Each Wednesday a grade level is freed of teaching responsibility for the day to participate in professional development. The students are entertained by the Resource Team as they rotate every 30 minutes through each Resource (PE, Music, Art, Technology, Science, Character Education). I'm not sure that all of the Resource teachers look forward to their first Kindergarten PLC day - which means kindergarten ALL day - but I understand this past PLC day was the best kindergarten first PLC day ever! It took us a while to develop the rituals and routines to make this first day a success, but now, we've done it!!
The teacher's day always begins with a demonstration lesson. After the demo, the team meets back together. This time Haley Alvarado led the team in a debrief of the lesson. She began by asking Maria to reflect on her lesson. Maria shared the things that went well and offered some simple changes that she would make next time. Then the team listed "warm" comments which included "noticings" - those things that they loved, the things that were standard driven, the things that they each want to incorporate into their own lessons tomorrow. Then came "cool" comments which are "wonderings" - questions that they still had, clarifications. The demo was such a success because every single teacher left reflecting on her own Skills Block and seeing things that she could change or incorporate. This demo lesson will be followed by a "show and tell" at the next Teacher Meeting next week where each teacher will bring one favorite Skills Block activity to share.
The teacher's day always begins with a demonstration lesson. After the demo, the team meets back together. This time Haley Alvarado led the team in a debrief of the lesson. She began by asking Maria to reflect on her lesson. Maria shared the things that went well and offered some simple changes that she would make next time. Then the team listed "warm" comments which included "noticings" - those things that they loved, the things that were standard driven, the things that they each want to incorporate into their own lessons tomorrow. Then came "cool" comments which are "wonderings" - questions that they still had, clarifications. The demo was such a success because every single teacher left reflecting on her own Skills Block and seeing things that she could change or incorporate. This demo lesson will be followed by a "show and tell" at the next Teacher Meeting next week where each teacher will bring one favorite Skills Block activity to share.
The demo/ debrief was followed by the Team revising and editing their Star Vocabulary Unit. All of the teachers have been teaching the unit since school started and were now ready to edit the first five units/ books. They now have the experience with their children to see what worked and what didn't. After some general discussion, the teachers divided into pairs and each pair revised and edited a single unit/ book. Below are photos of the teachers as they worked with partners. This group of teachers is truly a professional learning community. As they interact you can see their enthusiasm and their genuine respect for each other. It was a GREAT day!
2 comments:
dayle,
Love this post. The visuals with the description made it all so clear. I felt like I was there. Go Haley!!!
dayle,
I love the format of this post. What a great tool for teachers to use when they go back to implement parts in their own room. You did a great job of documenting this day. I am so impressed by this team.
Suzanne
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