Standard 9 - Effective Curriculum

Standard 9 - Teacher leaders evaluate and use effective curriculum design.

Starting this program, I felt comfortable discussing a curriculum, but not really critiquing or altering a curriculum. As the past two years have progressed, I feel my ability to do just that has grown with each passing course. This past summer, I began to feel quite comfortable with both critiquing and altering my curriculum. With the initial discussion about what actually constitutes a solid curriculum I was forced to look deeply at the curriculum I am using. Luckily, I had some practice with this during the past couple school years as I participated in a curriculum adoption and formation within my district. I found the adoption process, along with the discussion and points of view of my peers, to be invaluable in helping me to determine what elements of my curriculum and lesson planning are good and what things need tweaking. Developing pacing guides and curriculum guidelines with my fellow teachers allowed me to further develop my ability to identify quality curriculum.

The past summer in the Curriculum Design class (EDU 6524), I had to determine what my curriculum had going for it and what areas needed support or adjustment. Upon completing this (Module 1 Paper), I began looking at the standards, at least the major ones, to determine what is essential to the unit I was looking at in detail. This work is not something I have too much experience doing, but found that through our classwork and the guidance of my peers and professors that this was something that I felt comfortable doing. I was able to pare down the eight standards covered to a focus of three standards (Module 2 Paper). Moving forward, this ability to recognize the standards central to a unit is going to serve me well as knowing what is necessary for my students to understand and what is extraneous, or at least not as important, is vital. 

I then began looking at learning targets and designing lessons. My school requires learning posted for student information, but we have not had much work around the aspects of a quality learning target. Through the readings, particularly (Knowing Your Learning Target), we see what it takes to have an effective learning target. The anecdote of driving somewhere without knowing where to go or how to get there really struck me as a key reason why having an effective learning target is so important. To guide my students as well as possible, I need to ensure that my students know where we are heading in a lesson and how we will know we are there. This learning and practice will prove instrumental in becoming the teacher I want to be. 

To get students to achieve the learning target, we see the importance of engaging students in the learning. We first created brief engagement activity explanations and then completed several full lesson plans. This portion of the class proved to be the most challenging for me. I feel comfortable putting lessons together, but I often lack diversity in engagement plans. This is something I know that I struggle with and want to improve and as we created plans with more details I received several strong ideas and suggestions to change things up from my normal lesson routines. These ideas, although strong, are still difficult for me to plan and are pieces of my practice that I will be focusing on the years ahead. To show my progress, I have attached my brief and full lesson plans (Unit Plan). These initial plans and changes to my plans represent the most significant portions of my learning in this course. 

Finally, the aspects of differentiation, evaluating learning and adjusting plans comes into play. These portions of planning are areas where I feel I have a bit of experience, but I definitely want to improve. One of the differentiation techniques (see lesson 6 in my unit plan) I borrowed from a peer (Erin Hocevar-Ortiz) is to create a handout of the definitions previously learned, including the terms we will define during that lesson, for students to tape into their journals. This acts as a resource for students to refer to and will help increase the use of the academic language. This is also a great way to engage students who are English Learners or students who have learning disabilities. "Instructional scaffolding provides temporary support structures within lessons to support students with learning new skills" (O'Keeffe and Medina, 2016, p. 80). Utilizing vocabulary lists will allow students to be able to develop their academic language and does not isolate students who are having difficulty because all students are receiving this support.

I also switched an exit ticket for an assessment problem creation (an idea from How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class) to aid in evaluating student learning (see lesson 2 in my unit plan). This represents another shift in my focus from having students solve problems to them creating problems to show they understand how polynomial multiplication. These two examples of adjustment represent another step I have taken this quarter in improving my practice. 

All of the work undertaken in this program has been beneficial to my overall process in planning lessons and units. Looking at standard nine, this program, and Curriculum Design in particular, I found many connections between what is needed to be successful as a student and as a teacher. We worked through a unit from start to finish, looking at strengths and weaknesses, essential standards covered, learning targets and pre-assessment, engagement activities, and complete lesson plans. These practical skills will allow me to move forward in my practice and become the teacher I want to be. 

Frondeville, T. (2009). How to keep kids engaged in class. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/classroom-student-participation-tips

Moss, C.M., Brookhart, S.M., & Long, B.A. (2011). Knowing your learning target. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar11/vol68/num06/Knowing-Your-Learning-Target.aspx

O'Keeffe, S. B., & Medina, C. M. (2016). Nine strategies for helping middle school students weather the perfect storm of disability, diversity, and adolescence. American Secondary Education, 44(3), 72-87. 

Standard 11: Utilize Assessment in a Standards-Based Environment

Standard 11 - Teacher leaders utilize formative and summative assessment in a standards-based environment.

Prior to this program, I have had limited practice using standards-based assessment, especially as it pertains to formative assessment. I had taken courses on various instructional strategies, so I have learned about various formative assessments, but not really how to incorporate it into the structured an overall unit. Through this program, and specifically the standards-based assessment class, I have seen the value of formative assessment and learned how to incorporate this in our unit plans. The course began looking through Embedded Formative Assessment (Wiliam, 2011) and creating our learning progression. 

This process of looking through the trajectory of a unit and determining what the steps in the progression of learning looks like was a new task, particularly laying it out in some sort of format other than just looking through the book or curriculum provided. For me, this represented a start to really looking deeply at the focus standards of a unit and laying out what each step in reaching that standard looks like. My learning progression (Learning Progression) began as a rather well-defined process to get from one step to another, however, I was not sure how to determine whether my students had learned the material. I was afraid that my assessment of student understanding would not tell me what students had learned, similar to the story of Jy (Wiliam, 2011, p. 47). Through feedback provided by my peers, I was able to create formative assessments that I believe will be beneficial in correctly determining where my students are at in the progression. We then looked at ways to incorporate peer and self-assessment into the learning. This was once again aided by feedback received by peers and the professor and the opportunities that I have provided, I believe, are quality and will help me and my students a great deal to gauge learning. 

The other major area we looked at was through our assessment into action paper. For this, I decided to research how to provide quality feedback to my students. This was a focus because I feel like I have either provided feedback that is too specific and does not really require thought to figure out, or too vague and is not useful in helping my students get to the next level of their learning. In order to figure out how to provide useful formative assessment, I found some good resources that allowed me a bit of insight into what it means to provide quality feedback. One of the articles I found provided some great information with a quote, “Feedback functions formatively only if the information fed back to the learner is used by the learner in improving performance” (Wiliam, 2012, p.120, emphasis in original). This quote really struck me because I had not come to the realization that it does not matter what sort of feedback I provide if it is not useful to help students improve their understanding. In my paper, (Assessment Into Action), I looked through several different resources, mainly articles by a couple authors, Dylan Wiliam and Susan Brookhart. Both authors have similar approaches to providing feedback which boil down to about three elements; feedback occurs while students are learning, feedback is appropriate for the understanding of a student (not too high or too low), and feedback must be used by students. One more element that I really had not thought about was provided by Brookhart (2012), where she asserts that feedback, “can’t work if students don’t have an immediate opportunity to use it” (p. 26). This was another element of new learning for me as I did not really think about immediate practice being necessary to build learning (although this seems a bit naïve now). The elements necessary for feedback to be high quality and effective are really informative and important to my practice moving forward. 

This course really helped out with my approach to assessment, particularly formative assessment. We were constantly working with program standard 11, utilize formative and summative assessment in a standards based environment. This work is really important for me in becoming the teacher I want to be and will have a high level of impact on my practice moving forward. I will be able to utilize this information in any class and at any level. Overall, this class has provided me with a great deal of information to help improve my teaching, my analysis of where students are in their understanding, and ways that I can provide feedback to students to help them improve their understanding. Ultimately, my students will reap the benefit of this shift in approach as they will be able to build on their understanding far more independently than they could previously.  

Additionally, my progression through the teacher leadership program has allowed me to become further adept at assessing where my students are in their understanding in a variety of ways. The importance of formative assessment has been emphasized time and again throughout this program and as Bolkan, Goodboy, and Kelsey (2016) state, "Despite instructors doing their best to provide students with effective instruction, some may be surprised to learn that their teaching does not result in the outcomes they had imagined" (p. 130). As I have developed as a teacher through this program I have learned that assessment must have several characteristics, namely that it must be related to an educational goal, easily understandable, useable, timely, constantly occurring and consistently occurring (Wiggins, 2016). Whether formative or summative assessment, students must be able to utilize the feedback provided in order to build on their understanding to meet or exceed the standards required.

Bolkan, S., Goodboy, A. K., & Kelsey, D. M. (2016). Instructor clarity and student motivation: Academic performance as a product of students’ ability and motivation to process instructional material. Communication Education, 65 (2), 129-148. doi:10.1080/03634523.2015.1079329

Brookhart, S. (2012). Preventing feedback fizzle. Educational Leadership, 70 (1), 24-29.

Wiggins, G. (2012). Seven keys to effective feedback. Educational Leadership, 70 (1), 10-16.

Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded formative assessment. Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, In.

Wiliam, D. (2012). Feedback: Part of a system. Educational Leadership, 70 (1), 31-34.

Standard 7 - Utilize Instructional Frames to Improve Teaching

Standard 7 - Teacher leaders utilize instructional frames to improve teaching.

Prior to entering the teacher leadership program, I had limited introduction and work with the various instructional frameworks. My district uses the Danielson framework for teacher evaluation so I have utilized this to help determine what areas of my practice to work on. Through the Leadership in Education class I was able to look at other frameworks, most notably the leadership standards pertaining to school leaders and administrators.

We were able to research the various standards that guide administrators and connect them to the standards that guide teachers. The evaluation goals assignment I completed allowed me to both become familiar with the principal criterion and how they may connect to the teacher criterion. For example, Washington Principal criterion 4 ("Principal Evaluation Criterion and Descriptors," n.d.) for  pertains to utilizing data to help increase student achievement and corresponds to criterion 6 in the eight criterion for Washington teacher evaluation ("Teacher Evaluation Criterion and Descriptors," n.d.). Both of these criterion require the use of data to drive all decisions made for students, or staff, within a school.

This requirement for attention to data coincides with a couple principles found in Spirituality in Educational Leadership. Sokolow and Houston provide the eight keys to leadership and the Principal of Intention and the Principal of Attention are closely tied to utilizing data in decision making (as cited in Houston, Blankstein, & Cole, 2008, pp. 14-15). This tie is not direct, or maybe even obvious, but as a leader, the intent behind your decisions is a necessary piece of information and the attention you give by divulging that you decisions are based upon the data at hand is a good way to conduct yourself as a leader.

We also had the opportunity to self-assess how we perceive our abilities as a leader when compared to the requirements of the Washington State Principal and Program Administrator Standards. In my evaluation, I was able to see how I would fare if I chose to become an administrator. This also provided me with a glimpse into the traits I need to embody to be a teacher leader. I found several areas that I feel are strengths for me, but the area in which I feel I am both strong and have work to do deals with socio-political actions and interactions. As a person, I feel that I am able to spread word and get knowledge of programs and services know. I also know that I struggle with making an impact beyond the local level to the community, city, county, and state.

Finally, we had the opportunity to critique the leadership components of our school. By looking at the leadership of our school and district, we were able to reflect on the direction our school is taking and how the decisions and decision making process plays out. This analysis influenced the way in which I see leadership in schools and how I will make decisions as a teacher leader. My school is switching to a comprehensive high school (we have been three small schools) and I believe that my influence on students, teachers, and the campus as a whole can increase. As we make this shift in the school, I will look to increase my influence on the matters and decision making processes of our school. The leadership standards we have studied will become an additional guide in improving both my teaching and leading.

Houston, P. D., Blankstein, A. M., & Cole, R. W. (eds.). (2008). Spirituality in Educational Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Principal Evaluation Criterion and Descriptors (n.d.). In Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/TPEP/pubdocs/PrincipalCriteriaDescriptors.pdf

Teacher Evaluation Criterion and Descriptors (n.d.). In Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/TPEP/pubdocs/TeacherCriteriaDescriptors.pdf

Standard 4 - Analysis of Practices

Standard 4 - Teacher leaders engage in analysis of teaching and collaborative practices.

Looking back through this program, I realize I had little experience in analyzing the practice of others or working with others in a collaborative way. Right away, we began looking at reflection and analysis of practices with our peers. In one of our first classes, Accomplished Teaching, we had the opportunity to work with a partner to get feedback on our teaching practice (video). This, in conjunction with our lesson plan, was the first time I had really ever opened up my practice to someone outside of those with which I work closely. This brief glimpse into collaborative analysis was helpful and set the tone for the remainder of the program.

Moving forward, we looked at some elements of collaboration within a class of my peers. For Survey of Instructional Strategies, we had the opportunity to develop several lesson plans utilizing various pedagogical strategies we learned about from our peer presentations. This allowed us to use several research-based practices with our classes and reflect with each other as a group (see lesson plan one, two, three, or four). This practice with various instructional strategies allowed me to work on various teaching practices throughout my participation in this program. During this class, I also worked collaboratively with other teachers at my school to work on improving engagement and confidence. This project was a great way to work with my colleagues to get to the bottom of an issue in our school.

More recently, I took part in an action research project where I combined technology with formative assessment to discover how my AP Statistics class would fare with this new approach. This research allowed me to figure out whether my approach to formative assessment and technology would be effective and would allow me to quickly assess student understanding. Although there were mixed results, I believe that the practice can be valuable given the correct approach (something I am still interested in determining).

The goal and purpose of all of this work is to create a community of learning within my school. This will require me to continue bringing the practices and strategies that I have learned in this program and will learn in my continued research to my staff. I hope that we, as a staff, can work to bring high quality, equitable education to our students. “Educational equity is not simply about equal access and inputs, but ensuring that a student’s educational path, curriculum, instruction, and schedule be personalized to meet [the student’s] unique needs” (Hanover Research, 2012, p. 7). This quote summarizes the approach that we will need to take to help all of our students succeed. As I have seen, repeatedly, throughout this program, working to engage and reach all students is paramount when analyzing practices to increase student learning.

In my own practice, I am hoping that my ability to engage, individually and with others, in the act of reflection on teaching practices continues to improve. As York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere and Montie state, being "a reflective educator is a commitment to your own growth and demonstrates a high level of professional responsibility and personal leadership for continuous development of your practice" (2006, p. 103). This level of reflection and work to improve practices is essential to guide teachers into new and innovative strategies. In fact, this seems extraordinarily important when dealing with mathematics. As Vigdor (2012) states, "America’s perpetual concern with youth math performance has spawned numerous initiatives that have, cumulatively, exacerbated rather than solved the problem" (p. 4). 

Being a teacher leader will allow me to help effect change throughout my school building. For students, the practices that I have learned and developed with allow me to better engage students in mathematics. For teachers, the work I will engage in is going to help them become their best selves and, in turn, help students gain all they can while students at our school. Overall, I want to help my school become a better place to be and learn. Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, and Stone (2012) liken a teacher (and by extension a teacher leader) to an orchestra conductor, "An orchestra sounds best when the composer selects the most appropriate instruments and the conductor blends those instruments in just the right way to create the desired sound" (p. 152). In my classroom, and in my school community, I hope to be the composer and conductor guiding my school to bigger and better things.

Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., Stone, B. J., (2012). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement (2nd ed.). Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

Hanover Research. (October 2012). Best practices in personalized learning environments. Washington, D.C.

Vigdor, J.L. (August 2012). Solving America’s mathematics education problem.

York-Barr, J., Sommers, W., Ghere, G., and Montie, J., (2006). Reflective practice to improve schools: An action guide for educators. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.