October 13, 2015 PLP Tarrant Work Overview

October 13, 2015

During our work today as a team

1.  Discussed and posted individual goals on blogs utilizing our evaluation goals for school administration supervision.

2.  As team we reflected on the progress of meeting our goals.  One example is that we now have a set PLP time on Tuesday - 9:30 is a possible start time.

3. Discussion around academic vs. personal goals - linking them to transferable skills.

4. Discussion regarding student led conferencing began with creating a structure for completing the task in one night.

5.  Revisit the configuration of our upper unit with regards to grade configuration to support time allocation for PLP,  especially as it pertains to technology/integration support.

September 4th Moretown Post regarding UDL, PLP and a growth mindset!

Our Moretown Team worked to develop what we thought would be a representation (metaphor) of our understanding and work around UDL, mindsets, PLP's.

Thursday Reflection

Today felt really productive.  We were able to create some important documents for our students to use when creating their PLP.  I also really enjoyed exploring gamification of the classroom.  It made me want to start designing a game for my program right now!  Though maybe it just fed my own addiction to gaming.  Either way, it's a great way to get kids engaged.

I also want to reflect on the fact that this is my 3rd day on the job.  Wow, what an introduction!  It has been a really awesome experience getting to know my new colleagues.  I'm learning so much about PLPs but I'm also learning a lot about my teammates, the school culture, and collaboration.  I'm excited about how well we're working together.  We have an adventure ahead of us for sure, but at least I have some enjoyable company along the way.

Also, Maisie says "Thank you" for the frisbee!

Working on understanding

Our strand time has been invaluable at setting the stage for our upcoming work on developing and implementing PLP's within our 5 and 6th grades.   The focus on small step first seems to help with both purposeful and targeted planning on the first step - supporting a growth opportunity for further work on our PLPs implementation.  The workshop have showcased opportunities that will enhance our ability to interact in a meaningful and engaging way with our students where learning is truly a shared venture.   The appreciated the GBL workshop as it opened my mind to opportunities to engage students with purposeful design!  Excited to see where this may go.  

Check out these hard working professionals! In JUNE. Yeah, that's right.

Photo Credit:  Sara Baker

Where's Dwight?

Day 4 reflections

This morning we got a chance to quietly reflect on all that we have heard and done this week.  Although I did not do it quietly, it was important for me to talk with my colleagues about my frustrations and desires.  After taking some time to release my worries I was able to step over the line (literally) to a spot where I could think about my hopes and dreams for this coming year.   I am in a much better place than yesterday afternoon.   Going through the process of frustration and worry was important for me to get to the spot I am now.
Along with finding myself in a more comfortable spot with our group work, I am finding myself learning more about myself as a learner.  My co-teacher, Terry Hopper, is great at thinking about what is coming up and not worrying about what could happen.  I have a habit of looking too far into the future and worrying about all of the things that could happen causing me to become overwhelmed.   It is great to be able to reflect on this together and to discuss where each of our strengths and weaknesses are as a team.  I feel lucky to work with someone who balances me out nicely.

Thursday, June 25

This morning I attended the workshop about setting meaningful goals that are based on transferable skills. This really helped me imagine how I'd like to roll out transferable skills to kids in the beginning of the year and how I can help students connect their goals to them. I really appreciate that Don and Maura have both gone through this process with their classes and they each chose different ways to implement the roll out. That's so much of what this week has been about....seeing different ways to approach the idea. At this point, I think I'd like to have kids define and represent each skill (with each other) before selecting a goal... I love the idea that these representations will be able to be posted all over our school... including on our classroom blog. We will be able to show photos or video of this work and post in the PLP to use during our first student led conference in November.