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Inside this issue
Important Upcoming Meetings and Events
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The Progress, April 2016: Volume 1, Issue 8
Comments? Suggestions for new articles?
Contact Jillynne Raymond, Editor, The Progress, jraymond@gced.k12.mn.us 
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Unfortunately we missed an important date of our member districts and need to change the date for the principal meeting. April 12th is the date of the Red Wing’s Referendum. Principals obviously need to be in their buildings on election day. Because it is important to have all of the districts’ voices in discussions we have moved the principals meeting. Thank you for your understanding and flexibility.
Joint Principals/Superintendents Meeting Tuesday, May 3, 2016 12:00 - 4:00 pm River Bluff Education Center Agenda Items include:
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Instructional Coaching - Purposeful Support; Intentional Reflection
By Jillynne Raymond
If you enjoy college basketball, I imagine that you enjoyed the Villanova and North Carolina championship game. No matter what team you cheered on, you had the opportunity to watch strong skills applied on the court. It made me think about the coaches and their role in the team’s success. Players need coaches to help build their capacity - to see things that they may be too close to see, to hone in on strengthening skills that give their team a winning edge.
Jim Knight would say that the same is true in schools. Our teachers need support to strengthen their classroom instruction. Dr. Knight is the Director of the Kansas Coaching Project and several books including: Focus on Teaching (2014), High Impact Instruction: A Framework for Great Teaching (2013),, Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach for Dramatically Improving Instruction (2012), and others.
This past school year GCED Assistant Directors and Special Education Coordinators participated in a book study and webinar series on instructional coaching with Region 10. The book was High Impact Instruction: A Framework for Great Teaching (2013). The webinars allowed us to see Knight’s work applied.
The Kansas Coaching Project’s work includes an exhaustive literature review and application in many districts across Canada and the United States. The work is synthesized into the coaches helping support what they have termed “The Big Four” - the four critical elements to improve instruction.
It is with a focus on these elements that Knight has seen an improvement in instruction, thus impacting school and district goals as well. An instructional coach is “an on-site professional developer who collaborates with educators to identify and assist with implementation of proven teaching methods” (Knight). He acknowledges that “The energy that drives the classroom journey is instruction.” View Jim Knight’s video on instructional coaching and learn more about his team’s work at http://www.instructionalcoach.org/.
Other researchers of effective instruction points to coaching as a means to support teachers. Pete Hall and Alisa Simeral acknowledge that our teachers are under great scrutiny and pressure in education these days. We need to respect that while helping them focus on their practice. We know that research points to the teacher as the number one variable impacting our students’ achievement. Teachers work hard to have a positive impact on their students. The progress takes intentional planning. While districts’ teacher evaluation and development models vary, the legislation behind them is for teachers to be as effective as possible often through some form of reflection. Reflective practitioners are more likely to reflect and improve on their practices. Or as Pete Hall says, “Teachers that are more reflective are more effective.” Their work has led them to create a Continuum of Self-Reflection and the Reflective Cycle. What makes an effective teacher per Simeral and Hall? Hear for yourself at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkF6H7TF0ek.
The day in the life of an instructional coach in GCED or anywhere varies, which is appealing to many coaches. Coach Carol Redmond states:
The great thing in coaching is that every day is different. You may have a plan in mind when you get to school but plans change quickly to meet the needs of teachers on a day to day basis. A day may be presenting PD at a faculty meeting, spending time on reading diagnostic assessments with a few students, compiling data.....progress monitoring or benchmarks depending on the time of year, observing a classroom teacher who is looking for specific feedback, planning professional development for an upcoming workshop day or faculty meeting and finally looking at targets group interventions during Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) .
Coach Pat Bronk would summarize a typical day of coaching consists of supporting teachers and staff. The best thing about her role is “working alongside teachers to change instruction to help support and promote student learning.” Coach Mary Jo Schwartau agrees; “I enjoy collaborating with teachers because my fellow teachers are such an inspiration! They are equally as passionate about the potential of our students and professional growth.” The coaches are passionate about their work and also agree that the biggest challenge is time.
Each district uses their coaches a bit differently to meet the needs of the district they were assigned to. Working with teachers is the common denominator though. For example in addition to working with teachers on best practices, Coach Jaime Winchell is helping mentor a first year teacher and help teams look at their data for instructional decision making. Coach Weston Johnson is assisting with problem solving at the PLC level as well as the school wide level. To read more on how coaches can support and strengthen PLCs, see http://www.instructionalcoach.org/images/downloads/presentations/ASCD.06.pdf.
Throughout the day of an instructional coach, however a district is accessing a coach’s support, it all comes back to reflecting on our practices. Does that mean John Dewey was a head of his time when he said, “It’s not the doing that matters; it’s the thinking about the doing”?
If you enjoy college basketball, I imagine that you enjoyed the Villanova and North Carolina championship game. No matter what team you cheered on, you had the opportunity to watch strong skills applied on the court. It made me think about the coaches and their role in the team’s success. Players need coaches to help build their capacity - to see things that they may be too close to see, to hone in on strengthening skills that give their team a winning edge.
Jim Knight would say that the same is true in schools. Our teachers need support to strengthen their classroom instruction. Dr. Knight is the Director of the Kansas Coaching Project and several books including: Focus on Teaching (2014), High Impact Instruction: A Framework for Great Teaching (2013),, Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach for Dramatically Improving Instruction (2012), and others.
This past school year GCED Assistant Directors and Special Education Coordinators participated in a book study and webinar series on instructional coaching with Region 10. The book was High Impact Instruction: A Framework for Great Teaching (2013). The webinars allowed us to see Knight’s work applied.
The Kansas Coaching Project’s work includes an exhaustive literature review and application in many districts across Canada and the United States. The work is synthesized into the coaches helping support what they have termed “The Big Four” - the four critical elements to improve instruction.
- Planning Content
- Developing and Using Formative Assessments
- Delivering Instruction
- Community Building
It is with a focus on these elements that Knight has seen an improvement in instruction, thus impacting school and district goals as well. An instructional coach is “an on-site professional developer who collaborates with educators to identify and assist with implementation of proven teaching methods” (Knight). He acknowledges that “The energy that drives the classroom journey is instruction.” View Jim Knight’s video on instructional coaching and learn more about his team’s work at http://www.instructionalcoach.org/.
Other researchers of effective instruction points to coaching as a means to support teachers. Pete Hall and Alisa Simeral acknowledge that our teachers are under great scrutiny and pressure in education these days. We need to respect that while helping them focus on their practice. We know that research points to the teacher as the number one variable impacting our students’ achievement. Teachers work hard to have a positive impact on their students. The progress takes intentional planning. While districts’ teacher evaluation and development models vary, the legislation behind them is for teachers to be as effective as possible often through some form of reflection. Reflective practitioners are more likely to reflect and improve on their practices. Or as Pete Hall says, “Teachers that are more reflective are more effective.” Their work has led them to create a Continuum of Self-Reflection and the Reflective Cycle. What makes an effective teacher per Simeral and Hall? Hear for yourself at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkF6H7TF0ek.
The day in the life of an instructional coach in GCED or anywhere varies, which is appealing to many coaches. Coach Carol Redmond states:
The great thing in coaching is that every day is different. You may have a plan in mind when you get to school but plans change quickly to meet the needs of teachers on a day to day basis. A day may be presenting PD at a faculty meeting, spending time on reading diagnostic assessments with a few students, compiling data.....progress monitoring or benchmarks depending on the time of year, observing a classroom teacher who is looking for specific feedback, planning professional development for an upcoming workshop day or faculty meeting and finally looking at targets group interventions during Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) .
Coach Pat Bronk would summarize a typical day of coaching consists of supporting teachers and staff. The best thing about her role is “working alongside teachers to change instruction to help support and promote student learning.” Coach Mary Jo Schwartau agrees; “I enjoy collaborating with teachers because my fellow teachers are such an inspiration! They are equally as passionate about the potential of our students and professional growth.” The coaches are passionate about their work and also agree that the biggest challenge is time.
Each district uses their coaches a bit differently to meet the needs of the district they were assigned to. Working with teachers is the common denominator though. For example in addition to working with teachers on best practices, Coach Jaime Winchell is helping mentor a first year teacher and help teams look at their data for instructional decision making. Coach Weston Johnson is assisting with problem solving at the PLC level as well as the school wide level. To read more on how coaches can support and strengthen PLCs, see http://www.instructionalcoach.org/images/downloads/presentations/ASCD.06.pdf.
Throughout the day of an instructional coach, however a district is accessing a coach’s support, it all comes back to reflecting on our practices. Does that mean John Dewey was a head of his time when he said, “It’s not the doing that matters; it’s the thinking about the doing”?
Zones of Regulation© within the Zones of GCED
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RED ZONE = used to describe an escalated state of emotion that may be anger, rage,
explosive behavior, devastation or terror YELLOW ZONE = used to describe a heightened state of emotion, but the person has some control over himself/herself; this person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness or nervousness GREEN ZONE = used to describe a calm state; the person may be happy, focused, content, and ready to learn BLUE ZONE = used to describe low state of alertness and feeling down, such as when one is sad, tired, sick or bored |
Did you know that our social workers use a tool called Zones of Regulation©? Zones is a framework to help students foster self-regulation and emotional control. We are all usually working on self-regulation, though we are not always conscious of it. Some need explicit instruction and support in order to self-regulate, which is where the Zones comes in to help. Developed during her graduate work with autism, ADHD, and cognitive learning, Zones was designed to “teach students to self-regulate their sensory needs as well as their emotions and impulses in order to meet the demands of the environment and be successful academically as well as socially.”
Four zones are associated with a color that helps a student understand where he/she is at with emotions. The colors connect with traffic lights for easier understanding. See sidebar to the left. Through the social worker cohort we learned that all districts are using the Zones of Regulation to help students help themselves. To further support this work, social workers will have a webinar and individual consultation time with the developer of Zones, Leah Kypers, at our next Social Worker Cohort on April 19th. We intend to see this framework help districts with behavioral interventions, if the self-regulation is the source of the challenge that may be impacting a student’s behavior. |
MTSS Update
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GCED and its member districts have been working collaboratively on our MTSS implementation. The systematic work is now documented in a DRAFT version of an MTSS Manual. Throughout April and May We are working with various stakeholder groups to gather input on the manual. All will inform the edits and the final version of the manual, which will continue to evolve as MTSS grows. We continue to move forward towards 2016-17 as our first full implementation year.
Questions/Concerns can be directed to Jillynne Raymond. Thank you. |
Teacher License Expiring?
Remember that you may apply for your new teaching license any time after January 1st in the year that it expires. This year a new requirement for EL learning is in effect. The mandatory requirements currently in rule include:
- Positive Behavioral Intervention Strategies (PBIS)
- Accommodation, Modification and Adaptation of Curriculum, Materials and Instruction – Note: Typically, clock hour opportunities that relate to differentiated instruction will satisfy this requirement. Whitewater has a session on differentiated instruction. The online course “Standards Based IEP Goals and Objectives” for special education teachers meets this requirement.
- Key Warning Signs for Early-Onset Mental Illness in Children and Adolescents
This year’s First Aid Mental Health Training satisfies this important requirement. - Reading Preparation
- Technology Integration
- Reflective Statement of Professional Accomplishment and Assessment of Professional Growth
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Two of Red Wing’s sites are PBIS schools – Red Wing High School (RWHS) and Twin Bluff Middle School (TBMS). For each school, expected behaviors revolve around respect.
At RWHS PBIS is about following the “Winger Way”. They want their students’ behaviors to represent that they are to be respectful, responsible, and proud. For example in a RWHS classroom the Winger Way means it is respectful when students follow staff directions, use school appropriate language, and are kind. To be responsible means that students are on time, prepared, and safe. Pride comes from being a positive role model, doing your best, and supporting your peers.
RWHS’ PBIS team and Climate Committee have collaborated and focused on some fun school wide celebrations to positively reinforce the behaviors. For example, students that had no missing assignments in October had an opportunity to trick or treat in the building. Students that had no tardies or unexcused absences had an opportunity to play Turkey Bingo. It was played over the loud speaker; winners gobbled as they ran to the office to claim their prizes. PBIS team member Matt Schultz (Activities Director) admits that “it was cheesy, but fun.” Students’ PBIS tickets that are given to students by staff add up to admission to these events.
The RWHS PBIS team meets every summer to discuss the upcoming school year. This year the work is focused on a common behavioral message across classrooms. Team members Corey Knighton (RWHS Assistant Principal) and Rebecca Aadalen (Special Education Teacher) have helped connect the dots for staff to see how the PBIS data helps identify areas of need in order to problem solve. For example last year they identified that new teachers needed more classroom management strategies so the team taught teachers different student engagement strategies to help. Their team also recognizes teachers. On a workshop day teachers were greeted at the door with a ticket for a cup of coffee in the building. They also started a Teacher of the Week program. The winning teacher has the rights to a traveling “trophy” and also to a notebook that travels with the award. In it, the nominating person writes why he/she was nominated. It helps support staff morale. Moving forward the RWHS PBIS team would like to figure out how to have a sustainable budget to recognize students and staff. Plus they hope to improve their office referral system to better collect data in order to inform their decision making.
TBMS is in its third of year of PBIS implementation and the team is going strong. So strong in fact that two team members, Kim Cory (choir/music teacher) and Megan Latch (school counselor), will present at next month’s MN School Counselor’s Association Conference at Maddens.
Throughout the halls of TBMS students and staff are reminded to RESPECT self, others, and property. The language around the shared expectations has evolved and helps in the classroom. When a middle school student is misbehaving a staff member can simply remind him/her that the “the shared expectation is….” and then ask “are you following that expectation?” It is a simple redirection that helps students think about their behavior and correct, all helping them to self-regulate. Students that are sent to the office reflect on their own actions even before seeing the principal. Their “Think Sheet” involves the student with the problem solving:
Share what happened: Who, What, Why, When, Where, How.
Which shared expectation was not being used? (Respect Self, Respect Others, Respect Property)
What should have been done differently?
How can you prevent this in the future?
The shared expectations and shared language do not just happen magically. TBMS begins the year with a Fall Expectations Tour. In advisory groups, students travel in and out of locations in the school to learn the expected behaviors. To continue and reinforce the learning, the PBIS team hosts a school wide monthly PRIDE assembly. PRIDE = perseverance, respect, integrity, determination, and engagement. Monthly themes help students make the connection of their behaviors to the bigger picture; some themes have been courage, be kind, good choice/bad choice, charity and cyber smart. It is important to note that the monthly themes change, but the message is consistent. Each assembly begins with
Team member Kim Cory reports that while there is always work to do, she is proud of the well-functioning PBIS team at TBMS. Their work is making a difference with behaviors and ultimately has helped the shift staff members’ mindset from “my students” to “our students”. All staff members help nurture their positive behaviors, an ultimate goal of PBIS.
Spotlight: Erick Enger, Lake City Superintendent
Erick Enger
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"The journey is the career high."-- Erick Enger
It was no dirty trick...it worked!
When Lake City Superintendent Erick Enger went to Bemidji State he wanted to go into law enforcement. As with many college students the plan changed and he was going to major in construction management. At that time Bemidji required students to try an education internship. It was an attempt to help recruit people into education. For Erick, the internship provided a light bulb going off in his head. He knew he had been fortunate to have many excellent educators and coaches in his own life. Moving into education would provide him an opportunity to give back, to be that educator and coach to encourage and inspire others. Erick has done just that as he maneuvered his way through education beginning as a coach and teacher. He taught Industrial Technology, Physical Education and Special Education in ZM for ten years. He also had the honor of coaching boys and girls in multiple sports and at multiple levels. Don’t ask him his favorite to coach, though; they ALL are his favorites. From teaching he transitioned into being a principal for ZMHS, which lasted 14 years before moving on to his first superintendent assignment in Lake City. The entire process of becoming a teacher/coach, a principal, and ultimately a superintendent has been his career high. It is the journey itself that he reflects on with pride and humility. You can prepare yourself for the next career but until you walk in the shoes of the role you don’t really know what it will be like. His learning curve all attributed to the journey. While a principal he was responsible for the high school budget, now he still works on budgets but for the entire district. He enjoys the learning and putting the puzzle pieces together. While he missed the day to day opportunities to interact with students, his office is connected to the high school in Lake City so he is pleased that he gets to see students every day. Erick’s success is not his alone. He attributes it to the many fantastic people that he gets to work with each and every day. That includes fellow superintendents, principals, teachers and also cooks, custodians, bus drivers and so forth. He is truly grateful to all of the people that contribute to public education. It takes the full village to face the challenges in education today. The largest of which is to truly get to personalized education for all. Erick believes we are almost there...we have the technology and resources….now we need to get to the truly individualized needs. When not tackling the puzzle of personalized education, he enjoys spending time with his wife, daughter (sophomore this year), and Jack Russell Terrier. He loves the great outdoors and watching sports. Sports? Naturally one would need to know if he watched the Villanova and North Carolina game. He did and is happy for Villanova on their surprise win. It’s no surprise to us that Erick is on the winning team of education...thank goodness he gave education a try. Bemidji State knew exactly what they were doing. |