Tuesday Teaching Point Opening Edition

Tuesday Teaching Point

October 1, 2013

Orientation:

It is a best leadership practice for a principal to consistently communicate a teaching point to instructional staff. Tuesday Teaching Point will be my weekly letter reminding each of you about our purpose, and giving focus to how we conduct ourselves in the important practice of teaching.

In our exceptional alternative programs and schools, most of us share in the daily ritual of engaging, teaching and assessing our students. The rest of us, support instructional staff in the growth and learning of our kids. Nonetheless, for all of us, engagement, teaching and measuring our student’s growth occupies the center of our work.

If we engage in truly equable practices, each student will have similar learning experiences of high quality and expectations in every classroom, and with every teacher, every day. It is unfair to our children if there is a lower expectation or quality of instruction in any one classroom. Therefore, each of us is morally compelled to be aligned in our approach to engaging students.

Let us begin with the four pillars of our district strategic plan:

·       Equitable Access to Rigorous, Standards-based Instruction

·       Results-focused Professional Learning and Collaboration

·       Strong Partnerships with Families and Community

·       A Culturally-Responsive Organization

My weekly letter is born of the first two of tenants of the compact with our community: 1) Equitable access to rigorous standards-based instruction, and 2) results-focused professional learning and collaboration. The intent of my weekly message and direction to you will be to manifest the above in all of our classrooms. We will do that by communicating a quality, standards-based teaching point, and regularly assessing if students are learning what you teach. Tuesday Teaching Point will be our instructional journey, learning and growth together this year. I look forward to sharing a weekly message with you, in high hopes we can effectively teach to the point, and with purpose for our children every day. 

Teaching Point:

My goal for you is; Teachers will effectively communicate the standard and purpose of their lessons. Also, teachers will assess their students daily, and in multiple ways, to know if they are learning. For the next 30 weeks of this letter, and through my learning walks, and feedback to you, I will be looking to ensure that teaching staff has an understanding of, and propagates a clear, standards-based teaching point, while implementing the structures for ongoing formative assessment in every class, and every period. That is my expectation.

Teaching Standard:

The standards I am connecting my expectations with are in the Charlotte Danielson Instructional Framework and the Five Dimensions of Teaching and Learning, developed by the Center of Educational Leadership (CEL). There are too many standards to list in this email, but I will certainly share what is to be expected in a quality teaching point and purpose tied to a standard. Likewise I will teach you this year about assessment as expected in these standards.

Teaching Assessment:

Direction: The first step for you is to identify the standards upon which your classes are based. That is what makes a course “Standards-based”. It may be the Common Core ELA, Next Generation Science Standards, or a set that is CTE based. Whatever it is, find your standard set immediately. Many of you already have. I will be asking you to share with me in the next week or two. And we will learn how to check for your student’s understanding of the standards in coming weeks and months.

Professional Collaboration and Learning:

The All-Staff Success Team will be meeting Friday in the Library at 1:00 on Friday. 15-day reporting has identified our students in danger of failing one or more classes this session. Success Team will facilitate a meeting and create interventions to help our struggling students. This Friday we focus on supporting our students to success for Session 1!

BTW:

By the way, you already possess the Charlotte Danielson Instructional Framework and rubrics. I have attached the Charlotte Danielson FW Smart Card, and the quick reference card listing standards in the Five Dimensions. (The 5Ds, you may recall, I shared with you several years ago in my weekly letters)

Also, in the past I have included my weekly schedule and nuts and bolts type announcements in my weekly instructional letter. So not to delude the message of Tuesday Teaching Points, I will end this practice. However, over the next few weeks you will begin to receive a weekly bulletin via email. This will be the venue in which logistics, dates and our daily operational work will be communicated. You will be able to provide inputs to the weekly bulletin as well. But for now, Tuesday Teaching Point (TTP) will be reserved exclusively for you and me to focus on instruction.

So get busy digging up your standards set for me. I’ll be around asking! Have a great week.

Your Instructional Leader,

Mike