2012-2013 Charles A. Tindley
Research & Development Calendar
Date / R&D Topics/Activities / Morale IdeasAugust / 17 / Rituals and Routines
-visitors in the bldg
-entry/exit procedures
-hallway/ transition procedures
-classroom physical environment (bbc, etc)
-internal/external displays (student, data, and evacuation procedures)
-Binders
-Power School Teacher grades, attendance, etc
-Power School Lunch
Taxonomy
- 100% / Continental Breakfast
“Get to know you” / Get to know who I’m working with” activities
-activity that allows them to identify their personality type along with others who share that trait so that they will know how to work with one another
- Beginning-of-the-Year Survival Bag" (admin team brainstorm items to incl)
24 / 6th/7th/8th grade Essay grading (2 hours)
Scholar Acts/Demerits
Logistical Components of 7th period
-targeted/differentiated instruction
-tracking of interventions
Professional Growth Plan
GLM
(staff meeting) / Staff Bowling Night –Monthly
Grade level teams compete
Tindley Trivia (three questions about Tindley…gift card given to the first who answers all three)
31 / Pre-Test Scoring/ Grading Time (2-3 hours)
Humanities, Math, and Title 1 Reading help with scoring
-Binder checks
WBT check in (5 rules, 3 step process) / Returning staff paired with new staff for question/answer/ “touch-base”
“Chip off the old block”- providing chips to staff
September / 7
(Whole Day) / 1) WBT
a. Gestures for subjects
b. Opportunities to use various techniques
c. Group practice
2) Taxonomy Touch Up
a. Everybody Writes
b. Stretch it
c. Board=Paper
d. Circulate
e. Ratio
RTI introductions
GLM / Taxonomy Challenge
“Kudos to your colleague”- staff members acknowledge another’s progress with any of the initiatives that have been put in place this year. Those names are all put into a box for a chance to have their name selected once at the end of first semester and again at the end of the year.
This will occur each month so that if a name is put in more than once, it increases their chances of being selected
Prizes include but are not limited to: admin take a duty, preferential parking closest to the door, etc
Ice Cream Friday (first Friday of every month)
14 / Cultural Competency- Chapter 1 -Educating Teachers For Diversity
“What would Darius say about your classroom?”
GLM / Athletic Challenge- Network Basketball Tournament 4:30-7:30
Have the art teacher create a trophy with a group of students
21 / Scholar Act/ Demerit System check-up
Cultural Competency- Chapters 2-3 -Educating Teachers For Diversity
“How did your undergraduate/ graduate teacher training prepare you for the students you service?”
Bullying- What does a bully look like?
(staff meeting) / Update on Taxonomy Challenge
Tindley Trivia
28 / Cultural Competency- Chapters 4-5- Educating Teachers for Diversity
“How do you apply the pedagogical strategy of “transferring” into your instruction?”
(transfer- when teachers link new content to a student’s prior knowledge or personal experiences)
8th-HS “Take a walk through ECA”
MS- “Take a walk through ISTEP
Teachers review blueprints/ exemplars/ resources from the doe website and also scoring exemplars for both exams
GLM / Staff Bowling Night –Monthly
Grade level teams compete
October / 5 (whole day) / Analyzing Acuity Results (2 hours)
WBT
a. Gestures for subjects
b. Opportunities to use various techniques
c. Group practice
Taxonomy Touch Up
a. Everybody Writes
b. Stretch it
c. Board=Paper
d. Circulate
e. Ratio
Professional Growth Plan check-in (based upon current data)
Exceptional Learners-Review / “Kudos to your colleague”- staff members acknowledge another’s progress with any of the initiatives that have been put in place this year. Those names are all put into a box for a chance to have their name selected once at the end of first semester and again at the end of the year.
This will occur each month so that if a name is put in more than once, it increases their chances of being selected
Human Development Activity (HDA)
Staff can revisit their personality types and reflect upon how it is supporting/ impeding collaboration
Ice Cream Friday
12 / Cultural Competency- Chapters 6-7- Educating Teachers for Diversity
“What are some cultural biases that can be found in assessments?”
Teachers will take a collaborative walk through a selected assessment, or one that a staff member has created
RTI updates / Staff Zumbathon!
Invite all Ed Power Staff
(possible fee of no more than $3-$5)
19 / Interim 1 Scoring/ Grading (2-3 hours)
Begin analysis of data
(staff meeting) / Admin assists with scoring
Tindley Trivia
26 / Analyzing Interim 1 Results (2 hours)
Triangulate with Growth Data (25% / 75%)
GLM / Staff Bowling Night –Halloween theme
Must come in costume (safe for bowling)
November / 2 / Reflection on unit planning
-Based upon the analysis of interim 1, is there a need to revise/ tweak unit plans/ ladders/ assessments?
(staff meeting) / “Kudos to your colleague”- staff members acknowledge another’s progress with any of the initiatives that have been put in place this year. Those names are all put into a box for a chance to have their name selected once at the end of first semester and again at the end of the year.
This will occur each month so that if a name is put in more than once, it increases their chances of being selected
9 / Teaching for Understanding – Chapter 10 Understanding by Design
Have the teachers take a look at an upcoming lesson and talk about if they are “designing the right experiences” in order to address the essential question. This is also a time for them to get feedback from others on the guided practice section of their lessons
RTI updates
GLM / Tindley Trivia
16 (break begins) / Taxonomy Revisiting
a. Positive Framing
b. Warm/Strict
c. J-Factor
d. Normalize Error
(staff meeting) / Thanksgiving lunch/ dinner sponsored by PTO or neighborhood sponsor
23 (no school) / THANKSGIVING BREAK / THANKSGIVING BREAK
30 / Analyzing Acuity 2 Results (1.5 hours)
GLM / Staff Bowling Night –Monthly
Grade level teams compete
December / 7
(Whole Day) / Essay Norming (2 hours)
Closer look at 7th period
-As we approach the end of the first semester, what does the data say about our effectiveness of 7th period and targeted intervention?
Student-led Conference Sheet for P/T conferences
-Identify the assessment data/ classroom data that teachers will share with parents. Embed into your lessons opportunities for your home room students to identify and write about 1 academic goal for the second semester and one personal goal. / “Kudos to your colleague”- staff members acknowledge another’s progress with any of the initiatives that have been put in place this year. Those names are all put into a box for a chance to have their name selected once at the end of first semester and again at the end of the year.
This will occur each month so that if a name is put in more than once, it increases their chances of being selected
Spirit Week: alma mater gear day, door/hall decoration contest, pajama day, dress down for $1, Friday pitch-in
14 / Interim 2 Scoring / Grading (2-3 hours)
RTI updates
(staff meeting) / “Fill my toolbox”- Have a “toolbox” set up in the lounge for teachers to place ideas/ strategies that they have found effective but not yet seen in use here at Tindley. Admin will also contribute additional tools so that an individual, decorated box can be provided to teachers
Techniques for Checking for Understanding- pp248-249 in Understanding by Design
21 (break begins) / Analyzing Interim 2 Results (1.5 hours)
GLM / Christmas Lunch/ Dinner sponsored by PTO or neighborhood sponsor
Christmas party/ gift exchange/drawing “come-late-to-work-no-questions-asked pass. May want to word it differently. The pass is worth two hours of time that can be taken at the start or end of the school day for any reason -- from sleeping in to getting a head start on the weekend. The only catch is that the form must be "cashed in" in advance so arrangements can be made to free an administrator or somebody else to cover the staff member's responsibilities.
January / 4 (PTCs) / PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES
-Student led as much as possible where students review their conference template with their teacher and identify their goals, while the teacher also shares their goals for the student / Teacher gift bags to all who had 100% attendance at conferences
11 / Revisit Tindley’s “First Days of School” procedures
Rituals and Routines
-visitors in the bldg
-entry/exit procedures
-hallway/ transition procedures
-classroom physical environment (bbc, etc)
-internal/external displays (student, data, and evacuation procedures)
-Binders
-Power School Teacher grades, attendance, etc
-Power School Lunch
Taxonomy
100%
(staff meeting) / “Kudos to your colleague”- staff members acknowledge another’s progress with any of the initiatives that have been put in place this year. Those names are all put into a box for a chance to have their name selected once at the end of first semester and again at the end of the year.
This will occur each month so that if a name is put in more than once, it increases their chances of being selected
18 / Analyzing NWEA Results (1.5 hours)
(staff meeting) / Staff Movie Night
Tindley Trivia
25 / Virtual Learning Walks
-Pre-identified staff members are video-taped (with their approval) to offer a virtual walk into their classrooms. Teachers have guided questions that force them to focus on the WBT and Taxonomy strategies that are effectively executed.
RTI updates
GLM / Staff Bowling Night –Monthly
Grade level teams compete
February / 1 / Essay Norming (2 hours) / “Kudos to your colleague”- staff members acknowledge another’s progress with any of the initiatives that have been put in place this year. Those names are all put into a box for a chance to have their name selected once at the end of first semester and again at the end of the year.
This will occur each month so that if a name is put in more than once, it increases their chances of being selected
8 / Rigor in Writing- “RAFTs”- Rigor is not a four letter word p.67
-Re/Introduce RAFTS, then allow time for each subject area to create at least 2 RAFTs that they plan to embed into their lessons in order to increase writing across disciplines.
Professional Growth Plan Check-in
RTI updates / Teachers identify a date on the admin calendar that they would like for them to observe “RAFTs” in action or if they would like to see it demonstrated/ modeled for them
15 (whole day) / Analyzing Acuity 3 Results (1.5 hours)
-Triangulate with Growth Model Data to have a clear picture of how students are expected to perform on ISTEP (25% / 75%)
GLM / PBJ Day
Fresh Fruit available in the lounge
Tindley Trivia
22 / Continue with Virtual Learning Walks- Vary the focus so that other elements of WBT and Taxonomy are reflected upon / Staff Bowling Night –Monthly
Grade level teams compete
March / 1 / Differentiation; Simplified, Realistic and Effective- Kingore
-Teachers will be (re)introduced to the guidelines for differentiated instruction and then be exposed to various strategies to differentiate. They will have the opportunity to share strategies that have proven effective in their classroom / ISTEP Survival Kits
Teachers are provided with the following:
Box of granola bars and bottled waters (to keep them healthy and hydrated while they read the directions)
Bag of mints (for the kids to stimulate brain cells)
Box of Ticonderoga pencils to represent that each of them is of the best quality
Box of Kleenex (just because kids suddenly get the sniffles when they have to test)
Some type of heart/star/ happy face trinket to express how much we love and appreciate their hard work
8 / Essay Norming (2 hours)
RTI updates / Taxonomy Challenge
“Kudos to your colleague”- staff members acknowledge another’s progress with any of the initiatives that have been put in place this year. Those names are all put into a box for a chance to have their name selected once at the end of first semester and again at the end of the year.
This will occur each month so that if a name is put in more than once, it increases their chances of being selected
15 / Interim 3 Scoring/ Grading (2-3 hours)
(staff meeting) / Staff Bowling Night –Monthly
Grade level teams compete
Tindley Trivia
22 (break begins) / Analyzing Interim 3 Results (1.5 hours)
GLM / Taxonomy Challenge debrief and awarding of prizes
Fresh flowers/ an apple will be secretly placed on the desk of each teacher and office personnel
April / 5 (no school) / SPRING BREAK / SPRING BREAK
12 / Boys and Girls Learn Differently- Gurian
Single Gender Classroom Tips- Ferrara
-Now that spring is settling in, scholars are becoming more anxious. Teachers will be provided with the different research surrounding Boys and Girls Learning and they will reflect upon how their lessons support the needs of the different genders.
ISTEP- brief introduction to the norms
RTI updates
GLM / “Kudos to your colleague”- staff members acknowledge another’s progress with any of the initiatives that have been put in place this year. Those names are all put into a box for a chance to have their name selected once at the end of first semester and again at the end of the year.