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Farr Challenge #2
Tammy Blackwell
2.  Since I work at the SOC I have students coming in and out of my classes every 3 to 6 weeks.  The advantage of this is that I can tweak assignments and/or identify problem areas between students so that the next student to come through the class gets the "new" and "improved" version. I decided to focus on one assignment in each of the four units in each of my courses: ES A, ES B, ESS A & ESS B.  I will have identified questions in the assignments that required a high level of thinking and provided a sentence stem.  Then on the unit test I will give a question with the same degree of difficulty.

3.  The resources that I am using come from the Lead4ward resources that the course provided and from the following website: http://bit.ly/2GYo5Fh on how to make test questions for higher order thinking.  The website really just gave me a jumping off spot.

Lastly, the only thing really hindering my forward momentum is time. 

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Farr Challenge #2
Tammy Blackwell
2.  Since I work at the SOC I have students coming in and out of my classes every 3 to 6 weeks.  The advantage of this is that I can tweak assignments and/or identify problem areas between students so that the next student to come through the class gets the "new" and "improved" version. I decided to focus on one assignment in each of the four units in each of my courses: ES A, ES B, ESS A & ESS B.  I will have identified questions in the assignments that required a high level of thinking and provided a sentence stem.  Then on the unit test I will give a question with the same degree of difficulty.

3.  The resources that I am using come from the Lead4ward resources that the course provided and from the following website: http://bit.ly/2GYo5Fh on how to make test questions for higher order thinking.  The website really just gave me a jumping off spot.

Lastly, the only thing really hindering my forward momentum is time. 

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Tammy Blackwell
1.  My goal is to integrate more higher learning-type questions and train the students how to answer them effectively.

2 a. Identify Application, Analysis, Synthesis & Evaluation type questions in existing activities.

2b. Use sentence frames to train students the correct way to answer these types of questions.

3a. Student evidence that I will collect will be the measure of success on daily activities using sentence frames compared to success on assessments.

3b. My response to unsuccessful efforts by the students would be to  to conference with the student one-on-one to determine where the disconnect lies between the use of the sentence stems and answering the assessment questions.

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McColloch

Challenge #2

2. When I meet with each student at the beginning of class, we can come up with exactly what the student needs to accomplish for that period. I give each student a sticky note with what they need to do and we can cross out the assignments as we go along. That seems simple, but helps them. The type of student we have here often requires monitoring daily.

Often assignments must be adjusted to the student because of their educational status, is, SPED, 504. These adjustments are made with only that student in mind.

For each course, I have a set of short formative assessments I give to see where they are in terms of the information in the course. Since we’re a credit recovery campus I can use what they know to move them along in the class.

3. I use the student learning hub, the moodle as my main resource. Students can see lessons, PowerPoints, videos, but most of the assignments are on paper and have to be turned in. Some of that is because I am old, and therefore ‘old school’, and some is because the type of student we have I find working on paper to be beneficial to them.

Challenge #3

My learning goal: establish, communicate, and maintain clear expectations.

The SOC is different in its learning environment than a regular campus. Our classes include students at all levels; different grades, ages, abilities, with every student here being designated an at-risk student. Therefore, the evidence of growth I collect will look different than a teacher on the regular campus. In finding evidence of growth I can look at individual students and the adjustments I made to achieve my goal. But my main evidence is whether students are completing my course within the 6-week time line (or for half day students, 3 weeks). It’s vital that I establish, communicate, and maintain clear expectations daily. And even that criteria for success is not without its difficulties as some students have chronic absences and I cannot control that. I have learned what I can control and what I cannot. I have learned the power of a daily sticky note and daily presence for each student. I have learned clear communication and reiteration of daily expectations is essential for my student success.

Video Process Reflection:

I did not video myself because the way we teach here video wouldn’t be the tool it can be in a regular classroom. I think it would be a great tool if you could get teachers to do it. When I worked in Celina we had the opportunity to try but only one teacher volunteered. I think having someone, another teacher, not an administrator, observe you for those 5 specific techniques would be very helpful and maybe more teachers would be willing because only the brave ones would agree to video.

When I reflect however on these techniques, I can see them.

Spot: What am I doing when students walk in the room? I need to make sure I’m available to welcome them.

Breakdown: Sometime I move and talk too quickly. If I breakdown some of the times I am working with a student, I can see how fast I’m going and be aware to slow it down. Slowing down is something I’ve been working on with my administrator.

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Using the video reflection was a good practice, but I don't like watching myself teach!  I thought it was good to see how I move and interact with different groups and to see how students stay on task vs being off task when my attention is directed to other groups.

As for reflection, I think this was a valuable tool for analyzing my teaching practices and I was able to make some changes to my  approach for my next class on B day vs the A day that I filmed.

This was easy for me to do with our video equipment from football, but I don't know how easy it would be for a classroom teacher checking out a camera etc and uploading, viewing, analyzing.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to analyze their teaching style, but probably more beneficial for younger teachers rather than veteran teachers. Either way you can learn something new about yourself.

I think everyone will find their nervous "tick" liek using "um" or "like" to fill dead space. This is especially helpful for improving wait time technique. Sometimes times you don't realize how quickly you answer your own questions vs letting the student work through the process.

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I started using the google document to gather some evidence- I have included lesson plans, rubrics and assignments that we used to increase student choice which is the focus of our goal.  You can see my document here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lAp3LOUpeg6WAY9OolFpGbjVvgwP0rZM6u5Ti2PM6WY/edit?usp=sharing

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2. I have used a reflection piece after completing our current event discussions. I have the students reflect on the process and identify points made by their partners. I ask for the students to list facts, not opinions during this time. The students can see how they disagree with another point of view, while still being able to analyze the facts that are being presented in a respectful way.

3.I also like to use twitter to find ways to improve my teaching and classroom environment. I follow several educators and chats and podcasts. Something I picked up recently was how much your classroom environment can change just by shaking hands or fist bumping at the door when they walk in. It goes beyond just standing at the entrance to monitor the halls and helps the kids feel connected

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I get my best resources these days from Twitter and Facebook chats. I also listen to a couple podcasts that help with my content. Twitter is a wealth of information and ideas every time I go there.

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Evidence-
Rubrics that show evidence of student choice. Lesson plans documenting choice and current events. Seating Charts and student work showing evidence of the goal.

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1. My goal is 3.3 to promote relevant and meaningful learning at least once per unit.

2. 2 things I plan to use will be 1. bringing current political events for students to discuss during class and 2.  working to respect opinions of others  even if you don't agree with their views.

3. Quality evidence will be measured through appropriate participation in our discussions according to the class norms we have established for these discussions. Feedback for these activities will not be over whether or not their opinion is right or wrong, rather guiding them to participate in political discussion while respecting, and hopefully seeing, others point of view.

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2-3 Things I will do to implement my goal.
1- Give choice in student product.
2.  Incorporate current events to make connections between our studies and the real world.
3. Allow students to partner with groups who have like interests and goals as they study specific topics.

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My Goal
Dimension 3.3 To engage all students with relevant meaningful learning, twice a six weeks, adjusting lessons based on student interests and abilities.

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#1, Describe Goal:
My goal is 3.2, to make and maintain clear expectations to students to promote an effective classroom environment.
#2, Actions: (SOC)
1. I will meet with each student at the beginning of each class period to see where they are in terms of the class and work together to group assignments for successful completion.
2. Review and adjust all assignments, notes, and labs to make sure they are clear and obtainable.
#3, Evidence:
Evidence will be whether students are finishing the course in 6 (or 3) weeks.