CT 801 padlet by Kristen Sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq en-us 2016-07-05 16:08:28 UTC 2016-08-11 21:09:12 UTC hello@padlet.com M1: Three Factors in School Reform kristen_sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/115961243 1) Choose the best model for your school/district
There are many models for school reform, each with data behind it, and pros and cons to implementation. For successful school reform to happen, district and school leadership must carefully analyze the current state of the school/district, determine the needs and goals the school has, and choose the model that will best help meet those goals.
2) Build stakeholder buy in
For school reform to work, administration, teachers, and parents need to be invested in the process. School reform brings many changes to a school and takes hard work, and these things combined can easily alienate parents and teachers if they do not feel valued, involved, and informed throughout the process.
3) Starting with a mindset of accountability vs. judgement
As schools evolve and change to meet the needs of students, there will be missteps and mistakes along the way. Teachers and administrators need to be held accountable for attempting to grow, and for implementing the reforms necessary, but should not fear harsh judgement if a lesson does not work out as planned. Just as we want our classrooms to be safe spaces where kids can take intellectual risks, 
reforming schools requires giving teachers the space to try, fail, and learn from their mistakes.]]> 2016-07-05 16:08:52 UTC https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/115961243 M2: Constructing a School Improvment Plan kristen_sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/116149555 The step in the construction of the school improvement plan I think is most important to success is diagnosing the root causes of school performance, because if you are trying to fix the wrong problem, you could have all stakeholders buy in and all the support in the world, develop and implement great and appropriate strategies, and monitor the plan well, but you are aiming at the wrong target and performance will not improve. ]]> 2016-07-09 23:30:21 UTC https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/116149555 M3: Professional Development & Instructional Strategies kristen_sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/116847173 Professional development needs to be more than just transmitting information about instructional strategies - just like with students, teachers need to do something with new knowledge and make connections in order for it to be meaningful.]]> 2016-07-23 15:09:00 UTC https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/116847173 M4: Data kristen_sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/116847232 A type of data that is important to a SIP, besides state assessment results, are student grades. Comparing grades to assessment results helps teachers and schools determine if content being taught is grade-level appropriate, and determine if students are reaching mastery of the content that is being taught. ]]> 2016-07-23 15:11:48 UTC https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/116847232 M5: Data Dashboards and Data Carousels kristen_sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/117146765 I think that both data dashboards and data carousels are useful ways to analyze information and data, just in different ways. Personally, I would prefer a data dashboard - i am more of a big picture person and tend to feel overwhelmed or bogged down if I try to look at too many small details at once. However, I do think that a data carousel could help shed more light on why the data dashboards looks the way it does - it would just not be my preferred project or go-to way to look at data. ]]> 2016-07-28 16:41:32 UTC https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/117146765 M6: Assessing  Special of At-Risk Students kristen_sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/117763388 For the class jigsaw discussion, I read the chapter on at-risk students. There were several ideas that stood out to me, but perhaps the most important is this idea from page 199 of The School Improvement Handbook:
"Educators must raise expectations for serving at-risk students and preventing dropouts. They must believe that all students are capable."
Working in a high-poverty and low-performing school, I know it is so easy to write kids off, or to let their behavior deter us from holding them to high expectations. But we have to remember that children behave and act out the way that they do for reasons, and that our job is to provide them with the best education possible, even when they may not value it and we may not feel like making the effort. We may never know the impact that expecting more of a child can have - they may never see the value in it until years later, or may never connect a teacher's expectations to their lives at all. But it does make an impact, and with schools full of teachers pulling together to teach all of our students, not just the ones who are easy to teach, we can certainly make an impact, no matter how small. ]]> 2016-08-09 03:39:24 UTC https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/117763388 M7: What We Learned about Data kristen_sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/118056590 “If students are aware of the goals and see their assessment scores over time, they become more invested and involved in their own learning. “

I think this statement by Lee Dvorak is very important. It is so vital to remember as teachers that we must work on having students feel invested in and become contributors to their own learning. We can’t learn for students, we can only facilitate learning and create an environment that promotes learning. The more students take ownership of their education, the more intrinsically motivated they will be, and the stronger lifelong learners they will become. This sense of responsibility for their education will hopefully carry over into a sense of personal responsibility in the rest of their lives, and help them to become not just better students but better people overall. 
]]> 2016-08-11 21:01:39 UTC https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/118056590 M8: Most Important Part of School Improvment kristen_sittig https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/118056728 I think the most important thing I learned about school improvement is that it is a journey, not a destination. There are so many factors that go into improving school and student performance, from careful planning, to stakeholder buy in, to selecting the correct strategies to implement, and monitoring progress, that you have to have the mindset of running a marathon. There will be strategies that fail, and days where it seems you are not making any progress, and there will be times where you see spectacular success. But if all involved - administration, teachers, students, and parents - are invested in the process and pulling together, then improvements will be made, however incremental they are.]]> 2016-08-11 21:04:16 UTC https://padlet.com/kristen_sittig/wyx8p1xlimqq/wish/118056728