Danielle Terry's Blog

My team uses Google Docs for weekly PLC's.  We often plan using Google Docs and also use Google Doc's to collaborate with teachers at other schools.  This past week we had a PLC focused on RTI and noticed that with being departmentalized, students are often overlooked if they are not struggling in both reading and math.  We currently track student data by class using Google Doc's, but during this PLC we decided to create a document that tracked our Tier 3 students only.  Each math or reading teacher had kept data throughout the year on their own Tier 3 students, but we were able to combine this data to identify students struggling in multiple areas or to identify students who may only be significantly struggling in one area.  This was helpful to see how Tier 3 students are performing across the board, as some students may only be Tier 3 in math or only Tier 3 in reading.  This Google Doc was extremely helpful as often we are asked to send data to our co...

Recently, Jennifer Gonzalez created a blog post about upgrading your classroom design.  We often see classrooms that look cozy and modern, allowing students to collaborate and feel at home, yet many teachers believe that it is impossible to make their own classroom this way within budget constraints and small spaces.  Jennifer interviewed Bob Dillon to gather 12 things that teachers can do to make their classrooms more student friendly and a better place for learning. 1) Ask students throughout the year "What in this room supports your learning and what gets in the way?" 2) Take things out: if you remove items and you don't miss them then you don't need them in your classroom. 3) Mix up Student Seating: try different arrangements or allow students choice in where they sit. 4) Take notice of the perimeter: Are the walls distracting or do they add to learning? Do certain posters need taken down? 5) Reduce or Eliminate Teacher Workspace: Allow students more...

This week I incorporated Learn Zillion into my math lesson on line plots. I have heard many teachers in my hallway discussing Learn Zillion, but have not used it in my classroom before until this week. The discussions that take place between my students and I often lead my math lessons as this is where we address misconceptions and the students ask great questions that further their learning. I was nervous about utilizing Learn Zillion and my students becoming bored.  The video introduced line plots for students and gave them a solid basis of understanding before our in-class lesson.  However, the lesson turned out way better than I expected.  I was able to pause the lesson and the students asked questions that really started a great conversation such as, "In the video it said that the x's represent..." The students were using the knowledge from the video to lead their learning and then I was there to assist with the in-class examples.  To be honest, this was my firs...

Scott McLeod's blog post this week was focused around a quote by Ruth Simmons discussing leadership.  While this blog post was short, it was very powerful and one that should be read by anyone involved in leadership of any kind. The quote by Ruth Simmons discussed a misconception of leadership that exists, where it is often thought that a leader would need "specific skills" for specific jobs.  However, Ruth Simmons says this is not what leadership is to her.  Ruth states, "I think of leadership as more of a disposition- the ability to step into a situation to learn about the history of the enterprise, the opportunities that it faces, the culture that exists, and the people who are served by it." Ruth discusses that there should not be one specific type of leadership, but instead leaders should learn about an institution and find ways to improve it instead of coming in ready to put into place all new practices and routines. Ruth ends with, "I think leaders...

In the fourth grade, our students arrive in our classrooms between 8:55 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. each morning.  We then take our students to special area at 9:10 a.m., therefore our mornings fly by quickly with taking attendance, listening to announcements, checking agendas for parent communication, and settling students in with a morning greeting.  My team and I have been working to find ways to make our mornings flow smoother with only having 5 minutes of true instructional time before special area. One of my co-workers recently attended a district professional development on Smart Notebook and mentioned to my teammates and I that we could take attendance on Smart Notebook.  This peaked our interest.  We were able to find balloons on Smart Notebook that allowed us to edit names and include each student in our classroom.  When the students come in, they simply walk up to the Smart Board and "pop" their balloon as a way of checking in for the day.  This has bee...

This week Jennifer revisited an old blog post that she had created about, "What It's Like to Be an Instructional Coach."  As a subscriber to her blog, I received an email from her discussing how she would like to revisit the interviews she completed a few years ago to address anyone's concerns about what instructional coaching entails.  This post was highly beneficial for me as I would like to someday be an instructional coach, therefore I was very glad that she resent this blog post out. The post started as Jennifer defined what an instructional coach is: “someone whose chief professional responsibility is to bring evidence-based practices into classrooms by working with teachers and other school leaders.” She stated that often an instructional coach's job can look very different from school to school or district to district as we may utilize instructional coaches across the board in all subject areas, for only one subject area, for one-on-one coaching with tea...

The transformation of PD was this week's blog topic by Jennifer Gonzalez.  PD used to be a "sit and learn" experience with a "one size fits all model."  This week, Jennifer shares that she has recently learned that many schools are taking on "alternative models for professional learning." The models that Jennifer mentioned showed how schools are beginning to personalize learning for teachers, just as they do for students. The 9 models follow below: 1) Unconferences: This is a professional development where the educators attending are the presenters.  Districts or schools usually pick a day and place and then use a Google Doc to split the day up among educators willing to present topics in areas they are strong in.  JCPS does Ed Camp using this format.  2) Intentional PLC's: Intentional PLC's are when teachers choose the content based on a mutual agreement or area of growth.  This gives teachers a choice in what they grow in or work with. 3...

Being departmentalized, I often use a "Problem of the Day" to ease the transition as students come into each math each class.  The "Problem of the Day" is usually displayed on a small white board for the students.  This week, I decided to incorporate technology into this time period by using a suggestion from a colleague.  I did this through using Math Monster Fractions:  https://www.mathplayground.com/mobile/math_monster_compare_frac.html .  Math Monster Fractions is a free website and was easy to implement into our "Problem of the Day" time as it consisted of review fraction material.  I started each class period with a fraction review concept game, such as equivalent fractions or comparing fractions.  These were easily accessible from the home page of the website.  This placed a problem on the SmartBoard for students to work out as they entered.  Once the students were able to solve the problem, we discussed it and I allowed one student...