Student Choice

We know that all students do not all learn in the same way, or at the same time.  Technology has made it easier to give students more options when it comes to how they learn and how they show their learning.  We have access to a large number of resources and tools so we can allow students to have more options when it comes to what and how they learn.  Part of that includes giving students the ability to take ownership of their learning through choice, and also making sure they have the ability and knowledge to make good use of that choice.

Mentor Teacher, Kate Engelkes, recently was a featured speaker at the Iowa Technology Education Connection (ITEC) Conference in October.  One of her presentations was titled “The Power of Choice: Building Learning Efficacy in Students.”  Kate has added student choice into her classroom through the use of the Gradual Release of Responsibility as a way to help her students make use of the choice they have in their learning.  Kate has found her students are more engaged and empowered when they have choice in their learning.  Students have gone beyond the basic requirements and have produced some great artifacts of learning.

Adding student choice can be accomplished by starting small and building up over time.  It may take time for both teacher and students to become comfortable with this, as it can be very different than what they are used to.  The goal is to help students become true owners of their learning. Giving students the choice of resources they use, beyond the textbook, is a good start for many. Students may learn better through reading different types of explanations or through using different types of media.  The goal should be to give students the ability to choose what will work best for them.

http://www.newbeginningswithgina.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/power-of-choice.jpg

What Kate has done in her classroom is to acknowledge that she does not have to be the expert of the tools that her students use.  Giving students the option to pick how they show their learning during projects or other activities means you allow them to select options that may be outside of your expertise.  Students may want to create something, or use a tool that they are more knowledgeable about, and they may find it easier to express what they have learned using this tool or technique.  Sometimes the method, or tool, that we choose may not be the best way for that student to show their learning or keep them actively engaged in their learning. Giving them choice is a way to keep the students engaged and allows them to truly own the learning.  

A key to ensuring that student choice leads to improved learning is to build in a way for students to reflect about how their choices and work affected their learning.  Reflecting can lead to new discoveries about how we learn and can help us become better learners. Kate includes many opportunities for reflection while students are working, after the projects are finished, and through writing prompts.  We should all be cognizant of how we learn and how our choices affect our learning. This is something we would expect to see in effective learners and something we want to see in our students.

Let's #Chat

Recipe for a Successful #AmesCSDchat

Ingredients:

1 district-wide tech day

1 how-to blog post with 2 videos

1 hour on a Tuesday night

8 questions following Q1, A1 format

Dozen teachers (even if they’re Twitter “newbies”)

5 coaches

5 TOSAs

1 administrator

1 student teacher

4 neighbors

? lurkers

Storify archive of chat

Directions:

Build off the district-wide tech day around digital citizenship and use of social media. Mix with the how-to blog post and 2 videos about Twitter chats. Add in 8 pre-planned questions generated by educators working together. Share out the above ingredients via Twitter. Add in a dozen or more Ames teachers, a student teacher, some coaches, TOSAs, administrators, and a few educators from neighboring districts. Season with people who are watching but not actively tweeting (lurkers).

Bake on Twitter for one hour from 8-9 PM Central. Make sure classroom successes (#eduwin) are shared liberally. The dish is almost done when “virtual doors” begin to open. Once the hour is over, create the Storify archive as the frosting for the cake. Remember to revisit the archive so you get every last morsel of information (like licking the spoon clean).

Nutrition Facts:

Twitter chats are good for your educational health. In the words of @JamesWebb95, “Seeing everyone’s passion for doing our jobs better” is inspiring and can “recharge [you] for the week.” The ideas shared provide connections across the district (and the state) that you might not experience otherwise since teachers sometimes feel isolated. “...Collaboration is key to the teacher learning new things,” @MissWill_Sci. “Collaborate with others to help [teachers] better provide for [their] students,” @MrMathAHS. Participants share about what’s happening in their classes and what resources are working well for them as well as nuggets of advice, “Be a star finder not a fault finder!” @asullivan8.

A survey of educators on Twitter found professional development as a top outcome mentioned by teachers.

Educators prized the medium for its personalized and immediate nature, and many considered Twitter to be superior to traditional professional development. They valued the types of interactions and community afforded by the service, and many cited Twitter’s role in combatting isolation and connecting them with positive, creative colleagues and leaders.  (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014)

Even for those new to Twitter chats, there are benefits. As @MandyRoss1 tweeted, “Although I’m fumbling through this, I’m reminded tonight of the many amazing teachers we have in Ames.” And yes, @MAllmanAHS, we’re working on “ways to get more teachers on board with Twitter and educational chats.” Maybe you the reader will help us spread the word and join us on our next #AmesCSDchat on Tuesday, December 8 from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm. We’d love to hear your voice!

Reference

Carpenter, J.P. & Krutka, D. G. (2014).  How and why educators use Twitter: A survey of the field. Journal of Research on Technology in Education 46:4, pages 414-434.

Learning from Hoiberg and Prohm

Photo courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org

What if Fred Hoiberg (I’m still in denial, sorry Coach Prohm) only showed up to coach the ISU Men’s Basketball team ONLY on the days they were playing KU?  It’s a pretty big game, right? There could be some failure and so therefore it would be nice to have that extra person watching in, collecting data, and helping to support the players toward a victory.  But, only for the KU game.

If Hoiberg, or any other coach for that matter, only showed up to coach for one critical basketball game per year, that basketball program would be in deep trouble.  Instead, we know that Hoiberg and his staff enter into a coaching cycle with their players.  At the college level there are several coaching cycles going on at once.  Let’s look at individual player improvement alone.  Coaches collect data on players (free throws, turn-overs, assists, steals, etc.), and players analyze the data with the coach.  Often times players watch film of themselves and analyze their performances in order to improve their skills as a basketball player.  When it comes time for the game, the players and the coach are cognizant of the plan they devised in order to win the game.  

Instructional Coaching is very similar.  In order to really get to a point where deep reflection is happening, a teacher and an Instructional Coach will go through a coaching cycle.  Coaching is not a one time event.  The basic parts of a coaching cycle involve a planning conversation, an observation and/or modeling, and a reflective conversation.  

Planning Conversation

In a planning conversation, an Instructional Coach would simply be there to ask questions in order to help the teacher clarify his goal, determine a way to measure success, and make a plan for how to meet the goal.  It’s very important to reiterate that this goal is not a goal that the coach has for the teacher.  This goal is created by and owned by the teacher.  Art Costa and Robert Garmston, who are widely known in the Cognitive Coaching world said, “Novice teachers tend to focus on the event.  More skillful teachers focus on goals and success indicators.”  The purpose behind having a planning conversation with an Instructional Coach is to provide on-going, job-embedded professional development.  Having a quality planning conversation is one component of growing as a professional.    

Coordinating Activity

In this part of the coaching cycle, a teacher may ask the coach to model a strategy or come in to observe him teaching the lesson or a part of the lesson he planned with the coach.  Whether the coach models a strategy or not, a coordinating activity that would happen in a coaching cycle after the planning conversation is to have the coach come in to collect some data around an area determined by the teacher (see the Observable Pedagogical Practices for ideas or these Observational Look-Fors).  Gathering data is not a time for subjective judgements.  The purpose behind collecting the data is to better reflect on whether or not the goal or a part of the goal of the lesson or lesson sequence was met.  This is why the teacher determines what data will be collected, and how that data will be collected.  The coach simply collects it.    

Reflecting Conversation

During a reflecting conversation, an Instructional Coach encourages the teacher to share his perception of how well the clarified goal was met.  The coach shares the data collected with the teacher, and the teacher makes comparisons between what was planned, his impression of the lesson, and the data that was collected.  As the reflection continues, the coach would have the teacher spend some time thinking about how this particular reflection impacts other aspects of future planning and teaching.  Ultimately, what has the teacher learned from this particular coaching cycle that he would like to hold on to and remember as he refines his craft.  Perhaps that could be the start of another planning conversation.    

And repeat…

Photo courtesy of Cyclones.com

Thank goodness both Fred Hoiberg and Steve Prohm show up for more than one game a year! If the support required to keep the players afloat and reflective about their skills as a basketball player was missing the rest of the season, the team would not function to their highest ability.  Just like basketball players need coaches, teachers need coaches to come alongside and enter into a coaching cycle in order to stimulate deep reflection about their professional craft on a regular basis. If you haven't engaged in a coaching cycle yet, reach out to your coach and give that regular, ongoing job-embedded professional development a try!

The Power of Vulnerability

“Findings from many studies suggest that participation in a professional community with one’s colleagues is an integral part of professional learning that impacts positively on students” (Timperley, 2008, p. 19)

“Well-implemented professional learning communities are a powerful means of seamlessly blending teaching and professional learning in ways that produce complex, intelligent behavior in all teachers” (Sparks, 2005, p. 156).

Professional learning communities provide opportunities for professional staff to look deeply into the teaching and learning process and to learn how to become more effective in their work with students” (Morrissey, 2000).

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We know the research.  We know that working together has so many benefits for us, for our lessons, for our sanity, but ultimately for our students.  Why is it so hard?  What makes fruitful, purposeful collaboration so difficult?  

Some might argue, “Well, we don’t have enough time.”  Or, “We don’t really know what our mission is or why we’re meeting.”   Or some (ahem...perhaps myself included) might even say, “I just prefer to work alone.  I can accomplish by myself in 10 minutes what we could accomplish together in 45.” In any given situation, some of this may actually be true, but may I throw out there that our ability to be vulnerable is what allows us to collaborate successfully.

This summer I spent time reading the book Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.  She uses a portion of FDR’s “Citizenship in a Republic”  speech as a springboard to say that we could sit outside of the arena and watch OR we could jump into the arena.  We could get messy.  We could fail.  We could get hurt.   We could experience life to the absolute fullest by being willing to be vulnerable, because being vulnerable allows us to grow and become all that we were meant to be.  She calls this “whole-hearted” living.

For us as educators our “arena” could be our classroom, our PLC, our hallway, our leadership position within the building, or all of the above.  In any of these arenas, we (individually and as a collective whole) will only get better by being vulnerable.  Brown states, “Vulnerability is not weakness, and the uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure we face every day are not optional. Our only choice is a question of engagement.  Our willingness to own and engage with our vulnerability determines the depth of our courage and the clarity of our purpose; the level to which we protect ourselves from being vulnerable is a measure of our fear and disconnection.”   

Stepping into the arena is scary.  We risk feeling judged, embarrassed, or unworthy when we ask for help, admit to failure, share an idea, respectfully disagree, rely on someone else to carry a part of the load or provide an idea,  call a colleague or friend who is going through something tough, stop in to say “hi” to a new colleague.   Brown says, “Experiencing vulnerability isn’t a choice--the only choice we have is how we’re going to respond when we are confronted with uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.”

Vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity and innovation.  As educators we want our students to be creative and innovative, but we ourselves sometimes lack that ability to be vulnerable enough to be creative and innovative.  In our District we have several goals that we are working toward.  We’re working on the Gradual Release of Responsibility, we’re working with Mentor and Model teachers and Instructional Coaches to collectively be the best we can be for kids, we’re meeting in PLC’s to develop essential standards and common formative assessments, we’re bringing our classroom data back to a group of colleagues to say either “Yes!  They got it!” or “Nope, they’re not there.” Facing these situations of vulnerability is inevitable.  It’s how we choose to respond that matters, and most importantly, it matter for our students.  

AHS Teachers Honored for Excellence

Teachers Are Like Bass Players

Many teachers love to see their students succeed, but what does it mean to be successful? A millionaire? Politician? Professional athlete? For James Webb, a mentor teacher at Ames High School, success is simply “progressing toward autonomy. As teachers, often times our greatest success stories are not the ones making headlines but the ones who have overcome tremendous personal challenges to become independent, free-thinking adults.” 

On Friday, October 9, Webb encouraged teachers at the Iowa Council of Teachers of English conference to share their own student success stories with others when he was presented with  the organization’s Distinguished Service Award. This award honors a teacher who has made significant contributions to students, the teaching profession, and ICTE.

Webb described most teachers’ role as supporting students much like a bass player supports the band. Webb explains, “In music, no one knows who the bass player is in the band. I’ve never minded, though, because a bass player’s role isn’t to be the center of attention; rather, it is to make everyone else in the band sound better. Teaching is the same way: it’s not about us. We measure our success not by the recognition we garner but by the lives we change. We exist to make our students ‘sound’ better.”  Not only does Webb help his students to “sound better” but he has also supported ICTE as a member of the executive board, conference committee co-chair, and frequent presenter at the annual conference. His willingness to share his experiences and expertise with other teachers around Iowa is a demonstration of his willingness to support other teachers around the state.

In Ames, James has supported the high school English department as the department chair, focusing on creating a strong curriculum and studying quality instructional practices.  In addition, he has provided building leadership for MTSS and QILT. His service to the English teaching profession also shines through in his willingness to mentor practicum students, student teachers, and teachers new to the building and the profession.

Although part of his message to teachers last Friday involved shying away from the spotlight to promote student achievement, James’ service to this district, ICTE, and the English profession deserves recognition. Congratulations, James - enjoy a moment in the spotlight!

A Passion for Supporting Students
As a young girl, DeAnna Tibben enjoyed playing school with her two younger sisters. It wasn’t always apparent, however, that she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. Her mom was a teacher, but as Tibben recalls, “Of course no one wants to be what their mom is when they are younger.”

Despite those early feelings, DeAnna did indeed follow in her mother’s footsteps. For the past 22 years, DeAnna has been a science educator, including the last 16 at Ames High School. In that time, DeAnna has come to understand what it means to be a teacher. “A great teacher is someone who is willing to be a risk taker,” she explains. “Someone who is passionate and willing to give their extra time to their students.”

On Monday, September 21, her passion, risk-taking, and concern for her students was recognized at the ICTM-ISTS and Science conference in Des Moines. Tibben was awarded the 2015 Outstanding Service Award which honors teachers who have made extraordinary contributions to ISTS and/or to science education at the state or national level. Of this honor, DeAnna says she was “really surprised.” For her, the greatest reward of being a teacher isn’t honors like these. Rather, she values her students. When former students visit or send her a message about where they are now and how they have used the knowledge they gained in her classroom to pursue their dreams, she knows she’s had an impact.

Congratulations, DeAnna, it’s apparent to us you were meant to be a teacher, and the Ames School District is fortunate to have you on our teaching staff.

Technology Coaches in Ames CSD

How technology is used in the classroom has changed drastically in the past few years. Technology is not used because it is new or shiny.  We use technology in learning environments because it allows us to be more effective or to do things that were not possible before.  We can use technology to create more engaging learning experiences that allow students to have more ownership of their learning or to give them new opportunities geared towards their own needs and desires.  Technology allows us to bring in experts without paying for an airline ticket or to allow for collaboration between students who may not be in the same school.

We do not use technology for technology's sake but must pair it with effective pedagogy.  As shown in the TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) framework, it is the combination of effective pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and technical knowledge that can create a truly effective learning environment.  Technology by itself will not create an effective lesson; only when paired with good pedagogy will the technology improve the learning experience.

Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org

With all students at Ames High School and Ames Middle School now equipped with their own district-purchased device, everyday support for teachers working to incorporate technology in the classroom is available through Technology Coaches Patrick Donovan (@donovanscience) and Jeremie Knutson (@JeremieKnutson). Both Tech Coaches have extensive teaching experience in the classroom and have used technology in effective ways with students before coming into their current roles to work with teachers.

A few weeks ago we had our all-district technology professional development and brought together all teachers, pre-K to 12th grade, to have a great learning experience centered around the use of technology in our classroom.  We had our own teachers sharing, as well as some outside consultants, in order to help teachers grow with their use of technology. Craig Badura, http://www.thedigitaldogpound.com/, was the keynote speaker who kicked off the day by focusing on digital citizenship. Over 90 sessions were available for teachers to choose from throughout the day in which there were many opportunities for teachers to practice what they were learning.

This day of learning helped get the momentum going for our teachers to try out new things in the classroom with the built in daily support of the Technology Coaches as they pair the technology with effective pedagogy to better improve student learning.  Patrick and Jeremie are there to support teachers through modeling instruction, co-teaching when technology is being used, or just to coach teachers through their planning and reflecting on lessons involving technology.  They would love to talk to you about how you are using technology in your class and help you explore new ideas to maximize tech’s impact on student learning.

Make sure to follow the District hashtag, #AmesCSD, to keep up with all of the amazing things happening in the Ames Community School District.

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. The Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.

Collaborative Relationships

Guest Blogger:   Hannah Moore is a first year social studies teacher at Ames Middle School.  Here she writes about support she received from her mentor, as part of the new teacher mentoring and induction program.  Her mentor, Sara Knutson is an art teacher.  Though they do not teach the same content, Hannah still benefits from structured, professional interactions with her mentor. Sara guides Hannah to reflect on her teaching practice and student work, identify goals, and commit to new learning. She does this by listening, paraphrasing, asking clarifying questions, and summarizing - all skills she learned in Cognitive Coaching training over the summer.

Ideal Mentoring Support

The first few days and weeks of my first year have been a blur. For any teacher, there’s a lot to learn and a lot to do, but for me, it’s also been challenging to teach two different grade levels and subjects. I’d plan lessons that were too easy, and then I’d plan lessons that were too hard. I also found out quickly that the grade levels were completely different, and that I needed to treat them as such. Shifting gears back and forth between them multiple times per day has been an adventure, and establishing classroom management procedures has been a learning process. However, I love working with the kids. I am really grateful to be part of this staff, and I know in time I’ll get there.

Something that has helped me tremendously has been having a mentor teacher. One of my seventh-grade assignments did not yield the results I had hoped. I came to my mentor for help, thinking it was one issue. However, after talking through it with her, I realized it was a completely separate one. The conversation was super helpful, as she posed questions and strategies I hadn’t thought of on my own. To me, that is what ideal mentoring looks like. We discussed the situation, explained the original goal versus what transpired, analyzed it and came up with tangible ideas to try.  So much in teaching is situational, and the only way to learn is to go through the experience. I appreciate having someone to help me navigate some of those experiences and learn from them. I also appreciate that our conversation was focused on the students and helping me better teach and help them. That’s why we’re here, after all, and that’s why I wanted to be a teacher.

Community Building in Action

If you have ever had the opportunity to talk to Meeker 3rd grade Mentor Teacher Ondrea Dellman about teaching, chances are you also talked about Responsive Classroom (RC). For those of you who haven’t gotten the chance to talk with her yet, Responsive Classroom is the classroom management approach used at the elementary level. It is the elementary counterpart to Developmental Designs, which is being used at Ames Middle School.

Ondrea’s passion for RC is clear in everything she does in her classroom. She spends a significant time at the beginning of the year training her classroom expectations, teaching students how to take appropriate breaks, building community through morning meetings, setting hopes and dreams, making classroom rules and learning about building a CARES community (cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, self-control). I asked Ondrea how RC impacts her as a Mentor: “I could not teach without RC strategies. Behavior concerns have come up in all of my mentoring sessions. Now that I have been practicing RC and taken all three levels as well as a few of the 2 day trainings, I feel like I can offer meaningful support and suggestions to them address their concerns.”

One aspect of RC that is used far less often is organized recess, which Ondrea believes is critical to building community with her students even when they are outside of her classroom walls. As the year gets going, elementary teachers are well aware that for some kids recess is the least successful time of the day. Many times those students who need to run around the most tend to find the wrong ways to spend their recess time. Students don’t naturally generalize the rules and expectations from the classroom to the playground. That’s where organized recess comes in. At the beginning of the year, and then continuing intermittently throughout the rest of the school year, Ondrea goes to recess with her students and teaches them group games and appropriate expectations for the playground just like she does for her classroom. Ondrea describes the benefits of organized recess: “The students get to know all their classmates better instead of always gravitating to the same few peers. They don't always know what to do when they are at recess and for some students that leads to problems. They learn rules to games and other options of what to do at recess.  When I am with them I have opportunities to instruct them on using self-control on the playground.”

Some might be skeptical of organized recess, but even students from other classes join Ondrea when she is out there. “I had my kids out and we had the big beach ball to use for our game.  My kids ran out excitedly and several other kids asked if they could play too. The surprising thing was they were all boys and most of them I recognized as kids who have a tendency to find trouble. I even ended up having a fourth grader join us when he came out.”

As a Teacher Leader, Ondrea hopes to inspire new teachers to implement RC strategies in their own classrooms to build a strong positive community and support student learning. She also has an open invitation to all teachers at Meeker who want to learn more about organized recess. If you get the opportunity to spend some time with Ondrea’s class, you will undoubtedly see these strategies in practice whether in the classroom or on the playground.

Open Doors

Opening classroom doors and inviting others in takes courage, and it can make us feel vulnerable when we expose our teaching practices. Yet we know that seeing each other in action is a powerful way to learn and grow. With Model Teachers in place this year, we can expand our learning from one another. No longer are we restricted to learning from only those in our own PLC or building, but we can now learn from others across our District through these open doors.

Garry and Glennis Anderson, educators from New Zealand, along with Ann Pierce from Iowa State University, recently took advantage of the opportunity to visit Model Teacher, Charlyn Mason, at Mitchell Elementary. The Andersons were eager to see first-hand the teaching practices for kindergarten students during their time in the States. They wanted to see how they compared to teaching practices being used in their system in New Zealand.

Glennis Anderson is also a kindergarten teacher, but not all of her students start on the first day of school. She welcomes her students all throughout the year because students in New Zealand begin their school career the day after their 5th birthday. This means new kindergarteners are joining her all year long. Glennis was excited to be able to see how a kindergarten classroom in our District functions at the beginning of the school year knowing that training 20+ students into a school culture is very different than starting with 10 students and adding one or two at a time.  

The Responsive Classroom approach which incorporated some syllable practice, as well as the Gradual Release Model around the letter "i", was very inspiring to Glennis and Garry. After the observation, the Andersons took time to reflect with Karen Mongar, Kate Mitchell’s Instructional Coach. Together, these educators collaborated around the different instructional methods they observed and talked about the Teacher Leadership Program that Ames has in place. Garry Anderson is the Principal at The Terrace School in New Zealand and is hoping to get a Teacher Leadership Program in place within his school. At the end of these conversations it was very clear, that despite living on opposite sides of the globe, all teachers have the best interest of students at the heart of their work and benefit from observing and collaborating with one another.

Charlyn Mason and her husband Jeff, who teaches fifth grade at Sawyer Elementary, plan to go to New Zealand in June to visit The Terrace School.  They hope to continue the collaboration that started with this opportunity to walk through an open door.

TOSAs Working Together

Hello. My name is Erin Miller, and I have problem. I am a teacher who has lost her classroom. I have a cubicle. I have a very nice desk in a freezing office - at least the temperature makes me feel at home. I have access to a conference room across the hall that makes me feel claustrophobic when there are more than two other people in there with me. I no longer have a parade of high school speech students wandering in my room at various hours of the day needing help. I can’t find any students assigned to my name on Infinite Campus. I will admit that this has been the most difficult start to a school year for me since I started teaching.

However, after a full two months on the job, I’m realizing all that I’ve gained. I’ve found an amazing group of TOSAs (Teachers on Special Assignment) who are passionate about teaching and learning in Ames. They are passionate about their subject areas. They want to work together to support teachers as they work each day to help students achieve things they never thought possible.

Lisa Clayberg, TOSA for Professional Development and Teacher Leadership, is dedicated to supporting all teacher leaders across the district. She has worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone out there who is feeling a little lost in a new role feels supported. She gives us passion when we are feeling overwhelmed by all we want to accomplish. Most of all, she isn’t afraid to put up funny pictures in our office to keep the mood light.

Kari Smith, our veteran TOSA, is our quiet leader. She has great tips for transitioning from teaching students to learning alongside adults. Already, I want to go to every science PD opportunity she is offering this year - engineering with tin foil? Yes, please! If you have the chance to hear Kari share a Think Aloud, take it. Her ability to open up her thinking to allow students to better understand how an expert tackles a math problem or reads a science text is inspiring.

Dan Andrews, another C & I veteran, has been an invaluable resource to all of the TOSAs as we begin our work this year. As the Data and Assessment Coordinator, he can provide a variety of information about our district, programs, and student assessment results. He answers all of our questions with the patience of a saint, demonstrates how to use all of the tools available to us, and challenges our thinking when we are discussing the data. As a classroom teacher, I rarely had the opportunity to work with him, but as a TOSA, he is one of my most valuable new resources.

In addition to the veteran C & I staff, I have discovered that the other new TOSAs have provided me with a great sense of support as I make this transition. Vonda Junck is also leaving a classroom behind to embark on her new adventure as the TOSA for mentoring, CTE and World Languages. She was put to the test before the school year even started, working hard all summer to create an energetic, positive, and useful new teacher orientation workshop. The teachers left well prepared to start the school year, but more importantly, they left with a mentor who will support them throughout the year. Vonda will be providing newsletters, monthly meetings, and one-on-one support for both the mentors and the mentees as they learn and grow together. Additionally, Vonda will be supporting Career and Technical Education teachers and World Languages teachers as they continue to study best practices in their respective fields.

I couldn’t be more grateful to have gone through the last two months with Mary Morton, the PK-6 language arts & social studies, PK - 12 Art & PE, and TTL TOSA. She has been an inspiration with her willingness to tackle the new FAST and ELI updates, coordinate a revision of the testing protocol for Benchmarking and FAST, and deliver PD to support the entire elementary staff as they begin to gather data. As we move forward into more PD opportunities, I am excited to have more opportunities to deliver innovative PD that has Mary’s focus on quality instruction and hard work.

I’m looking forward to getting to know all of the counseling and music staff across the district as well as the secondary language arts and social studies departments. The counselors are dedicated individuals who are embracing their new challenge around implementing new standards without their own classrooms. The music staff has a big year of curriculum review; I am excited to hear the conversations as we talk about best practice and have vertical alignment discussions. In social studies, the content team will begin an exploration into the C3 Framework, as they prepare for new state standards to come out sometime in 2016. Finally, the secondary language arts teachers are studying best practices around instructional methods. Throughout these experiences this year, I’m hoping to feel as though instead of losing one classroom, I’ve gained insight into many. If I can connect teachers to others using all types of Ames teacher leaders, I will have had a successful year.

While I still have days where I want to spend the day conferencing with student writers, I am grateful for these new experiences. I am excited to work with the other TOSAs as we help support teachers & coaches as they implement the district vision. At our weekly meetings, we learn together, share our ideas, and leave with one voice: the Ames CSD vision.