No kids today. Today was another Professional Learning day that consisted of only teachers, meetings, and planning. It was pretty nice to have a little extra designated time for planning. I was able to tie up a lot of loose ends today. It also gave me a great opportunity to talk to my mentor teacher about my upcoming two week unit. I wanted to plan it further ahead of time, but one thing I have been learning is that you have to play it by ear a lot as far as time frame goes. So, with inconsistent opportunities to meet for particular subjects, and finding time to meet and discuss it with my mentor, it’s been hard to get ahead on it. Luckily, I was able to speak with him today with the extra time we had, and I was able to confirm that I will be able to start it on time since we should have science (the main time I will be doing my unit) consistently this week.
Another great aspect of today’s Professional Learning was learning about, and planning for, student data notebooks. These will be notebooks with goal sheets, checklists, rubrics, and reflection sections for the students to keep up with. So, it will largely be their responsibility to plan and track their own progress. With these student notebooks, we will be instituting student lead parent conferences. Basically, the students will use their notebooks to review with their parents where they are and where they want to be in their progress. The teacher will be there to facilitate as multiple meetings are happening at once. I think it is a great idea because what some students lack is a sense of responsibility and self-efficacy, and I think this will be a way to motivate them in both areas. By being a part of planning for their learning progress, I think the kids will value themselves more, and in turn, take more initiative in doing what they should be doing in class and at home in order to make the progress they want.
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