Identifying Your School's PROBLETUNITIES

So what's a PROBLETUNITY?  

It's an identified focus that exists in a school or organization that can be used as a catalyst to create an opportunity for success!  

We all have them...but don't look at them simply as problems.  

Seize them as OPPORTUNITIES!

Every Creative Classroom Services Education Specialist is dedicated to providing differentiated and customized support to our partners.

It's what we are known for!

Members of our team are experts at providing an extensive range of support options which may include:

  • conducting professional development workshops.
  • leading school or team meetings.
  • working with small groups of teachers with targeted instruction.
  • modeling lessons.
  • whisper teaching.
  • lesson studies.
  • parent meetings and workshops.
  • creating and leading whole-school change initiatives.
  • WHAT EVER YOU NEED!

Sample Workshop Blueprints

STRUCTURED LITERACY & SCIENCE OF READING

GRADES PK-5

Structured Literacy is the application of knowledge from the science of reading that teaches children to read in an evidence-based and systematic way. Any Structured Literacy approach weaves together an array of skills from the science of reading.

In these support sessions, teachers will deepen their understanding of the science of reading and consider the impact it will have on current teaching practices. With that end  in mind, teachers will explore:

·    SOR big ideas and research.

·    Scarborough’s Reading Rope.

·    The simple view of reading.

·    How the brain is a 4-part reading processor.

·    NYSED “Big 6” Skills and Competencies.

·    SOR relationship to NGSS standards.

·      Alignment to daily reading instruction.

ENGAGING STUDENTS IN LEARNING

GRADES PK-12

The centerpiece of the DANIELSON FRAMEWORK is

ENGAGING STUDENTS IN LEARNING. 

When students are engaged in the deeper understanding of the what, why, and the how of the learning marvelous things happen!

In these sessions teachers will investigate strategies to include students both physically and meta-cognitively in their learning.  Participants will share both the importance and the strategies of engagement, and learn how to make sure that;

"School is not a place where young people come to watch older people work!"

ASSESSMENT IN LEARNING

GRADES PK-8

For decades the importance of common formative assessments has been undervalued, or even worse, overlooked.  With the demand for higher standards and deeper learning, knowing your students, being able to monitor their learning and then responding by making the right teacher moves-sets great educators apart from the others.   

Teachers need to become daily researchers.  People who are constantly testing the actions and reactions of learners, making judgments, probing their subjects and following up with teaching opportunities.

 In this session we create our Teacher Research Toolbox so we will always be ready.

INDEPENDENT READING

GRADES PK-8

Independent reading is more than just letting students pick a book and read while the teacher does something else.  Teachers have a responsibility in this as well.  They’re the ones that need to provide the tools students need to be independent, life-long readers using the four essential elements of independent reading: choice, strategies, time and goals.

In this workshop teachers will learn and share the process that enhances independent reading across the school and provides continuous effective practice across the grades.

GUIDED READING

GRADES K-8

Guided Reading has significant beneficial effects on helping student’s develop reading skills. It is one of the most effective tools not only to improve a student's fundamental reading skills but also to help the student develop higher level comprehension skills.  

Many teachers find guided reading a difficult lesson to plan and as difficult to administer. 

In this session we will trim the edges away so everyone can be effective reading instructors with the student doing the work.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TEAMS

GRADES K-8

There are many advantages in establishing and maintaining professional learning teams such as;

  • Reduction of isolation of teachers.
  • Increased commitment to the mission and goals of the school and increased vigor in working to strengthen the mission.
  • Shared responsibility for the total development of students and collective responsibility for students' success.

In this session we will explore how to create, maintain and maximize the effectiveness of professional learning teams, and how to ensure their success.

PHONEMIC AWARENESS AND PHONICS INSTRUCTION

GRADES PK-5

 

Requires high-quality and expert teaching that follows a carefully planned and tightly structured approach to teaching phonic knowledge and skills.

 

Pupils are given opportunities to apply what they have learnt through reading – including time to read aloud to adults to practice their decoding skills – writing and comprehension of what they are reading.

 

QUESTIONING AND DISCUSSION TECHNIQUES

GRADES PK-12

The importance of Questioning and Discussion Techniques as leverage tools for learning cannot be understated…but often is.  It is through the careful planning and probing of inquiry, and by using the vehicle of students with students, that true learning occurs.  A carefully crafted classroom that has been constructed with student participation as a key ingredient provides the teacher with a never ending abundance of teaching possibilities.

In this session we will investigate how these classrooms are constructed and how we as teachers can create the pathways for students to be the catalysts for their own deeper learning. 

PORTFOLIOS

GRADES PK-8

Portfolios are a form of alternative/authentic assessment in which a student's progress is measured over a period of time in various contexts. Portfolio assessment is closely linked to instruction.  Student assessment portfolios promote positive student involvement. 

These are just a few of the reasons why a school needs the connected practices of portfolios that involves all school stakeholders. 

In this session/series teachers will identify the importance, process and application of effective and interactive portfolios.


THE WRITING PROCESS AND WRITERS NOTEBOOK

GRADES K-8

Common core curriculum does not teach students to write- it EXPECTS students to write at grade level competency.

The writing process is part of the Common Core Learning Standards and students need to use both seeds and strategies to be effective writers and to be able to apply this to the three types of writing in the CCLS. 

In this session we investigate how to bring the joy back into writing.

5 KEY STRATEGIES OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

GRADES K-12

Danielson 3d- Using Assessment in Instruction, highlights the importance of formative assessment.  All assessment has a number of key strategies, and in this workshop teachers will investigate how these key strategies interact in chronological order to ensure that teachers and students combine to create assessment that truly drives instruction.

DATA DRIVEN WRITING

GRADES K-8

The 6 + 1 writing traits are heavily embedded into the CCSS and are common in great writing.  By embedding 6 +1 traits into a school writing culture, teachers have the ability to use the information gathered to make data driven decisions and to use this data to create individual, class, grade and whole school goals.

In this workshop we create a whole school writing focus on the traits that can be used by every teacher in the school.

CURRICULUM MAP AUDIT

GRADES K-8

What actually happens to a girl in grade 3 at your school? 

How much non-fiction does she read or write during the year? 

When does she write fiction? 

How about in middle school, where students visit many different classrooms and many different teachers all in one day? 

How do we keep track of all this?

In this workshop teachers learn how to audit their curriculum to find out the answers to these questions.  It shows progression through the grades and informs the curriculum we purchase and teach.

USING RICH TASKS AND BLUEPRINTS

GRADES 3-12

A Rich Task is a project that connects different subject (interdisciplinary) and involves a variety of teaching and learning methods.  In a Rich Task students are encouraged to  display their learning throughout the task.  It is not only about improving one's understanding,knowledge and skills- it is equally about how one displays their progress.  The project should spark interest, relate to real issues and help students develop useful skills.  It must promote active learning- no sitting in silence listening to a lecture.

 

In these workshops teachers will learn how to develop rich tasks with multi-steps so that students are responsible for their planning, research and blueprinting of the work.  This leads to highly engaged students and rigorous learning.

REALLY USING DATA

GRADES K-12

Teachers who develop useful assessments, provide corrective instruction, and give students second chances to demonstrate success can improve their instruction and help students learn.

We have been collecting data for a long time in NYC schools, but we use so little of it to inform instruction that really matters.

What data do you collect?  What do you do with it?

In this workshop we learn the important three steps in collecting and using data.

·         What?

·         So what?

·         Now what?

FINDING THE RIGHT WORD

GRADES K-8

In this lively, interactive workshop we will go to great lengths to convince participants of the significance of academic vocabulary in all grades and for all groups of students.

It is essential that academic vocabulary is learned through robust, intentional, explicit instruction and here everyone will discover the words they should use, how to choose the best words, ways to embed the learning in both early and later grades and how to ensure access for all learners as a tool for leveraging complex text. 

Creating a school-wide focus on academic vocabulary should be the goal of all successful schools, and in this workshop we will create blueprints to ensure success and identify ways to assess and maintain the new vocabulary.

Knowing, reading and using academic vocabulary is the nucleus of effectual learning.  Let's help all of our learners to Find the Right Word.

LEARNING TARGETS

GRADES K-8

The first thing students need to learn is what they're supposed to be learning.  That’s where LEARNING TARGETS come into play.  They convey to students the destination for the lesson—what to learn, how deeply to learn it, and exactly how to demonstrate their new learning. The intention for the lesson is one of the most important things students should learn. Without a precise description of where they are headed, too many students are "flying blind."

In this workshop teachers will learn about the importance of learning targets, how to write them, how to keep them alive during the lesson, how to assess them and how to ensure they are aligned to Common Core Standards.

MAKING THINKING VISIBLE ROUTINES

GRADES K-12

Thinking Routines are short, easy-to-learn mini-strategies that extend and deepen students' thinking and become part of the fabric of everyday classroom life.  There are 30 routines developed or refined by

Harvard University Project Zero that teachers can use to create a thinking classroom which can have astounding results on deeper learning within the school.

In this workshop teachers will learn about the importance of thinking classrooms, explore the routines, and investigate how to embed them into everyday practices.

CONNECTED PRACTICES

GRADES K-8

 In this workshop we will be covering the importance of connected practices in schools and showing why an established set of practices, developed by teachers for teachers, provides a transparent pathway of learning that can be supported by parents, teacher and students.

We will go through some examples of how this can be created and how it is supported in schools.

Key points include:

  • Connectedness of understanding about how students progress in their learning across the school.
  • Scaffolded practices that build each year to strengthen student learning.
  • Agreed and shared pathways developed by teachers for teachers.
  • Clear expectations and collective understandings by all stakeholders in the school community. 

CLOSE READING

GRADES K-8

 Close Reading expects readers to focus on the information that a text provides, without relying on external information or support.

This is different from other kinds of reading lessons you teach, in which you may start out by introducing teacher-set purposes, discussions of students’ life experiences, picture walks, and so on.

Close Reading discourages such front-loading.

The goal of Close Reading instruction is to foster independent readers who are able to plumb the depths of a text by considering only the text itself.

The Common Core Standards relies on Close Reading of text so students can gain the deeper of both the writing and the writer.

In this workshop we will be investigating all of the different ways that teachers are using Close Reading strategies and sharing our own successful practices.  We will then create a clear pathway for Close Reading that we can embed across the school.

  TEXT DEPENDENT QUESTIONS

GRADES K-8

 Text-dependent questions are those that can only be answered by referring back to the text being read. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) require students to cite pertinent evidence from the text when responding orally or when writing an answer to questions about the text. Students can no longer rely solely on prior knowledge or personal experience.

In this workshop teachers will use their close reading texts to write text dependent questions that will scale from lower order to higher order thinking.

TAKING MINDFULNESS TO SCHOOL

PROFESSIONALS

 In this workshop for all educators: Principals, Teachers, Coaches, Paras, Assistant Principals, Coordinators, Grade Level Leaders, Parent Coordinators

Participants are introduced to mindfulness and positive psychology through a hands – on experience of the simple but powerful and fun practices and tools, and their enhancement of learning and behavior at all levels and ages.  Through an exploration of the latest research, a school readiness protocol, a mindfulness and positive psychology curriculum, and a guided implementation process, schools will be well prepared to integrate these practice school-wide, as a strong foundational partner to their academic learning and behavior education programs.

 

Brian@CreativeSchoolServices.com

 P: 914-843-0407