Parent Advocacy Model - Are my child's needs being met?

Well...here is a draft of what the model could look like...

Are we ready to embark upon the journey? Are parents ready to accept their role? Are teachers ready to hear what is needed?

As a parent, I know that a differentiated classroom is where my child will be most successful. If I am allowed to work with the teacher and help guide meaningful experiences, then we can all hold her accountable for growth. If she is not engaged or bored...I don't want to hear..."She just needs to do her work...If only she turned in her homework...If she just payed attention." 

If she is unengaged...there is a reason. Let's figure it out together and keep her moving forward. It might mean that the teacher needs to change her instruction in order to capture her engagement... and that's okay.

As a teacher, I know how overwhelming it can be to meet all the students' needs. I will never forget Pat (if you are out there Pat...let me know how you are doing)! He was a seventh grader in my language arts class who "hated" to write anything. After getting to know him and giving up some control of MY content...I asked him what he wanted to write about. He was a huge Metallic Fan and wanted to write about the band. I went home that night and created a plan to infuse my content into the course of his interest. Viola - he ended up writing a great paper on the band and learned through the process...WE BOTH DID! 

Differentiating in my classroom means engaging all students in the learning process...whatever their starting point...and holding everyone accountable for growth. At times that has meant I had to trust the student and parents and let them have the driver's seat. It is during these times that I have had to learn how to coach from the sidelines...and that is okay!

Just because a student doesn't qualify for "gifted and talented" services, doesn't mean that we ARE meeting their needs. Some students don't test well... and that is okay. Some students test great, but aren't interested in the pull-out reading group's project...and that is okay. Some students have a lot on their plate (sports, service projects) and want to pull back a little in other areas...and that is okay. Together...with parents...and student input...we have to help them figure out what is okay...and continually grow in their learning!

Just my two cents worth...

 

My child's needs aren't being met - NOW WHAT?

Staring today...I am going to blog my journey... 

There is a definite need to change the way in which we identify and service "gifted education!" It can no longer be a "I'm in the gifted program...vs I don't qualify for the gifted program." We miss too much talent in our youth with this approach! We also put too much stress on our children when we say "you're smart!"

We need to help our children develop a growth mindset. That means we need to shattered the pendulum of gifted identification and SHIFT the paradigm.

 
So what does that look like within our school system? First of all, it means that our children deserve an educator who believes in the growth mindset and can differentiate the instruction our children receive on a daily...hourly...as needed basis! The pull-out (once a week...once a month) programs will not meet the needs of children who can aquire information quickly...or those who have a passion or interest in a specific subject or topic. 

We need an advocacy model for parents that begins with "Are my child's needs being met?" If the answer is "no," then a conversation with teacher/s need to take place to ask the following questions:

1. How are you pre-testing (pre-assessing) students to determine what skills they have already mastered?

2. How are you differentiating your instruction and how do you identify which students get those differentiated activities? - (Parents, make sure that this is not MORE but DIFFERENT!) - too many times a teacher will just "add on" assignments or activties rather than increase the difficulty level provided

3. How are students progress monitored in your class to ensure growth in learning for all students?

If a teacher cannot address these concerns, then I feel - as a parent - that I have a right to ask for another teacher who CAN do these things for my child. If I go to a doctor and he cannot provide me with services that will meet my needs, then I have a right to go see another doctor who will. Why do we have to accept a year worth of stagnant growth for our child if the classroom teacher is not strong in the skills of differentiating instruction for my child's needs...? 

Don't misinterpret my comments above. I am a teacher and believe that most of us have these skills, and we work hard every day to meet the individual needs of our students. However, just like any profession...there are those that do not want to change the pedagogy of their teaching to meet the 21st century learner. Students no longer need us to "teach" them content. If they want to learn something they can just go "google or youtube" it. For the majority of teachers, this was not how we learned. We needed to get information and knowledge directly from our teachers. 

Education is shifting to a "coaching" model. A teacher no longer needs to "teach" knowledge, but rather how to acquire it, evaluate it, and analyze it for validity. This does not mean we will never impart our knowledge onto our students, it just means that they now have the ability to aquire more knowledge on a specific topic than we do! Thus - my thoughts for today go FULL CIRCLE back to the importance of the GROWTH mindset!

Is your child gifted?

Okay...I am going to split my blogs into two from this day forward! I have two passions in life and one blog will be devoted to gifted education and Response to Intervention...the other blog will be devoted to K-8 computer science and programming! 

Please see Intervention Corner for great Response to Intervention resources!

https://sites.google.com/a/stretchinstructor.com/intervention-corner/

I am currently working with my district on revising our "Gifted and Talented" identification and services. We are moving toward an inclusive Response to Intervention and Parent Advocacy model. The model revolves around one main question: Are my child's needs being met? 

The single most effective means of moving a student's learning path forward has to be based upon daily differentiated instruction based upon need and GROWTH! But more on that later...stay posted to this blog and follow along on the journey. 

Please forward to anyone who is interested in gifted education - both educators and parents!

STRETCh & Scratch

Well... last week was a whirlwind! My daughter celebrated her 9th birthday AND I conducted an ISTE webinar on STRETCh and Scratch - incorporating computer programming skills into the K-8 core curriculum.

To view the webinar, see the following link:

https://iste.adobeconnect.com/_a729309453/p35txgktvsb/

The computational thinking that went into the 6th grade Language Arts project above was incredible! After just 20 minutes of instruction and 4 class periods to work, student demonstrated their knowledge of verbs through the programming of their own video game! The engagement and focus of students throughout the four days was OUTSTANDING!

I have also created a website dedicated to K-8 computer programming: check it out here!

RtI - Response to Intervention

In my new role as a K-12 Intervention Coach, I have seen many teachers frustrated and in tears over our jump into the proverbial RtI waters. In an effort to put the frustration into perspective, I came up with this visual of the building blocks needed in order to effectively deliver Tier 2 and 3 interventions. As you can see the 1st building block is an understanding of the CCSS - but not only at the grade level you teach. You really need to understand what comes before and after you...in order to put it into perspective. One you have a handle on the CCSS, then you need to break it down into bite sized chunks (aka: learning targets) for your students. THEN, you can move into formative assessment. How do I know when my children have achieved their learning target. Once I give the formative assessment, this will move into the 4th block of differentiation. I can then use my formative assessment to determine how I will differentiate for learners within my classroom. This is really the foundation for Level 1 of RtI. Once I have put these first four building blocks into practice, then I can work on collaborating with others around the level 2 & 3 interventions of RtI. 

Here is a website I have put together that is full of RtI resources!
https://sites.google.com/a/stretchinstructor.com/intervention-corner/