Week 10 Program Improvement 1

As you are reading this, I am in Slovakia and am probably presenting my workshop there.  Thanks for your feedback before I left on my description of my presentation. I'll bring you each something from my travels to have on our next weekend together.

As you all noted on our Adobe Connect class on Sept. 29, Program Improvement is all about making what you have better.  In the case of literacy, it is about improving the school wide literacy program, including how literacy is taught across the disciplines.Think about your own involvement in program improvement. What strategies do you think helped support change and improvement?  Literacy programs should be a collaboration of the educational community in and around the building. It should be built around common goals and expectations for all children, and be comprehensive so that in addresses all aspects of language and literacy. Program improvement, you all noted, is ongoing across all age levels in your educational institution. It is systemic and not just aimed at a classroom or a teacher. Before thinking about how to improve your program, you need to think about the aspects of a program that you will need to look at to see if or what needs tweaking, adjusting, or transforming. Those aspects include the following: the curriculum (what is taught and learned), instruction (how literacy is taught and learned), assessment (how learning is determined), materials (what is used for teaching and learning, such as books, technology, manipulatives, real life materials, games, etc.), the organization and environment (what happens when with whom, time, grouping, staffing, PD, school and classroom climate), and parent and community involvement in the program.
An important piece of program improvement is PD.  It can either precede plans for improvement or it can be an integral part of the improvement process. Describe what you think is the role of a literacy leader (whether a reading specialist or a regular classroom teacher) in program improvement?

There are 7 chapters to read for this week in WSQ.  I've divided them up into 4 pairs of chapters.  You will need to decide (and let your group know via this blog) which of the 2 chapters each of you will read.  Each pair of chapters needs to be read by one member of your group.
A) WSQ Chaps 4 adn 6 which discuss programs for early learners and adolescents
B) WSQ  chaps 7 adn 12 which discuss materials and writing in literacy programs
C) WSQ Chaps 13 and 14 which discuss programs for linguistically diverse and learning disabled students
D) WSQ Chaps 10 an 14 which discuss issues of achievement, assessment , and children needing RTI

When you write your own blog, you will need to discuss the key points of what you read,connecting the 2 chapters together and relating them to the aspects I listed above of literacy programs. Please ask for questions about the topics and for your group to make connections to their own chapters.  Remember that you will have to return to your blog several times before Thursday to check if there are questions and to respond to any that are there.  You will also have to visit the blogs of others to see what the answers to your questions are and perhaps ask for clarification. Think of this as a jigsaw discussion.

Even though I"m out of the country, I'm on e-mail and will be back late Monday.  If you need anything or have questions, send me an e-mail.

Week 9 Professional Development 3

This week is also about professional development, but it is a time for you to discuss with your group the program you are developing, and what,if any feedback you have gotten on it. I also have been working on a presentation/workshop combination for my conference next week in Slovakia. I"m going to detail my plan for you below.  Use what you know about powerful and engaging professional development, and give me some feedback on what I'm doing. I'd like to include the materials I've created but I can't attach them.
The purpose of my workshop/presentation (and it is a combination of the two) is to introduce the concept of a knowledgeable engaging teacher and have participants reflect on their own status as a knowledgeable teacher.  I also want to share what children in my research said about what knowledgeable teachers do to provide opportunities for engaged literacy learning. My plan is to ask them to pair discuss what they think a knowledgeable teacher is and what engagement in learning looks like.  Then I will share the theory and research. Then I'll have pairs interview each other with some question prompts about who they are as engaged knowledgeable teachers and we will share what they learned about themselves. We will focus on what the children in my study said about knowledgeable teachers and what they did to provide opportunities for engaged literacy learning.  Finally, I'll ask them if they would like to participate in the knowledgeable teacher research that I"m starting with a group of international colleagues.
I know that the description is pretty brief....but what do you think is 1 thing that might make this an engaging presentation? Do you have any questions or suggestions for me?

I have uploaded a video describing the different roles a leader can take on in a PD session/program.  Please view it this week and integrate the roles into the descriptions of your activities in your overall plan. It is in the Planning and Creating PD programs section on D2L.

For your own blog, Talk about where you are in your PD program planning process and in your coaching practice. You might want to solicit input from your group and talk about feedback you have gotten.  You might also want to start talking about which one of the activities on your plan you intend to plan in detail and how that would relate to your grant proposal.

Have a good week!

Week 8 Professional Development 2

This week you will be reading about different types of PD besides workshops as well as how to plan a workshop. These will be useful as you plan your own PD program. Most of us, myself included, see PD as being a workshop with an outside expert telling us about new research or teaching methods.  I do quite a bit of this kind of PD, especially in my international work. But it is really important that literacy leaders know about alternative formats, ones that may address large groups but be more informal or ones that are focused on small groups who are interested in a specific topic. The formats you will read are  different types of PD aimed at supporting teacher knowledge development. They are article study, pd at faculty meetings, and lesson study. What do you know about each type?  Have you ever participated in one of these formats? Strategy 7 is about planning powerful PD. I'd read this strategy last after you have read the others. What has made a PD workshop powerful for you?
After you read, think about how these strategies will help you plan your PD program.
When will you get together to give each other feedback on your drafts of program plans, and help each other incorporate the feedback that you got from the faculty and administration?  How can I help you?

Week 7 Professional Development 1

As you know, coaching is a type of professional development that can be done with teams or individually.  Most coaching related to improving teaching or learning how to implement a new literacy teaching strategy is done individually. This week we will look at other types of professional development that could occur in small or large groups and what makes effective PD. What do you think are characteristics of effective PD?
First read the chapter in WSQ about professional development. You might want to note the characteristics of effective PD from the research, the different types of PD besides whole group workshops, and suggestions for creating site based PD.  All of these will be important to your PD plan you are doing for your school.  Next read the article.  As you do, think about how this example of sustained PD fits with the WSQ chapter.  You might want to blog about that.  Or you might blog about how do the ideas from the article (one example of sustained PD that effected change) and the chapter will help you think about planning your site based PD plan based on your survey.
I'd like to remind you that writing about your reading in your blog is one way to help consolidate your own understanding.  Talking with others brings multiple perspectives to bear on the ideas, adn that discussion of the ideas is important. Discussion means more than just 1 response to each person's blog.  Check your rubric that has been posted for each group. I'm going to remind you that one of my expectations of you is that you spend 2 hours per week online, outside of your reading or working on assignments.  You would spend more than that if you were coming to class. Please make the blogs a discussion forum. Thanks.
I'll be seeing you online at 6:30 on Adobe Connect on Monday, Sept. 29.  Let me know if you need for me to resend the link. In your blog response, let me know what YOU would like to focus on in our discussion. Be prepared with questions as well.
See you soon.

Week 6 Coaching anc Communication

A key to being an effective literacy leader and coach is being a effective communicator. We are all teachers that communicate daily with the students that we teach.  What do you do well when you communicate with your students? I like to think that I actively listen to what my students are telling me in class. You all would know how effective I am as you are the students (no, you don't have to tell me :)  ). Before you begin to read, think about these phrases: ethical communication, delivering hard messages, proactive communication, critical communication, collaborative communication. How do you think they are connected and what do they have to do with coaching and with being a literacy leader in general?
I am suggesting that you read the readings in the following order: L&T Chapter 5 is explicitly about communication skills and strategies. When you are done reading, you might jot down your responses to questions 1 and 2 on page 102. Then I"d read EP&L Strategy 1 and complete the form about your own readiness for coaching before completing the one about your school's readiness for coaching. Filling out the form in that chapter might help you as you think about the professional development plan you will soon be planning. Finally, think about how communication skills are important as you read about working to create a shared knowledge base.
For this week's blog, besides having a conversation about the readings and what you thought about in relationship to my suggestions above, please have a conversation about when you would like to "get together" online to discuss your surveys. You will also need to let me know if you want me to arrange the meeting on Adobe Connect and if you would like me there to facilitate/model/co-plan.
Have a good week.  Remember, survey results are due this week along with a small group online meeting.
SB

Week 5 Coaching 2

What insightful blogs you all have.  Thanks for your thoughtfulness in your own blog and in your responses. And don't worry about a few blips in this technology thing.
This week, the readings are detailed discussions about the different aspects of the coaching cycle. They include goal setting, modeling, co-planning, co-teaching, and observing. Remember that although all of them are part of the coaching cycle, each can be done separately when you are coaching (such as creating SMART goals for learning with the person you are coaching before deciding which other parts of the cycle you need to implement. Before you read, think about the brief descriptions that you read in Strategy 18 this past week. Which of the activities do you think you have a good idea of how to do so it is a strength? Which one are you most interested in reading about and discussing with your group?
You will need to read all of the strategies, and as you do, think about if and how you will implement it with the person you are coaching. Blog about what learned and if you have questions that you would like input from your team. Be sure to let me know if you have questions for me to weigh in on as well.  I'll be reading your responses to my blog on Monday and your blogs on Wednesday and Thursday.
Have a good week.

Week 4 Coaching 1

As we discussed in class, the purpose of my blog has now changed from helping you think about what you read and connect to your own practice, to helping to focus your reading and blogging.  The purpose of this week is to really begin to think about the coaching cycle and the meaning of coaching.  You are reviewing WSQ 3, reading an in depth view of the coaching cycle in EP&L, and reading 2 articles on the principles for coaching and how coaching is related to professional development.
 Before you begin to read, Think about your own strengths as a potential coach.  What do you think they are? Who are you planning to  approach to work with as a coach?
 I'd suggest reading in this order: guiding principles article, WSQ 3 review, EP&L strategy, and team coaching.
Blog about how you think the ideas in the readings are related to each other and to our class discussion.  What are the 2 most important ideas about coaching that you learned? How do you think team and individual coaching are similar and different?