Professional Learning Experiences (Grade Level and Vertical Alignment)

2013-16 Executive Summary
School Improvement Plan
School Name: _Big Creek Elementary School______
AdvancED Standards / FCS Departments
Purpose and Direction
Governance and Leadership
Teaching and Assessing for Learning
Resources and Support Systems
Using Results for Continuous Improvement / AcademicsAccountability
Educational Leadership
Facilities and Operations
Finance and Operations
Food and Nutrition Services / Human Resources
Public Information and Communications
School Safety and Discipline
Special Education
Student Support Services / Superintendent
Technology and Information Services
Transportation
Continuous Improvement Goal / AdvancED Standards / Support from FCS Department(s)
Writer’s Workshop Implementation Across Curriculum and Grade Levels

Mentor Texts
Mini-Lessons
Conferencing
Peer Observations
Common Vocabulary
Anchor Papers
Professional Learning Experiences (grade level and vertical alignment)

/ Indicator 1.2
The school leadership and staff commit to a culture that is based on shared values and beliefs about teaching and learning and supports challenging, equitable educational programs and learning experiences for all students that include achievement of learning, thinking, and life skills.
Indicator 3.5
Teachers participate in collaborative learning communities to improve instruction and student learning.
Indicator 3.11
All staff members participate in a continuous program of professional learning. / We will continue to need support from Academics & Accountability to develop anchor papers, locate mentor texts, and modify rubrics to support the implementation of Writer’s Workshop at all grade levels.
We will continue to need support from Academics & Accountability to support the professional learning opportunities for our staff around this topic.
TKES Implementation

Introduce teachers to new TAPS process
Work to increase SGPs and SLOs

/ Indicator 2.6
Leadership and staff supervision and evaluation processes result in improved professional practice and student success.
Indicator 3.4
School leaders monitor and support the improvement of instructional practices of teachers to ensure student success.
Indicator 5.2
Professional and support staff continuously collect, analyze, and apply learning from
a range of data sources, including comparison and trend data about student learning, instruction, program evaluation, and organizational conditions. / We will continue to need support from Human Resources to guide our implementation of TKES and provide opportunities for refining and improving the process along the way.
Technology Integration and BYOT

BYOT Walk-throughs
Professional Learning Experiences
Model Teachers

/ Indicator 3.3
Teachers engage students in their learning through instructional strategies that ensure achievement of learning expectations.
Indicator 3.11
All staff members participate in a continuous program of professional learning.
Indicator 4.4
Students and school personnel use a range of media and information resources to support the school’s educational programs.
Indicator 4.5
The technology infrastructure supports the school’s teaching, learning, and operational needs. / We will continue to need support from Technology and Information Services to provide opportunities for staff to participate in local BYOT tours and, potentially, be part of an upcoming tour as a school site.
We will continue to need support from Technology and Information Services to provide insight and guidance to our ITS and other key staff in developing lessons and strategies that integrate technology in a transformational way with the Common Core standards.
AdvancED Standards
(check all that apply) / / Annual School Improvement Plan
Continuous Improvement Goal: To create an instructional environment that utilizes the best practices of Writer’s Workshop and BYOT while deepening our understanding of CCGPS.
School Name: ______Big Creek Elementary______School Year: ___2013-14____
x / Purpose and Direction
x / Governance and Leadership
x / Teaching and Assessing for Learning
x / Resources and Support Systems
x / Using Results for Continuous Improvement
Actions, Strategies and Interventions
(Includes Professional
Learning Plan) / Impact on Student and Adult Behavior
(“If…then...” Statements) / Timeline / Resources Needed?
Who is Responsible?
AdvancED Standard(s)
Indicator 1.2
The school leadership and staff commit to a culture that is based on shared values and beliefs about teaching and learning and supports challenging, equitable educational programs and learning experiences for all students that include achievement of learning, thinking, and life skills.
Indicator 3.5
Teachers participate in collaborative learning communities to improve instruction and student learning.
Indicator 3.11
All staff members participate in a continuous program of professional learning.
Indicator 2.6
Leadership and staff supervision and evaluation processes result in improved professional practice and student success.
Indicator 3.4
School leaders monitor and support the improvement of instructional practices of teachers to ensure student success.
Indicator 5.2
Professional and support staff continuously collect, analyze, and apply learning froma range of data sources, including comparison and trend data about student learning, instruction, program evaluation, and organizational conditions.
Indicator 3.3
Teachers engage students in their learning through instructional strategies that ensure achievement of learning expectations.
Indicator 3.11
All staff members participate in a continuous program of professional learning.
Indicator 4.4
Students and school personnel use a range of media and information resources to support the school’s educational programs.
Indicator 4.5
The technology infrastructure supports the school’s teaching, learning, and operational needs. / Goal 1: Begin to develop a school wide writing plan that incorporates the use of Writer’s Workshop.
*Year 1 Focus Goals:
1: Developing a school wide vocabulary associated with writing.
2: Develop/modify rubrics that continuously build on each other and are specific to each grade level.
3: Begin collecting anchor papers in each grade level. Anchor papers should be of various rubric levels.
4: Incorporate a writing time into every classroom teacher’s schedule.
5: Introduction to Writer’s Workshop with partial implementation in every classroom.
Goal 2: Develop a professional development observation schedule for all certified teachers.
*Year 1 Focus Goals:
1. Determine expert teachers in a variety of content areas.
Examples: Reader’s Workshop, Writer’s Workshop, Guided Reading, Guided Writing, Guided Math, Vocabulary instruction, writing in the content areas.
2. Develop a schedule where teachers observe 3 classrooms in specific areas of interest. One observation will be in a writing expert’s classroom.
Professional Development Calendar 2013-2014:
August:
Preplanning:
*Introduction of the professional development committee to the staff.
*Review goals/plans for the year.
*Open the committee to anyone interested in joining. Teachers will make a yearlong commitment to the committee.
*Inform teachers that they will be creating a writing portfolio for every student in their class. This portfolio will be a collection of writing in every genre covered in the Common Core. (Narrative, Informational/Research, and Opinion)
Committee Meeting:
*Determine expert teachers in specific areas interested in welcoming teachers to observe their classrooms.
*Prepare/Plan first school wide professional development session on the Introduction to Writer’s Workshop.
September:
Committee Meeting:
*Committee members will bring detailed class schedules from all members of their teams.
*Committee members will review all schedules to determine classrooms that have a designated writing time devoted to Writer’s Workshop with a minimum of 30 minutes twice a week in grades K-2 and a minimum of 50 minutes twice a week in grades 3-5, and classrooms that do not have a specific writing time or do not meet the 30 or 50 minute twice a week criteria.
(This time is specific writing instruction with a focused lesson. This does not include independent writing done during other content areas or Daily 5.)
*Committee members will help determine possible writing times that can be implemented in classrooms that do not currently have writing times.
*Heather, Jody, and Courtney will meet individually with classroom teachers that do not have schedules that incorporate the writing time requirements and help those teachers work on a schedule that will meet their needs and still incorporate the writing requirements.
*Committee will plan session 2 of The Introduction to Writer’s Workshop.
*Committee member assignment: Have each member of your grade level complete the observation survey. This will determine the 2 areas they want to observe other teachers.
September Staff Professional Development:
*Session 1 of the Introduction to Writer’s Workshop.
October:
Committee Meeting:
*Committee will begin to develop a school wide vocabulary associated with writing along with definitions.
*Committee will determine which teachers will be in the fall rotation for teacher observations and the areas they will focus on.
*Heather will set up a fall rotation schedule to begin after fall conferences and will be completed by Winter break. The rotation schedule will be sent out to the committee for official review and feedback before it is sent out to the entire staff.
*Committee will plan session 2 of the Introduction to Writer’s Workshop.
October Staff Professional Development:
*Session 1 on the Introduction to Writer’s Workshop.
November:
Committee Meeting:
*The committee will share the 1st draft of the vocabulary with staff members at the November Professional Development meeting and staff will be asked to give feedback on the vocabulary.
November Staff Professional Development:
*Teachers will work in mixed grade level groups to review and give feedback on the vocabulary draft that was created by the committee. Each group will share their thoughts and feedback with the entire staff. As a group we will try to develop a second draft of the vocabulary words that will be used in every classroom school wide.
December:
Committee Meeting:
*Review the second draft and feedback that was developed at the staff professional development meeting. Decide as a committee if this will be the final vocabulary draft.
*Committee will brainstorms ways that this vocabulary can begin to circulate around the school and ensure that all students and teachers begin to use this vocabulary and become associated with it.
*Committee members will plan the January staff professional development. Writer’s Workshop session 4.
*No staff professional development meeting this month.
January:
January Staff Professional Development: Session 4 of Writer’s Workshop.
Committee Meeting:
*Committee will review the 5th grade Georgia Writing Assessment rubric. Heather will go over all of the parts/sections of the rubric to give teachers a clear understanding of the areas covered on the rubric.
*The committee will determine if they want to use the 5th grade rubric as a starting point to modify and adjust in order to create a writing rubric for each grade level. The rubric created for each grade level will build on one another, incorporate report card requirements, and incorporate common core standards.
February:
Committee Meeting:
*Committee will determine teacher experts for the 2nd rotation of teacher observations. The rotations will begin in February and end in March.
*Heather will create the 2nd rotation schedule and send it out for committee review before sending it out to the staff.
*The committee will continue developing the writing rubrics for grades K-5.
*Committee will plan the staff development session 5 of The Introduction to Writer’s Workshop.
February Staff Professional Development: Session 5 of the Introduction to Writer’s Workshop.
March:
Committee Meeting:
*Committee will finalize the rubric drafts for each grade level. These drafts will be presented to the staff at the March professional development session.
*Committee will determine the final experts for the 3rd rotation of teacher observations. The rotations will begin in March and end in May. (Limit the observations in grades 3-5 in April due to CRCT. K-2 can observe as usual.)
March Staff Professional Development:
*Committee will show the rubrics to the staff and go over them in detail.
*Teachers will be broken up into mixed grade level groups and asked to provide feedback and changes to the rubrics.
April:
Committee Meeting:
*Committee will review the feedback given during the March professional development. The committee will make any changes to the rubric and print final drafts.
April Staff Professional Development:
*No official meeting will be held after school. Teachers will meet with their professional development team member and Heather, Courtney, or Jody to practice scoring anchor papers with their grade levels new rubrics. (Teachers will be asked to bring a variety of anchor papers from the student portfolios they have been collecting.)
May:
Committee Meeting:
*Committee will create the plan and goals for year 2 of the Big Creek Professional Development Writing Plan.
*Committee will work with their grade level and Heather, Jody, or Courtney to pull anchor papers they will use with their students next year. Each grade level will pull a variety of different leveled papers in each of the common core genres.
*All anchor papers are due to the committee by May 16, 2014. The committee will remove all names and create anchor paper binders for each grade level. / If our instructional staff is engaging in high quality professional learning both in the Writer’s Workshop training, as well as BYOT and CCGPS, their learning will become job-embedded.
As a result of the job-embedded practice of our PL goals, the students will be more actively engaged in their learning and be more positively impacted by teacher instruction. / August 2013-May 2014 / Our PL steering committee will be developing and refining anchor papers, rubrics and other documents to support vertical understanding of Writer’s Workshop as an instructional tool.
We will continue to need support from Academics & Accountability to develop anchor papers, locate mentor texts, and modify rubrics to support the implementation of Writer’s Workshop at all grade levels.
We will continue to need support from Academics & Accountability to support the professional learning opportunities for our staff around this topic.
We will continue to need support from Technology and Information Services to provide opportunities for staff to participate in local BYOT tours and, potentially, be part of an upcoming tour as a school site.
We will continue to need support from Technology and Information Services to provide insight and guidance to our ITS and other key staff in developing lessons and strategies that integrate technology in a transformational way with the Common Core standards.
We will continue to need support from Human Resources to guide our implementation of TKES and provide opportunities for refining and improving the process along the way.
x
2013-14 Professional Learning Plan
for School Improvement Planning
School Name: ______Big Creek ______
Professional Learning Goal(s): To create an instructional environment (K-5) centered around best practices within Writer’s Workshop.
Emphasis on increasing integrated use of technology in the classroom through BYOT.
Continued emphasis on CCGPS and the continuation of instructional alignment toward new standards. / Connection to Continuous Improvement Goal(s): Standards 1 and 3: Writer’s Workshop implementation across curriculum and grade levels.
Date / # Hours / Description of Learning Activities
August 1
Pre-Planning (School) / 6 / Introduction to the school year with updates on general information both within the local school as well as at the state and district level.
August 2
Pre-Planning (District) / 4 / District training on the new report card, rubrics and assessments. Teams returned to the local school to delve further into the information via ITS LEARNING as both a communication platform and a repository for instructional resources.
August 5
Pre-Planning / 4 / Grade level collaboration and planning for students and early study of student profiles via pink and blue student information cards. Finalization of class lists and communication with community on class placement.
August 6
Pre-Planning / 4 / Collaborative planning among departments and teams to create instructional delivery schedule that is customized toward meeting the needs of teachers with regard to writing.
August 7
Pre-Planning / 4 / Concurrent Learning sessions around ITS Learning, RTI and Fountas and Pinnell training. BYOT training on how to incorporate high level technology usage and creation into core work.
August 28
Early Release/Prof. Dev. (School) / 4 / Professional Learning Committee finalized three year plan for writing training and created a framework within the building to redeliver information to all staff. Other staff members outside of the committee worked in collaborative teams to BYOT training and sharing of iPad apps via iPad collaboration team. Incorporation plan for BYOT to increase usage toward creating student-led learning environments.
September 18
Early Release/Prof. Dev. (District) / 2.5 / Staff collaborated horizontally among schools and within the LAC group to discuss current instructional topics including report cards, pacing, district common assessments, grading and unit design. Introduction of TKES during this month as a learning experience. Continue emphasis on deepening knowledge of CCGPS.
January 6
Prof. Dev. Day (School) / 8 / Steering committee will review GWT Assessment rubric and create vertical grade level rubrics which are vertically aligned. Staff will work within teams to design work around cross-content writing opportunities and look at PBA tasks that involve writing instruction and assessment.
February 14
Prof. Dev. Day (District a.m.) / 8 / District training AM. School-based will target training opportunities for staff to participate in and discuss regarding progression of Writer’s Workshop implementation. Writing rubrics and anchor papers will be reviewed and scored.
May 27
Post-Planning / 4 / Staff will collaborate to reflect on effectiveness of our Professional Learning plan. Vertical and horizontal discussions will focus on components of the school-wide training that we can improve upon as well as areas that were successful and became job-embedded. Analysis of work samples in the area of writing within writing portfolios will be finalized.
May 28
Post-Planning / 4 / Staff will participate in a school-wide presentation by collaborative teams which will target their PAC goal for the year (Writing and CCGPS implementation). Summative data will be shared among teams which quantifies growth in writing instruction training. Shared summarization of all learning initiatives.
Total Hours: / 52.5