2/26/14 meeting

Link to common assessment form

Link to response page

Meeting #8: 1/29/13

1/29/13

Next three meetings:

2/26

4/9

4/30

12/4/13 Meeting #7

Meeting #7

Notes from Karen

meeting #6 11/13

11/13/13

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h5wPGT6Z9ywBFrNHUy5YZz5yeYqSPdW4Zr7WSYTBV1Y/edit?usp=sharing

Goal Sheet for the website

(Info from Karen--tasks)

Articulate our ELOs for the other groups.

10/23/13 meeting 5

Notes From Karen

we agreed to bring some student work on metacognition (thinking, strategies, and implications)

10/2/13 Meeting #4

Form From Karen

Reading in Comprehension Going Forward

Aligning with 9th grade PLC?

New ELO's

ELO #1: using specific reading strategies
ELO #2: practicing metacognition around their reading  

ELO #3: composing a thesis statement that is clear, specific, debatable and provable.  

ELO #4: presenting formal speeches to their peers

9/11/13 Meeting #3

Form from Karen

8/28/13 -- Meeting #2

Form from Karen

8/15/13: First Meeting

First off, we need to discuss book check-out, at least for Fall.

Link to Steve's document

Also needs to be accomplished at the meeting:

• From Karen: "All we need from your group is an e-mail to Karen listing your group's name, members, leader, and the two goals (or more if you are feeling really energetic!)." Not a huge task. Here are my thoughts on Karen's suggested topics. Feel free to respond via email, or just wait for a discussion tomorrow.

Goals: 

• We all valued focusing on thesis statements last year. Some of our data collection was concentrated there, and we feel the task is so essential that it warrants continued dialogue. We would like to continue helping our students create concise, clear, debatable, provable, specific arguments.
• Your suggestion that we focus on interventions for struggling students sparked a lively discussion in our initial meeting. Three of us attended Cris Tovani's workshop this summer, who you probably know is respected for her successes with struggling students. We all had a good number of reluctant learners in our English 10 classes last year--definitely some self-described "non-readers" and in some cases kids with low language skills across the board. The sentiment in our group is that this population seems to grow from year to year at AHS. We all feel that we could be doing more to address the needs of those kids within the confines of our regular schedules. So, our plan is to pinpoint a few kids after the first 6-weeks and track their engagement throughout the year, discussing and building on interventions we try.

 Common Assessments and data collection:

• We definitely put some decent assessments in place last year and/or reused some good ones from the past. I think we can revisit some of these. At times last year, voices were loud and clear that this exercise feels repetitive. My feeling is that good assessments should address essential skills, things we really want to know about kids no matter what year it is. Maybe they need to change if the process feels like drudgery.

Thesis assessment is solid. Same rubric multiple times? 

elements of a story (Story of an Hour test)

speaking assessment?

• As far as data collection goes, I think for the most part people humored me the first time or two and then ignored the data collection part, or at least ignored the part where data actually got recorded. I was guilty "forgetting" to enter data myself, actually. It seems that there is a general sentiment in our group that data collection, at least in a formal way, isn't all that useful. I agree to an extent. Can we talk again about how to we might meet this expectation so that it feels useful? The value for me is that data collection at times forces us to discuss elements of our job that we might not otherwise discuss, and that numbers do actually inform discussions sometimes.

21st Century Skills:

• Do we want to tackle this building goal any more directly this year? Maybe integrate some common activities or assessments that integrate technology?

Interventions:

• We could head in this direction as well. I know I had a good number of reluctant learners in my English 10 classes last year--definitely some non-readers and in some cases kids with low skills across the board. The sentiment in the building is that this group seems to grow from year to year. Is there a way we can begin to address this growing concern?

Enrichment: 

• Maybe this topic can be linked to the previous one? In other words, are there ways we can meet the needs of the struggling kids while challenging the ones who want to push themselves? Is this a topic that interests anyone?

Other Ideas: 

speech and group work

management of large groups

5/1/13

Last Meeting of the year.

Feedback form

From Leah:

1. Review your 2012-2013 PLC Goal(s) that you listed on the August 29th PLC Meeting #1 Feedback Form.

• Recognize and celebrate your accomplishments!
• Discuss your progress toward goals not yet met.
• What goals will you carry over to next year?
• What changes are needed?
• What new goals do you propose for next year?

2. Discuss whether your PLC membership and facilitator will remain the same for next year. (Ha! Like you guys would let me step down...) If you anticipate any changes, please include this information on your Feedback Form.
   
   
   
   
   3. Look at ELOs, look at some examples of synthesis essays, think about how this thing should run next year.
   
   
   
   
   
   

ELO #1: Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

ELO #2: Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

ELO #3: Students will display the ability to read and interpret literature by evaluating literary elements such as motif, theme, symbol and figurative language.

ELO #4: Students will display the ability to synthesize two sources in a formal literary essay.

meeting #8 2/27/13

Meeting #8

Note: Next Meeting is not till April 10th.

Feedback for Leah (link)


1. SB 191 Powerpoint (link)

Any questions that I can relay to the powers that be?

2. Common Core Discussion based on English 6-12 Standards (Based on the packet I gave you Monday).

General: 

We just got clarification on state vs. Common Core.

In general we feel as though are complying

Colorado state standards articulate standards vertically between 9th and 10th, and Common Core doesn't. How to vertically articulate when 9th and 10th standards are identical?

Issues, Page 40 (Integration of Knowledge and Ideas)

• Use of rhetoric with informational texts (p. 40, #6)
• seminal U.S. Documents (p. 40, #9) Will other departments be covering these ideas?

Issues, page 45:

Developing Counter-claims may need some work. (p. 45, 1 b)

Are we writing informative, explanatory essays enough? (p. 45, section 2)

Based on the new writing standards, we maybe

3. Check out our ELO's one more time. I think we need one more assessment. Synthesis anyone?


ELO #1 Students will write thesis statements that are clear, specific, debatable and provable. Through this process students

ELO #2: Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

New ELO #3: Students will display the ability to read and interpret literature by evaluating literary elements such as motif, theme, symbol and figurative language. 

New ELO #4: Students will display the ability to synthesize two sources in a formal literary essay.

Meeting #7 1/30/13

1/30/13

Common Core Standards? Do we need to discuss?

Feedback form for Leah

Invention Form (done last time)

First Things First:

Invention:

Invention (Reading, Writing, and Communicating)


Appling new ways to solve problems is an ideal in reading and writing instruction. Invention is one of the key components of creating an exemplary writing piece or synthesizing information from multiple sources. Invention takes students to a higher level of metacognition while exploring literature and writing about their experiences.

• How does the skill of Invention connect to something you already do in your classroom?

• How might you integrate this skill more explicitly in your lessons?

• What will you do to help students become better with this skill?

Common Assessment #3: Story of an Hour. Ideas on how to score these? This assessment is a bit unwieldy and I am torn as to how to proceed today.

Follow-up: 46% proficient.
Revise and reassess based on a few questions that we like: symbol, setting, irony? Something about conflict that's a little more straightforward...

Scoring Sheet for "Story of an Hour" Assessment

Meeting #6 12/5/12

12/5/12 Meeting #6

Please get your public speaking data in as soon as you can. Thanks.

1. Check-In
2. 21st Century Offering: Invention

"Applying new ways to solve problems is an ideal in reading and writing instruction. Invention is one of the key components of creating an exemplary writing piece or synthesizing information from multiple sources. Invention takes students to a higher level of metacognition while exploring literature and writing about their experiences."

Form to fill out for Leah:

Info about these definitions


3. Selfish discussion for Spare about the presentations on A Long Way Gone--loosely connected to our ELO on speaking...



4. Let's figure out a 3rd ELO to work on. Keep the momentum going.

Possible way to frame conversation: What are we already planning on doing during semester 2 that would fit with #3 or #4?

Here are our "revised" ELO's

“Adjusted” ELOs

ELO #1 Students will write thesis statements that are clear, specific, debatable and provable. Through this process students

ELO #2: Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

New ELO #3: Students will display the ability to read and interpret literature by evaluating literary elements such as motif, theme, symbol and figurative language. 

Macbeth or any shakespeare (figurative language and motif) Annette, Tom

New ELO #4: Students will display the ability to synthesize two sources in a formal literary essay.

Synthesis with F 451 and film
(Steve, Kristin, Rob) Truman Show, Pleasantville

Next meeting is January 30th. Let's make sure we have our third set of data by then.

Feedback form: 

Meeting 11/14/12

11/14/12 Meeting (#5)

21st Century Goals Sheet (from Leah)

Topic: Self-Direction ("Definition" below)

Self Direction (Reading, Writing, and Communicating)

Students who read, write, and communicate independently portray self-direction by using metacognition skills. These important skills are a learner’s automatic awareness of knowledge and ability to understand, control, and manipulate cognitive processes. These skills are important not only in school but throughout life, enabling the student to learn and set goals independently.



Discussion of Speaking ELO

Spare talks about Kite Runner Speeches.
Kristin discusses book talks.
Check-in with everyone else. Where are you, what help do you need, etc.



Finally, which ELO do we want to tackle next....

ELO #1: Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

ELO #2: Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

New ELO #3: Students will display the ability to read and interpret literature by evaluating literary elements such as motif, theme, symbol and figurative language.

New ELO #4: Students will display the ability to synthesize two sources in a formal literary essay.

Feedback Form for Meeting #5

meeting 4: 10/24/12

10/24/12

Feedback Form #4https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LiDMMhjSRN1cFmhKgpUw13k--5mO4o08X9qYPBE_ezc/edit

From Leah: 

1. At PLC meetings #2 and #3, you discussed and answered questions about the 21 st

Century Skills of Critical Thinking and Reasoning and Information Literacy that

are embedded in your standards. Today, take a short time at the beginning of your

meeting to explore the 21st Century Skill of Collaboration.

"21st Century" Definition of Collaboration (Reading, Writing and Communicating)

Reading, writing, and communicating must encompass collaboration skills. Students should be able to collaborate with each other in multiple settings: peer groups, one-on-one, in front of an audience, in large and small group settings, and with people of other ethnicities. Students should be able to participate in a peer review, foster a safe environment for discourse, mediate
opposing perspectives, contribute ideas, speak with a purpose, understand and apply knowledge of culture, and seek others’ ideas.


Collaboration Discussion: Link to Document

2. Plan a common assessment on Public speaking ELO:

The ELO reads like this: 

Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

4 traits?

Link to our public speaking folder:

meeting 3: 10/3/12

Agenda

PLC Meeting #3

October 3, 2012 in C-17

Feedback Form

(From Leah) 1. At PLC meeting #2, you discussed and answered questions about the 21 st Century

Skill of Critical Thinking and Reasoning that is embedded in your standards. Today,

take a short time at the beginning of your meeting to explore the 21 st Century Skill

of Information Literacy.

Information Literacy (Reading, Writing and Communicating)

The student who is information-literate accesses information efficiently and effectively by reading and understanding essential content of a range of informational texts and documents in all academic areas. This involves evaluating information critically and competently; accessing appropriate tools to synthesize information; recognizing relevant primary and secondary information; and distinguishing among fact, point of view, and opinion.

•   Discuss and answer the three questions that follow. Include at least one example of what you are already doing or plan to do to help students master this skill. Please record your answers on Feedback Form #2 or on the attached document and send your answers to me.

1. How does the skill of Information Literacy connect to something you already do in your classroom?

2. How might you integrate this skill more explicitly in your lessons?

3. What will you do to help students become better with this skill?

Thesis common assessment: 

• 30 minutes of data entry
• Data driven dialogue with examples and data:

1. Observations

2. Inferences, implications.

3. Action

Common Assessment #2? Set a date or window for administering the assessment? Plan to have the data collected by your next meeting on October 24th?

7. Complete the yellow sections of the PLC Feedback Form #3 and the PLC Progress Report #3. Keep these for your records and please send a copy of each to Leah Latta by Friday, October 5th.

Meeting 9/12/12

Agenda

PLC Meeting #2

September 12, 2012

1. Set goals for the meeting using this agenda as a guide.

Feedback Form (link)

1. A short time at the beginning of this PLC meeting and each of the remaining four PLC meetings this semester will be devoted to exploring the 21st Century Skills embedded in your standards. The 21st Century Skill to explore today is Critical Thinking and Reasoning. Review the definition of this skill for your content (see attached document) and discuss the following three questions:

Critical Thinking and Reasoning (Reading, Writing and Communicating)

Critical thinking and reasoning are vital to advance in the technologically sophisticated world we live in. In order for students to be successful and powerful readers, writers, and communicators, they must incorporate critical thinking and reasoning skills. Students need to be able to successfully argue a point, justify reasoning, evaluate for a purpose, infer to predict and draw
conclusions, problem-solve, and understand and use logic to inform critical thinking.

• How does the skill of critical thinking connect to something you already do in your classroom?

• How might you integrate this skill more explicitly in your lessons?

• What will you do to help students become better with this skill?

Common Assessment #1

Essential Learnings from last meeting (we should build an assessment from one of these.)

1. Students will write thesis statements that are clear, specific, debatable and provable. Through this process students
2. Students will display the ability to read and interpret literature critically by evaluating such literary elements as plot, characterization, motif, and conflict.
3. Students will develop the ability to think abstractly about such literary elements as theme, symbol, and figurative language.
4. Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

Which one do we want to use? Is the thesis a slam dunk, or are there other options?

Which Rubric?

If time: Coolest English Teacher Ever (link)

Note: Next Meeting is 10/3. We need to have data for a common assessment

Meeting 8/29/12

TO DO (from Leah):

1. List your PLC facilitator’s name with an asterisk (*), all PLC members’ names, and your meeting location on the attached PLC Feedback Form #1. (DONE)

2. Create a list of norms to help your PLC work effectively as a group. (DONE)
3. (From Leah--can you help?)
   Last year, PLC  members worked hard to align their curriculum with the new standards. This semester, we will examine the five 21st Century Skills that are embedded in the standards to ensure that we are providing opportunities for all students to progress toward mastery of these skills. The skills are Critical Thinking and Reasoning, Information Literacy, Collaboration, Self-Direction, and Invention.  You can find content specific descriptions of these skills in your standards and also on the attached document from the Colorado Department of Education. At each of the remaining five PLC meetings this semester beginning at PLC Meeting #2, we will focus on one of these skills. Please include this work in your PLC goals for the year.
   
   
   Feedback Form (Anyone can edit)
   21st Century Goals
4. 2. 2. 3. Examine your course descriptions and flowcharts in the Arapahoe High School Pathfinder.  Determine whether the course descriptions and/or the flowcharts need to change as a result of your curriculum alignment work last year. If changes are necessary, please submit the corrected course descriptions and flowcharts to Kevin Kolasa by Wednesday, October 31st.

4. Set goals for the year and for the first meeting. (Fill out on Form)

5. Use the questions below to guide your discussions of Essential Learnings, Common Formative Assessments, and Supplemental Interventions. Note: What are our essential learnings from last year?

Here's the list we came up at the first meeting:

--Creating thesis statements that are clear, specific, refutable, and proveable. (Synthesis papers)

--Reading comprehension/interpretation: e.g. motif, theme, characterization, figurative lang.

--Grammar/mechanics: e.g. subject/verb agreement, comma splices.

--Formal public speaking: book talks, persuasive speeches.

• Determine the Essential Learnings for your course using these three criteria.

• Endurance – Does the learning address knowledge and skills that will endure throughout a student’s academic career and professional life?
• Leverage – Does the learning address knowledge and skills that will be of value in multiple content areas?
• Necessity – Does the learning provide the essential knowledge and skills that students need to succeed in the next grade level?

• Create Common Formative Assessments for each of your Essential Learnings.

• Which specific students did not demonstrate mastery?
• Which instructional practices proved to be most effective?
• What patterns can we identify from the student mistakes?
• How can we improve this assessment?
• What interventions are needed to provide failed students additional time and support?

• Develop a list of Supplemental Interventions.

• Which interventions are targeted to help failed learners?
• Which interventions are targeted to help intentional nonlearners?
• Are we accurately identifying every student in need of intervention, determining why each student is struggling, and placing each student in the proper intervention?
• How often will we monitor progress and revise student placement?

6. Complete the yellow sections of PLC Feedback Form #1.  Please send me your completed PLC Feedback Form #1 as well as  a list of all of your identified essential learnings from last year by Friday, August  31st.       We need to do this.

7. After you administer your first common assessment and analyze the data you collect, use the attached PLC Progress Report #1 to record and report your results.

Meeting 8/16/12

Minutes for 8/16 (10th grade PLC)

Who will be our PLC Facilitator this year?
Who will be members of our PLC?
What were our successes and challenges last year in answering the four PLC critical questions listed below?    
What are our PLC's goals this year?
What are our norms this year?
What support do we need to accomplish our goals?

The Four PLC Critical Questions
What is essential for students to learn?
How will we know when each student has learned it?
How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?
How will we respond when a student already knows it?

Notes:
1. Spare is facilitator.
2. Members: Annette, Steve, Tom, Lauren, Kristin, Rob.
2. Spare will use Edmodo to store documents. Join the group if you want to.
3. Challenges:

• directives from admin are not always continuous or consistent, which leaves the group confused as to how to proceed.
• Difficult to make PLCs/DDD’s meaningful to our classrooms.

4. Successes: group dynamic has always been good.
5. Possible ELO’s:

• Creating thesis statements that are clear, specific, refutable, and proveable. (Synthesis papers)
• Reading comprehension/interpretation: e.g. motif, theme, characterization, figurative lang.
• Grammar/mechanics: e.g. subject/verb agreement, comma splices.
• Formal public speaking: book talks, persuasive speeches.

6. Norms for Tenth PLC:

a. Allow others to finish thoughts before jumping in.

b. Stay focused on the PLC agenda.

c. Be on time and mentally present.

d. If necessary, to avoid circular discussions, call for a vote.

e. Respect the PLC process and seek to make it meaningful/pertinent to our classrooms.

6. Support: We need more specific directives from leaderhsip about how to proceed.