Embedded Files
Design - Part I
Design - Part I
Describe your plan of action and how each of your four chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.
Describe your plan of action and how each of your four chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.
In several meetings with one of the Title I teachers that teaches one of the second-grade math groups we found we shared many teaching philosophies and more importantly we both saw the flaws with our current grouping practices. We knew that change would not come easy and that many teachers would simply never agree to change unless they could see it in action. With that in mind we thought about how we could change the structure of our math groups just in second-grade as a pilot. Her group consists of the lowest performing math students from each of the three second-grades and the classroom teachers then keep their on-grade level homeroom students during the ninety minute math block. We thought that we could make some big tweaks without affecting the other two second-grade teachers by combining the students that would make up her group and my group into one group and team teach for the entire ninety minutes. Our group would be a mixed-ability group of 19 second graders. Our plan was to open class with a number talk, move into four skill group rotations, and end with a whole group lesson and practice. The skill group rotations is the portion of the math block where we felt we could address all student abilities within a mixed-ability classroom to help each student make maximum growth during the year. Students would participate in two teacher-led skill groups and two independent or partner practice skill groups each day. The Title I teacher would provide ongoing practice, review, and pre-teaching of second grade skills and would be able to easily differentiate for students because she would only have about six students at a time. I would then provide an introduction, pre-teach, reteach, or practice skill group that focused on the current set of skills we were working on. Again, it would be easy to differentiate as there would only be about six students per rotation. We use Everyday Math 4 curriculum and it contains many different games and activities for students to play in order to practice the skills so setting up the independent/partner rotations would not create a great deal of more work for the teachers, we would be using what was already built into the curriculum.
Another portion of my plan would be to use our staff survey we complete each year through the leadership committee to gather data on the effectiveness of our current grouping strategies. While working with the leadership team we could then create a plan for positive change that is school-wide.
Our plan would challenge and address the inequalities for the students that are continually pulled-out of the general classroom and give them an opportunity to learn with their peers at grade-level. I feel this plan also addresses both my Overarching Competencies: Interpersonal Effectiveness and Communication. The Title I teacher and I would need to build a strong and trusting relationship as we worked together to provide an inclusive classroom for students of all abilities. Communication would be key to the success of our team teaching adventure from revising areas of need, addressing student skills and deficits, and weekly planning. This plan would also address my Instructional Pathway Competency, Facilitating Collaborative Relationships. I would be growing my collaboration skills to implement positive changes.
Team Teaching Lesson Plan Example
Team Teaching Lesson Plan Example
Artifact 1
We collaborated within my lesson plan document to plan each day's lesson. We opened with a number talk and circulated as students were solving and sharing strategies and checked in with students. We then moved into our rotations for the day. My teaching partner taught and practiced skills with all students. I pre-taught, re-taught, or provided practice of skills that went with the unit of study. Students also had one to two independent or partner stations to practice a variety of skills.
Group Movement
Group Movement
Artifact 2
Results from our survey show that only 21% of teachers report moving student groups every six to eight weeks with the majority only moving students once or twice a year. Math groups are even more fixed with 79% of teachers reporting that they only shuffle students up to once or twice a year if at all.
How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the plan of action, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?
How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the plan of action, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?
I serve as the chair person for our Elementary Leadership committee and I am hoping that as a team we can evaluate the effectiveness of our current grouping practice. Many of my colleagues like to see something in action and like to be able to ask questions before jumping into something new so having piloted a push-in model in a mixed ability classroom would help me provide examples, suggestions, and facilitate conversations that discuss the parts that were easy and the pitfalls so others can avoid those. I also serve on the MTSS team and we will be looking at our school wide assessment data and can use that data to build consensus and look to alternative grouping strategies.
How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?
How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?
As the Title I teacher and I implement our plan it will require a great deal of collaboration as we plan our lessons, question what is going well and what could be improved, and as we problem solve. We plan on using pre and post-test data, STAR Math data, and daily observations to guide instruction in our skill groups. We will reflect frequently to ensure we are providing an innovative, engaging, equitable education for all students in our group.
How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?
How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?
We understand obstacles will undoubtedly arise as we put our plan into action, but we agreed to face them with flexibility and to always think of the students first when making decisions. We believe our biggest obstacle will be outside criticism.
Alternative Push-in Model
Alternative Push-in Model
Artifact 3
As my teaching partner and I met with the second and first grade teachers we were informed that there were 15 students being pulled out in the first grade. We did not want to go back to a model of pull out so brainstormed some ideas on how we could make the push-in model work with closer to 25-30 students. We experimented with a slightly different team teaching model for 3 weeks in April. We still opened with a number talk and shared the learning goal and agenda for the day. We then split our math group into two mixed ability groups and my partner took half the group to her classroom where she still focused on skills while I pre-taught, re-taught, and provided instruction and practice within the unit of study. At the end of the math block we all came back together for a closing. We felt it could be a successful model because we had about 35 minutes with each group of students which allowed us to continue to work with smaller groups of students.
Meeting with Third Grade
Meeting with Third Grade
Artifact 4
My team teaching partner and I reached out to the third grade teachers when we realized that there was a very strong possibility that our current students would then again be ability grouped when they transition to third grade. We were met with mixed responses, but overall I felt our meeting went well. Two of the classroom teachers were open to hearing what we did to keep all students in the general classroom and the special education teacher wanted to find a way to make it work in third grade because she felt strongly about giving her special education students the opportunity to learn with their peers and be successful. One classroom teacher was very opposed to the idea of having a mixed ability classroom and voiced her concerns where high achieving children would be in an environment where there would be in a classroom of mixed ability students. She was worried the high achieving students would not be challenged. We shared that all students regardless of achievement level were provided instruction and practice opportunities to challenge them.
In addition to our student growth data we shared some outside research that assisted us as we planned and discussed our plan for the year.
My teaching partner and I felt the meeting was successful in that most of the third grade teachers were at least open to listening even if they were not willing to move to a different grouping model themselves. Listening with an open mind was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, this meeting led to a meeting with our principal because the meeting was taken as my team teaching partner and I trying to destroy staff moral by suggesting an alternative grouping model.
How will you know if your action plan is successful? What evidence would support your claim?
How will you know if your action plan is successful? What evidence would support your claim?
We will frequently be evaluating the success of our plan and looking at several areas to determine whether it is being successful or not. Here are some factors that will help us determine the plan's success:
- All students are making growth from pre to post-tests.
- All students are making growth on STAR Math assessments. (See Do Artifacts 1-6)
- All students are engaged.
- All students actively participate in number talk, skill groups, and whole group lesson.
- All students enjoy coming to math. (We wanted to compare the attitudes of our lower achieving students with the generalized attitude from students that the Title I teacher has pulled out for math in the past.)
Student Engagement
Student Engagement
Artifact 5
We most often met with students in mixed ability small groups and engaged in activities that were easily differentiated for a variety of student needs. These photos show students working independently yet sharing strategies for building different numbers. This is an example of an activity that provides a low floor and a high ceiling. Students only worked in each station for an average of 10 minutes which helped us keep engagement levels high.
Student Growth Mindset
Student Growth Mindset
Artifact 6
This was a message I received from a parent sharing the growth in her child's mindset as a result of being a part of our math group.
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