PLANNING- Agreements/Expectations

2011-2012

#1: TEAM WORK: FRONT LOADING AND BACKWARDS DESIGN

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now. Alan Lakein Prior to any meetings around units, it is important that each team member takes time to read/review the unit and to get out anything used last year. Then, we will meet at least 2 weeks prior to the unit(s) to go over it as a team. The team curriculum rep (Writing, Reading, WS, Social Studies) will be the point person and facilitator. In that meeting, we will: 1. Look at the Literacy or SS calendar and talk about conflicts/changes, which need to be made. Then we will make those directly on the calendar. Goal: Determine how much time we really have to get this done. 2. Look at the front matter for the unit, on Atlas or in your binder. (The About this unit information, rubrics, etc.) What are the big ideas? What will the end of the unit be like- product? Process? Goal: For the team to have the same vision of the teaching/learning of the unit and to agree on the final outcomes: student learning goals and final products. 3. Using the monthly calendar and the teams knowledge of the students (data!), walk through the calendar and make changes to the sessions. (Delete/Add/Combine/Change). Goal: To make decisions about curriculum based on data. 4. Prior to Dianne and Linda/Jared attending a meeting about this unit, discuss ways you think they might be able to enhance the unit through integration. (Keep an eye on the calendar. Integration should not be an add on but an enhancement.) Goal: To find ways to integrate technology/library authentically. 5. Finally, the team will discuss how/when parents will be informed about the work. The newsletter blurb can be quickly written with team imput. Any invitations to celebrations can be planned with dates when those will go home. Also, as a group, the team will plan for how they will send home evidence of learning from this unit. Goal: To plan for parent communication about student learning at the start of the unit.

#2 INDIVIDUAL TEACHER WORK Plan ahead or find trouble on the doorstep. Confucius
After the initial team meeting to plan the unit, each teacher in the grade level is expected to complete the planning for the unit. This will help limit planning on a day-to-day basis. It will also ensure there is ample set up for a substitute or the TA to cover, in case the teacher is absent. The remaining planning for the unit needs to be completed before the start of the unit. The teacher will read through each session and envision how that work will go with his/her students. How will she make it her own? How will it fit the needs of her learners? (This helps on the day of teaching for the teacher, but also provides a track of your thinking for a sub or TA.) Goal: To have notes throughout the unit with the teachers thinking about each session before the unit starts. When applicable, charts for the unit will be prepared in advance, and organized in a way that they can be easily located and displayed. Putting the charts in a large folder keeps them neat, tidy and in order of use. (It is also beneficial to think through the charts you will create on the spot in front of your students. Some of those can be prepared with the basics Trying it out: Mrs. Munnerlyns Boxes and Bullets as a reminder of what needs to happen in the way of charting for the lesson. Goal: Anchor charts need to be prepared for the entire unit before the unit begins. The teacher will plan for the TA to copy, create, and gather all necessary materials for the whole unit. At this point, it is also important for the teacher to take the time to walk the TA through the unit what are the big ideas/essential questions? What will the sessions entail and be like? What are the expected goals/outcomes of the unit? How can the TA support this unit as a whole? Goal: The TAs specific role in supporting the teacher is clear and defined for the entire unit, and gives her instructional cues. Mentor texts, student reading/writing materials, and anecdotal notes will be prepared for the unit and placed in a basket or other easy to find place/spot. All of the materials the teacher will need for the unit will be on hand and ready to use before the unit begins. Goal: Materials will be gathered, organized and placed in an easy to find area of the classroom. The teacher will complete weekly lesson plans for the entire unit, using the information (calendar, dates, etc.) agreed upon in the team. These lessons are important in that they provide the teachers individual plan for her class within the framework of the larger team plan. Within the plans should be any pre-determined groupings of students. (Anecdotal notes should be prepared ahead of time, with these groups in mind.) Goal: Weekly lesson plans are completed for the entire unit(s) so the teacher/TA/sub can see the span of this work.

#3: RETURN TO THE TEAM: UPDATES AND DISCUSSION ABOUT TEACHING PRACTICE AND STUDENT WORK You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one. I dont believe in the little plans. I believe in plans big enough to meet a situation, which we cant possibly forsee now. Harry S. Truman
Throughout the unit, the team will take 10-15 minutes during team planning time to share how the unit is going. Each teacher will share teaching strategies they have employed to make this unit come alive for their students as well as how they are teaching to their needs based on data. This will also be a time to share student work. However, that work needs to be qualified with what Im doing now for this learner by the teacher.