Mile 108 Elementary

2017-2018: Kevin McLennan, Principal of Mile 108, takes on the role of PLC Facilitator this year. The staff will investigate the focus area of:

Focus: Social-Emotional Learning/Self-regulation
Checking: By implementing Zones, we have created a common language and knowledge base in every student when it comes to social/emotional learning. We have raised awareness in our students about their readiness for learning and what to do about it if they are not. Students have learned acceptance of themselves and to be present. Students are more self-aware and more mindful of the things that drive other’s behaviours as well as their own (triggers, etc). While what we implemented isn’t easily assessed, the staff has agreed that the learning taking place through Zones was beneficial and is worth taking further in years to come.
Reflection: I think Zones is a good entry into social/emotional learning. Our staff has become comfortable enough with Zones that I think they realize its limitations – to the point that at least a few teachers are ready to dive deeper into SEL and implement other practices beyond what Zones can provide.

2016-2017: Don Kinasewich continues as the PLC Facilitator this year:

Primary: How will the use of hands-on math activities (games, manipulatives) and classroom structures, such as Guided Math and Daily 3, increase engagement and enjoyment during Math class, and contribute to the development of fundamental mathematical skills?

Analysis: In November three members of the Primary PLC group visited Cindy Craig’s classroom at 100 Mile Elementary School to observe a Guided Math session. This visit and readings from Daily 3 Math facilitated discussions at our meetings in December and January, and also led to teachers exploring alternate ways of delivering Math instruction (games, computer-based instruction).

One teacher in our group, with the assistance of the PLC Facilitator, implemented a daily Guided Math period utilizing the strategies detailed in Daily 3 for Math. The students transitioned well to this approach, which included the use of math games and completion of math activities on an iPad. The teacher found these sessions productive and easy to manage. Her one concern was the difficulty she had controlling and monitoring the pace at which students completed assigned work from their math workbooks.

Another teacher utilized math games as activities for students to engage in after completion of assigned math work. She also explored the use of computer-based math activities (Sumdog) to provide additional practice for her students.

Both teachers noted increased engagement in Math activities by their students and sensed greater enjoyment compared to traditional pencil and paper tasks. Both also saw the potential of games and technology to reduce the need for math workbooks.

The evidence gathered for our analysis was exclusively anecdotal. Unfortunately, due to an extended absence by the PLC facilitator, a student satisfaction survey and assessments of basic math skills were not completed as part of our inquiry this year.

Two members of our Primary group used PLC time to work on separate inquiries involving outdoor education for K/1 students. One of the teachers provided the following information:

Outdoor Education allowed for a unique vehicle to explore literature, science, and a general exploration of the outdoors. The majority of the students were consistently focused on activities, despite interruptions, such as vehicles driving by, planes overhead, dandelions to pick, and other distractions. I believe that the class had more opportunity and success trying to focus on the story or task at hand since they gradually learned to 'tune' out the distractions, and this focus has slowly begun to transfer to the indoor Kindergarten classroom. In addition, as the year and our lessons progressed, the children became increasingly more confident with their natural surroundings, complaining less about the distance that we walked, or the insects that flew on or near them, etc. They developed a greater respect and appreciation for nature, while expanding on their own curiosity for the outside world.

Reflection: Through our inquiry this year the members of the Primary PLC group saw the potential of games and computer-based math activities to increase their student’s engagement in math and provide an alternative to the use of textbooks for math instruction. The participants plan to incorporate these activities as ongoing elements of their math programs.

The Primary PLC meetings also provided the opportunity to discuss the issues that will need to be resolved to help teachers with the implementation of alternative methods of instruction. The need to have easy access to technology was identified along with the importance of having additional support in the classroom.

While the group’s participants felt that the changes to instruction examined in the inquiry led to positive outcomes, the evidence for this was exclusively anecdotal. It was agreed that it will be necessary to explore the impact on math outcomes by gathering more concrete data.

One of the teachers involved in the outdoor education inquiry offered the following reflection:

Next year I would like to continue with Outdoor Education, and during the fall, spring and summer months, attempt to have two sessions a week, while having one session during the winter months. I would like to continue with the inquiry question 'How will I foster in children a respect and appreciation for nature?' I hope that the children will display enthusiasm for the outdoor activities and take ownership for their behavior, both in and outside of the classroom.

Intermediate: How will involving students in assessment and increasing the amount of personalized descriptive feedback they receive, using tools like the 5 Point Writing Scale and other scoring rubrics, impact the quality of their writing?

Analysis: Our Intermediate PLC sessions started out with a review of some literature on assessment from Adrienne Gear’s Writing Power and Dylan William’s Embedded Formative Assessment. We also discussed an article entitled The Writing Rubric from the Educational Leadership journal. Participants also shared rubrics used in their classrooms. The discussions in these sessions included the importance of assessment in engaging students in the writing process, the elements of an effective rubric, and making the editing process more effective by developing editing checklists and limiting the amount of editing students are required to do on a given piece of writing.

The PLC facilitator was away on medical leave from February to April. The group continued to meet during this period. The participants reported that the focus of the group during this time was sharing and discussing lessons from their classrooms that they found particularly effective in engaging students in writing activities.

Throughout the year the teachers in our group tried different strategies to foster engagement in writing and develop writing skills. The members of the group reported improvement in these areas, however, this evaluation was exclusively anecdotal. The formal assessment of student writing to evaluate the impact of new approaches for assessment and feedback did not take place.

Reflection: The teachers involved in the Intermediate PLC were pleased with the direction of the inquiry this year. The participants particularly appreciated the chance to share with colleagues and gather new ideas for effective writing instruction in their classrooms.

It was agreed that it would be worthwhile to pursue the topic of writing further next year in order to include the elements of this year’s inquiry that we were unable to get to, namely more formal assessment of student’s improvement in writing. There was consensus that we should continue to look at assessment and feedback, and other strategies such as presentation of student’s work and writing activities/topics that students find more meaningful, in order to foster student’s engagement with writing.

2015-2016: The work of the Mile 108 PLC will be facilitated by Don Kinasewich this year:

Primary Literacy Inquiry (Susan Soules, Steve Almond, Andrea Keller, Diane Matlock, Cheryl Goin, Janice Yakura, Rubina Johnson, Kristine Monnon, Rod Schneider, Don Kinasewich, Lynn McArthur, Julie)

To what extent will the implementation of strategies and structures such as those outlined in The Daily 5 and The Café Menu help teachers address the wide range of literacy abilities of students in their classrooms, and help students become more independent readers and writers.
Analysis: All teachers in this years’ Primary Inquiry reported their students demonstrated greater independence during daily reading sessions. Use of the Daily 5 structure provided more effective time in school for students to practice their reading and for teachers to work with students to develop reading strategies.

One teacher provided a picture of her ‘Stamina’ chart from her Daily 5 sessions to show the development of her students’ independent reading.

Another teacher commented that use of the Daily 5 structure for ‘Read to Self’ provided the time to work with students on an individual basis to meet specific needs. He also noted that providing time for students to practice reading resulted in significant gains in reading level. Some students advanced as much as two grade levels over the course of the year.

A teacher who had partially implemented Daily 5 last year used the support of the PLC Facilitator to introduce the writing component. She found that her students became more independent writers and increased their writing stamina. In addition, she noted more variety in the type of writing her students undertook (e.g. poems, letters) compared to her previous writing program.

The Kindergarten teacher was impressed with how implementation of the Daily 5 structures fostered independence in a diverse class with a variety of behavioral challenges. She saw how teaching, modelling and practicing expected behaviours for ‘Read to Self’ quickly increased uninterrupted reading time from 30 seconds to 11 minutes, enabling her to provide more individual attention to students.

Reflection: One teacher stated that the PLC collaboration time was essential for sharing what does and doesn’t work and discussing effective strategies for struggling students.

Another teacher commented that the impact he saw on students resulting from the inquiry have given him the idea of incorporating the writing component of Daily 5 into his literacy program next year.

As PLC Facilitator I spent a great deal of my time for the Primary Inquiry in classrooms helping teachers with the start-up of Daily 5, specifically Read to Self. This involved planning and delivering the initial foundation lessons and assisting with implementation of Read to Self sessions. This type of support clearly helped foster buy-in from the participating teachers and facilitated more interesting and in-depth discussions at our bi-weekly meetings. It provided teachers the chance to try something new without any additional workload, and provided them the opportunity to observe and reflect without having to worry about delivery of the lessons.

Intermediate Math Inquiry (Janice Yakura, Don Kinasewich, Lynn McArthur, Kristine Monnon, Rubina Johnson)

What impact would instructional structures such as Guided Math and Daily 3, and the use of manipulatives, games, and other hands-on activities have on Intermediate student’s engagement during Math class and the development of their numeracy skills.
Analysis: All teachers involved in the inquiry noted increased engagement, motivation and understanding by their students when manipulatives and games were incorporated into Math lessons. Student participation improved and there were fewer instances of inappropriate behavior during the lessons.

One teacher observed higher level connections made by students during lessons with manipulatives, and they were excited to share these connections with the teacher and other students. Another teacher noted that students were better able to come up with their own ‘rules’ to understand and explain concepts and found the use of manipulatives and Math journals helped her differentiate instruction and reach all levels of learners in her class. The same teacher had students requesting manipulatives to use during Math lessons. She also commented, “From the beginning of the year, with a traditional lesson and textbook work, understanding and performance was low. With the introduction of manipulatives and differentiated tasks, student understanding and performance (even completion of assignments) increased.”

Teachers found the lessons on the Educating Now website to be particularly helpful in giving them ideas about introducing concepts in ways that would foster student understanding.

Reflection: There was a great deal of reflection by the teachers involved in the inquiry about their approach to teaching mathematical concepts. Teachers began to see the benefits of more “hands-on” approaches to teaching mathematics and expressed the desire to continue this inquiry next year. The inquiry also led to an initiative to organize existing math resources in the school and acquire additional resources so all teachers would have manipulatives readily available to help them pursue alternate methods of instruction.

2014-2015: Don Kinasewich, the Reading Recovery and Learning Support Teacher, is leading the PLC at Mile 108 again this year. This staff is working on three inquiries:

Primary:

How will using the instructional frameworks from No More Independent Reading Without Support in the classroom contribute to students’ reading stamina and independence?
Analysis: Due to circumstances at our school, the Primary Inquiry Question was only explored in one classroom. PLC time was utilized to co-plan and co-teach lessons with the Grade 1/2 teacher to implement the Daily Five system, in order to develop the independence and reading stamina of her students. We began implementation of the lesson series in January and as the system became part of the classroom routine we noted a steady improvement in the students’ independence and reading stamina. In January many students were only able to read independently for five minutes, before engaging in off-task behaviors or seeking teacher support. By June the entire class was able to read independently for up to twenty-five minutes while student conferences were taking place. The classroom teacher also noted increased on-task behavior in other subjects throughout the day.

Intermediate:

To what extent will providing students a variety of ways to publish and present their written work help them see themselves as writers and enjoy the writing process?
Analysis: One of our intermediate teachers requested support from the PLC Facilitator to complete a Power Point writing activity to examine if providing this opportunity for students to present their written work would enhance their enjoyment of the writing process and help them see themselves as writers. The students were asked to complete a report on a particular topic related to Japanese culture, according to specific criteria set out by the classroom teacher. The outcome of this inquiry was analyzed based on observation of the students’ engagement during the task and the quality of their Power Point presentations. The teacher noted that students seemed to enjoy the activity more than writing a traditional report or preparing a poster to represent their learning. He also felt that the students produced better quality work and were more proud of their work using this form of presentation.

Whole School:

What impact will directly teaching buddy reading skills to older buddies have on the amount of time students are able to spend engaged in buddy reading?
Analysis: All teachers in the school collaborated to plan and implement an improved buddy reading program. Teaching the older buddies strategies for helping the younger buddies become better readers, outlining expectations for appropriate buddy reading behavior, and addressing logistical issues (having enough books, dealing with extra older buddies) substantially improved buddy reading behavior. During each buddy reading session students were able to read for the entire thirty minutes and there were no reports from teachers of problematic off-task behavior.
Overall Reflection: The staff of Mile 108 collectively decided to direct our initial focus for PLC this year towards a quality implementation of the buddy reading program. Collaboration took place at staff meetings to discuss improvements to make buddy reading more effective. Furthermore, collaboration took place between the learning support teacher, librarian, principal and individual teachers to deliver the lessons in the class to teach buddy reading skills to the older buddies. The intention was that once the program was running smoothly we would then be able to more effectively collaborate in our primary and intermediate groups to address each group’s Inquiry Question. However, we found that it took a considerable amount of time to plan and implement the program properly, and the decision was made to address our other Inquiry Questions more fully next year. We believe our collaborative efforts this year to improve buddy reading have improved outcomes for students (i.e. more independent reading, older buddies teaching reading strategies to younger buddies) and laid a solid foundation for smoother and more effective PLC collaboration next year.