Staff Meeting #8: 4/25/2023

Our 8th Blue Ribbon Committee meeting took place on April 25th.  

The agenda is posted below as well as a summary of the information discussed and determined during that meeting.

SUMMARY OF THE 4/25 MEETING & THE ACTION PLANS

This week, two of our Blue Ribbon Sub-Committees had their final target area meeting before coming back together as a group at the end of the year. Sub Committee 2 and 4 picked up where they left off in February to work on Target Area 2 - Student Engagement. and Target Area 4 - Professional Culture. 

From January through April, staff members split up and focused specifically on one of four target areas, with this meeting hosting the subcommittees focusing on working through the action steps for our priorities in Target Area 2- Student Engagement and Target Area 4- Professional Culture. 

Target Area 2 Committee Work

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT: Increase student engagement in school, both in class and outside of class, by continuing to develop engaging classroom learning activities, increasing the number of exciting school and district-wide activities to interest students, and embed more academic challenges and assemblies to improve the overall culture and climate. 

PRIORITY GOAL: Continue to improve the level of engagement in every classroom so all kids are invested in daily learning.

ACTION STEPS: 

• (Connected to Target Area 4) - Increase professional sharing through "Observe Me," student teachers, and best practice sharing to maximize engagement strategies. 

• Facilitate training in types of discussion techniques, i.e., Socratic seminar, fishbowl, etc.

• Facilitate training in grade appropriate use of stations, centers, and small group learning. 

Subcommittee 2 reflected on the work we have done to increase student engagement in school so all students are invested in daily learning. Specifically, they talked about what is left to be done to implement an “Observe Me” program, what areas we should focus professional growth activities on this spring, and the best way to kick off next year.  In prioritizing our next steps for April-June, June-July, and next year, the subcommittee decided we should focus our energy on the following: 

April-June Priority: 

• Agreed with subcommittee 1 that we need to facilitate vertical articulation between consecutive grades (and across buildings) to enhance communication and better understand the spread of strengths and challenges specific to the transitioning cohort of students. Subcommittee 2 feels that by better understanding the students’ starting points they can focus on what students need right from the start.

Summer Priority: 

• Develop the “Observe Me” process for fall implementation. 

Fall Kick Off Priority: 

• Start each department with a discussion of how to continue to move away from large portions of direct instruction and keep students active throughout the entire learning time specific to each content area. 

• Use those generated ideas as the theme for the first round of “Observe Me” visits.

• Focus early engagement training on the increased use of stations and centers to keep students moving and active for the entirety of the learning time. 

Target Area 4 Committee Work

PROFESSIONAL CULTURE: Enhance and build upon the professional culture of the staff by finding additional ways to make time for the professional work that needs to be done, facilitating that time with purpose, targeting professional growth activities to support our growing ELL population, and utilizing a feedback system from staff for continued improvement.

PRIORITY GOAL: Find time and use it wisely. There is never enough time, but how do we find, make, and cherish our time to make all of our goals and plans happen? 

ACTION STEPS: 

• Facilitate better use of monthly meeting schedules to maximize time efficiency for all the work that needs to be done. 

• Explore alternate scheduling for one "pause" day that incorporates SEL, interventions, case management, and teacher planning groups.

Subcommittee 4 talked about formative assessment and data - driven planning for all interventions, not only for ELL students. We are looking into how to house more of our formative data in Genesis to facilitate progress monitoring and portfolio building K-12. Then, the subcommittee dove into setting up our priorities for enhancing and solidifying our supports and interventions for our ELL population. 

In prioritizing our next steps for April-June, June-July, and next year, the subcommittee decided we should focus our energy on the following: 

April-June Priority: 

         As part of the vertical articulation facilitated between consecutive grades, share information on gaps and needs for specific students and interventions that have shown success with those students.  In this conversation, collaborate on heterogeneous vs. homogeneous grouping plans for the upcoming year to maximize interventions. 

• Departments should meet to work on scope, reviewing benchmarks, and identifying common weaknesses in the grade level/department. 

• Allow for time for ELL and content teachers to work together to reflect on the year, brainstorm for improved co-teaching, and plan ahead for next year. 

Summer Priority: 

• Set up plans for the upcoming year for improving intervention models, balancing ELL schedules, and pairing staff for optimal co-teaching for ELLs and other students needing interventions. 

• Choose and purchase any additional resources for those needs. 

Fall Kick Off Priority: 

• While there are other areas of focus submitted from the various subcommittees, in reviewing the full listing of needs, subcommittee 4 suggested focusing significant time on helping all teachers prepare for additional ELL support by bringing our ELL coach specialist in to meet with all students. 

In addition to these committee-driven action steps, it is also exciting to report that based on early conversations regarding our ELL subgroup and our professional culture, several staff members have begun learning either Spanish or Portuguese using the DuoLingo Language Learning App in their free time. Staff enjoy competing against themselves and against one another and we frequently hear them practicing their conversational Spanish and Portuguese in the halls with one another. We are already seeing a positive impact, not only in the excitement of our ELL learners to see it happening, but in the excitement of the staff learning a new language as well. É divertido!