Deepening, Strengthening, and Honing Talent Development at Springfield and Angel Oak Elementary

In the fall of 2016, Cohort 1 Academy teachers at Angel Oak and Springfield Elementary Schools have been deepening, strengthening, and honing their talent-scouting and development skills. On October 26, 2016, teachers at both schools took part in an innovative half-day professional development session conducted virtually via Google Drive. The goals of the PD were to provide a forum for teacher collaboration, planning and leadership, and to explore the uses of fidelity checks.

Using the virtual, hot-linked instructions and examples provided, teams of teachers at both schools were able to create 2^nd quarter long-range plans with evidence of TDA incorporation in multiple content areas, to draft one week’s worth of TDA lesson plans, and to describe how they plan on using fidelity checks to ensure TDA models and curricula are being used as intended. Teachers in Residence, Lindsey Blackmon and Lara Kessler served as on-site PD facilitators during the ½ day, working with groups of teachers at either Springfield Elementary or Angel Oak Elementary. Dr. Swanson visited both schools.

Virtual “exit tickets” were provided to individual teachers via Google Forms at the close of the ½ day Professional Development, and teachers reported greatly enjoying and benefitting from the virtual, co-planning PD time. One teacher commented,  “It was extremely helpful to be able to work with my grade level to plan out how we would implement TDA for the remainder of the year.”  Another shared that the PD was a “great way to HAVE to sort all this stuff out,” adding “There are so many times that we would like to talk about these topics but we have so many other things we need to do. It was great to have time to actually sit down and do it.”

In November and December of 2016, over 20 TDA teachers signed up for thirty minute fidelity check observations conducted by Lindsey Blackmon and Lara Kessler. Observation notes, fidelity check data, and next steps for development were discussed by the TDA teacher and TDA coaches in follow-up meetings.  Those data will be used as the basis for greater individualized professional development in the future. Teachers seemed genuinely receptive to the feedback and appreciated the opportunity to hone their skills. As one teacher noted, “Thank you all for the great feedback! I definitely realize I struggle with remaining neutral for student responses. It’s tough to do when you’re excited about their great insight! I’ll definitely work on this because I know it will lead to deeper conversations.”

Teachers at Minnie Hughes: Gaining Momentum!

By practicing the approaches and models introduced in July 2016, strengthened by a variety of fall PD sessions, the Minnie Hughes teachers are gaining momentum in their development as talent developers and talent scouts. Each K-5 teacher received professional development in the Mentoring Mathematical Minds unit specific to their grade level by mid-September 2016. Some began implementing the unit immediately, while others will incorporate the unit where it best correlates to their grade level pacing guides. All teachers are implementing Talk Moves and seeing the power of this instructional strategy. Teachers shared the following comments:

“This is beginning to become a part of the classroom culture. I have also been encouraging students to respectfully explain their thinking as well as why they disagree with another student’s idea.”

“I have been using the talk moves around open-ended problems during the math block to deepen the students thinking. The students are really getting used to using agree and disagree in their sentences…The students are now using it without me having to prompt them and I LOVE IT.”

During an afterschool professional development session in late September 2016, teachers explored the Teacher’s Observation of Potential in Students (TOPS), a tool designed to help teachers recognize potential in all students. As a faculty, teachers introduced and discussed the nine domains in which students demonstrate potential. Minnie Hughes teachers are using this resource in their classrooms to record interactions in which a student shows strength and/or potential.

In November 2016, the TDA team along with the Minnie Hughes faculty and Principal Berry, came together after school to revisit Talk Moves. Talk Moves, conversational prompts designed by Mentoring Mathematical Minds, are used to create more student-to-student interactions and deepen understanding by way of discussion. During the professional development session, teachers watched videos in which Talk Moves were used purposefully to highlight a correct response or redirect a misconception. In all instances, the teacher kept a “poker face” and allowed the students’ interactions to drive the analysis or problem solving. Minnie Hughes teachers are continuing to build the use of Talk Moves within their classrooms, in all content areas.

One teacher shared the following about her use of Talk Moves with her students:

“I have also been using them when discussing Yolanda’s Genius. We have really been stressing using agree/disagree with [another student’s] “idea” and not just that person. So far, it has shown that students are being more respectful in their discussions, and more students are offering up ideas and concepts in discussion. I have also been working on wait time and my poker face, which I have found to be difficult but seems to slow the discussion down and allows more students to process and take ownership of what we are learning.”

In preparation for the third quarter, Minnie Hughes teachers took part in an ELA-focused professional development just before the winter break. K-2 teachers studied examples from Jacob’s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program as a means of developing their own Navigator-like questions and scaffolds. Grades 3-5 teachers explored units designed to explore a central concept through a variety of texts. The units, created by the College of William and Mary focus upon literary analysis, persuasive writing, linguistic and communication development, and reasoning and understanding skills specific to the overarching concept of change. 4^th and 5^th grade Science and Social Studies teachers practiced elevating the rigor of their questioning using Jacob’s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program. We expect that the units will be taught during the third nine weeks.