8/8/2019 Nov. Notes From LC

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NESA- Thebest regionalconferenceEVER!There are so many things to say about

NESA. However, I think the most

important is that compared to other

regional conferences Ive been to, it is byfar BEST.

Here are a few reasons for that:

Amazing, top-notch presenters who are

at the forefront of the work in education.

Those same presenters make it seem

doable and not just educational theory

real-world schools would never be able to

execute.

NESA gives us time to learn. All main

day sessions last 4 hours. That means

we have time to listen, try, and even

apply new knowledge.

I am attending the NESA Winter Institute

in Doha with several teachers in January.

Cant wait!

MY NESA FAVORITES: See my blog

for more details about the

presentations...

As you know, Jane and I presented at

the NESA Fall Leadership conferencein Kathmandu, Nepal. We were

scheduled for the last day, final

session, and final hour of the

conference. All in all, our presentation

went pretty well, considering many

people had already left the

conference. Aside from the typical

last minute crises... We need tape!?

No one is going to come!? Too many

people are going to come! What if we

dont say the right thing?

We pulled it off.

There were 2 best moments of the

work for me.

1. During and throughout the other

NESA presentations I heard the word

coach backed up with the need for

us to consider how teachers learn.

2. After our presentation, several

people said they learned a lot from

us.

That means something. :-)

Jen and Jane

As chief knowledge

officer, STEVEN FARR

leads Teach For

America's study of the

distinguishing

strategies of highly

effective teachers in

low-income

communities. Those findings, which inform the

organization's teacher selection, training, and

support, are featured in Mr Farr's new book,Teaching As Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher's

Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap, and an

annotated archive of videos, how-to guides,

common pitfalls and resources at

www.teachingasleadership.org.

Many professional

developers today are

being asked to show that

what they do makes a

difference. Stakeholders

at all levels want to

know if investments in

professional

development truly result

in improvement in the

practices of educators and,

ultimately, in the performance of students. Thisinstitute explores factors that contribute to the

effectiveness of professional development and

outlines the various levels professional

development evaluation.

NOTES FROM THE

LIT COACH

JEN MUNNERLYN WWW.LITERACYBYTES.COM

AMERICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF ABU DHABI, UAE- NOVEMBER 2010

Tom GuskeySteven Farr

Whats My Job as a

Teacher (When I

Am NOT with

Students)?

In their book, Schooling

by Design (ASCD, 2007),

Wiggins and McTighe

contend that some

teachers and administrators misunderstand their

jobs. In this thought-provoking presentation, we'll

examine three related "job" questions:

1. What's the job of a teacher when he/she is

working with students in the classroom? 2. What's

the job of a teacher when he/she is not teaching

3. What's the job of an academic leader?

Jay McTighe

http://www.teachingasleadership.org/http://www.teachingasleadership.org/http://www.teachingasleadership.org/http://www.teachingasleadership.org/http://www.teachingasleadership.org/http://www.teachingasleadership.org/http://www.teachingasleadership.org/http://www.literacybytes.com/http://www.literacybytes.com/http://www.teachingasleadership.org/http://www.teachingasleadership.org/

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November MeetingDates

We had what felt like a thousand

meetings in October. Here is what I

have for this month:

Tuesday, November 2, 23, 30-

3:30-4:30: Lucys Reading UOS

videos... watch and discuss. Optional

but OPEN TO ALL- especially grades

3-5! *THIS IS NEW!- Please let me know if you

will attend so I can plan for seats.

Wednesday, November 10-

1:30-3:00 K-5 Word Study Meeting-

review, reflect, switch up word study

tools

Thursday, Nov. 11- Time TBD- ERD

w/Regie Routman and Early

Childhood Meeting

Monday November 29- 1:30-3:00: K-2 Writing Team Meeting to specifically discuss the unitAuthors as Mentors.

1:30-3:00 (Ive been asked to hold this meeting.)

NEW BOOKS

Reality Checks and Is That a Fact by Tony Stead- Highly recommended

reading for teachers prior to teaching nonfiction units in reading. We

will be using bits of these in reading curriculum meetings.

NEW TO NOTE:MONTHLY COACHING MENUWhile planning for our presentation for NESA, I had some

time to reflect on what I need to get better at as a coach.

Quite simply, I need to practice coaching into classrooms

using known coaching tools to help me. (Ive had the

training, but no practice.) Up to this point, we have been so

very busy as a group getting the pieces in place to

effectively launch and learn the components of workshop,

we werent really ready as a school for me to come in and

coach as my primary focus. While the meetings (planning

and deep thinking work) will continue, I am hoping to focus

more on coaching-in beginning this November.

Here is my plan: During the month of November, I would like to work with someone

at each grade level. We will work on one of the menu items above; planning for our

work using the documents attached. I can coach in on Reading and Writing now, but I

would like to wait for work on Word Study until probably fourth quarter. If time permits,I would like to work with as many teachers as possible, but the goal of 6 is a start.

Let me know who is IN.

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Q1 REPORT CARD

CORRELATIONS:

I will be following up with

grade level teams the first

week of November to get your

revised drafts for the report

card correlations. If you want

to simply give me the changes

I will key them in. Drop dead

date: Nov. 11

Children Engage in

Ongoing Reading Work;

Teacher Engages is

Conferring and Small-

Group Work

The simplicity and

predictability of the

workshop is important

precisely so that teachers

are freed from constant

choreographing and are able

to observe, to listen, to

assess, and to teach into

each students zone of

proximal development....the

teacher circulates. She pulls

close to observe, mulls over

what is and is not working,

and intervenes to coach,

demonstrate, encourage, and

celebrate with individuals

and small groups. This

teaching may reinforce the

minilesson, or it might

address a child or a group of

childrens unique needs and

goals. The teaching in a

conference or a small group,

like the teaching that occurs

within minilessons, aims to

support not just todayswork, but also that childs

reading from now on.

(Transferable skills.)

... In a day, a teacher will

move among many

readers, helping many to

settle and channeling

many toward work the

teacher believes will be

helpful. Then the teacher

is apt to lead a four- or

five-minute conference

with two or three

individual readers or

partnerships of readers and

to coach a small group or

two. By this time, the

teacher generally needs to

address the whole class,

usually through a mid-

workshop teaching point

that sometimes channels

kids to work with a partner

for a few minutes before they

resume reading--and the

teacher resumes teaching.

p. 15 FromA Guide to the

Reading Workshop Grades 3-5

by Lucy Calkins

Reading Workshop...

Q2 REPORT CARD

CORRELATIONS:

This first draft is due to me

on November 8th. I will

compile what I get from grade

level teams into a K-5 vertical

document and get it back to

you ASAP. Please complete

the simple correlation sheet

provided in the Sept. ERD

follow-up email. :-)

Q1- VERTICAL REVIEW

Q3- DRAFTING

In Reading and Writing Team

meetings in either December

or January we will review Q1

changes for vertical strength.

At the Dec. 16th ERD I will

provide the Q3 Correlationforms. Those will be due to

me February 6th.