TEACHER LEADER TEAM

Amory School District

District Mission

The overarching mission of the Amory School District is to create opportunities for ALL students to achieve at the highest level possible.

5 THINGS EVERY TEACHER SHOULD BE DOING

• Designing lesson plans that require students to use Higher Order Thinking (HOT) skills

• Create opportunities to actively engage all students in each lesson

• Make good decisions about texts used in class, stressing thematic connections and text complexity

• Use effective questioning to create discussions WITH and BETWEEN students

• Teach the concept of argument in all content areas.

Collaboration

• Both horizontally and vertically• To discuss/compare/share strategies and

ideas• To plan lessons for overlapping of content• To create or tweak common assessments• To analyze data from formative and common

assessments

Professional Learning Communities

• Learning community with a focus on and a commitment to the learning of ALL students

• Composed of collaborative members working together to achieve common goals linked to helping ALL students learn

• Focused on continuous improvement• Must use RESULTS to determine next steps• Must use ongoing assessment to determine

effectiveness of program

PLC’s

• MDE emphasis• ASD use of PLC’s– Common planning times– Departmental/Grade level meetings– Data meetings– Principal meetings– Teacher Leadership Team

Why PLC’s

• The creation of a guiding coalition or leadership team is a critical first step in the complex task of leading a school (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005)

• None of us know as much as ALL of us• Learn from each other• Determine where we want to go, where we

are, and how we are going to get there

English Language Arts Overview

• Over the last few decades, textbook reading levels have decreased.

• K-12 reading is more narrative in nature than informative, which is required in college and the workplace. K-12 reading content is not very challlenging.

• K-12 teachers give students a great deal of coaching and support

Today’s Text Gap

Current Lexile Levels vs. CCSS Lexiles

Non-fiction Must Become Focus

Writing Requirements Argument and Evidence

Evidence-based Writing

• Writing and answers should be based on what has been read in the text, not opinions or experiences.

• 80% of teacher questioning doesn’t require students to read anything in a text to be able to answer

• Supporting details from the text being read should be used when answering evidence-based questions

TEAM NORMS• Be at meetings and be on time. Plan to stay for the entire

meeting. Appointments should be scheduled around meetings whenever possible.

• Prepare for meetings. Review materials given and be ready for next meeting so that we don’t waste time

• Collaborate!!• Take knowledge gained back to schools and help others put it

into practice• Be a team player, even when it means agreeing to disagree at

times

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards

• Four Strands– Reading• Literature (RL)• Informational (RI)

WritingSpeaking and ListeningLanguage

Key Areas of CCRA’s and ELA Standards

• Reading Informational Text–Newspapers–Magazines–Technical Manuals–Historical Non-fiction–Science–Biographies

Key Areas of CCRA’s and ELA Standards

• Reading Literary Texts–Fairy Tales–Folklore–Historical Fiction–Poetry–Drama –Fictional Novels

Key Areas of CCRA’s and ELA Standards

• Reading Complex Texts–Complexity should build as students

progress in reading skills–Students must be exposed to reading that is

above their current reading levels to help them grow.

Key Areas of CCRA’s and ELA Standards

• Close Reading and Citing Text Evidence– Students are expected to use what has been read to answer

questions and prove or justify their answers.– Teachers must ask questions that require students to refer to

the text to find the answers.– Inductive reasoning should be required as students progress– Teachers should use graphic organizers and activities that ask

students to provide quotations from text as evidence.

Key Areas of CCRA’s and ELA Standards

•Writing Arguments–Many standards ask students to develop and

evaluate formal, logical arguments based on evidence from text.– Persuasion uses the credibility or character of the

writer and emotions to convince the audience.– Logical arguments use merit and reasonableness of

claims to convince the audience.– Teachers must require students to analyze

exemplar argumentative writings and require students to use argument in writing and speaking and listening assignments.

Reading Strand• Two domains

– Reading standards for Literature- RL– Reading standards for information- RI

Four Headings– Key Ideas and Details– Craft and Structure– Integration of Knowledge and Ideas– Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

CCRA for Reading

Implications for Reading CCRA

• Requires Close Reading strategies to analyze or evaluate texts.

• Requires citing of evidence to support conclusions drawn from text.

• Requires analysis and synthesis of information to determine how plot, characters, structure, and word choice effect the text.

• Requires use of summary, comparison/contrast to validate analysis.

• Requires repeated exposure to Complex Reading text and independent comprehension.

Writing Strand

• Types and Purposes– Arguments are used to support claims using evidence

and supporting details.– Informative/Explanatory writing is used to convey

complex ideas.– Narratives are used to develop real or imagined events

or experiences, based on text read.

Writing Strand

• Use short and sustained research projects based on specific questions

• Assess of credibility of resources and integrate information found without plagiarizing

• Use evidence to support analysis, research, or reflection

• Write over both short and sustained time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences

Speaking and Listening Strand

• Must begin developing speaking and listening skills in Kindergarten and continue through graduation

• Students must learn to collaborate with others to prepare and present information to an audience

• Students must learn to critique presentations of others• Students must develop and organize effective argumentative

and informative presentations• Must use multiple resources, both written and digital• Students must learn to use language and word choice

appropriately

Language Strand• Students must demonstrate knowledge of

appropriate English when both writing or speaking• Students must use language to clarify meaning of

words and to convey thoughts appropriately• Students must use language to acquire a wide range

of vocabulary, both general and domain specific

Enterprise Change

• If Constancy of Purpose is the first step to quality, Motivation to Change is the first step to Organization Development (Lewin– Not everyone will change – Resistance is ugly– Use “High Fliers” to help others believe that

change is necessary

Motivation for Change

• Lexile level changes we looked at earlier• Students are not adequately prepared for

college or career with current standards being used

• College and Career Readiness standards require a change in both teaching strategies and learning strategies

Anticipate “Survival Anxiety”

• Some educators will cling to the old, now invalid thinking

• Leads to defensiveness and resistance due to pain of having to UNLEARN and RETHINK

• Three stages: Denial, (won’t happen), Scapegoating and passing the buck (it’s others fault, or I’m retiring), making excuses (my kids can’t do it, I don’t have time), and guilt (it’s not developmentally appropriate)

Common Core Fears

• Requires Enterprisal Change- it involves everyone and requires change from everyone

• Big Steps- increases rigor for all teachers and students

• Scary Change- requires use of new strategies and new ways of thinking

• Skills Fear- especially in math, where concepts are pushed down into earlier grades

• Consequences- Fired?

How We Approach the Change

• The change is not only necessary, it’s required• It is best for students • Focus on those receptive to the change• Determine benchmarks to determine progress• Maintain change: Constant Push• Communicate positively• Gradually release “helping” relationship to

others• We must address the EMOTION of change

The Key Fear to Address

• As much as we fear the NEW… We fear giving up the OLD even more.

• This is because of our Habits and Mastered Content and Practices

• We must provide comfort, support egos, and support others’ self esteem issues

• Organize structure and coherence

Appendix A

• Text Complexity Triangle– Qualitative Measures- levels of meaning or

purposes, structure of text, language used, and knowledge demands of text

– Quantitative Measures- word length or frequency, sentence length, text cohesion

– Reader and Task Consideration- motivation, knowledge, and experiences of reader. Purpose and complexity of assigned texts and questions

Appendix A

• Lexile Level Increases• Reading Standard 10 Progression• Argumentative Writing• Read- Alouds• Vocabulary Acquisition– Tier 1- general, everyday words– Tier 2- general academic words used in multiple

content areas– Tier 3- content area specific words, circumference,

aorta, compound predicate

Appendix B/C

• Text Exemplars by grade level- B• Performance-based tasks- B• Writing Samples- C– Informative– Argument– Narrative

M-STAR• Planning• Artifacts• Common Core lessons• Levels• Pre-, Post • Piloted next year, live 2014-2015

Close Reading• Gettysburg Address

Rigor/Relevance Framework

• Introduce Quadrants and assign for next session

Next Meeting

• Close Reading of Standards of Mathematical Practices• Rigor/Relevance Framework