Meeting 2 Oct 2012

 

 

 

Clustering PLC

Meeting 2Getting to know our clustered students and Using Pre-Assessments

October 15, 2012, 2:15-3:35

SSHS’s Vision: Utilizing the best teaching practices, we will ensure that our students have the essential academic, ethical and workplace skills and knowledge to be successful in an ever-changing world.

 

Goals for PLC

• Identify, utilize and share pre- and post- assessment tools in order to gauge what students know and can do.

• Provide targeted, differentiation strategies to use with our ELL and GT clusters in the American Studies and English 9 classrooms.

• Use common language to use when discussing and making decisions around clusters, differentiated instruction, and other aspects of our courses.

 

• “Best hopes… worst fears” connection to Meeting 1

 

• How to find, read, and utilize Advanced Learning Plans and ELL Plans

  • Pre-Assessment

  • How to find, read and utilize Advanced Learning Plans

  • How to find, read and utilize ELL Plans

  • Identifying common language in plans

  • Post-Assessment

 

 

• Debriefing the reading

  • Share one strategy from the reading that was either a good reminder or a new tool you could use with your students this semester; brainstorm ways to use a strategy this semester.

• GT survey

 

• Assignments for next time:

  • Use one of the informal pre-assessment strategies with your students.

  • With your partner, create a pre- and post- assessment that you can use with your students prior to next month’s meeting. For the next meeting bring…

    • 10 copies of the pre-/post- assessment

    • Student results

  • Read pages 38-56 in the green packet.

  • Read pages 84-155 in The Cluster Grouping Handbook (Chapters 5 and 6).

 

 

You now have a cluster of ELL students and/or GT students in one or more of your classes. What are your best hopes and worst fears as we embark on Clustering this year?

Hopes: that the clustering helps the kids in each class achieve their highest potential without feeling either slowed down, or totally lost. It also helps us with differentiation.Fears: that it becomes the equivalent of tracking. I already noticed a difference in the dynamics of the two classes, and I'm already aware that I have to be careful in how I approach my ELL/resource class. I have to make sure I keep the expectations as high.

Best hopes: clustering will make differentiation more effective. I think we will be able meet the needs of all learners with more efficiency and effectiveness. Worst fear: that our ELL class will be working at a lower level. Lower achieving students may not be influenced by the higher achievers and on the other end, the gifted cluster class will miss out on diverse cultural perspectives.

Students will be met where they are in terms of instruction and materials -a differentiated classroom where different students are doing different things at different times.   I fear my own ability to build appropriate challenge.

Parents of GT, under the radar ELL, bored GT.

Hopes: That I tap into all students' potential and inspire them to become their best self.Fear: That I will waste my students' time with meaningless activities.

I have very limited worries as our class does not seem, to me, be very diverse.