Saturday, November 10, 2007

Teacher Talk - What's working, what isn't?

We devoted a staff meeting on October 24, 2007 to discussing the launch of Lucy Calkin's in our building. We separated into two groups, K-2 and 3-5. Each group discussed and answered three questions about the initial launch of Lucy Calkins...

  • What is working?

  • What isn't working?

  • What do you need more help with?

I conveyed to the staff that the last question would help me in developing future staff development for them. I also would have information to bring back to the Literacy Leader district level meetings.

Here are the key ideas from each group for each question:

What is working?

The K-2 group...

  • mini-lessons

  • pulling sticks for sharing

  • high frequency words around the room

  • CD templates are very helpful

  • posters for classroom

The 3-5 group...

  • 4 days Lucy Calkins, 1 day writing to the prompt

  • portfolios

  • mini-lesson follow up and writing in notebooks

  • process writing

  • sketching, then writing is working very well

  • take one paragraph and elaborate; create a picture

What isn't working?

The K-2 group...

  • staple work in corners not on bottom of paper

  • Kdgn. not ready for red dot, green dot at the beginning of the year; will fit in by end of unit)

The 3-5 group...

  • concerns about Lucy Calkins conflicting with writing from prompts

  • students need more motivation to get started and elaborate on more detail

What do you need more help with?

The K-2 group...

  • in-service on conferencing with students

  • Lucy Calkins training for parent volunteers

  • books that go with mini-lessons

The 3-5 group...

  • determining grades for marking period

  • what is the best rubric to judge daily performance?

  • assessment is a major concern

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