letting them slide” or “turning a blind eye” when they’ve done wrong. The successful teacher shows her students that she cares for them too much to let them slide. Each student can be a role model – we just need to give them the chance to own their actions.

4. Anything worth doing takes effort.

Laziness is a growing epidemic in our culture. We want shortcuts. We want immediate results. But in education (and honestly, in all of life), students need to learn that anything worth doing is worth doing well – and that requires effort. Give students the opportunity to work hard and then reward them for a job well-done. 

In my classroom, I had a huge sign above the whiteboard that said, “YET.” Whenever a student would feel defeated and say, “I don’t get it” or “I don’t know” I would point to the sign and say, “You don’t get it…YET.” It spoke volumes to them – It showed them that I believed in their potential to learn and master any topic. By the end of the second week, all I had to do was point to the sign and they would nod their head, understanding my point that they would come to grasp the concept if they put forth the effort.

5. We all make mistakes. Each day is fresh.

With all of the talk of responsibility and accountability, there also needs to be a discussion of grace. Truth: we all make mistakes. We need to own up to our mistakes and apologize, if necessary. But we also must remember that each day is a fresh start. Our students need to feel that they’re given the option of having a great day every time they enter your classroom door. As the teacher, you need to communicate the fact that the mistakes of yesterday may have consequences; it doesn’t mean that they can’t make better choices today. 

Remember:

Your students were placed in your classroom for a reason.

They aren’t there by accident.

You have a job to do.

Communicating these 5 things will help to set the tone for a successful year.

Tell them to your class the first week of school.

And every week after that too.

http://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/5-things-you-need-to-tell-your-students-the-first-week-of-school/