One of my responsibilities as an Instructional Coach revolves around the area of parent and community outreach. Over the years I've used social media, brochures, and our Title I night to meet this responsibility. This year, I added a new outreach opportunity to my building. I received a grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to send home monthly math and literacy bags with every student. Each bag contains a new book, a reading activity, and a math activity that can be completed with a deck of cards. The cards were donated by Prairie Meadows. Students get to keep the resources, which means by May, we will have added six new books to every student's home library. On top of increasing the at home access to text, we also encourage parent involvement in their child's math and literacy achievement through the activities we send home. There aren't any usage requirements, and students aren't rewarded or penalized if they don't complete an activity, these are simply resources. Overall, students are loving this new outreach initiative, and can be heard exclaiming "I love these bags!" when I drop off the box in the classroom each month. I've had several teachers tell me their students love taking the bags home, and have even had a parent contact me to say thank you for building up their home library. I plan on continuing the math and literacy take home bags, and will be applying for the grant again next year. I also want to continue to expand the level and type of parent and community outreach I provide.
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"We've got to continually push ourselves, grow, innovate, and find ways to be different! The kids deserve it!" - Kids Deserve It! Pushing Boundaries and Challenging Conventional Thinking by Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome The quote above reminds me of a photo that frequently appears in my social media feeds: Since leaving the classroom three years ago to serve as our building's Instructional Coach, I am frequently asked if I like this new role. The truth is, I love working with educators who are looking to grow as professionals, innovate their instruction, and make a difference for their students! I believe facilitating adult learning is allowing me to use my passions to reach more students than I ever could have imagined. Looking ahead, I am nearing the end of my Ed Leadership program, and plan to expand this impact to the systems level as I serve in a Curriculum Director capacity. I recognize it takes courage to step out of one's comfort zone, including reaching out to an Instructional Coach for assistance, but as the graphic shows, that truly is where the magic happens.
One of my favorite aspects of my job as an Instructional Coach is partnering with teachers and together working toward a goal. This has been going well, but I wanted to see more peer coaching occurring. After doing some research, I came across the idea of Peer Observation Partnerships. I adapted the information so it would fit my building, and ran the idea by my principal. Together, we decided that teachers would complete a minimum of one POP visit each trimester. Additionally, three "POP Share-Out Sessions" have been scheduled, during which teachers will meet as a whole group and share out their POP stories, moments of magic, and areas of focus for next time. I look forward to seeing how the POP teams work this year, and it is definitely something I would hope to implement once I'm in an administrative role.
If you would like a copy of either document, I'd be happy to share! Use the contact form under "Connect" at the top of the page.
I had the privilege of presenting at the Iowa Reading Association's 2016 conference. Rather than doing a typical sit and get presentation, I had stations set up for participants to rotate through. Below you will find the handout I had available for participants. If you would like information on any of these technology tools, including how I implement them with our K-5 students and teachers, let me know! I recently attended the Iowa 1:1 Institute, and during a session for administrators, the following quote was shared:
“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it.” As I finish my second year as an Instructional Coach, and am pursuing my PK-12 Principal/Supervisor of Special Education license from Viterbo, this quote spoke to the importance of finding staff, colleagues, and community members who will not only support you as an educator and leader, but also will push you. If, at the conclusion of each day, each teaching position, each administration role and, ultimately, at the end of my career, I can look back and say that I have successfully left education better than I found it, then I can truly say I didn’t shy away from greatness. For the second to last assignment in my Directing and Supervising K-12 Reading Programs course, we were tasked with finding a cartoon that connects to schools, leadership and learning. It took me a few days of scouring the internet of past comic strips, but after reading countless Zits, Baby Blues, Non Sequitur, among others, all of a sudden I remembered one of my favorite quotes. For as long as I can remember, I've heard the following quote, and couldn't think of anything better to connect schools, leadership, and learning.
As part of my Directing and Supervising K-12 Reading course, we were given the task of using ILA's Standards for Reading Professionals, and creating a summary sheet you could give to a beginning teacher. The goal of the assignment was to not only show you understand the standards, but also that you would be able to help someone else create a literate environment. Below, you'll find my finished product.
The Scoop on Data
Each year, my district sets aside one day for professional development focused around data. As the building's instructional coach, I get to plan and facilitate the day's activities. Last year, I did the Amazing Data Race, and this year I wanted to involve even more collaboration and personalized learning opportunities! With the help of our district technology integration coordinator, The Scoop on Data was created! I developed tasks (see the Topping Choices below) that met my goals of providing choice and collaboration, while still meeting the district's expectation of discussing and analyzing data. In order for teachers to share the topping choices they made, I created a paper sundae, complete with colored pieces they glued on their "Looking for Data?...I've Got the Scoop" poster.
​Everyone I talked to enjoyed our Data Day activities, and had at least one takeaway that they would use in their classroom on Monday. My favorite activities included having everyone complete either a math or ELA road map, as well as the data celebration at the end of the morning where every teacher shared a data set of their choosing. I am already brainstorming next year's Data Day activities, and can't wait to see how our staff uses this year's Data Day experience to impact student learning between now and May. If you would like any of the resources I used during The Scoop on Data, or have questions, please let me know!
Photos of the Day's Events
This week's assignment for my Supervising and Directing K-12 Reading Programs course focused on chapter 13 of Best Practices of Literacy Leaders. For this assignment, I was asked to use the checklists provided on pages 255-256 and take each of the categories and create a checklist that a teacher could use for a reference for themselves as they plan, prepare and present lessons. Below, you will find the checklist I created.
Over the past year and a half, I've been working with several teachers in my building to incorporate S.T.E.M. into their instruction. I don't want S.T.E.M. to be an event or separate entity, but instead used to support student thinking within the core content areas. I've worked share my vision and build the capacity of the students and teachers I support. In December, my principal asked "I wonder what it would take to get you and the Lt. Governor in the same room to talk about S.T.E.M.?" Our Lt. Governor, is a big supporter of S.T.E.M. education in our state, and I knew if we could get her to visit with me about our S.T.E.M. journey and vision, our students and teachers would benefit! As I left the principal's office, I was excited about the prospect of a visit, but was realistic in recognizing there would be a lot of hoops to jump through to make such a visit occur. To my surprise, two weeks later I learned that my principal did a lot of work and thanks to a connection with a state representative, not only would the Lt. Governor be visiting our building, but also the Governor! Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear this news! Fast forward to the present, and I can honestly say today was an amazing! We welcomed the Governor, Lt. Governor, and a State Representative into our building to share our S.T.E.M. journey and vision for the future. In addition to my principal sharing our school's story, I had the opportunity to share why I believe S.T.E.M. needs to be included in our instruction. We also gave the Governor, Lt. Governor, and State Representative a tour of the building, and while visiting classrooms, they interacted with students participating in S.T.E.M. activities. The thirty minute visit flew by, but before leaving, the Lt. Governor shared with our students that they shouldn't let S.T.E.M. ideas and thinking end when they walk out the school doors, but that they should "take it home." Now that the visit is over, I look forward to continuing to support teachers as they work to incorporate S.T.E.M. into their classrooms. I also plan to continue sharing lessons, including S.T.E.M. activities, that I model in classrooms. I am passionate about S.T.E.M., and after hearing how impressed the Governor and Lt. Governor were about my leadership and vision, I look forward to the future and the path my building and myself are on! |
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