Search results: organization

Professional Learning Binder

Goals and Motivation, Instructional Coaching, Teaching Tips

For the past few weeks I’ve been pondering how to support teachers in documenting, organizing, and reflecting on their work and learning done in coaching cycles, particularly the use of evidence and data in supporting student achievement.  I wanted teachers to have a lasting, tangible product to walk away with after the completion of coaching to support their future work.  After a conversation with my principal during which she suggested creating “Professional Learning Binders” with teachers, I thought this could be a great solution to my dilemma!

I envisioned teachers being able to use their Professional Learning Binders in a variety of ways.  First, as a model for how to organize other classroom assessments and data.  Well analyzed and organized data is so important in instruction, but many teachers struggle with the organization piece.  Using the Analyzing Assessments tool, the featured Monitoring Grid and a few labeled dividers can all help with this.  Additionally, teachers can use collected work in the Professional Learning Binders as part of a larger teacher portfolio.  Like other professionals, teachers need evidence of their growth and achievement over time.

Now with all that said, let’s have a look!

Binder Cover

***If you would like a personalized binder cover in the design featured here, send me an email and I will make one for you free of charge!

Front of Binder

Binder Spine

The first two tabs are labeled “Planning” and “Assessment.”  The Planning section includes documents that helped guide our identified coaching goal such as our school Work Plan and Expedition planning documents.   I also included a copy of our “Goals and Planning” page which outlines our student learning goal and if applicable, teacher learning goal.

The Assessment section features collected assessments for each student divided by name labels.  There is also a Monitoring Grid included for each student.  You can use mailing labels to collect information on each student tied to identified learning targets.  Then at the end of the week, just peel and stick!

Click to Download a PDF of the Monitoring Grid

At the front of the assessment section is the Analyzing Assessments tool we used to organize assessment information into a data set to support us with planning.

Click to Download Analyzing Assessments Tool

The last three tabs are labeled “Instruction,” “Results,” and “Reference.”  In the Instruction section I plan to collect a few example lessons that I observe and give feedback on during the coaching cycle.  After a post-assessment is given at the completion of the coaching cycle and we have data to show what progress was made, this will be included in the Results section.  Additionally, I plan to ask teachers to write a short reflection on their work done in coaching and their learning as a result which will also be included.  In the Reference section, I have included a few professional articles tied to our coaching goal as an additional resource.

This is a GREAT article by the way if you’ve been learning about Close Reading!  You can download it here.

I hope this post sparked your thinking for how you can support teachers in organizing and reflecting on important information tied to your coaching work.  If you are a teacher, hopefully this post gave you some ideas for how to begin a professional learning binder/portfolio of your own!

Thanks for reading,

Creating a Professional Development Space

Teaching Tips

Wouldn’t it be nice if all schools had a designated space for teachers to gather together on a regular basis to learn and share ideas?  Where they could relax a bit, enjoy a cup of coffee, and consider how to improve their instruction?  I thought so too.  That’s why I really wanted to create a professional development space for teachers this year.

When I was in the classroom, creating an engaging and beautiful learning space was one of my favorite things to do.  I wanted it to be a place where students looked forward to coming to everyday and felt inspired to learn.  I used this same thinking when I set out to create our school’s professional development space. I know the current school year is coming to a close, but if you are able to create a professional development space for the next school year, here are some ideas to consider.

Don’t Go Crazy With Colors

Although it’s tempting to think the more colorful the better, it’s really not.  Too many loud colors can be distracting.  Keep it simple with one muted color on the walls and add a pop of color with borders or accent boards.

Plants and Lighting

I have one big plant in a bright green pot that sits by my desk and helps freshen the air.    I’ve also added different lighting around the room to create a more inviting space.

Work and Teaching Spaces

I chose round tables for workspace so teachers could easily collaborate and share ideas.  I added baskets on top with pens, highlighters, and sticky notes for teachers to use.

For teaching space, I have a small round table that I dressed up a bit with some fun fabric that holds my projector.  Having chart paper and markers on hand for recording agenda’s or impromptu notes from discussions is also important.

Materials Organization

It’s important to have a space to store any handouts and/or other materials you may need to support your professional development meetings.  For me, a few plastic bins from Target and a labeler make quick work of this organizational task!

 Teacher Ownership

Just as you would want students to feel ownership of their classroom, I wanted teachers to feel connected to our professional development space.  I made sure that teacher faces were seen in the room in different ways.

I made magnet name cards for each of the teachers that they use for the “check-in” questions we have in place at the start of each PD session

My colleague and I also thought it would be a great idea for teachers to make “A Bit About Me” cards. We used these for an opening activity for one of our PD sessions and then displayed them throughout the year. These gave teachers a way to learn something about others they may not have known before

Here are the question we used:

  • What is one of your passions?
  • What is a quirk of yours no one knows about?
  • What is your favorite book?

What Have We Been Working On?

It’s important that the work and learning of teachers is celebrated and displayed throughout the room.

A documentation panel I made to tell the story of our work connected to guided reading

Our work plan goal for the year

Supporting targets for the work plan goal

Continuum of reading proficiency levels

Displayed read-alouds to support student engagement. These along with the professional learning books to the left are all available for check-out

Our staff habits connected to the text, "Mindset" (seen below)

Café!

One of the best parts of our PD room is the mini coffee bar I set up.  We have professional development at the end of the day and teachers are often pretty drained.  It really helps to have a pot of fresh coffee and a few snacks waiting for them.  I also have a mini-fridge for storing small cans of soda and Emergen-C packs for those teachers who need a bit of a pick-up, but would rather not have caffeine.  Teachers have nicknamed this space “Houser’s Cafe.”

Add Some Humor!

Our science teacher made this for me and I just love it.  It is a good reminder of why we all come together every week!

And Don’t Forget…

A space for yourself.  Some instructional coaches have offices outside of their professional development space or they may not have an office at all!  If you are able to create an organized and comfortable workspace for yourself, definitely do!  I chose to put mine by the window for a little natural light and I only furnish it with what is really essential.  The last thing you want to do when you have a chance to sit down and think, is deal with a bunch of clutter!

A little extra inspiration from Coach John Wooden

There aren’t a ton of ideas out there for how to create a professional development space for teachers, so if you have any additional thinking to contribute, please let us know!

Manageable Monitoring Part II – Nifty Note Cards!

Teaching Tips

In my last post I wrote about one of my top two ideas for making monitoring student work and thinking more manageable.  In this post, I will describe my second manageable monitoring system.  I came across this idea while reading, “Making the Most of Small Groups: Differentiation for All” by Debbie Diller.  Being a huge fan of teacher organization tips and tricks, my attention shot straight to Debbie’s section on getting organized.  In this section she shares some of her thinking on using note cards as a monitoring tool.  I put her ideas to action in monitoring my students as readers and I also began using note cards for monitoring in writing and math.

Note Cards in Literacy

What will I need?

  • 3×5 white note cards (this helps me distinguish literacy notes from math notes), one for each student
  • 5-6 pocket dividers (different colors to indicate small groups, see below for clarification)
  • One divider for each student in your classroom (coordinate the color with their small group instruction color, see below for clarification)
  • One 1.5 inch binder (or larger if you anticipate needing more space)

How do I put it all together?
Before you put your literacy monitoring binder together, you will need to first put your students into flexible small groups for differentiated instruction.  Once you have done this, give each student a color divider and put them behind the same color pocket divider for that group.  You can put a few sheets of notebook paper behind each student’s divider tab to take running records for miscue analysis.

What do I do with the note cards?
Assign one note card to each student.  I use one side for anecdotal reading notes and the other side to jot down notes about their writing.  You can keep these note cards in the pocket of your pocket dividers.  If you decide to switch around your groups, note cards make it easy to do so.

When you meet with your students for reading groups, simply take out the note cards for students in that group and place it in front of each reader so that it is ready for recording observations.  This also makes it easy to see who you have made several observations on and who you haven’t.

Other thoughts
You can store your lesson plans for groups in or behind the pocket divider.  I also like to keep informational sheets with ideas for strategy instruction in the front of my literacy monitoring binder.

If students are involved in an expedition (long term unit of study), you can also keep your learning targets for that expedition in the front of your binder to keep your monitoring on track.

Note Cards in Math

What will I need?

  • 3×5 colored note cards (3 packs to start should get you through a couple of units)
  • Clipboard

How do I put it all together?
It’s super easy.  First, write each student’s name on the bottom of a note card tape (see below).  Next, tape them to the clipboard (start at the bottom of the clipboard and work your way up).  Try to keep them all the same color if you can.  You can use colors to help distinguish the unit you are taking monitoring notes on. I use a sticky note to jot down the look fors of that day’s lesson and put it on the clipboard.  This helps guide my focus.

You can also use these note cards to record observations you make in number talks, independent station work, small groups, or any other area of your math block.

Storing and Using Note Cards

Now that you have been busily using monitoring notes as an informal assessment in your classroom and your note cards are filling up, you want to put them somewhere safe where they’ll be easily accessible for future reference.  All you need is a 4 x 6 inch card file!  Store note cards under students first or last name.  The white note cards for literacy monitoring and colored note cards for math monitoring will help you keep things straight.

When you’re ready to do report cards or are preparing for conferences, just whip out these nifty note cards and you’ll be good to go!