inv 1: building a culture of achievement [email protected] “inspiration exists, but it...

INV 1: Building a Culture of Achievement

[email protected]

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.”

-Pablo Picasso

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INV 1: Session Objectives

Welcome to INVEST 1!

By the end of our session today, CMs will…

• have a vision of an exemplary Culture of Achievement, be able to describe the student actions, habits, and mindsets that exist in this culture, and believe in the potential, importance, and urgency of building this culture in order to put students on a different life path.

• be equipped and believe they can effectively invest summer school students through planning to effectively –and authentically– implement select Investment strategies that inspire and motivate students to work hard to achieve academic goals

Letter from Hannah

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INV 1: The Path to a Culture of Achievement

Agenda

I. Introduction: The Power of Investment

II. Building Vision: What does a Culture of Achievement look like?

III. Path to a Culture of Achievement: Best Practices introduction

IV. Path to a Culture of Achievement: Planning for this summer

V. Closing

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Key Point 1:

To have a truly life changing impact on our students, we need them to do more than just master rigorous content, they also need to feel deeply invested and

empowered so they continue to achieve success long after leaving our

classrooms.

The enduring impact of investment…

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Key Point 2:

When a classroom has a Culture of Achievement, we see students who are passionate, urgent, joyful, caring,

and “on a mission” towards a destination that matters to them.

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Agenda



III. Path to that Vision: Best Practices introduction


V. Closing

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Handout 1 (pg. 189):

• If you were to walk into a classroom with an exemplary Culture of Achievement- what would you see happening?

• Share out!

Video Clip: Exemplary Culture of Achievement

Note: Please use Handout 1 to take notes as you watch

Group Discussion:

• Do you believe that students are likely to emerge from this classroom on a path of expanded opportunities due to being part of this classroom culture?

• If so, what are the students saying, doing, or believing in this classroom that makes you think this?

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Key Point 2:

Building a Culture of Achievement is challenging work and it takes time to fully realize, but we must

start the journey of developing this culture because every step closer will have a significant impact on

our students right now.

Handout 2 (pg.190)- Culture of Achievement Pathway

• The overviews represent particular points along a continuum in the work of building a Culture of Achievement. This is not a set path (i.e. one where classrooms must begin at “destructive” & work towards “passion/urgency/joy”)

• Most classrooms will fall somewhere in between these descriptions or may have groups of students that span each of these levels.

• Activity: Read through the Culture of Achievement Pathway Handout and try to visualize these classrooms in your mind as you read. Can you think of classrooms from your own educational experience that align to any of these descriptions? (5 min.)

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Big Picture- Why does this matter?

• For our work this summer we need to do two key things:– Keep that vision of Taylor’s classroom in mind to be sure

we never lower our expectations for students and know what we are working towards in the long term.

– Have a motivating vision for what we want to accomplish this summer- both for our students now and to prepare ourselves for future students.

• To make that happen we have two goals for our classrooms this summer at institute-– 100% of all classrooms will at least be “Compliant and

on-task” and-– a challenge goal to push as many classrooms as

possible to “interested and hard working”

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Partner Discussion- 2 min:

• Why is it important that we get as many classrooms as possible to “interested and hard-working”?

• What impact will achieving this goal have on your students this summer? In the fall?


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Video Clip: Meet Mr. Pierce

Note: Please use Handout 1 (pg. 189) to take notes as you watch.

Handout 3 (pg. 191): Student Surveys- 2 min.

Group Discussion:

• Do you believe that students are likely to emerge from this classroom on a path of expanded opportunities due to being part of this classroom culture?

• If so, what are the students saying, doing, or believing in this classroom that makes you think this?


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Agenda





V. Closing

What We’ve Learned• There is not a singular ‘teacher personality’ or ‘teacher style’ that

works to successfully invest students– strong investors look and sound and act in lots of different ways– every single one of you has natural strengths that you bring to

your classroom– strong investors focus most intently on leveraging their natural

strengths, while simultaneously working harder on things that come less naturally to ensure that they are meeting students’ needs

• Being authentic and truly believing in the Investment strategies you employ are critical to your investment success– Students know a “phony” when they see one.

• ‘Investor Profiles’ Quiz Time: Please quickly read each of these questions (on PPT) and write down the letter of the gut-instinct response that most fits you

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Investor Profile Quiz: Question #1

When a close friend is feeling down about a problem that seems

relatively insignificant to you, your response would most resemble:

A. Being extra-cheerful yourself, cracking jokes and making so much fun of the situation that your friend has no choice but to laugh, and making your friend go out to a fun dinner with you (during which you tell the waitress it’s your friend’s birthday –when it’s not – so the whole restaurant sings to him/her).

B. Listening, empathizing, sharing a time you felt similarly, and cheering them up through remembering some fun time you’ve had together.

C. Sharing stories of people who have it much worse, telling them to ‘get over it’ (which is what they need to hear!), and arranging for the two of you to spend the afternoon volunteering at a food bank.

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How would your 9-year-old neighbor (if you had one) be most apt to

describe you?

A. “He gave me a funny nickname, and we also have a secret handshake that’s just for us. He’s really funny and cool and kinda crazy sometimes.”

B. “He’s nice and asks me a lot of questions and listens to me talk. It’s cool how he sometimes brings me stuff I really like – like when I was really into Harry Potter he brought me a trivia book he found and then quizzed me on stuff.”

C. “He’s pretty serious, always talking to me about responsibility & stuff…but I kinda like how he treats me more like a grown-up and doesn’t really talk to me like a baby.”

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In High School, if you had been voted a superlative, it would most likely

have been:

A. Most entertaining

B. Most compassionate

C. Most direct

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Which vacation-experience in a foreign country most appeals to you?

A. One in which you are actually leading a small team of friends on an expedition that involves daily challenges with three other teams. Your team successfully wins each competition and you are declared the champions.

B. One with lots of relaxed time for interacting with and learning from the locals. Getting invited over for an authentic meal in someone’s home would be a dream come true!

C. Getting off the beaten path – seeing and experiencing the ‘real’ country. It would be quite satisfying to visit some schools and some real neighborhoods, and then go home and dispel the tourist-based misconceptions about the country.

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Which do you think ‘sealed the deal’ in your getting accepted into Teach For America?

A. Presenting a particularly engaging lesson in which all the other interviewees – and even your interviewers – were smiling and cheerfully participating (a few people even applauded at the end of your 5-minute sample teaching time).

B. Working exceptionally well with your fellow interviewees during the Group Activity, and really connecting with your interviewer during the one-on-one conversation in the afternoon.

C. Articulating with passion your personal commitment to ending the injustice of the achievement gap, and your deep belief that all children can learn, want to learn, and need to be held to high expectations.

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III. Path to a Culture of Achievement: Best Practices

Investor Profile Quiz Results

• A = Showmanship

• B = Building Relationships

• C = Straight Talk & Tough Love

Handout 4 (pg. 192)- (2 min.): Investor Profiles

Which profile do you most relate to and why?

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Agenda





V. Closing

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Key Point 4:

In order to get on the path to a Culture of Achievement, you need to execute proven investment strategies in a way that is authentic to you and your students. At institute this requires that you:– build relationships with your students – leverage your student tracking information – reach out and communicate with students’ families – strategically plan and execute strategies and mini-

lessons to explicitly build investment

The Investment Plan

• Investment doesn’t happen magically.

• Great teachers strategically plan to make happen. This summer you will be using an Investment Plan as a tool.

• The Investment Plan & supporting Toolkits will support your work on the path to a Culture of Achievement in a few key ways:– Provide a key starting point on the path to something as big

as “Culture of Achievement”– Provide concrete strategies to help you work smarter- not

harder – Hold yourself accountable to prioritizing these key pieces &

making them happen – Serve as a ‘living document’ you can come back to as you

get to know your students and their needs

• NOT optional. The time is short and the need is great!

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IV. Path to a Culture of Achievement: Planning for this summer – (25 min.)

• Handout 5 (pg. 193-194): Exemplar Investment Plan

• Group work time: (in collaboratives)

*Note: You can find the INVEST Plan Template & aligned Toolkits on your CM CD

During this work time, please make sure to: • Read the directions for each part of the Investment

Plan carefully • Work with your collaborative to complete the

collaborative sections first • Be sure to read the aligned toolkits before planning

out the specific strategies your collab will implement. • Ask for help if you need it!

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Closing

"I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the

weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or

humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and

a child humanized or de-humanized."

Dr. Hiam Ginott

Key Point 5:

Investment strategies are critical, but they alone aren’t enough to build a Culture of Achievement; it also requires strategically leveraging all other TAL actions towards this end.

Moving Forward…

• Everything you do as a teacher matters!

• As you move forward to prepare to lead your students next week, don’t forget the critical importance of the Investment Plan. A few critical reminders with this plan:– Now that you know about the ingredients in your

Investment Plan, you can return to the questions on your Management Plan that referenced a Class Theme.

– Your Collaborative Investment Calendar is due to your CMA _Friday, June 24th at 8:00 a.m.__.

– Your Individual Investment Plan is due to your CMA Friday, June 24th at 8:00 a.m.___.

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inv 1: building a culture of achievement [email protected] “inspiration exists, but it...

Documents

classroom culture

culture of achievement

groups of students

set path

summer school students

power of investment

investment strategies

enduring impact of investment