pilot cohort corner issue #10

8/2/2019 Pilot Cohort Corner Issue #10

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AnnouncementsSYMANTEC INNOVATION AWARD What: This award is designed torecognize 2010 CMs who have demonstrated innovation (through a project, program, or approach to teaching), collaboration (with fellow teachers, their students, families and/or community members, and measurable gains in their students academic achievement. The winner will receive a $2,000 recognition award for personal expenses and a $500 grant to be used for the classroom or school. When: Submit a nomination form to Joaquin by Monday, March 14th How: CMs may nominate themselves or

another CM who exemplifies these characteristicsEOY COHORT POTLUCK DINNER/REFLECTION What: An important opportunity for our cohort to come together, reflect on what weve learned after a year of working to achieve long-term impact, and share recommendations to future regions who adopt variations on our cohort structure. This conversation is likely the most important of the year since it has the potential to impact hundreds of CMs in other regions and to contribute to what our region is learning about transformational teaching. It is vital that we learn from everyones perspectives, so please plan on attending this final cohort event,and stay tuned for a potluck dinner item sign up document :) When/Where: Thurs., May 24th from 6-8pm on the 9th floor--TFA office FYI: If you would like to be involved in the planning for this cohort reflection, please reach out to me ASAP. Thanks to those who already have!

COHORT CORNERALWAYS FREE Issue # 10

D.C. REGION PILOT COHORT / MAY 6, 2012

Over the course of the year, wehave had countless conversations aboutthis work, and specifically, the challengeswere facing as well as the things wereseeing success with. With a little over amonth left in the year, I know that timeis of the essence, and so I want toremind us all of some of the principlesof teaching that youve told me lead toresultsespeciallyduring this finalstretch. Youve learned so much thisyear, and now is the time to apply whatyou and others have learned to finishstrong with your students.

Since Im a fan of alliteration andknow it helps things to stick, Ill refer tosome of these lessons learned as the 4Rs.

Reflecting Compassionately:

When youre charging yourself withchanging every kids life, youre going toencounter failures, and when you caredeeply about this work, it can be hardto forgive yourself for falling short byany measure. At the end of the day, itsimportant to remember that this is notabout reaching an absolute end. Itsabout growing as you strive to realizean aspiration. As second-year teachers,

you need to treat yourself with thesame care and compassion you showyour students as you continue todevelop in (what is for many people) a

lifelong profession. The teachers whoIve spoken with who are putting kidson different life paths tell me time andagain that the secret to their longevityand impact is their willingness to forgivethemselves each night and recommitevery morning. You cant maintain themorale necessary to finish strong if youdont reflect on your practice withoutcompassion.

Repetition: Around March or April, anumber of you began mentioning thatyou began see your kids demonstrate

some of the things youve been talkingabout all year. Whenever this has beentrue, repetition has been one of yourmost powerful tools, and if you wantanything to stick (whether its self-talkthat fuels growth mindsets or academic

content mastery), remember to repeatkey messages through the praise youprovide, instructions you give, teachablemoments you highlight, and content youpresent. Whatever it is you want kidsdoing/thinking/saying by the end of theyear, make sure youre doing/thinking/saying/modeling the same.

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Action ItemsSEND YOUR STUDENTS MOST RECENTACHIEVEMENT RESULTS

Please send along your students mostrecent assessment data so I can belooped in about where your kids areand we can use the data to inform nextsteps in our work together.

Remember WhatYouve Learned

In a recent TED talk,Steven Farr echoes some of the lessons weve learned in our

work this year, specifically about the importance of shaping mindsets
mailto:[email protected]?subject=Completed%20Symantec%20Innovation%20Award%20Nomination%20Formhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92631401/SymantecAward-2012-NominationForm-DC-2mailto:[email protected]?subject=Completed%20Symantec%20Innovation%20Award%20Nomination%20Formmailto:[email protected]?subject=Completed%20Symantec%20Innovation%20Award%20Nomination%20Formhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92631401/SymantecAward-2012-NominationForm-DC-2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRGTdJL64YI&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRGTdJL64YI&feature=relatedmailto:[email protected]?subject=Completed%20Symantec%20Innovation%20Award%20Nomination%20Formmailto:[email protected]?subject=Completed%20Symantec%20Innovation%20Award%20Nomination%20Formhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92631401/SymantecAward-2012-NominationForm-DC-2http://www.scribd.com/doc/92631401/SymantecAward-2012-NominationForm-DC-2


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As you head intothe final stretch, itsimportant toremember that thisis not aboutreaching an

absolute end. Itsabout growing asyou strive to realizean aspiration.

An example of effective repetition inaction: a teacher taught persistencethrough read aloud books, doling out adaily grit award, pushing kids to shouteach other out for moments when theywitnessed perseverance in their peers, and

encouraging kids to brainstormcollaboratively around how they wouldface hypothetical challenge scenarios intheir daily lives. The theme of persistencebegan to stick with kids, but it wasbecause this was something the teachercontinuallytalked about and reinforced.

Relevance: Many of you have reflectedthat kids have been most energized bylessons when both teacher and studentsare able to articulate the real-worldrelevance of what it is theyre doing.Whether Carolyn is taking her kids to

classrooms at Friendship to help kidsdevelop a sense that their educationdoesnt end with Kindergarten, AnneMarie is talking to kids about surface areathrough a gift wrapping activity, Staci isasking her kids to complete a project thathelps them determine the level ofeducation they need to obtain to affordtheir preferred lifestyle, Lauren is invitingkids to sit in on college lectures atGeorgetown to discover for themselveswhat college is like, or Meredith is takingkids to Spanish-speaking restaurants tohelp them use the target language inauthentic settings, real-world andexperiential learning provides studentswith major aha moments that can help

them think differently about their futures,the content you teach, or the purpose ofschool itself.Releasing Responsibility (or asthe old teacher adage goes,never work harder than your

students): Its easy for review andreteaching to become teacher-centered,and with it for misbehavior to spike andengagement to drop. Dont forget thelessons youve learned about the impact ofreleasing responsibility over to students asyou would with any other type of content

instruction. Assign kids to after-schoolstudy groups, create online learning videosor modules to encourage kids to studyand review material at home, have themcycle through team learning stations asopposed to sitting through stretches of

Jeopardy or direct instruction, call kids upto the front to work through examplequestions, cluster kids into mixed-abilitygroups with clear tasks and roles, orleverage your stronger students as peertutors or teachers. If youre assigning anextended project, designate sections ofyour room to kids who are at specificstages of the projects so that groups ofstudents who are on the same phase canhelp each other as opposed to relying

solely on you. The list of possibilities isendless, but the key is to release more ofthe control of learning over to thestudents so they are doing as much of theheavy thinking as possible and gainingfluency with the skill of learning moreindependently.

COLLEAGUE SHOUT OUTS

Kelly Gleischman: for acceptingher offer to become an MTLD next

year in the TFA DC Office. She willcontinue to greatly impact studentachievement with the knowledgeand skills that she has gained in hertime in the classroom. I am excitedto see her learn and grow in thenew position.Josh Johnson

Alex Krupp: for getting anawesome new job working for tfain New York! Everyone in dc willmiss you, but you deserve thisawesome opportunity :)Julia Sadowsky

Carolyn and Debbie: for beinginspiring team members at thePhilly institute conference this

weekend, and to Carolyn for being afabulous karaoke partner! Lookingforward to spending my summerlearning from you guys, surrounded

by your awesomeness.Julia Sadowsky

Chelsea Kirk: for receiving theMaya Angelou Hero Award from herschool, New Beginnings, for helpingplan her schools fundraiser, andsupporting her school with other

various tasks. You are aninspiration! --Shajena and AnneMarie Norgren

Josh Johnson: for working sohard to get his greenhouse builtfor his grant -- all those HomeDepot runs are paying off! :)Kelly Gleischman

Debbie Sim: for the amazingsuccess she's had with her 3rdmod this week! Her newmanagement system is workingreally well.Jordan Bock
http://www.scribd.com/doc/92630483/Study-Group-Tipshttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92630483/Study-Group-Tipshttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92630483/Study-Group-Tipshttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92630483/Study-Group-Tipshttp://www.dcflresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/1-The-Decisions-We-Make.ziphttp://www.dcflresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/1-The-Decisions-We-Make.zip


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JoaquinsShout Outs

ALL CAS Testing Teachers!Congrats for all of the tremendous workyou put into preparing your kids for theCAS! I hope you are now enjoying thetransition into this post-testing phase ofthe year and getting to dive into some

great topics, projects, and discussionswith your kids!

Jordan Bock: for working hard torefine her objectives into bite-sizeable,measurable chunks that are based onwhat her kids need to know for theassessment shes working on. Im excitedto see how her careful backwardsplanning and focused INM will lead toimproved gains on her next unitassessment. Most of all, Im impressedwith her continual willingness to developcore planning skills and then ask for

follow-up feedback to ensure shesapplying these skills to the level shewants to be.

Julia Sadowsky and LaurenDelaloye: for being selected as nationalsemi-finalists for the Sue Lehmann Awardfor Excellence in teaching. Im thrilledthat theyll have an opportunity to moveonto the next phase of the Sue Lehmannprocess and continue to represent theexcellent work that our teachers aredoing at the national level. Check outthe full album ofDC nominee videos

here!

Meredith, Megan, Chelsea,Campbell, and Debbie: for agreeingto share feedback and ideas for theupcoming cohort potluck reflectionsession. Im looking forward to hearing,sharing out, and discussing yourtakeaways from the difficult andimportant work youve been doing allyear with your kids!

Meredith Ackerman: realizing thatshe wants to broaden her toolkit of

rigorous speaking activities, Meredith hasset up a meeting with her St. Andrewsmentor to get new activity ideas. Kudosto her for spotting a need in herclassroom and then leveraging thisoutside resource to help her meet thatneed! Im inspired by her exemplarywillingness to grow in her craft :)

Beth Dukes: for having the courageand confidence to launch a brand newteam management system in May. After

rolling this out, she saw bigimprovements in management, includingwith her most behaviorally challengingstudents. When she found out shed berequired to teach ELA, SS, Science, andMath after the CAS, she also workedwith me and Grant Underwood tobrainstorm new academic goals andrevamp centers structures during her litblock to ensure she reaches herstruggling readers and challenges herhigher performers. Im inspired by the

optimism, energy, and determination thatBeth greeted all of these new schoollevel changes with. Shes clearly modelingthe perseverance that she is working toinstill in her kids.

Carolyn Byrne: To ensure her kidsare motivated to succeed next year in Kand beyond, Carolyn is planning to takeher kids on a field trip to different gradelevel classrooms throughout herbuilding. By doing so, she is applying thisprinciple of experiential learning in acreative and meaningful way to help her

kids develop a schema for what theyreworking toward: academic successthroughout their entire academic career.

Anne Marie Norgren: for taking ona TFA-sponsored It Gets Better videoto spread empowering messages toLGBTQ students and their allies. Itsinspiring to see how she took a powerfulconcept and then organized a group ofpeople within the organization to makethis happen. Im looking forward toseeing the finished product and tocontributing with a clip myself! If any of

you would be interested in recording andcontributing a video message, please besure to submit a video message to AnneMarie Norgren ([email protected])or Jared Fox([email protected]) by May11th

Debbie Sim: after recognizing a needto streamline management duringindependent practice, Debbieimplemented a new team managementsystem that rewards kids who exemplifyher expectations for behavior,participation, and teamwork and bystrategically arranging kids in nicelyspaced clusters to prevent cross-groupchattiness. It has been awesome to seehow well this has gone over with evenher most challenging students!

Shajena Erazo: for quickly picking upand then implementing smart executionpractices during her visit and thenfollow-up observation with teachersfrom Uncommon Schools. She has been

able to leverage these strategies toquicken the pace of her class, boostengagement, and maximize learning time.Im excited to have the opportunity toshare more ideas!

Josh Gillerman: for using a collectionof awesome strategies to introduce andthen reinforce his expectations for smallgroup work and to promote independentproblem-solving. Whether hesintroducing problem-solving language

during read-a-louds, assigning kidshandouts that push them to pull out acharacters solutions from stories,celebrating the collaborators andproblem solvers of the week on hisbulletin board, or pushing kids to solvetheir own problems during everydaychallenges, hes using the power ofrepetition and exposure to help his kidsreally internalize these important lifeskills.

Clair Briggs: for demonstratingexcellent leadership during a recent

conversation with CMs from her schooland TFA staff at the office. Hersuggestions and questions contributed toa great solutions-oriented conversationthat were hoping will lead to solutionsthat will positively impact CMs andstudents in the coming year.

Lauren Delaloye: when sherecognized that many kids could usemore support in planning for the future,she began hosting one-on-oneconversations with each of her studentsto help them chart out next steps that

will help them make progress towardtheir long-term career goals andovercome potential challenges thattheyre likely to face along the way. Imexcited to see how this reg-rounds herstudents in what it will take to reachtheir dreams and influence their planningand actions in the coming year(s).

Gillon Crichton: for providing kidswith frequent updates about theirgrowth in performance on the SAT I. Hiskids are continuing to develop moreenthusiasm and self-confidence aboutobtaining their goals, which hascontributed to a supportive, urgent, anddisciplined class culture. Its also inspiringto see his kids encouraging andsupporting each other toward a goal theyknow will not only improve their changesof college acceptance but make astatement to others about what Chavezstudents are capable of.

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http://vimeo.com/album/1927568mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://vimeo.com/album/1927568mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://vimeo.com/album/1927568http://vimeo.com/album/1927568


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Nicole Spoelma: forworking hard to foster growthmindsets in her students withpraise that prizes effort overoutcomes and brainstormingways to leverage morningmeeting to help her kidsdevelop strategies for whatthey do when theyll encounterchallenges in other classroomsettings. Its inspiring to see

how much kids areinternalizing this!Joaquin

Cendahl Cornelio-Alter:for integrating new techniques(snapping for choral response/half-statement completion, textposters, asking questions thatpush kids to respond to otherstudents statements, and lotsof clip art) to help herstudents strengthen theirlanguage skills during readalouds. Im excited to see how

shes also thinking aboutpreparing her kids for asuccessful transition next yearby taking them to their futureteachers classrooms andarranging for 1:1 meetings withthese teachers to sharepractices that have worked forher students.

Hillary Coleman: forworking hard to help 3 of herstudents gain acceptance intoher alma mater (Middlebury).Kudos to her for going aboveand beyond to make thispossible, including reaching outto the admissions office ontheir behalfto share contexton their academic history andpersonal circumstances. Im

sure her kids are thrilledsocongrats to her and them onthis huge accomplishment!

Lydia Peele: for workingwith me to thoughtfully planout her post-CAS projects andstrategize around challengesthat she faced when executingthese projects last year. Imexcited to join in when herkids present these finalprojects to their peers forfeedback!

CJ Libassi: for starting plansto take his kids to a foreignembassy from a Spanish-speaking country. Im excitedto see how this experiencehelps inspire his kids to usetheir language skills and meetpeople who are making use ofSpanish in their careers.

1.Precise Praise--Ms. Austin: Grade 5 (All Grades)

2.TLAC Technique: No Opt Out (ELEM and Up)

3.Strong Voice (All grades--TLAC Technique)

4.Exemplary Lesson Pacing/Engagement (All grades)

5.Julia Sadowsky-Sue Lehmann Sample Teaching Video (ECE/Elem)

6.Normalize Error (All grades--TLAC Technique)

7.Anne Marie: Releasing Responsibility During Your Warm-Up (Secondary)

8.Smooth Classroom Transitions (Elementary and Up)

9.Wait Time (All grades)

10.Teaching Study Skills (Secondary)

Most Viewed Videos of the Month

SOCRATIVE

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AF INTERACTIVE WRITING

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Check out this awesome

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pilot cohort corner issue #10

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