Iowa ASCD

Iowa ASCD:  June Newsletter

June 1, 2011

Please meet our new board member, Kevin Vidergar, as well as learn how one elementary is "on the move" with learning - Anson Elementary. (And if you have a school "on the move," let us know - we would love to feature you in next fall's newsletters.

 

Stay "in the know" this summer.  Be sure to join our Iowa ASCD NING as well as follow us on Iowa ASCD Twitter this summer.

 

We also encourage you to join us at our summer institutes. You will have a great opportunity to network as you increase your learning and strengthen your practices in instructional strategies that support student learning by attending one or both of these conferences. Please  download the registration form for the Summer Institutes, located on the download page of our Iowa ASCD web site. 

 

Remember, you can easily get to the articles of importance to you in this newsletter by "clicking" on the table of contents, located at the top of this e-mail on the right.   

 

Have a great summer!

 

Sincerely,
Lou Howell
Executive Director of Iowa ASCD
Meet New Board Member, Kevin Vidergar

Kevin Vidergar, newly elected member at large to the board of Iowa ASCD, is presently serving as the Director of School Improvement for the North Polk Community School District.  North Polk is a growing district of about 1,200 students, who come from the towns of Alleman, Elkhart, Polk City, and Sheldahl. 

 

One of the accomplishments he is quite proud of is increasing the staff's comfort with and ability to use data as part of their efforts to improve learning for all students.  When he first arrived in North Polk, teachers were very reluctant to use data to closely examine the impact their instruction had on student learning and achievement.  Today, as one teacher put it, "Data help make my job easier." 

 

Prior to serving at North Polk, Kevin served as a School Improvement Consultant for both Heartland and Prairie Lakes AEAs (part of Prairie Lakes AEA was formerly known as Arrowhead AEA 5).  While at Heartland AEA, Kevin also served on the statewide team for designing a system to assist schools and districts identified as being in need of assistance under No Child Left Behind.  

 

When he first moved to Iowa, Kevin taught mathematics and science in 7th grade for Urbandale Middle School.  Before that he was on the faculty at Florida State University in the Department of Biological Sciences, Office of Teaching Activities.  

 

Kevin has a Masters of Science in Science Education from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Science (Teaching) from Winona State University in Minnesota. 

 

Kevin considers himself to be a continual learner, seeking out new ideas and ways of thinking in areas such as systems thinking, effective school leadership, and learning and teaching in order to more effectively and efficiently collaborate with teachers, administrators and community members to improve the learning/teaching system.  He sees serving on the Board of Iowa ASCD as a natural extension for that learning, and he will assist Iowa ASCD in providing these kinds of learning opportunities and conversations about learning and teaching throughout the state. 

 

In his spare time, Kevin fishes around the Midwest and Canada, works in the garden and yard, and attends his daughter's sporting activities.  Kelly, his wife, teaches 7th grade literacy at North Polk Middle School.

 

P.S.  Some of you may be wondering, just what does a "Director of School Improvement" do?  In his role as Director of School Improvement, Kevin fulfills a variety of responsibilities ranging from collaborating with the District Leadership Team in designing professional development to support implementation of the Iowa Core, leading regular reviews of, adopting, and implementing new curricular materials, overseeing a number of programs such as Counseling, At-risk, Talented and Gifted, Competent Private Instruction, ESL, and Library/Media services, completing state reports such as the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan and the Annual Progress Report, coaching administrators and teachers, communicating student achievement data with all district stakeholders, administering a PEP grant and writing additional grants as time permits, conducting walk-throughs on a regular basis, and lately, serving as a substitute teacher when a building is in a pinch!

School on the Move - Anson Elementary, Marshalltown Community School District

Institutionalizing Change

A belief that all students can learn and that it is our responsibility to make that happen can start the ball rolling.  A "can do" attitude keeps the momentum going.  And, when everyone wants to stop the journey because it's taking longer than we thought or more work than we expected, the principal helps everyone to "stay the course."  And, eventually you arrive.  That's all that it takes to make significant changes in the way things happen in your school and to subsequently show improved student achievement - year after year.

Our staff began that journey 10 years ago with a student population that was 20% special education identified, 40% minority population and 60% free/reduced priced meals.  Today, with demographics showing 20% special education identified, 66% ELL students and 88% free/reduced priced meals, the focus remains the same - make the necessary adjustments each year to meet the needs of the changing population of our elementary building.

The first step in our process was to raise the awareness of our staff to understand the demographics of our building and to work collegially to increase student achievement.  Developing those cross grade level collegial teams was the foundation of our work.  Each and every staff member - all teachers, paraeducators, bilingual tutors, literacy intervention specialists, nurse, secretary and custodians all needed to take responsibility for the growth of our students.  They were "our" students, not "yours" or "mine." 

Teams then began the IDM/RTI data analysis.  It was digging deep in all of those formative and summative assessments that gave us the information that we needed.  Looking at classroom, grade-level and subsequently, building data through an item analysis gave us specific information.  From that information, we determined our areas of need.  And, then the leadership team determined in which areas we would need some staff development.  Professional development came from wherever and whoever we could find - guest presenters and experts from around the state/country, university professors, AEA personnel, teachers, principal, community leaders.  All teachers committed to taking the training in additional hours outside of the school day.  When experts could not be found, staff members attended conferences and then led the rest of the staff in book studies.  Our goal was to make sure that every teacher was trained in the necessary strategies.  It was the principal's responsibility to find the time for teachers to work collaboratively, observe each other, engage in peer coaching and then subsequently be held responsible for the implementation of the learned strategies with fidelity and reliability. 

Over the past years Anson Elementary (Marshalltown Community School District) has participated in Reading First, been trained in the use of nonfiction literature in reading groups, think alouds, PWIM, SIOP, Framing Your Thoughts, Guided practice reading, Words Their Way, Isabelle Beck vocabulary instruction and Project READ outside of the core curriculum.  Teachers have spent hours and hours of time to pull the best parts from these strategies and integrate them together into a continuous process.  They have worked and reworked the daily schedule to utilize staff in the most beneficial way to students.  They have continued to think outside of the usual framework and piloted many techniques and programs for the district.  If it serves our purpose, we keep it and integrate it.  If not, it is discarded.  We do not have time to use curriculum or techniques which do not serve our push toward increased student achievement.

Each May, the building leadership team goes on retreat to once again, summarize the data analyses of the various teams, set goals for the following year, adjust the schedule and use of resources in the building, and focus the staff development opportunities.  With that work completed, the leadership team is able to "hit the ground running" in August and provide focus and direction for the teaching of core curriculum and intervention time for catch-up growth.  That is the key - core instruction and additional time with highly qualified staff to catch-up, if behind.

Think outside of the box and you will make a difference for the children who call your school "home.:

Bea Niblock, Principal

Anson Elementary - Marshalltown, Iowa

[email protected]

ASCD Awarded $3 Million Grant to Aid Common Core Standards Implementation

 

More than 40 states have adopted the common core state standards, requiring schools across the country to transition to a new way of teaching and learning. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded ASCD $3 million to help facilitate this transition through a multifaceted three-year program that will advance educators' understanding of the common core standards and their implementation of those standards in the adopting states.

ASCD will convene state-level meetings to share information about the common core, learn more about educators' needs for successful implementation, and provide transition support to selected states. Drawing on educator input from these meetings as well as the organization's capacity-building professional development expertise, ASCD will provide educators with access to teaching and learning tools and professional learning opportunities that support their classroom integration of the common core standards. The user-friendly and hands-on tools will help translate the standards into multiple instructional techniques and ensure that teachers understand the standards' underlying concepts.

Summer Institute in Dubuque!  

Power Strategies for Effective Teaching 

and Writing to Learn - Angela Peery

 

Dr. Angela Peery will be in Dubuque to lead teachers and administrators through her seminar on Effective Teaching by helping participants understand the link between analysis of student work, selection of instructional strategies, and gains in academic achievement.

 

The application of power strategies to activate knowledge, engage the learner, and strengthen cross-curricular literacy in one's personal teaching style is just the toolkit educators need to reach all learners in the classroom.

 

Another major focus of the conference will be Dr. Peery's creation of Writing to Learn, explaining the simple strategies and the implementation of writing to be used in every classroom to create school-wide success student success.  A few of her writing strategies and tools include:

 

       Content-area writing rubrics

       Quick writes

       Graphic Organizers

       Student-to-student writing conferences 

 

So please join us to learn more from Angela Peery at the Summer Institute in Dubuque.  This is a working conference. Bring a team of teachers to increase the use of better instructional strategies in the classroom.

 

Power Strategies for Effective Teaching Seminar with a Focus on Non-Fiction Writing

Dr. Angela Peery, The Leadership and Learning Center

Grand River Center in Dubuque - June 20 and 21

  

Summer Institute at Lake Okoboji

 

 Better Learning through Structured Teaching Seminar

 Dr. Nancy Frey

 Arrowwood Resort in Okoboji - June 16-17

 

Please join Dr. Nancy Frey in Okoboji June 16 and 17 to experience first hand her message on RTI2 and quality core instruction.  You will walk away with strategies to provide a quality instructional program.

 

Summer Conference with Heidi Hayes Jacobs: Developing Global Classrooms

Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs will be coming to Iowa on June 21-23, 2011. We hope that you will be able to attend this conference, along with other educators from across the state.

 

What year are you preparing your students for? 1980? 1995? 2025? Provocative and practical, Heidi Hayes Jacobs asks us to replace our dated curriculum with contemporary content and skills in a deliberate process called "upgrading." The strategies from her book, Curriculum 21: Essential Education in a Changing World, empower educators with specific ways to integrate web 2.0, digital tools, and global portals into each classroom.

  • How can each classroom teacher start the upgrading process?
  • How can we effectively globalize the curriculum?
  • What will new versions of schools look like in the future?
  • Are there signs of these now in the field?
  • What does 21st century leadership need to change to adapt to meet the needs of our learner?

Explore these questions and raise your own with internationally recognized curriculum expert, Heidi Hayes Jacobs, in what promises to be a lively and engaging event. She will share her newest project on how to upgrade professional development as well as provide you with specific resources for upgrading your classroom curriculum.

 

You can review an archived webinar addressing this conference at http://www.ascd.org/professional-development/webinars/heidi-hayes-jacobs-webinar.aspx.

RTI for English Language Learners

  

This new brief, "

RTI for English Language Learners: Appropriately Using Screening and Progress Monitoring Tools to Improve Instructional Outcomes," written by Julie Esparza Brown and Amanda Sanford examines the characteristics of ELL students; defines the RTI process; and describes how students' linguistic, cultural, and experiential backgrounds can guide appropriate screening, progress monitoring, and goal setting that help promote English literacy.

 


Resource Aid from the Center at UCLA

Monthly Themes for Enhancing Student and Learning Supports at a School 

          

The Center has extensively revamped this unique set of resource aids which are designed to guide and support addressing special concerns related to school improvement.

 

Each monthly theme reflects critical matters that regularly arise throughout the year. As such, they can help school improvement planners ensure such concerns are well-addressed.

 

Examples of Concerns Arising Over the Year
�  Welcoming and integrating and ensuring good school adjustment
�  Enhancing student engagement
�  Addressing ongoing learning/behavior problems
�  Minimizing stress reactions & preventing student and staff "burnout"
�  Re-engaging disengaged students (as well as families and staff)
�  Preparing students for transitions to the next grade and new school
�  Preventing problems related to parties, proms, and graduation.

 

Clearly, every month there are important opportunities to anticipate predictable problems and plan prevention and early intervention to minimize them. By pursuing such opportunities, schools enhance teachers' ability to do their job well. 

 

The themes encourage school staff to be proactive and timely in promoting a schoolwide focus to address the concerns and minimize their impact on students, their families, and the staff. Student support personnel, in particular, can play a major role in formulating and providing supports for implementing a theme of the month at schools throughout the district.

 

Moreover, given the limited time a school has for personnel development, focusing on a different theme each month engages all stakeholders as a community of learners. Emphasizing a theme encourages doing some reading, discussions with colleagues, learning about additional resources from our Center and elsewhere. All this helps build capacity and can help in developing learning supports into a comprehensive system.

 

By fully integrating a theme of the month into school improvement planning, schools increase the likelihood of enhancing equity of opportunity for all students to succeed at school and for making schools better places for all who spend so much of their lives there.


What's Driving Your School Improvement?

 

Michael Fullan has a new resource (April, 2011) to help you answer that q

uestion.  "Choosing the Wrong Drivers for Whole System Reform" identifies the four drivers that should but often do not in schools in the United States:

  • Capacity Building
  • Group Work/Effectiveness
  • Pedagogy/Instruction
  • "Systemness" (Systemic!)

He also suggests four criteria that must be met to assure the driver(s) work in our districts/schools.

  • Foster intrinsic motivation of teachers and students.
  • Engage educators and students in continuous improvement of instruction and learning.
  • Inspire collective or team work.
  • Affect ALL teachers and students - 100%. 
P.S.  The ineffective drivers are accountability, individual teacher and leadership quality, technology, and fragmented strategies - they are good as for "secondary drivers"  (kind of like the irons in a golf game) but should not be the primary drivers!

Great resource to check your impact!

 

http://www.iowaascd.org/downloads/file/_Fullan%20Wrong%20Drivers.pdf

 


 Technology Tip from Director Chris Welch:  Back Channels

This month there has been quite a bit of controversy regarding back channel conversations in the classroom and in staff development.  Back channels are digital programs that allow users to "chat" during class or during a presentation.  A couple of examples would be "Todays Meet" or a "Twitter Hashtag."  My first experience with a back channel discussion was in San Francisco when attending a lecture featuring Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

 

During this lecture Heidi Hayes Jacobs introduced "Todays Meet" and invited us to ask questions, comment on her pace, and share resources.  She also mentioned that she would have several moderators to help her gather the thoughts of the room.  Also, she asked that the room stay focused on topic and refrain from large sidebars.  Throughout the presentation the back channel was ablaze; the community was using the channel to take notes, link to examples, and ask great questions.  Heidi Hayes Jacobs took several short breaks during the lecture to review the back channel comments and questions.  She used her moderators to collect the top questions and comments and she replied based on the moderators' input.  The best part of the session was a the very end when she announced that when using "Todays Meet" we would have access to the entire conversation for the next week.  During this time we could download the entire file, link to shared resources, or relive the back channel discussion.  I found the use of the back channel very useful.

 

Hearing Heidi Hayes Jacobs was a pleasure and seeing how she communicates and uses technology in her lecture is inspiring.  However, it is very easy to take for granted the subtle way in which she set us up for success when using the back channel technology.  Without setting the expectations for the technology tool, it would be very easy for our back channel to be a place for sidebars, gossip, and even bullying.  So, how can a back channel be used effectively?

 

Effective Use of a Back Channel:

  1. Set the expectations for Back Channel use.  (Clear and Concise)
  2. Display the Back Channel content for all to see.  (Make It Public - Transparency)
  3. Pause several times throughout your presentation to make use of the back channel.  (Applicable)
  4. Utilize moderators.  (Control the Environment)
  5. Archive the Discussion (Lasting Value, Instructor/Learning Feedback)
Back channels are a great way to ensure that everyone has a voice and to document student participation.  Also, it provides instant student feedback to help tailor your talk or instruction to meet their needs.  Utilization of a back channel has several advantages for the teacher or presenter as long as expectations are set and it is public, utilized, monitored, and archived.  
Like any technology, back channels are tools and when used with a purpose and guidelines, they can have a positive lasting Impact.
 

 

Thank you so much for your continued support for Iowa ASCD.  We look forward to providing you with additional learning opportunities.

Please visit our  Iowa ASCD website for additional materials and supports for conference speakers. 

Sincerely,
Lou


Lou Howell
Executive Director of Iowa ASCD
[email protected] 
[email protected]
515.229.4781
In This Issue
Kevin Vidergar, New Board Member
School on the Move - Anson Elementary
ASCD - $3 Million for Common Core Work
Summer Institute - Dubuque
Summer Institute - Okoboji
Summer Conference - SE Polk
RTI and ELL
Guide for Policy Makers
Michael Fullan - The Right Drivers
Technology Tip: Back Channels

Summer Institute in Lake Okoboji

June 16-17, 2011:  Better Learning through Structured Teaching:  A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility, co-authored by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey,  describes how teachers can help students develop stronger learning skills by ensuring that instruction moves from modeling and guided practice to collaborative learning to independent tasks.

Join Dr. Frey for this two-day conference helping educators "Teach for Understanding" and leading teachers to challenge students to engage in a variety of thinking-centered activities.
 
The Iowa ASCD contact is Julie Davies ([email protected]).

Summer Institute in Dubuque

June 20-21, 2011:  Power Strategies for Effective Teaching Seminar-Angela Peery; Grand River Center in Dubuque
 
Teachers, instructional leaders, and administrators will discover, practice, model, and be able to replicate as many as 15 of the most up-to-date, effective instructional methods that they can begin to use in classrooms the next day.  This process will help ensure delivery of the Iowa Core Curriculum and success of all students.
 
This two-day seminar focuses entirely on best instructional practices and how to select practices based on information gleaned from student work and data, including the successful use of non-fiction writing. 

The Iowa ASCD contact is Cindy Swanson ([email protected]).
 
Curriculum 21 Conference at Southeast Polk

June 21 - 23, 2011.  Heidi Hayes Jacobs will focus on developing global classrooms where students demonstrate 21st century skills.  The Iowa ASCD contact is Pam Vogel ([email protected]).

Quick Links:

 

Iowa ASCD  

 

Iowa ASCD Ning 

 

Iowa ASCD Twitter

 

Iowa ASCD IEL Journal 

 

Iowa ASCD Mission Statement

 

The source for developing instructional leadership

  

Iowa ASCD Contacts

 

President

Julie Davies

 

President-Elect

Leslie Moore

 

Past President

Tom Ahart 

 

Membership Information

Bridget Arrasmith

 

Secretary

Marcia Tweeten

 

Treasurer

Julie Davies

 

Members-at-Large

Jason Ellingson

Julie Grotewold

Bart Mason

Cindy Swanson

 

DE Liaison

Cynthia Knight

 

Higher Education

Jan Beatty-Westerman

Elaine Smith-Bright

 

 

IEL Editor Tom Ahart

 

 

Leadership Council (ASCD)

Pam Armstrong-Vogel

Susan Pecinovsky

 

Curriculum Leadership Academy

Sue Wood

 

Fall Institute

Kelly Adams

 

Summer Institutes

Julie Davies

Cindy Swanson

 

Technology

Chris Welch

 

Membership Relations and E-Learning

Amy Wichman

 

 

Executive Director Lou Howell