2017 November
November 16, 2017
In Attendance:
Crystal Stander: Facilitator
Diane Rockwood: Principal
Deana Davis: Assistant Principal
Becky Dills: Teacher, Note taker
Suzanne Stirland: Parent
Kim Crump: Parent
Heather Hogge: Parent
Monica Widdison shared how 4th grade is doing RtI for math. She brought slides which showed how 4th grade is able to use student assessment data to group all of their students according to their need. The students are divided up between all of the grade-level teachers, Laurie Nisonger. Jennifer Whitney works with her special education students. Student do not stay in groups permanently. Every other week, student data is used to regroup students.
Suzanne asked what RtI stands for. RtI stands for Response to Intervention. RtI data is obtained by giving an assessment after intervention has been provided for at least days. Every grade level is looking at that data to determine if students have gained the skills they were missing before the intervention took place.
Suzanne asked if the RtI groups are focused around the grade-level’s “big rocks”. Monica said that is correct. Every intervention group is focused on the most important skills for the grade-level. Suzanne asked how many students are in each group. Monica said the lowest group is kept as small as possible. The two biggest groups are the groups of students whose RtI’s data shows that they have mastered the big rock(s) that were assessed for that 2 week period. Suzanne asked if parent volunteers would be helpful in making intervention groups smaller. Monica would love parent volunteers.
Suzanne asked if more funds need to go to aide time to help in math interventions. Diane responded that adding more aide time for reading and math is a possibility.
Heather asked if all grades are doing it. Every grade is participating. Heather asked if parents could come and do one minute math timings. Diane said parents could help with one minute timings.
Some grades are further ahead in the RtI process than others. This is a new process and teachers are getting support in help
Laurie comes in during math time and pulls small groups, one-on-one assistance and pushes in to classrooms. She is in the classroom during classroom instruction time so she can see how the teacher is presenting the instruction to the students so she can reinforce concept in the same way.
Suzanne asked if teachers are coming up with the pre and post assessments. Monica said, because of the way Engaged New York is set up, they are having to write their own assessments. The positive side to that is that the same pre and post assessments will be able to be used from year to year. So they are having to put extra work into it this year but the work load will be cut back next year since the tests will be used from year to year.
Professional Learning Conference:
Crystal attended faculty meeting last week to hear from the teachers who attended the PLC
The first group attended a session that explained the difference between teams and groups. Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan were compared. Tiger is part of
They talked about collaborating together. The teachers took a personality test to learn that they have different personalities yet each of the personalities have traits that complement the team process. Teachers who attended the PLC Conference felt converted to the process. The teachers shared engagement techniques that were shared at the conference. They talked about observing the questions they are asking in class. It was suggested that they video themselves so they can evaluate the type of questions they are asking their students. They talked about being happy and positive everyday. They talked about being happy or negative every day can have a n
Crystal felt that the positivity of that the teachers shared was incredible. She said after listening to everything that was shared, she would fully support sending more teachers to the PLC Conference.
The pros and cons of attending an out of state PLC Conference during the summer was discussed.
Diane showed John Hattie’s research. She shared what types of teaching techniques have the biggest effect on student learning. Deana shared that .40 is the hinge point for making a years growth or more. John Hattie’s work has helped teachers understand that they don’t need more time to teach, they need to use techniques that have the biggest impact on student learning the strongest. Diane and Deana are giving the teachers a day to visit another grade-level teacher’s lesson to get ideas of things they can incorporate into their instruction.
Suzanne asked if the same number of teachers will get to attend the next PLC conference. Diane said she chooses teachers who have not attended in the past. It is possible that she can take a larger group if it is approved by the community council.
The budget was discussed. Diane shared a spreadsheet that showed how money has been spent so far.
Crystal motioned that we skip December’s meeting. Heather Hogge seconded it. Everyone was in favor.