Professional Development Plan

I am really struggling with knowing what to do for my professional development plan. There are two areas that I want to improve in this year: teaching writing to my low kids and becoming proficient in writing standards-based IEPS. I have been reading books about teaching writing but I would love to take a graduate school class in this area. Unfortunately, I can't find any classes that look like they would be helpful. I would like any advice, if anyone knows of a good class or even a good resource.
I am attending a conference for learning about standards-based IEPs in November which will help immensely in that area. Most likely, I will focus on the writing skills as I teach two writing groups and I feel as though this is the area of greatest need. I reeceived one of my degrees in 7-12 language arts so I feel confident in teaching writing to older students. However, I never received instruction in teaching writing to younger students.

PIN

This past week I decided to have a Parent Information Night. I took this idea from the legendary Dwayne Cates. I had about a fourth of the parents show up for the hour of information. My goal is that this meeting will smooth out some communication problems between the students and the parents. It was obvious that the parents had lots of misinterpretations of the expectations of fourth grade. I was able to explain my website, homework, late work, book reports, word of the week, and how are planners work. I am hoping that spending the hour on one evening, will prevent hundreds* of emails from parents asking for me to explain how the spelling list works. We will find out if this was worth it. I think this will also help the conferences go smoother and can focus on the kids vs. how the system works. I will let you know at the end of the year if it was worth it.

Trying to create my professional goal

Well, I am not sure were to begin with this blog today. I have a million things running through my mind and don't know what direction to go with my goal this year. In the past, I was very sure of my self and what I wanted to work on professionally this year. I have a very different class this year compared to the past couple of years. The dynamics of my classroom is difficult at times. I have 20 children in my class with 10 children who are at 12 or below, 4 ESL, 2 on IEPs, 2 going through evaluation, and 1 I just brought to S-team for interventions. I am thinking that I should work on something with differentation using small groups and conferences. I will really have to focus my attention on working in small groups and conferences this year due to the range of ability I have in my classroom. If anyone has any suggestions to create my professional goal this year or word it I would could really use some help. Thanks!

New Year

As I am completing my fall DRA's, I am finding them very interesting. Having ended the year last spring knowing where my students were at in reading, then testing them this fall, many of my students have remained close to where they were at in the spring. I had anticipated many students possibly going a bit backwards over the summer due to change in schedules and not as much time to read. I have been pleasantly surprised by students commitment to read and continue their growth over the summer! I can't wait to start the "reading" year off running!

Advice?

One of my goals this year is to implement Love and Logic strategies to help manage student behaviors and create more space for teaching and learning.  On that note, I'm looking for some ideas :o)

I am finding out that my two different classes have two very different personalities.  My morning class, for the most part, is quick to follow directions, excited to learn, and able to make changes with reminders.  In my afternoon class, I have about five students who are quite defiant and often choose to do the opposite of what they have been asked to do.  This, of course, changes the entire feel of the classroom and the amount of work we're able to complete within our time.  I've figured out that how the day goes kind of hinges on the behavior of one particular student.  The others fall in line.  I would love to hear ideas I could try to make the school day a more positive experience for him as well as for the rest of the kids in class.

So far, I have had some success removing privileges and having him practice appropriate behaviors during those times.  That does not seem to have a lasting effect from one day to the next, however.  He struggles with taking a break in the classroom because he continues to draw attention to himself there, and he now refuses to leave the classroom to take a break somewhere else. 

I know I need to continue to work on building a positive relationship with him for lasting change to take place, but I could use some help in the short term.

Technology

My teaching partner and I are taking active steps towards incorporating technology into our assessment piece of PE. We're having a meeting this week to learn how to use our student response clickers. We wanted to get away from the standard paper-pencil test, and use a more efficient way for our classroom environment. We're also thrilled because this system corrects the assessments automatically, so this will alleviate the manually correct by us teachers. More efficiency all around. YAY!

Goals

This year I thought long and hard about my professional goal and I thought it was fitting to have my goal be tied to technology. This is my first year using a Smart Board so I want to find new ways to use it (I welcome any ideas and suggestions- Ted, I know you are really good with the Smart Board).
I have committed to seeking out training sessions to help me learn new things. I am also creating Smart Board lessons for all content areas but especially Science, Social Studies, and Health to share with my team. As a team we have also committed to having 1 team meeting a month to talk about how we can use technology in our classroom to enhance students learning. I have found that my students get very excited when the Smart Board is on and they tend to be more engaged.
I will measure my goal by creating worth-while lessons to share with my team. There are 3 other members of my team who have the same goal so we are keeping each other accountable and helping each other accomplish our goals!
Sorry this is so long....what are some ways you are using technology in your classroom? It has been such a great tool and we are only on week 3!

2nd Week

We had a staff meeting earlier this week and we were informed that we had to come up with a goal for the year. My teaching partner and myself have been working with the other elementary PE teachers on incorporating technology into our assessment practice. This is a perfect goal for the year! We're hoping to use the student response systems to assess our students at the end of each quarter. I'm glad that we're not doing paper pencil assessments since we see such a high volume of students. I'm looking forward to trying out this technology within the PE setting.

Reason to Celebrate

I was pleasantly surprised when one of my very low readers from last year came to see me and read a Level 6 DRA book fluently. Last year, he was reading at a Level B. Something clicked for him and he is able to blend sounds together to make words. This was very difficult for him last year. However, although he is now reading, he continues to struggle with comprehension. I think that he is so focused on reading the words that he sees them in isolation rather than as part of the whole sentence. This will be one of my goals this year is to help him to look at the big picture of each story. He is very willing to learn this year and this motivation will help us immensely!!

Happy First Week of School!

I know that we have already started the second week of school,but I am trying to get back into being a full time 2nd grade teacher and a mommy to 2 under the age of 2. Awesome! Is the word that I would describe my first day of school this year. My team this year at EC took a step back from all the hussle and bussle of the first day of school and had a party. The student's were greated walking into the classroom with party decorations and me(wearing a crazy party hat) taking their picture like a movie star. We continued our day with some regular first day stuff like putting away supplies, touring the school, and going over the all important recess/lunch procedures. Towards the end of the day, I shared a book with the students called Happy New School Year. We then all gathered in the cluster with all the other second graders and the principal and cheered to a new school year. The students were then all given a mini cupcake to celebrate the school year and sang a song. It was great! I was able to teach routines that were needed that day, but really concentrate on having fun and getting the students ready for a great year. 

First Week

Wow- the first week is already behind us? I can't believe how quickly it went! I am enjoying the feeling summer has given me with being refreshed to begin a new school year! I feel that I am looking at this year with new eyes. I am looping with most of my same students from last year and am looking forward to seeing where we can head this year!

For those of you who do not know, I am a 4th grade teacher at Eagle Creek. I am assuming that we all have more than one professional goal that we try to accomplish every year. I have several goals, some bigger than others. I thought I would share one with all of you and see if you have any suggestions or "tricks of the trade" that might help me accomplish my goal.

My goal in reading this year is giving students more ownership of their reading. I have created a system where students will each have their own reading binder. The binder will contain all their daily journalling, graphic organizers, strategy definitions, and goals sheets. My goal is that every student will have a "goal" each week during reading. This will abe directed to their learning styles and skills they need improvement on, as well as the daily skill we are working on. I will meet with each student once a week to develop the goal and to check on their previous goal. This will alleviate me having to carry around my "pensive" that really never worked for me. This will also help me with the fact that during conferences or parent meetings I have all the student work for that quarter in one spot and can show them what their student has been working on for the past weeks and how they are progressing. The binder will also have their AIMs and DRA information. The binder will allow me to give students documents that we can continually come back to throughout a unit or year.

A question for classroom teachers...

I am teaching general music for 17 classes of students spread out over 3 buildings this year, and I have definitely met a lot of "big personalities" in my classrooms this week.  I have IEP Adapations for some of these folks, but (sadly) not for very many just yet.  Between the usual "beginning of the year" logistics and the added bonus of so many kids switching schools, information is just flowing a little more slowly than normal.

My question for classroom teachers is this:

When a specialist needs to know more about your students, what is the best way for us to get it? As someone who isn't always available in the same building before/after school from day to day, I struggle with the best way to communicate with classroom teachers. At the same time, I recognize that the classroom teachers know way more about these students than I do.

To the special ed staff among us:  What is the best way for me to work as a team with the SpEd staff?

I'm recognizing more and more as I spend more years teaching that the kids really need to see all the adults they work with as a "team," but some days that just isn't very easy to pull off!

First Week of School

I am so excited to see all of the kids today! There is so much excitement in the building! I have decided to do things a little differently this year prior to pulling my kids for services this year. Usually, I start pulling the kids the 2nd day of school and write my lesson plans according to where we left off in June. I have decided to pull kids individually the 2nd day and assess their skills so that I can make sure that the groups that I have formed are appropriate. Some kids seemed to have improved in their skills so much over the summer - just from checking in on them in the classroom today. I realized that I might need to change groups around already. I am so thrilled at the growth I have seen for some of them.

Citizenship

In our curriculum map this year (1st grade) the citizenship unit is ongoing because some of the topics we cover the students aren't ready for in September. Does anyone have any good ideas for teaching citizenship? We have little books to read to the students but that's about it! I want to make this unit more creative and worth while for my students! I welcome any ideas!! :)

Finding a Balance

This year, I have changed grade levels from 3rd to Kindergarten.  I'm thrilled to be teaching the little ones now, and I'm blessed to be working with a team that is incredibly organized--organized to the point that I have all of my copies and projects ready from the first day of school until conferences.  I told myself that this year, I was going to follow their lead.  I figured it was best to do what they do until I get a better feel for Kindergarten.  Then next year, I could put my twist on it.  That lasted about 3 days. 

A couple of weeks ago, I had asked to see their plans for the first week of school.  I'm used to having a full day to fit everything in, and I wanted some guidance as to how I might fit it all in in only half the time.  I really like the layout of the plans I was given, but I found that I was spending an awful lot of time walking back and forth between my classroom and theirs to ask for the words to a particular song, ask to borrow a book that was listed, or to ask about their procedures for particular parts of the day.  It was exhausting (probably for them too).

Finally, I had an ah-hah moment.  I'm a competent teacher too.  I could sing a different song to start the morning--one that I already know.  I could read a different book during that time in order to teach a concept that will be important for my class to know.  I can even create my own procedures for the end of the day.

My goal now has changed a bit.  I still plan to closely follow the plans that my team has laid out.  They are both very experienced Kindergarten teachers who know their students well.  I trust their judgment and know that I can learn a great deal from each of them.  At the same time, I need to use my brain this year.  I need to use the literature that I love, introduce things in the way I believe is best, and be okay with walking into their classrooms and seeing something slightly different being done.