Schoology Training for Cape Vanguard

Just another day at the technology workshop!  

What-a-Week! September 21-25

With visits to five Cape Henlopen Schools this week, I can easily say that I am dazed and delighted. Here's the skinny on my overall impressions:

• great students who are eager to learn
• dedicated teachers who have much experience with successful teaching
• confidence and collegiality throughout the buildings
• an honest look toward what we can improve on
• sincerity and much effort

We're headed rapidly toward October (can that be true?) but I can honestly say that it's been and GREAT start. Thanks teachers and staff who patiently answered my questions. More to come! 

Somewhere Out There

Somewhere out there
Students are working hard
Listening well
Thinking deeply
It's going on

Somewhere close by
Students needs are being met
The rubber meets the road
Strategies are in place
It's going on

Many classrooms there are
battles to be won
obstacles to overcome
hoops to crawl through
and it's going on

There is a pattern and a method
People are caring and working
The victory flag is not yet flying
It's still September 
and Teachers live to teach 
another day.

Diane Saienni Albanese c 2015

Beacon Reads!

Beacon students are engrossed in a non-fiction story about a shark.  Teacher Deb Mason expertly led them through the vocabulary and thinking questions. The story was written in the form of a dated report and included a chart with shark body parts. Good information for a school that is close to the sea! 

  

Mariner Reads!

The Reading class at Mariner Middle school was in full swing this Monday morning.  They were discussing an article about Roberto Clemente and Mrs. Wimmer led them through questions that involved inference and deep reading. The students were successful at answering questions and eager to jump on the computers to complete work that was individualized.  Proof that this Mariner class were Readers and Thinkers! 

One Book/One School Sources

As we look at ways to share books, here are some sources.

Read to Them - Richmond, VAOne School, One Book is a program designed to create a shared reading experience within a single elementary school community. A chapter book is chosen, every student receives a copy, and every family reads that book at home over the course of a single month. Activities at school coordinate, promote and enrich the shared reading experience.  

Education World

Driven by the desire to enhance literacy skills and bring generations together, many schools are not just taking part in community reading activities but organizing them. Known as "One Book" programs, the projects engage community members, students, and their families in reading one literary selection. The unique benefits of the experience surface when the varied "readers" -- whether age 8 or 80 -- discuss the insights they have gathered from the book. A One Book program might be perfect for your school. Included: Read about One Book programs in three schools. Plus tips for choosing the right literary selection for a community read. - See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin502.shtml#sthash.e9KYDKGE.dpuf

One Book Library Journal 

Organizations in every state in America, plus the District of Columbia, have hosted a community wide reading program at one point or another, according to the Library of Congress. So-called One Book programs are everywhere. (Visit read.gov to see all the programs listed by author.)
However, to engage the entire community, whether municipality, county, region, or state, successfully in a community­wide reading event takes planning as well as skill and enthusiasm. LJ spoke with reads veterans from around the country to learn what worked for them—and what could work for your library.

Smarter Balance Interim Assessment Blocks

Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment Blocks

The Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs) are one of two distinct types of interim assessments being made available by the Consortium; the other type is the Interim Comprehensive Assessments (ICAs). IABs are short, focused sets of items that measure one or more assessment targets. Results of these assessments provide information about a student’s strengths or needs in relation to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and therefore generate more detailed information for instructional purposes than use of the ICAs alone.

The IABs are available either as fixed forms or with the use of a computer-adaptive algorithm. Initially they will be available as fixed forms as item counts support and then, when item counts adequately support the algorithm, they will also be adaptive. Both the fixed and computer-adaptive forms are administered online, using the same delivery software as the summative assessments.

This blueprint presents the specific blocks that are available by grade level for English Language Arts/literacy or mathematics beginning at grade 3 and continuing through high school. Each block-level blueprint contains information about the claim(s), assessment target(s), and depth of knowledge level(s) addressed by the items in that block, as well as the numbers of items allocated to each of those categories.

Other more subjectspecific information is also included. For example, the English Language Arts/literacy blueprint incorporates details on passage length and scoring of responses, while the mathematics blueprint specifies to what extent the relevant task models are represented in each block. The blueprint can be used by teachers and others who wish to gain insight into the composition of the IABs in order to use those assessments effectively in the classroom or to better understand results that are reported. Users of the blueprint can become familiar with the number of IABs for each grade level, the general focus of each IAB, which assessment targets are addressed in a specific IAB, and the emphasis of each target relative to the other targets in the block (as indicated by the numbers of items allocated to each target). A fifth-grade English Language Arts/literacy teacher, for example, may wish to determine what types of practice to give students in writing informational texts. The teacher would see that there is a block on editing and revising texts composed of eighteen machined-scored items across three assessment targets—revising narrative, informational, and opinion texts—and a writing block requiring hand-scoring, also across all three purposes for writing. A third option would be to administer a performance task that deals solely with informational writing and research and is also hand scored. Given the differences in class time required and in the amount of time needed to score the block, the teacher would decide which blocks best meet the instructional needs of the class, as well as where they fit in the schedule. A seventh-grade mathematics teacher who is planning a unit of instruction on topics in statistics and probability might consult the Grade 7 Statistics and Probability IAB blueprint and see that there are three assessment targets. The teacher can then use random sampling to draw inferences about a population, draw informal comparative inferences about two populations, and investigate chance processes and develop, use, and evaluate probability models. This information could then be used to help inform instructional and assessment planning for the unit, including when this particular IAB might be incorporated as a part of that plan. Finally, this blueprint can be used by teachers and others in conjunction with the summative and ICA blueprints to sup

“Poetry isn’t just creation, it’s resurrection”

Does this sound like a quote from a student that you know? Read more about this amazing young Poet Award Winner, Madeline La Cesne.

We are thrilled to introduce your fifth 2014 National Student Poet Southwest region representative, Madeline LaCesne! Madeline, age 18, is a senior at Lusher Charter School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Madeleine began writing poetry when she was six years old. After her parents gave her an antique bed, each night she used the back of its headboard to scribble poetry into the wood. She lost this work in 2005, when the headboard and her home were washed away by Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans like her own identity is a blend of various cultures and bloodlines, so her work deals with unscrambling her identity and sparked an interest in genealogy as well as the city’s history. Among the writers she looks to for guidance are Anne Carson, Kimiko Hahn, and Anna Moschovakis.

Favorite quote about writing:

Quote from Milosz’s “Ars Poetica”: “The purpose of poetry is to remind us / how difficult it is to remain just one person.”

Fun fact:

Since I turned fourteen, the first thing I do as soon as I wake up on my birthda

- See more at: http://blog.artandwriting.org/tag/poetry/#sthash.NtKLNKkQ.dpuf



2014 National Student Poet

Teaching Teens and Ourselves to Be Mindful, Connected Readers from NCTE

Mindful Reading - what does that look like and more importantly, what does that feel like?
For me, what I've read comes to mind later in my day or week.  It RESONATES at some other juncture. I'm connecting meaning. 

Lorna Collier makes a good statement about teens reading in her NCTE article in The Council Chronicle, September 2015 entitled  "Teaching Teens and Ourselves to be Mindful, Connected Readers"

Norms for Meetings Developed by Elementary Specialists

September 9, 2015

Specialist Norms

• Be respectful and allow everyone the opportunity to participate while allowing for individual’s learning differences.

• Focus on what is best for students with actionable measures built upon consensus.

• CHAT goals remain a constant focus with a common message among schools.

• Hold each other accountable in a professional manner. Use affective statements and questions such as “What is it like for you?”

• Confidential information discussed in the meeting, stays in the meeting.

Consensus Building

• If you are not supporting your statement with data or research, you are just another person with an opinion.

CHAT (Cape Henlopen Action Teams) Goals for 2015-2016

Cape Henlopen Action Teams (CHAT)

EVERY STUDENT, EVERY CLASSROOM, EVERY DAY

2015-2016 Goals toward Routine Use

1. Review, Revise, Analyze, and Use Common Assessments tied to

the standards

2. Support Claims with Evidence in all subject areas

3. In Mathematics: Focus only on CCSS identified topics

Developing THIS YEAR to Move to Routine Use NEXT YEAR

1. A Balance of Literature and Informational Texts across the

content areas

2. Foundational Skills

3. On-going Common Formative Assessments with Feedback tied to

standards

4. Literacy Standards in all Content Areas

Literacy Specialist - Just Make It Fun

I just started this job. 

I've been immersed in the daily reading, writing, speaking, listening nitty gritty for the past thirty zillion years but now I get to be Special - ist in the Cape Henlopen School District.  

My 88 year old dad wanted to know what that is. He said, "What's that new job you're doing? Are you teaching? Are you a teacher?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm teaching but mainly collaborating with teachers in my district to help students learn to read and write better."

"Oh, they need that so make it fun!"