Teacher Book Up: August 2, 2015

Book Up Edition #1: The Literacy Teacher's Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo

From http://raikenprofit.com/how-to-achieve-a-goal-7-steps/

Well our first #teacherbookup edition has come to an end and truly was a success! Looking back on the experience, I wish I would have done these sooner because the networking and collaboration beyond my classroom and even school is truly rewarding. I encourage you to find a club (virtually or in person) outside your network to connect with because who knows what amazing ideas and techniques are out there waiting for you to discover and try with your students. It's NEVER too late to join us!

As the summer comes to an end, I find myself in a reflective state. I'm heading into a new grade level as the team leader, and to say that I'm excited is an understatement. I have an incredible amount of ideas swirling in my mind, and now is the time to settle and decide what's the best course of action for my future students. Needless to say, this chapter came at an excellent point in my life because I'm creating an action plan for the year.

Chapter 4: Creating an Action Plan

"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is the deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with the plan. " -Tom Landry

"I'm going to be like your own private makeover host in this chapter, offering you practical strategies and methods to help you and your students turn the goal you've articulated into real, visible progress." -Jennifer Serravallo

Serravallo just made a serious promise on the first page of this chapter by implying she can turn student goals into "real, visible progress". Having worked with student data for years, I found this claim hard to chew. The veteran teacher in me is thinking, "OK, let's see what I can get from this that I haven't already tried." While the learner in me is thinking,"I need to reevaluate my approach and see my errors because I know I've seen and tried a lot, but I know I have room to grow."

It's clear that the what and how steps of reaching a goal are critical, but I really like the specific questions Serravallo offers up to us on page 118 and the reminder of SMART:

1. How will I plan for repeated practice in terms of both strategies and instructional formats? 2. How will the teaching look over time-- who will be involved (i.e. intervention specialists, parents, service providers, etc.) and how long will it take? 
3. How will I know when the goal has been met?

S-- specific
M-- measurable
A-- attainable
R-- realistic
T-- timely

She summarizes this information saying that the student should already have a specific and attainable goal, but now is the time to make it time-based, realistic, and measurable.  

The next sections of the chapter are broken up as follows:

I. Planning for Practice Over Time-

• Skills and Strategies
• Clarify goals, skills, and strategies
• Find the strategies needed through your own reflection and professional resources
• Instructional Formats and Methods 
• High, Moderate, and Low Degrees of Support (Figure 4.2)
• Before and During Coached Practice over an amount of time  (Figure 4.3 and 4.4)
• Choosing a structure that offers the most amount of support initially and then easing into structures that require the least amount of support gradually over time (conferring, small group strategy lessons, book clubs and partnerships, conferring during talk, writing clubs and partnerships, close reading) 

II. Practice Over Time-

• Involving Others
• communication sheet with a goal at the top of the page and places to add strategies and tools and ongoing note taking (Figure 4.6 and 4.7)
• Planning for Multiple Students and Across a Week
• Week-at-a-Glance Sheet and Class-at-a-Glance Sheet (Figure 4.8 and 4.9)

This is the part of the book that I'm sure I'll reference the most as the year progresses because I'll need it to actually make the plan. The veteran teacher in me thought, "Well, I've done this, but not in this format. I need to rethink my approaches." The learner in me said, "Thank goodness I can look at my formats and methods and reconsider the structures I have in place for my classes!" 

As a group, we all enjoyed the Instructional Formats and Methods and Planning for Multiple Students and Across a Week sections. The resources and insight she offers on the structures and how to plan for them are the ideas we've all had before about instruction, but now, they are in writing, verbalized well. After I collect my data from my incoming students, I'll be sure to reflect upon the needs of the class and these structures so that I can be sure I set up a plan that's reasonable and sets not only the student up for success but me as well. This is also excellent information to bring to my team PLC as we start to track students' goals. The action plan is usually where we start to stand in the fork of the road and think, "Ok, I got the goal... now, how do I get there?" 

This chapter is truly the icing on the cake for this book. There are simply too many good tidbits to share, and we all agreed that this would be where a bulk of our planning or preparation would be pulled from. It was even more exciting to know that we'll have Jennifer Serravallo's Reading Strategies book to help in the process too. 

Speaking of her NEW book, I got mine last week! I was SO excited to come home and see it on at my doorstep. After looking over the book and talking with the group, we thought doing an edmodo group would be a better approach with this book since the book is literally strategies to try in the classroom. We decided that after we collect our data, set goals, and create an action plan that we'd share what we used and/or post our thoughts of each strategy. If you'd like to join the group, go here  and click subscribe.

Thank you for being patient on this post! With the summer coming to an end, my family time is precious, and I put this off a day to roll around on the floor, make silly faces, and swim with my son yesterday.

See you on edmodo and this blog my fellow #teachernerds for the rest of this month and September! I'll announce October's book after school starts. 

Happy Back to School!!!! 

Teacher Book Up- July 26th, 2015

Book Up Edition #1: The Literacy Teacher's Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo

From shutterstock

It's insane how quickly the summer passes after July 4th. I cannot believe August is creeping up this weekend. I find myself trying to fit in as much family time as I can each day, and of course, I'm working on getting my 7 month old son, Theodore, to reaching as many milestones as possible before I go back to school. 

Right now, we are working on getting him to sit up on his own without support. I read a lot of articles and blogs about how to support your child in what seems to be a very basic task. I consulted our family chiropractor about techniques that were appropriate for his spine and alignment. I spoke to veteran mothers in and outside of my family and friend circles too. I had all of the tools necessary to help my child sit accordingly. Though all of my research and discussion proved to be helpful, the most powerful gathering of information came from simple observation and a "discussion" with my son. 

You see as the days progressed, I watched my son's methods of troubleshooting the act. He'd start out mostly using his right arm to support himself then plop to the floor and end up on his belly or back. I sat typically behind him using my hands to catch him or leave pillows around him to see how he would react. Then, the break through happened when he realized he could use both hands to support himself and look around the room. Yes, his back was fully bent over and his face was nearly planted to his feet, but I remember him looking at me like he was saying, "Mommy! Look at me! I'm sitting!" My first reaction was, "Oh my, he's going to have some serious back problems if he thinks that's sitting," but instead, I applauded him and smooched his check which then pushed him to his side and eventually he lost his position. BUT, he still had the biggest smile on his face as he looked up at me flat on his back eager to try again. In that moment, I realized he knew our established goal- to sit up. 

This interaction led to him trying harder to independently sit up. Each time he tries to sit he gets closer and closer to a full upright, independent position, and I am there to cheer him on and celebrate the small successes. Most importantly, he is able to see the benefits of sitting too. It was a real treat to be at Galveston this weekend with family and see him sit in the sand with a cousin and discover the world around him until his body tired, and he plopped to his side.

As I read this chapter, I couldn't help but apply this story. When it comes to literacy instruction, often times I have most of the tools I need to guide a student to success. If not, I lean on others for support and pull my resources. However, sometimes the biggest bang for my buck comes from observation and goal setting through conferences. Theodore and I never had a true conference (HA!), but in the interaction we did have, he could tell what my objective was for him when he had that initial humped over sit. The more he saw how happy I was for him and when he realized the cool things he could do when he sat, he was motivated to sit longer and improve his technique. Sooner or later, he'll do this act without even thinking like most of us do now. Then, that's when it clicked for me. 

My students will never know what to work on, if I don't guide them to discovering their goal in literacy, and I mean a true grit goal- not a percentage on an assessment.  I want my students to discover their goal in literacy with me guiding them. I want to celebrate them when they take baby steps toward accomplishment. I want my students to realize that the goal we set allows them to do cool things in literacy and not simply pass a test. I want my students to be motivated to work at their goal and apply their new skill set like it's second nature. Do you see the connection?

But it's not always clear how to set the "right" goal for every student... or is it? This chapter hones in on how to look at your data collection, set a goal, and set the table for success. 

Chapter 3: Interpreting Data and Establishing a Goal

"Our job is to interpret that data and use it to set goals for our students that will make a real difference in their reading lives." (page 94)

"When goals come from an accurate assessment of what's really going on with a reader, when they are decided upon in conversation with the student and supported over time, readers accomplish more and succeed more." (page 96)

This chapter combines all of the data findings for Joana from chapter two and guides the educator through Serravallo's process on how she finds the best goal for this student. The reading and writing data for Joana is put into a process she calls "triangulating the data". She uses this three column approach to look for possible areas of growth in reading and writing in order to formulate goals. As a group we discussed how this could be overwhelming at the beginning of the year, especially with those of us who are departmentalized (teaching ELA to two or more classes). Yet, we all agreed that this would be time well spent for those students that really dumbfounded us either at the beginning or middle parts of the year. 

Page 101 gives an excellent sentence stem to help the educator frame a literacy goal after reviewing the triangulated data- "I think (student) could learn (possible goal in reading) and (related goal in writing) because in reading, I noticed (evidence) and in writing I noticed (evidence)."
This is the sure fire way to make sure that you're on target with evidence to support a claim and not your own "habitual misstep in trying to teach in a data-based way" (page 95). 

Serravallo wrote 5 possible goals for Joana, and then applied the 80/20 Principle and picked the best goal. On page 103, she explains that the 80/20 goal (AKA Pareto rule) "refers to the idea that 20% of something has the potential to cause or create 80% of the result." She thought, "What one thing will make the biggest difference? What 20% of her reading needs, when worked on consistently over the next month or so, will yield an 80% improvement?" This is serious analysis! Just remember you want the ultimate goal you choose for that student to have the potential to impact other goals or areas for improvement.

After that process is complete, the real skilled work begins- the goal setting conference. Serravallo notes that the educator must be prepared to guide the conversation in the intended direction so that the student realizes their area for growth. She suggests presenting materials to the student that match the goal (Figure 3.2). Page 106 is a tool that we agreed we'd use in our conferences. We all shared a moment where the conversation with a student sort of stalled, and then discussed how one or two of those questions in that chart could have helped. The last part of page 107 through 114 feature a transcribed conference Serravallo had with Joana. There was another moment of, "WOW! What a student!" But a #teachernerd mentioned that this only proves that Joana is familiar with this type of conference. In other words, it's evident that this "wasn't her first rodeo" as one put it. We got side tracked discussing the power of vertical alignment in reading and writing workshop instruction and expectations as well as the dedication of a staff to help support her comfort level with goal conferencing and academic terminology. It takes a village, right?

The goal setting conference section of this chapter is really where I think we learned the most. This chapter gave the group some space to reflect upon our own goal conferences and some things we need to tweak or revisit in our classrooms. We admitted that most conferences are based around goal setting for an assessment (i.e. benchmark or state assessment), and though this isn't "bad", it also isn't tangible for a child to understand. The objective of this study is to read and take away aspects of this practice so that we can improve upon our craft and impact student achievement, and essentially, I'm adding this type of goal setting and discussion into my day. I may not have the time to do it all at one time with every student, but I will try. Sharing this in our buildings with our coworkers (even if it's only the goal setting sentence stem and prompts to use during goal-setting conferences) would be thrilling too. We all agreed that was a good starting point! 

Those of you that are joining us virtually, what were some take away moments for you? Anything new you learned or enjoyed revisiting? Any questions you have for the author? Please chime in! We'd love to have your feedback and further our discussion online. 

Chapter 4: Creating an Action Plan

If you didn't get to attend, but want to join next week, we'll see you at 3 o'clock at the Starbucks located in the College Park Shopping Center at 3068 College Park Dr. This location seems more centrally located for the group. 

Happy reading and learning (by the pool, at the beach, on the patio, in the shade, on the couch... somewhere fun I hope)! 

See you next week my fellow #teachernerds for the LAST #teacherbookup of the summer!

Teacher Book Up- July 19, 2015

Book Up Edition #1: The Literacy Teacher's Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo

This past week has truly been a blessing! My fellow #teachernerds , I cannot express to you how much I love realizing I'm not the only "nerd" out there. I also am enjoying how social media is connecting us. 

This week, I got an email from someone in my district that found this book up from a re-tweet from the publisher about this blog! Yes, I am just as shocked as you!?!?!? I bought her the book on Amazon because I'm a Prime Member so she could hop on this week. I mean, Amazon's turn around on orders is phenomenal. We met up to hand off the book, and now, she's connected with other educators in our district and beyond.  Honestly, it's NEVER too late to join in person or virtually. The goal is helping each other learn and grow to impact student achievement whether it is in my district or not. 

So, let's get this discussion on chapter two going....

Chapter 2: Analyzing Data: Making Discoveries From Student Work

image from http://digitalmarketingstrategy.ucd.ie/data-analysis-marketing-making-data-relevant/

"You'll see why you've been collecting all that stuff; you'll realize its usefulness." page 27

This chapter is not as clean cut as the last one. At the end, Serravallo says, "Phew. You made it," and we all found humor (and truth) in that statement.  Essentially in this chapter, Serravallo explains to the reader how to look at all of the data teachers collect or was referenced in chapter one, and often times, it does seem like the cartoon above presents- like it is just being collected to put somewhere. Though it is humorous to think of data in this manner (as a waste of time and energy), this chapter gets down to the usefulness of the collection and how it prepares the teacher to set up effective instructional and professional goals. 

I really cannot be as concise as I'd like to be with this chapter, but what I can do is share what I learned. Simply put, this chapter is AMAZING at showing an educator how to really LOOK at data. Serravallo gives compelling examples (Joana and Alex) of typical students and how she interpreted their data. Joana was the student that I had a hard time figuring out how to help, really. She was essentially my version of a dream student. When I read her reflection on page 39 (Figure 2.4) I was blown away with her self awareness as a reader. Reading through Serravallo's approach to helping her become even better, allowed my reading interventionist mind set to shift, and I liked seeing how to push a more advanced student. Alex was honestly more what I am accustomed to in my career, and we all agreed that he was the norm. 

Pages 47-51 were tools that I'd like to use next year with  my students in increasing expectations for comprehension in literature (Figures 2.7-2.14). These charts show progression through reading levels within various reading strategies, and I LOVE them. I seriously need these as a pdf and plan to ask Serravallo if they are somewhere in that format to share with my colleagues. I also liked the NAEP Oral Reading Fluency Scale featured on page 57. This is hands down a tool I'll reference when approaching fluency this school year. The levels really help give me direction with fluency, and I'm thankful I came across this. 

Overall, this chapter was an excellent time for us to think about our professional goals when approaching the upcoming school year. I expressed that I needed to utilize book logs better in the classroom and look for data trends. I have used them in the past, but I need to either create or search out a log I feel will meet the reading standards and goals for the third grade. This chapter also proved to me that I need some growth when approaching students that are at standard or beyond. I admitted that I'd have to lean on colleagues more this year because that's an area for the past two years in regards to state assessment data that I haven't been as effective as I'd like to be for those types of students. I'm hoping chapter three helps out in this area. A teacher in the group shared that Serravallo's Reading Strategies book (our next book up in September) is a great tool. I also shared that my goal for my students' writing is to get them to a point where they are able to focus any type of writing and understand its structure. I honestly think that will help them as they move up to 4th grade. 

Well,  there's my quick summary and those are my goals, and I'll be sure to revisit them as the school year progresses. The other teachers in the group shared their goals too, and if they'd like to post theirs, they are more than welcome to. Goals are tricky that way; making them public really holds you to them!  

Those of you that are joining us virtually, what were some take away moments for you? Anything new you learned or enjoyed revisiting? Any questions you have for the author? Please chime in! We'd love to have your feedback and further our discussion online. 

Chapter 3: Interpreting Data and Establishing a Goal

If you didn't get to attend, but want to join next week, we'll see you at 3 o'clock at the Starbucks located in the College Park Shopping Center at 3068 College Park Dr. This location seems more centrally located for the group. 

Happy reading and learning (by the pool, at the beach, on the patio, in the shade, on the couch... somewhere fun I hope)! 

See you next week my fellow #teachernerds!

Teacher Book Up- July 12, 2015

Book Up Edition #1: The Literacy Teacher's Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo

Hello, fellow #teachernerds our first book up was a success! Truly, it was great to get to know new people and share thoughts from the reading. It was also a much needed break for this mama! Oh, how I miss adult teacher conversation these days! Those of you that couldn't attend and sent me messages, thank you! Here's the long awaited post...

Chapter 1: Collecting Data- Assessment Lenses and Tools

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." -Vince Lombardi

This gem of a quote kicked off our discussion, and we all agreed this was in need of being posted in our respective buildings. It was also very fitting for this chapter since collecting data can be time consuming and hard work for any teacher, BUT the rewards afterwards are truly worth while to monitor growth and hold celebrations. 

It's clear that we all collect data, but knowing the types and how we use them is the key. "If you don't use them, they may start to feel like unnecessary paperwork for both you and your students" (page 1) #truth 

Here are the types of lenses and assessments for each discussed in the chapter- 
Reading-

• reading engagement(reading interest inventory, book log, and engagement inventory)
• reading fluency (fluency record)
• print work/decoding (running record
• reading comprehension (whole-book and/or short passage stop and jot, turn and talk, and retell through conversation)
• conversation (anecdotal notes from the interactions)

Writing-

• writing engagement (looking at students' habits i.e. volume of writing, motivation, and use of writing process)
• qualities of good writing (in this order- meaning, structure/organization, elaboration/detail, and conventions)

First off, I loved the way the author set this book up. Her no nonsense writing, examples, sources, and teacher friendly tone was much appreciated. The "Jot Down Your Ideas" sections were excellent discussion points, so it made our conversation really flow. So, major points in my book go to Jennifer Serravallo! It makes this book easy to navigate and serves as a great summer read. 

Our group discussed that most of these assessments are utilized in our classrooms whether or not our respective school district mandated them or not. We all agreed that comprehension (the "invisible" lens) was the hardest to assess with some students. Stop and Jot is an area that we discussed utilizing a lot more in the classroom throughout the year. Some shared ways they've modeled the process in class and how the follow through was monitored. It was mentioned that this is a skill to model in the beginning of the year in order to hold students accountable for visible comprehension; after all, we aren't mind readers (though that would make our jobs easier, right?!?!) Anyway, I personally did not use this enough in the classroom, and it was nice to revisit this and view the examples in the book. 

As far as fluency, we all really liked the idea of not only marking miscues while a child reads aloud but also marking when the student pauses and jotting down any other habits we noticed while the child read. (Figure 1.4 on page 8)

We found her suggestion of transcribing conversations interesting and possibly a time consuming or distracting instrument. We all agreed we take our students' discussions of a text seriously but weren't sure if it was really in the students' best interest we not give eye contact during the discussion or our full attention because we were trying to transcribe. I mentioned maybe instead of transcribing having students record their group book talks for the teacher to view later. It's something to look into though.

Concerning writing, we discussed the examples given in the chapter. On-demand writing is relatively new to our district, and I'm giving a seminar with a coworker about how to utilize these assessments for instruction in August. I found the qualities of good writing on page 21 to be something we could add to the seminar. We discussed how sometimes those assessments have us looking at everything that's wrong vs. an order of where to start. We are  particularly looking forward to how the author approaches this assessment's use for instruction. 

Overall, this chapter was a good discussion point for all of us to know our approaches to assessment. There were definitely points where we got off task a bit, but that's to be expected, right? HA!  We are looking forward to Chapter 2 to see if we learn or relearn approaches to analyzing the data we collect in the classroom. 

I think that's pretty much our discussion in a whole. If I forgot something, please feel free to call me out on it--- no shame here!

Those of you that are joining us virtually, what were some take away moments for you? Anything new you learned or enjoyed revisiting? Any questions you have for the author? Please chime in! We'd love to have your feedback and further our discussion online. 

Chapter 2: Analyzing Data- Making Discoveries From Student Work

If you didn't get to attend, but want to join next week, we'll see you at 3 o'clock at the Starbucks located in the College Park Shopping Center at 3068 College Park Dr. This location seems more centrally located for the group. 

Happy reading and learning (by the pool, at the beach, on the patio, in the shade, on the couch... somewhere fun I hope)! 

See you next week my fellow #teachernerds!

We've Made Contact! YAY!

I'm thrilled to announce that Jennifer Serravallo contacted me about our book study. SO CRAZY AWESOME, RIGHT?!?!? 

She's willing to answer any questions we may have and "thrives" on feedback. We are one lucky group of learners! I'm beyond pumped about this! #teachernerd for real :)

The Time is Near! #teacherbookup

Woohoo! This first time Mama survived traveling with a 6 month old on a plane to Chicago! Please, don't hold your applause; I deserve every bit of praise for that feat! Hats off to those of you who have survived that experience! 
My, my how times have changed in my life. Pre-baby traveling involved a whole lot of catching up on reading and zzzs, but Post-baby Amy had a whole other agenda! I do have to give major props to my husband. He was a HUGE help with our son, and speaking of our little one, he deserves some points too because he really was a doll. Nothing makes a set of parents happier to hear strangers comment on how wonderful their child was on the plane. 
We had a great trip visiting with my husband's family. I've been extremely blessed to have in-laws I absolutely love, and even better, my Mother-in-Law is a Kindergarten teacher. I might have spent one or two nights up with her talking about education. But, I digress... :) 
Let's talk about the fun ahead on Sunday! As much as I loved visiting the Midwest, I was ready to come home, start up my routine again, and plan time to read in preparation for our #teacherbookup on Sunday. So far, I'm enjoying the short and to the point chapters. Jennifer Serravallo doesn't play around and get too wordy, and I can totally appreciate that! 
I hope to see you on Sunday, and if you can't make it, be sure to check in here on Monday. I'll rehash the discussion and ask for feedback from you. 
Happy reading my fellow #teachernerds!  

Sunday Funday Book Up: The Literacy Teacher's Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo

Book Up Edition #1: The Literacy Teacher's Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo

Why? I was asked to go to a meeting to discuss logistics and deadlines of an upcoming district wide training. While there, I learned about this book and author. Jennifer Serravallo will be a virtual guest speaker the morning of our district wide sessions. Since I have no idea who she is or what this book is about, I figured it'd be in my best interest to read up on her and her books so that I'm fully invested in seeing her speak that morning.

Who? Any K-6 teacher is more than welcome to join me in this book study. I will be reading the upper grades version, but you can participate reading the other too. You can meet me at Starbucks or visit this blog the following day to discuss the reading points.

What? Each week, we'll read a section from the book. You can take notes and come prepared to discuss the book over your beverage of choice at Starbucks. This is your time to connect and learn with other educators both on your campus or grade level across the district, area, and/or country either in person or online through this blog.

How? Below are dates and chapter discussion points. I will be at Starbucks located at 25111 Grogans Mill Road Spring, TX 77380 at 3:00 p.m. on the following dates to discuss the reading.

July 12th- Introduction and Chapter 1- Collecting Data: Assessment Lenses and Tools

July 19th- Chapter 2 Analyzing Data: Making Discoveries

July 26th- Chapter 3 Interpreting Data and Establishing a Goal

August 2nd- Chapter 4: Creating an Action Plan

If you cannot make it, no problem! Join the discussion on this blog. I'll post a summary of the discussion points and take away moments, and you can respond to the post.

Remember, the goal is to feed our passion in order to do our job better and in turn serve students. So, please don't see these dates and immediately turn a blind eye to this book study because you can't attend every book up. You can still participate on line.

I look forward to connecting and growing with you this summer! I'm sure I left something out, and that's ok :) Please feel free to ask in the feed below, email me at amyanita82@gmail.com, or tweet me @asharpteacher

I'm looking forward to seeing you on our FIRST Sunday Funday Book Up on July 12th at 3!