Professional Learning Advisory Applicants

Elementary Candidates (vote for one)

 

Shannon Benne, Title I Reading Interventionist at Westport

I am interested in serving on the Professional Learning Advisory Committee because I am a collaborator, continual learner, and I have a growth mindset. I have served as an SPLS Liaison and I am currently the ELP Liaison and TST Facilitator at my site. I have been a teacher for 9 years and a Title I Reading Interventionist for 7 of those years.  My experience has taught me the importance of professional learning and continuous growth.

Amanda Desa, 5^th grade teacher at Weaver

Joining this committee would allow me to continue to grow as an educator, collaborate with colleagues, stay up-to-date on the most current teaching practices, and most importantly, be an integral part of the professional learning community that brings new ideas to the classroom in order to help students achieve their goals.

Jamie Quirk, IB Primary Years Programme Coordinator at Field and Boyd

I welcome the possibility to serve on the SPS Professional Learning Advisory Team for next year.  Working with adult learners is my passion, and I am excited about the opportunity to gain greater insights on how to better support teachers in our district.  Some traits I am nurturing which might benefit the PL team are:

• being creative and innovative
• being open-minded and collaborative with others
• being aware of multiple perspectives when making decisions (student, teacher, district, parent, community)
• being knowledgeable about current research pertaining to teaching, learning and assessment

I would love the chance to collaborate and grow from others in the SPS professional learning community.

Secondary Members – (Vote for four)

Deanna Gibbs, Art teacher at Pleasant View Middle

I would like to serve on the advisory because I like to be involved with what is going on with professional learning.  I have served on my school’s professional development team for 10 years.  I like to advocate for professional learning that is applicable to all subject areas.  I seek out and attend professional learning workshops outside of the hours required by the district in order to improve my own teaching.  I enjoy being involved with professional learning.

Angela Mansel, 6^th grade ELA teacher at Wilson’s Creek

I would like to be a part of the PL Advisory because I’m a firm believer in being a life-long learner.  Teaching is a profession, like many others, that is constantly changing and evolving.  Teachers and staff need training and support in staying apprised of what is new and how it effects them and their classrooms.  Through being a SPLS Liaison in the past and also being a member of the Professional Learning Department this year, I know the impact that this organization has on the success of our teachers and staff, and I would like the chance to continue being a part of that success.

Alma Pettenger, Spanish teacher at Glendale

As a teacher, I recognize the impact that quality professional learning has in bridging the gap between where we are as teachers and where we desire to be.  I would like to be part of this committee to have the opportunity to be influential and have a voice in the dialogues and discussions that will lead to decisions impacting Professional Learning in our district. 

Brandon Randall, 7^th grade World History teacher at Pershing Middle

As a fellow lifelong learner, I would be honored to come alongside others and help in their professional learning, to better help meet the needs of the students here at Springfield Public Schools.

Gretchen Teague, Theatre/ELA Teacher at Central

I have had the honor of serving on the PLAC for the last three years. It has been a learning experience as I have witnessed the process of bringing professional learning to such a large education community.  I am passionate about instilling a need and a love for professional learning in all educators.  In addition, continuing to learn and grow as an educator is one of my life goals.  It would be my honor to continue to work with the PLAC for another three year term.

 

The What and Why of National Board Certification
by Alma Pettenger, Professional Learning Specialist, NBCT 

Standard 8: Professional Practice

Quality Indicator 2: Professional learning

 

Effective teachers understand that being a lifelong learner is at the heart of good teaching.  In 2012, I was one of two teachers in the state of Missouri to achieve National Board Certification for World Languages.  This was the most rigorous, grueling, and yet the most transformative professional learning experience of my career. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is not about passing a test or receiving an attractive certificate that you can frame to decorate your work space; it is about achieving the highest standards set by a profession, which in turn will support students in achieving their highest potential. 

What is National Board Certification?

Created for teachers and by teachers, National Board Certification is a voluntary, advanced professional certification for PreK-12 educators. The standards identify teaching expertise through a performance-based, peer-reviewed assessment.  NBPTS outlines what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do in these five core propositions:

Proposition 1: Teachers are committed to students and their learning.

Proposition 2: Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.

Proposition 3: Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.

Proposition 4: Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.

Proposition 5: Teachers are members of learning communities.

What sets National Board Certification apart from other professional learning experiences?

For me, what made this professional learning experience rise above the rest is that it is 100% voluntary, 100% self-directed, and 100% personal.  According to Malcom Knowles’s Adult Learning Theory, adults’ most potent motivator to learn is internal drive—self-esteem, better quality of life, self-actualization, etc. (Caruso, 2010). This means that true learning occurs when adults are motivated to continue growing and developing.  So, embarking on this process as a volunteer is indeed powerful!

Additionally, NBPTS is recognized as the gold standard in teacher certification . The core belief of NBPTS is that higher standards for teachers mean better learning for students.

Why should you consider NBPTS?

Personally, I was at a place in my career where I felt I needed to be challenged to be the best teacher I could be.  I was looking for something that would truly help me move my students forward.  This process transformed me into a more reflective practitioner.  I constantly ask myself the why, the how, and the what-next of every decision I make for my students.

In achieving Board Certification, teachers prove their ability to advance student learning and achievement. Research shows that the students of Board-certified teachers learn more than students in other classrooms, which is why many states and districts offer incentives for teachers to pursue Board Certification. Springfield Public Schools offers a $3,000 yearly stipend for teachers who achieve Board Certification.  SPS currently has 6 teachers who are Board Certified: Melissa Albright, Wilson’s Creek; Stephanie Blake, Middle College; Kathy McGrane, Glendale High School; Kimberlea Gray, Parkview High School; Lisa Lilley, MYP Coordinator; and myself.

If you are looking for a learning opportunity that will inform your practice and will help you become a reflective practitioner, take a deeper look at NBPTS.  Visit the NBTS website for more information about what the process involves. You could also contact me at apettenger@spsmail.org and I will be more than happy to help you explore the nuts and bolts of this process. 

Caruso, Shirly. (2010). Malcolm Knowles and the six assumptions underlying andragogy. eAdult   Education. Retrieved from http://www.eadulteducation.org/adult-learning/malcolm-knowles-and-the-six-assumptions-underlying-andragogy/.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.nbpts.org/.

It’s True: They Do Know You Better Than You Know Yourself
by Alicia Moore, Professional Learning Specialist

Standard 8: Professional Practice

Quality Indicator 1: Self-assessment and improvement

In her 2011 TED talk, Kathryn Shulz asks her audience this question: “How does it feel to be wrong?” To the answers—dreadful, thumbs down, embarrassing—she responds, “Thank you. These are great answers, but they’re answers to a different question. You guys are answering the question: How does it feel to realize you’re wrong?” She goes on to say, “It does feel like something to be wrong: it feels like being right.”

Shulz’s insight applies to all kinds of situations, but perhaps none so much as self-assessment. We each might assume that we know our own strengths and weaknesses better than our colleagues or family members know us. Again and again, however, research has proven this assumption to be wrong.

We are limited by our own perceptions of the world. This phenomenon, the Dunning-Krueger effect, goes something like this: If I’ve mastered a skill, I will underestimate my own ranking because I expect that others find it fairly easy, too. And when I encounter a daunting task, the cognitive load will impair my judgment to the point that I can’t effectively evaluate just how much better others are faring on the same task (Hattie & Yates 2014, p. 233-235).

So what’s a professional to do, then? If we are incapable of assessing our own performance, how do we achieve the goal of continual growth?

The antidote, it seems, is regular feedback. Our blinds spots are mostly limited to ourselves. When compared to self-predictions, people are more accurate at predicting others’ IQs, test scores, and even how likely they are to volunteer in the future (Hattie & Yates, 2014, p. 231). The more often you can calibrate your own perceptions, the more valid your self-evaluation will become.

Consider these sources of feedback as you assess your own teaching performance:

• Students: Create a regular feedback loop by asking students to give you a quick rundown of what’s working and what’s not. You might use simple surveys or exit slips.
• Colleagues: Ask another teacher to spend even a few minutes in your classroom to record what they notice about a specific instructional skill that you’re working on.
• Administration: This may seem too obvious, but your principal has seen a lot of classrooms. Ask him or her for a little insight into your performance on a regular basis.
• Video: Use whatever technology you might have to record and then collect hard data on your teaching. Jim Knight (2014) suggests several categories, including types of questions, instructional vs. non-instructional time, and teacher vs. student talk.

Hattie, J., & Yates, G. (2014). Visible learning and the science of how we learn. New York, NY: Routledge.

 Knight, J. (2014). Focus on teaching: Using video for high-impact instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

 Shulz, K. (2011, March). Kathryn Shulz: On being wrong [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com /talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong/transcript?language=en#t-376747.

Personal Learning through Professional Collaboration
by Kathy Gross, Director of Professional Learning

Standard 1: Professional Collaboration
Quality Indicator 1: Roles, Responsibilities, and Collegial Activities

Professional learning is more than reading books, blogs, tweets, or going to workshops.  These actions might begin the journey of professional learning, but taking time to digest and apply the new information gained is a necessary next step! Engaging in dialogue around that information supports knowledge, understanding, and application for the individuals involved in the dialogue. Finally, doing something with your knowledge is a crucial step of professional learning.

Knowing and doing are very different categories. Isn't it frustrating when we see our students fail to demonstrate that they know information? Why then are we content with ourselves when we know information that we fail to demonstrate? Anything I consider having ever learned I can do: riding a bicycle, driving a car, speaking Spanish, being a teacher, using Cooperative Learning as an engagement strategy, serving as a school principal, becoming a Cognitive Coach, etc.

In every example, there was some prerequisite knowledge needed before I was able to practice and apply the skills. In every example, the less I use the skill, the worse I become at it, and the more I use the skill, the better I become at it. In fact, the more I know about all these things, the more I realize there is to know. I know that we can all see the connections to our profession—the more we practice it, the more we realize there is to know and find out about our students, our content, and our pedagogy.

In each example above, I only mastered the skills because I took the time to collaborate with others on a similar learning journey, some within SPS and others beyond SPS. It is important that we take the opportunity to network with people in our own sites, around the district, throughout the state, nation, and world. Only a few years ago, that last sentence would have seemed too tall an order, impractical.  But today, technology makes every part of that sentence possible.

The Department of Professional Learning has been intentional in providing a framework for professional learning at your site to be systemic. SPLS stands for Site Professional Learning Systems, communicating the need for learning at the site level to be part of a system rather than random acts of improvement. District Expectations and Critical Components have existed on the SPLS webpage since 2011, when SPLS began. This spring they will be communicated for the fifth time to attending site teams. To what extent do these district expectations portray your personal experience at your site?

1. Teachers use contractual time to actively engage in collaboration/learning.
2. Data drives each team’s work and classroom instruction.
3. Plan and work must align with SIP and exhibit cycles of improvement.
4. Teams document work and monitor outcomes.
5. Leader provides written and verbal feedback to collaborative teams and opportunities to make the work public.

What question do you have about your students that you can study with your colleagues? Let’s move away from separating the work we need to do from the learning. The learning IS our work. We are, in fact, each leaders in a learning organization, and we are surrounded by exceptional resources—our colleagues!

Best wishes with your professional collaboration.

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen
by Sarah Logan, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

Standard 9: Utilizing Effective Communication
Quality Indicator #3: Cooperative partnerships in support of student learning

We’ve all heard the expression that “Many hands make light work,” but in reality, our experience is more likely to have been “Many hands made more work.” Even when people have the best of intentions for working together toward a common goal, what’s intended to be a collaborative effort may morph into a collaborative gathering. So much conversation happens that no significant action comes as a result.

So how can this be avoided? Once you’ve determined that there’s a need to work together, don’t overlook the importance of determining HOW your group will work together. Having an agreed upon set of norms sets the stage for meaningful and productive teamwork.

The Seven Norms of Collaboration are not a brand new invention. They were developed by Adaptive Schools and are widely known and used by educators who aspire to support student learning through their work together. As you join with colleagues for this purpose, consider how they could positively impact your efforts.

• Promoting a spirit of inquiry: Hold yourself accountable for being curious about the thinking and ideas of others before you advocate your own.
• Pausing: Give yourself time to think before speaking and to allow others to respond.
• Paraphrasing: Demonstrate that you want to understand what others are saying and that you are genuinely listening.
• Probing for specificity: Generate and ask questions that will help provide clarity about topics being discussed.
• Putting ideas on the table: Contribute ideas for the group to consider.
• Paying attention to self and others: Be aware of your own and others’ non-verbal cues to how people are feeling.
• Presuming positive intentions: Choose to believe that people are operating from honorable motivations.

To learn more about the Seven Norms of Collaboration and how they may guide your collaborative work, visit http://www.thinkingcollaborative.com/norms-collaboration-toolkit/.

Redefining Engagement
by Martha Doennig, Coordinator, Professional Learning

Standard #1: Content knowledge aligned with appropriate instruction
Quality Indicator #2: Student engagement in subject matter

Have you engaged in a conversation around a topic in which you had little expertise, only to hear the words, “Let’s Google that”? On a daily basis, nearly 5.7 billion queries rely on Google for content expertise. Considering that Google is just one of many search engines, the internet has the potential to make educators feel obsolete. While we know that teachers are actually far from obsolete, we need to rethink engagement in the classroom since students have other outlets to find answers.

Why does student engagement matter?

In a recent edition of Education Week, a Gallup poll was referenced as finding that nearly 50% of students report that they are not engaged or are actively disengaged in school. This staggering statistic poses a problem for schools as disengagement is one of the largest factors leading to a student’s decision to drop out. While dropout rate has received much attention in recent years and has steadily declined nationwide, lack of engagement is becoming a growing concern as it comes with its own costly price tag.

So what is new about student engagement?
Many discussions about student engagement focus on behavioral indicators. This measure

certainly does not tell the whole story, as engagement includes the emotion and cognition of the student as well. When students make a cognitive, behavioral, and emotional investment, their personal ownership in learning increases (Sparks, 2013). Empowered to actively and constructively participate in learning, students will be beating down the doors to get in…not out.

What’s this about emotion and cognition?

Emotional engagement ties to the culture of the learning environment. To be emotionally engaged, one must feel accepted into the culture of the classroom while finding meaningful connections, interest, and relevance to the learning.

Cognitive engagement refers to the ability to manage and monitor one’s own learning. Providing choice and autonomy in learning allows students to navigate content, leading to deeper learning.

What does the research tell us?

Authors of The Highly Engaged Classroom explore the concept that information must be important for the working memory to maintain it for long. If students do not believe learning is relevant, the brain with eventually reject it. To successfully engage the mind, four questions must be considered: How do I feel? Am I interested? Is this important? Can I do this? (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2011).

Current research from Phillip Schlechty explains engagement as a connection between attention, persistence, and commitment, all of which tie to Marzano’s questions.  The “Levels of Engagement” infographic explores five ways in which students respond or adapt to school-related tasks and activities.

No longer can we look at ritual compliance, also known as demonstrating positive behavior, as engagement.  In ritual compliance, students are missing critical emotional and cognitive engagement, therefore leading to complacent, yet unfulfilling, learning.

Strategic compliance still misses the mark of authentic engagement since students miss the relevance of learning, causing low retention.

How might I make a difference in engagement?

When you think about times your students have shown authentic engagement in learning, what factors contributed to your success? Which of those factors might you want to emulate time and time again?

Suggestions for enhancing student engagement in the classroom include the following:

• Provide students with rich learning experiences signaling real purpose and relevance of content.
• Evoke student curiosity through lesson design and questioning opportunities.
• Trust students’ voice and choice as they take the reins of learning.
• Allow for student autonomy.
• Increase global interactions.
• Create meaningful fun.

Rethinking engagement will create an environment that is far beyond Google’s reach as emotional, cognitive, and behavioral factors of engagement are satisfied in all our students. 

References:

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Heflebower, T. (2011). The highly engaged classroom. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.

Schlechty Center on Engagement (2013). Retrieved from http://www.schlechtycenter.org/tools-for-change.

Sparks, Sarah. “Active Student Engagement Goes Beyond Class Behavior, Study Finds.” Education Week. N.p., 10 July 2013. 

Putting Down Roots
by Alicia Moore, Professional Learning Specialist

Standard #1: Content knowledge aligned with appropriate instruction
Quality Indicator #4: Interdisciplinary instruction

As a third grader, I was awed by a Weekly Reader article about the giant sequoias and redwoods of California. There was a picture of a car driving through a tunnel in the trunk of a redwood. Another tree was so big that my entire class would have barely been able to encircle it holding hands.

If we borrow an old analogy, teachers plant seeds of knowledge in young minds. And aren’t we all hoping to grow some metaphorical redwoods and sequoias? How exactly can we cultivate minds that reach such unbelievable heights?

One characteristic of those towering trees offers insight for educators. It turns out that they grow to such amazing heights not because of their innate strength, but because they depend upon each other. Each tree stretches out its roots, and the roots fuse with all the other trees in the area. The result is a forest of giants with the stability and resourcefulness to live thousands of years.

This idea relates to one especially helpful framework for thinking about student learning—the structure of observed learning outcomes, usually called the SOLO model (Hattie, 2012, p. 54). This model names four levels of learning:

• Uni-structural: one idea
• Multi-structural: many ideas
• Relational: relating ideas
• Extended abstract: extending ideas

The uni-structural and multi-structural levels encompass surface-level understanding, whereas the next two levels of learning go deeper. The message of this model is that when we connect concepts across content areas, we allow students to expand and fuse their academic root systems.

Learning surface level concepts is an important first step, of course. As John Hattie and Gregory Yates say, “you must have something to think about before you can relate, extend, critique, and enquire” (2014). Helping students to transfer their knowledge to new situations can be a daunting task, though, so deeper learning sometimes feels out-of-reach.

Project-based learning (PBL) includes an interdisciplinary teaching philosophy, and that’s one reason that it has generated a lot of excitement among educators. This approach to learning provides a template for bringing different content areas together so that students can find a relevant application for what they know. If you’re interested in learning more about PBL, check out this 4 minute video.

When we help our students apply their learning to various contexts, we help them cultivate a forest of knowledge. Their scientific reasoning skills lend clarity to writing; their writing skills give voice to their political stances. One idea supports and is supported by all others, creating students whose learning is as impressive as the redwood forests. 


References:

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. New York, NY: Routledge.

Hattie, J., & Yates, G. (2014). Visible learning and the science of how we learn. New York, NY: Routledge.

Thinking Cooperatively
by Myki Williamson, Professional Learning Specialist

Standard #4: Teaching for Critical Thinking
Quality Indicator:3: Cooperative Learning
 

Cooperative Learning is an excellent way to reinforce the 3 C’s (Collaborate, Communicate, and Critically Think) while also teaching required content. No matter the grade level you teach, selecting an appropriate structure can engage your students in all three capabilities.  As Spencer Kagan (2009) notes, “We want both critical and creative thinking to become habits of mind in our students. We use critical thinking as we reflect on ideas….and creative thinking as we generate ideas” (p. 6.18).

The advantage of using Cooperative Learning to instill these habits of mind is the filter of P.I.E.S. in each structure.  As we support all students in becoming critical and creative thinkers, Positive Interdependence, Individual Accountability, Equal Participation, and Simultaneous Interaction ensure active participation from all our students. When teachers create a classroom culture based on cooperation and collaboration, students feel safe to share their creativity and thinking with each other, and the results last a lifetime.  After all, “Lessons are one-time events, but any skill not repeatedly practiced does not become a habit of mind.  Changing how we teach actually results in better acquisition of…any thinking skill than does changing what we teach” (Kagan, 2009, p. 6.18). 

So, as you consider ways to engage your students in all of the capabilities simultaneously, what structures might you choose this week to help develop these habits of mind? Here are a few ideas from your Cooperative Learning text to get you started:

Critical Thinking

• Analyzing:  Match Mine (6.28), Same-Different (10.23-10.25)
• Deducing: Timed-Pair-Share (6.38), Inside-Outside Circle(6.27), Numbered Heads Together (6.30)
• Problem Solving:  RallyCoach (6.32), Jigsaw Problem solving (17.5)

Creative Thinking

• Brainstorming: Jot Thoughts (6.28)
• Questioning: Fan-N-Pick (6.25), Team Interview (10.8)
• Symbolizing: Formations (9.5, 9.16, , Think-Draw-RoundRobin (variation of 6.33)
• Synthesizing: RoundRobin(6.33), Team Projects (Chapter 13), Team Statements (10.36) 

Kagan, S., & Kagan, M. (2009). Kagan cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

Questions to Engage
by Curtis Cunningham, Professional Learning Specialist

Standard #4: Critical Thinking

Quality Indicator #1: Instructional strategies leading to student engagement in problem solving and critical thinking.

Questions are such a powerful tool. One question can rattle around in your head for days and help you see the world in a completely different light. Another question can make you ashamed and leave you feeling unworthy. Still another question can irritate you, sending you into an orbit of frustration.

Questions are a funny thing, and they can have a profound impact on our work as educators. However, questioning is not a natural approach to teaching. Our inclination is to tell our students the information they should learn rather than asking questions that will encourage them to discover the information for themselves. While the former approach might be more efficient, the latter approach will have more lasting effects (Hattie, 2012) provided that the questions are targeting higher levels of thinking.

As teachers, our challenge is to use questioning to ignite student curiosity and to compel them to engage in meaningful inquiry. “Successful inquiry leads us to ‘see’ and ‘grasp’ and ‘make sense’ of things that were initially puzzling, murky or fragmented; thus questioning is meant to culminate in new and more revealing meaning” (McTighe and Wiggins, 2013). Effective questioning that encourages inquiry will oftentimes lead to more questions. When we use questioning as McTighe and Wiggins suggest, we see a continuous cycle of inquiry, questions, discovery, questions, and further inquiry. Students will naturally be engaged in this cycle of learning.

It might be worth exploring your students’ perception of your questions compared with your own. A strategically placed video camera or voice recorder might allow for some analysis and reflection on the number and nature of the questions you ask (Prensky, 2010). As you consider embarking on this analysis, you might consider the four types of questions described by McTighe and Wiggins (2013):

Questions that hook are designed to pique the interest of students and are typically delivered in kid-friendly language.

Questions that lead typically have one right answer and support students in recalling information.

Questions that guide are typically open-ended and might be asked throughout a unit of study to encourage further exploration of the topic.

Finally, essential questions spark discussion and debate, and often generate more questions. 

Asking questions is simple enough; however, asking questions that will propel our students toward their learning goal is quite challenging. For more information on the topic of questioning you might be interested in the Questioning module located in Glass Classroom.

I leave you with this question: How will your students benefit from your use of questions? 

 

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. New York, NY: Routledge.

McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2013). Essential questions: Opening doors to student understanding. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Prensky, M. (2010). Teaching digital natives: Partnering for real learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Resolutions Made SMARTer
by Angela Mansel, Professional Learning Specialist

STANDARD # 2: Understanding and Encouraging Student Learning, Growth and Development
Quality Indicator #2: Student goals

At the first of the year we make our resolutions in hopes that this year will be different. We’re finally going to lose that weight, find time to exercise, or save more money for the future. All too often, December rolls around and we haven’t even come close to meeting those lofty January expectations. What goes wrong? Why are these personal goals just so hard to keep?

While many of us don’t stick to our personal resolutions, teachers are experts at setting and reaching goals in our professional lives. We set out at the beginning of the school year with a list of learning goals that must be covered before the end of the year or even the end of the semester. We track those learning goals and monitor the success of our students and ourselves along the way. Then, once we get to the end of the year or semester, we reflect on how we did and what we can do better next time.

What is the difference between failed resolutions and successful learning goals? The answer to this question might improve our New Year’s Resolutions, but, more importantly, it will empower us to teach our students to set and keep goals. Both John Hattie (2012) and Robert Marzano (2007) refer to goal setting by students as one of the most effective learning strategies. It encourages a more active learning environment, which in turn leads to higher success for students. High quality goal setting does not come naturally, though. It is a strategy that needs to be taught in order to keep the goals from looking like the resolutions we don’t keep. One way of introducing goal setting is a widely used acronym, S.M.A.R.T.

S- Specific: Use language that is not vague.
Instead of “I’m going to be a good student in science this year,” say “I’m going to do all of my homework and complete the study guides to help me prepare for the tests in science. I will also pay attention in class and ask questions if I don’t understand.”

M- Measurable: How are you going to show progress towards your goal?
Ask these questions: How will I monitor my progress? What data am I going to use to show my progress? How will I know when I have reached my goal?

A - Attainable: Make it a goal that means something to you and that you can reach.
Remember not to make your goal so out of reach it isn’t worth trying for or so easy that it is accomplished without much effort.

R- Relevant: Is it something that relates to what you are doing right now?
The more relevant the goal, the more likely you’ll succeed.

T- Timely: What time limit have you put on yourself to meet this goal?
A time frame creates a sense of urgency and sets the goal in action.

The beginning of the calendar year is a great time to make those learning goals with our students, whether we are beginning a new semester with them or reflecting on their middle of the year testing. When students create their own goals and begin to see results, they gain more confidence, perform at a higher level, and are more motivated to learn—all of this just by including them in the goal setting that we already do naturally as teachers (Marzano, 2007).

So as we begin a New Year and think about crafting our resolutions, let’s be sure to think about our students’ goal-setting skills as well.  What might be some upcoming opportunities for you to expose your students to SMART learning goals?


Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. New York, NY: Routledge.

Marzano, R.J. (2007). The art and science of teaching: A comprehensive framework for effective instruction. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Know Your Students
by Alma Pettenger, Professional Learning Specialist

Standard # 2: Understanding and Encouraging Student Learning, Growth and Development
Quality Indicator #5: Prior experiences, learning styles, multiple intelligences, strengths, and needs

Is your classroom designed around the content you are teaching or the students who are learning the content? It is imperative to understand that teachers do not just teach content; they teach content to students. For effective instruction to occur, teachers must not only know the content well, but they also must know the students to whom they intend to teach that content. Heacox (2007) writes, “Today’s classrooms reflect astonishing levels of academic diversity, and teachers report that the diversity of students seems to increase each year” (p. 19).  With this reality in mind, teachers must be intentional about developing strategies that allow them to know their students in order to lead them to academic success.

Although there are many important aspects about each student, the differentiated instruction philosophy suggests that teachers focus on just three: interest, readiness, and learning profile (Tomlinson, 1999).

·       Interest draws on the students’ passions or curiosities regardless of readiness levels and learning profile.  When I talk to teachers about the struggles they may be experiencing in the classroom, lack of motivation is often at the top of the list.  Even though teachers know that personal or situational interest is a motivator for students, translating that knowledge into lessons and strategies is a challenge.  How can teachers identify the interests of their students? One way is to have them fill out an interest survey. These surveys can yield valuable data that the teacher can use to differentiate instruction.  If students are interested, their level of motivation to learn is increased. “Allowing students to make choices based on their interests empowers them as learners and allows them to work more quickly and effectively through their work” (Turville, 2007, p. 5).

·       Readiness is where the student is in relationship to a particular learning goal.  An effective teacher assesses students’ levels of readiness prior to (pre-assessment), during (formative assessment), and at the end of (summative assessment) the lesson or unit.  “In a differentiated classroom we don’t separate assessment from instruction. We weave these two essential components of teaching together on the premise that we cannot have good assessment that does not instruct, and we cannot have good instruction that does not assess” (Wormeli, 2007, p. 67).  For differentiation to be effective, teachers need to know where each student begins and where he or she is in his or her journey towards meeting the success criteria of the lesson (Hattie, 2012).  It is this knowledge that allows teachers to respond to the learning needs of their students, determining where, when, and how differentiation might be needed. 

·       Learning Profile refers to ways in which we learn best as individuals. There are four factors that teachers can use to plan instruction that fit learners’ profiles: learning style, intelligence preference, gender, and culture (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 60).  These factors may suggest some ways of thinking about learning that can impact the way we plan instruction to meet students’ needs.   In her book How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms, Carol Ann Tomlinson (2001) shares some useful guidelines when responding to learning preferences:

o   Remember that some, but not all your students share your learning preference.

o   Help your students reflect on their own preferences. 

o   Use both teacher-structured and student-choice avenues to differentiation.

o   Start small; select a few learning-profile categories for emphasis as you begin.

o   Be a student of your students; learn as much as you can about them.

As we move into second semester, consider how you might look for opportunities to determine who your students are, where they are, and what they need to make the most of the months ahead.

Hattie, John (2012). Visible learning for teachers. New York, NY: Routledge.

Heacox, Diane (2007). Making Differentiation a Habit. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann (1999). The Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASDC.

Turville, Joni (2007). Differentiating by Student Interest.  New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.

Wormeli, Rick (2007). Differentiation: From Planning to Practice. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.