R.A.F.T.

http://www.raft.net/idea-sheets?dtl=PS&grd=0

-Marcel Proust

The real voyage of

“discovery lies not in

seeking new landscapes

but having new eyes.”

Things to ponder as we look to the 2011-12 school year

v That you are a powerful and compelling figure in the lives of your students.

v That you are both a role model and change agent.

v That in recalling their school years, students mostly remember their teachers, not the courses they took.

v That you need to find a “critical friend” whom you can trust to serve as your sounding board.

v That at times students can be very cruel, difficult, and mean-spirited.

v That it is a mistake to personalize a student’s unacceptable behavior.

v That teachers love their students as their parents love them – but in a different way and for a different reason.

v That few people will ever appreciate the amount of time and effort teachers give to their teaching.

v That by choosing to be a teacher, you have entered an emotionally dangerous profession.

v That you need to pay attention to both your physical and emotional well-being.

v That teaching is not like inducing a chemical reaction, but more like creating a painting, or planting a garden, or writing a friendly letter.

v That most of significant advances in civilization have been the result of the work of teachers.

v That teaching is an act of faith in the promise of the future.

v That teaching is a way of life!

LTMS will ROCK!

   I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer vacation and want to remind everyone to feel free and stop in and see us. The office staff is here!
   One of the things we are contemplating is our slogan for the upcoming 2011-12 school year.
   It follows:
Loyalsock Township Middle School's students, faculty, and staff will be Respectful, Optimistic, Committed, and Kind!

Quote by Marva Collins

"Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed."

PLC Power!

There is no position more powerful or important to the success of an organization than the collective energies of a goal driven team. (PLC)

Great Article on Reflective Practice

Do We Evaluate Reflective Practice? First Define It

By Kelly Morris Roberts, Ph.D.

Good teachers reflect on practice. Ask any teacher, school administrator or department head, and he or she will not only affirm that statement but also will confirm that teacher evaluation instruments these days are replete with references to teacher reflection. As a new superintendent, knowing the basics of teacher reflection is vital; the problem with knowing the basics, ironically, has been framing those basics and then recognizing how we can encourage reflection of the caliber to transform practice. Many in the field of teacher reflection have long mourned that “one of the most notable limitations of this emerging literature on reflective practice is its ahistorical nature ... The historical amnesia with regard to reflective practice has contributed greatly to the lack of clarity about the theoretical and political commitments underlying specific proposals of reform” (Zeichner, 1994, p. 14). In an effort to curve this historical amnesia-and to know what we mean by reflection deeply enough to lead in this area—perhaps we must do the simple task of defining its basic tenets cogently yet broadly enough for the challenges of twenty-first century teaching. With a historically-based definition in mind, superintendents are better equipped both to discuss these tenets concisely and clearly and then to set up the conditions for truly reflective practice. Put simply, in order for us to see growth in teacher reflection and self-assessment, we have first to define it well for ourselves and others; this article attempts to get us started. (READ MORE AT THE LINK BELOW) http://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=17448

The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom

http://www.edutopia.org/asking-questions

PLC Update

Hello Team:
Just an update.....Info is forthcoming for PLC selection. We will ask that you confirm your intentions no later than June 30th. As always, THANKS for all you do!

What Are Professional Learning Communities?

Click over link:
Attribute 1: Supportive and Shared Leadership.
Attribute 2: Collective Creativity.
Attribute 3: Shared Values and Vision .
Attribute 4: Supportive Conditions.
Attribute 5: Shared Personal Practice.

REFERENCE1. Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: What are they and why are they important? [Online]. Available: http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues61.html .

Music Department PLC

NAMM Foundation Survey Reveals Loyalsock Township School District

A ‘Best Community For Music Education’ In The United States

-179 Communities Nationwide Achieve Prestigious Designation;

2011 Marks the First Year That Individual Schools Earn Honor -

Collaboration Cartoon

Targets For Staff

lShared responsibility for the total development of students and collective responsibility for students' success.

lReduction of isolation of teachers.

lPowerful learning that defines good teaching and classroom practice and that creates new knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learners.

lIncreased meaning and understanding of the content that teachers teach and the roles they play in helping all students achieve expectations.

lHigher likelihood that teachers will be well informed, professionally renewed, and inspired to inspire students. 

If you don't know where you're going, you probably won't get there.

-Yogi Berra

Examples of PLC Projects

- Lesson/Core/Diary Map Study

- Differentiating Instruction

- Developing Interdisciplinary Units

- Integrating Community Resources

- Using Data to Drive Instruction

- Incorporating Instructional Technology/Motivating Students

- Using Formative Assessments

What are Key Characteristics of PLCS?

- Shared Norms and Values

  (Vision/Mental Image)

- Collective Responsibility for Shared Norms and Values

- Focus on Student Learning

- De-Privatization of Practice

- Collaboration/Collective Creativity

DuFour- April 2011 on PLC's

How Do PLCS Impact Students?

• By modeling collegiality, intellectual inquiry, critical discourse, and continuous improvement, professional learning communities raise the expectation and standard for students' level of engagement, development, and achievement.

• Studies indicate that students tend to be engaged in learning at high intellectual levels when the adults are engaged with one another and with their students at high intellectual levels around a shared vision for student success.

Suggested Reading:

PLC's- SMART Goals

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Tangible

Culture

They [PLCs] function as an effective strategy for building school capacity around core issues of teaching and learning (Darling-Hammond, 1995); They foster the democratic practices required to undertake and sustain fundamental, systematic change (Bryk, 1994); and, They can serve as a mechanism for transforming school culture.

What are PLC's?

   A professional learning community is characterized by the collaborative work of educators to continuously seek, share, and act on their learning in order to improve their practice for the purpose of improved student outcomes (Astuto, 1993).

History of PLC's

Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) is not a new idea.  In fact, the concept has been around since the 1960s when educators realized they needed to address the issues of teachers beginning to work in isolation. 

   While it was relatively dormant for quite some time, it made its way to the surface again in the early 80’s. By the end of the 80’s, as noted by Susan Rosenholtz, a study of 78 schools indicated "learning-enriched schools" were characterized by "collective commitments to student learning in collaborative settings," ... "where it is assumed improvement of teaching is a collective rather than individual enterprise, and that analysis, evaluation, and experimentation in concert with colleagues are conditions under which teachers improve."

   Teacher collaboration linked to shared goals focused on student achievement led to improved teacher learning, greater certainty about what was effective, higher levels of teacher commitment and ultimately, greater gains in student achievement.

   In 1993 Judith Warren Little and Milbrey McLaughlin reported their research that concluded the most effective schools and the most effective departments within schools operated as strong professional communities characterized by:

-Shared norms and beliefs

-Collegial relations

-Collaborative cultures

-Reflective practice

-Ongoing technical inquiry regarding effective practice

-Professional growth

-Mutual support and mutual obligation

What Is a "Professional Learning Community"?

To create a professional learning community, focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results.

-Richard DuFour