2017-2018 Goals

Tending Goals

Student Learning Goal

The majority of students will attain mastery with 5th grade math standards and show growth with systemwide assessments in the 2017-2018 academic year.

Action Plan:

1. Begin year with a focus on team building, growth mindset, optimal learning-to-learn behaviors, and cultural proficiency with activities such as "What's Your Number?," "Birthday Graphs," "Jo Boaler Ted-Talk" since research shows that children who feel like part of the team and welcome to the learning environment do better.
2. Assessment of 2016-2017 teaching/learning program with online learning data, MCAS, & unit tests looking for teaching/learning trends, successes, opportunities for change. A good analysis of last year's program helps to better this year's program. Data analysis is ongoing throughout the year including a cultural, special service, and teaching practice lenses.
3. Creation of data charts for 2017-2018 school year to track ongoing process and creation of student math and ELA data charts for student portfolios and both fall/late winter family-student-teacher conferences.
4. Give assessments to collect early year and ongoing data including Track My Progress, Symphony Benchmark, and Facts Assessment to inform instruction. Share assessment data with families and students in ways that promote greater investment, understanding, and growth.
5. Introduce math tech use, reference, and study: Math Tech page, Magnificent Math website, Learning Menu/Homework, TenMarks, Symphony Math, That Quiz, and an assortment of other approved standards-based math games and activities.
6. Put unit assessments online using Google Forms for more targeted results analysis and to give students practice with online test-tasking in preparation for statewide spring MCAS tests.
7. Introduce students to statewide MCAS math reference sheet. Paste sheets in student notebooks to use as a regular reference.
8. Teach all standards outlined in systemwide Grade 5 Scope and Sequence with differentiation in engaging, empowering ways.
9. Work with grade-level team and cross-system educators/leadership to develop successful teaching/learning strategies to meet this goal including Response to Intervention (RTI) data meetings, weekly schedule share, creation, implementation, and revision of service delivery map, one-to-one assessment/learning analysis efforts, and other teaching efforts.
10. Utilize weekly student planning meeting to coordinate math teaching/learning efforts with special education staff, colleagues, and assistant teachers.
11. Use of unit booklet approach (see example) to provide students and parents with a ready study guide of standards, vocabulary, unit concepts, skills, and knowledge.
12. Midyear outreach to families with math goals and ways to support those goals.
13. 8am-8:30am regular extra study help open to all students 3-5 days each week from about October to February.
14. Continued advocacy for the use of worthy math tech tools like Khan Academy, SCRATCH, and Minecraft. More research about this at March 17th Edcamp.
15. Advocacy for RTI Evolution to better serve students with change in protocols related to group make-up and the way we make intervention groups. The addition of a Title One Math teacher mid year to support math RTI efforts.
16. Weekly newsletters that update families, students, and colleagues about curriculum efforts in all areas.
17. Attendance at Teacher Leadership in Action Conference with grade-level colleagues, and worked, in part, on growing our project/problem based math instruction focus during a collegial planning session.
18. Attendance and Presentation at ATMIM Math Conference, March 22, 2018 - preparation for this conference was completed, however due to weather the conference was cancelled.
19. Exploration of Computational Thinking study. Demonstrated interest in this study and waiting to see what comes of it with DESE.
20. MCAS test prep. Created a prep packet for all RTI groups to use as we approached the tests.

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Professional Learning Goal

Continue to research optimal cultural proficient teaching and relationship-building with the grade-level team to develop effective orientation and school year student/family inclusion and team building via student/parent meetings, identity projects, holistic assessments/surveys, curriculum efforts, and team building events.

• Wrote and received summer work funding for the three grade-level teachers to further research and plan an orientation list of events to support greater cultural proficiency for two days each.
• Research: Read Emdin's book, For White Teachers Who Teach in the Hood, and embed research into teaching/learning program.
• Orientation: Plan and attend special orientation(s) and other meetings for parents, new students and students who are distanced geographically from the school including attending the METCO picnic and a pre-school year brunch/orientation with Boston resident students. Consider this plan for the 2018-2019 school year with administration collaboration/consult.
• Teaching/Learning: Plan and implement culturally proficient learning/identity activities throughout the year to build relationships, team, belonging, and success for all students.
  1. Selfie Project: Project to share students' personal lives, interests, and experiences via collective project work and project displays.
  2. Smile Video: a positive video which presented family members and students with a video snapshot of students' initial teamwork and shared learning.
  3. Birthday Graph and What's Your Number Projects aimed at building community, students' knowledge of each other.
  4. History of People presentation to all classes which examines the evolution of skin shade, learning history, and obstacles that prevent learning. Specific attention to the fact that racism and prejudice of any kind is not allowed at the school. Signage that reiterates that message. Later visit Harvard Peabody Museum to learn about the ancient culture of Mayans, and creation of culture flags to build identity and respect for individual and collective culture.
  5. In the Heights play attendance and related teaching/learning with regard to geography, privilege, power, and perspective.
  6. Specific attention throughout the year on teaching in ways that invite all children to belong to the teaching/learning community. Using Emdin's research as a guide. (see mini poster on bottom of the page)
  7. Invite students to take part in fall and early spring parent-guardian-teacher conferences.
  8. Use a showcase portfolio to help students build a practice of metacognition, self-knowledge, goal-setting, and self advocacy.
  9. Plan a number of informal and formal reflections/assessments to understand what students' need to inform the teaching/learning program.
  10. Assess and update efforts at December 1 teacher leadership conference and during the holiday break with colleagues.
  11. Extend students' knowledge of multiple careers and the biographies of change makers via expert visits as part of our biography "Global Changemakers" project. Obtain support from a WPSF grant (expected).

Curriculum, Planning, and Assessment

To further develop student showcase portfolio efforts by incorporating more regular and meaningful student reflection, goal setting, and action plan (learning path) efforts. To restructure student-teacher-parent conferences so that students present their work and goals at both the fall and winter conference.

• Review 2016-2017 portfolio efforts
• Begin School Year with significant portfolio efforts
• Make time for portfolio overview and updates prior to conferences
• Work with team to refine and develop efforts, include more time for reflections and stats stickers
• Use portfolios at parent-student conferences to enrich the goal setting conversations.
• Included Passion Pages and Social Emotional Learning Portfolio pages to build greater self reflection and knowledge as ways to develop student investment, direction, confidence, and metacognition.

Other curriculum efforts

• Chart progress and growth using data chart
• Review and update curriculum map
• Attend Brain/Mind Professional Learning Event, Apply Learning to school efforts.
• Read, study, organize, and implement new STE curriculum and STEAM curriculum including Mixtures and Solutions FOSS kit for all fifth graders and STEAM projects including solar oven, water filters, and plant packages.
• Update cultural proficiency efforts through collegial study, grants, and family-student projects/events. (see above)
• Attend teacher leadership event with colleagues
• Write SUASCO and WPSF grants to support curriculum program development
• Work with colleagues to continually develop and improve the curriculum program.

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Teaching All Students

To assess our cultural proficiency and student/family orientation efforts for 2016-2017 and build on those for next year by incorporating the following events:

• Starting the year with "Selfie" Project.
• Surveying our students and families with regard to culture and making sure that we include their cultural backgrounds in the curriculum regularly. (early year parent-student surveys)
• If WPSF affords us the opportunity, write a cultural proficiency/growth mindset/SEL signage grant to a local organization. This idea has been shared with colleagues. Next steps will begin in January 2018.
• Including one or more field studies that boost our program's cultural proficiency (In the Heights)
• Developing greater cultural awareness and related materials, experiences into all learning experiences. (Look for ways to include cultural proficiency in the floor-to-ceiling Boaler explorations in math)
• Extra help sessions before school and after school
• one-to-one diagnostic meetings to support individual learners with regard to their learning needs, strengths, strategies; looking specifically at how students deconstruct language, approach task, self-coach, utilize academic supports such as questioning, online/offline resources, use of visual models and other strategies.
• Relevant Article
• Another relevant article
• Read Thank You for Being Late, Tribe, For White Folks. . ., and Empowered Educators to inform practice.

To continue to build a more culturally proficient teaching/learning program including the following actions:

• Attending an artistic performance that builds cultural awareness (In the Heights)
• Identifying a historical-mentor for the biography project that supports greater cultural awareness. (Benjamin Franklin)
• Start-of-the-year project that welcomes all students and embraces their individual and collective stories, experiences, cultures, dreams and desires. (Selfie Project)
• A grant to support greater cultural proficiency
• A meaningful orientation that supports all learners at the start of the year including tech integration/access for all.
• Providing opportunities for students to experience multiple learning environments, venues that they might not ordinarily experience so they can "see themselves" in a number of settings, determine their interest in those settings, learning approaches, efforts.

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Family/Community Engagement

Continued efforts to develop newsletters, website, parent conferences, and response efforts. Continued outreach and intersection with the community via our field studies and other learning events. Continuing to advocate for combining our STEAM study with real-world community events, needs, and places.

Propose and possibly carryout an orientation for families. Write grant proposals to support this.

• Updated intake survey with colleagues
• included family-to-family information on curriculum presentation
• Weekly newsletters
• Showcase Portfolios
• Invite family members to join us on field studies
• Ready response to family questions , needs via email, phone conversations, meetings.
• Participation in fifth grade play.
• Family - Student - Educator Conferences

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Professional Culture

• Continued share of professional learning opportunities and teaching/learning outreach and information via my blog Teach Children Well, WTA website, Friday memo, and systemwide information share.
• Continued contribution as local union secretary and member of the state's DESE TAC and the Union's TPL and NBPTS committees/working groups.
• Continued collaboration with grade level team to teach a dynamic fifth grade program.
• Response to building level/system opportunities and requests for support.
• Serve on Child Study and Faculty Senate Committees
• Volunteered to take part in systemwide educator focus group sponsored by superintendent
• Advocacy related to optimal programming for elementary students
• Attendance at 12/1 Teacher Leadership conference with grade-level team to develop program (expected)
• Attendance at Boston University presentation on current research related to neurology and cognition
• Participation in day-long and additional two-hour systemwide grade-level science workshop
• Presentation of "Reflect for Success" at MTA Just for New Teachers Conference
• Attend MTA Union Skills Conference, Saturday, June 6 to develop skills and advocacy to support local/state union efforts, teacher advocacy, and support for public schools.