Next steps for RtI or MTSS

We have begun our 3rd quarter of the school year which means we are half way through the year already!  For teachers this means seriously looking at students progress and trying to find additional ways to help their struggling learners.  I know I am getting asked about interventions on a daily basis so I thought I should try to explain what the RtI committee’s next step will be.  Iowa is now calling our RtI program MTSS. (Multi-tiered systems of support)

Who is on the committee (BLT=Building Leadership Team)?

Annalisa Miner was assigned as our External Coach for Hampton-Dumont. Jerry Buseman is the Instructional Leader for the school.  I was assigned the Internal Coach for Hampton-Dumont.  Dollie Dillon was assigned as the Data Coach, Wendy Wikert and Abby Meyer as the Content Specialist.  Jen Koenen is serving on the committe as an administrator and as a data coach if needed.  The roles are defined below.

This fall we have been trying to analyze our Tier 1 instruction which is teaching literacy to the whole class.  We begun using the FAST universal screener which is to show which students are “at-risk”   The goal is to have 80% of our students at grade level after Tier 1 instruction.  From initial analysis we know we want to add some kind of vocabulary program to help SES/ELL population.  This may be a universal intervention that we can add next school year.  This year we are piloting vocabulary in several classrooms using the Rule of 3 system.  This is a vocabulary program our ELL teachers found through a conference they had attended.  Vocabulary may be the key to advancing our readers that are plateauing due to language delays.

The Fall results of the FAST universal screener:

Kindergarten Students: 75% met the Fall Goal

1st Grade Students: 78.3% met the Fall Goal

2nd Grade Students: 58.62% met the Fall Goal

3rd Grade Students:  68.92% met the Fall Goal

Our MTSS committee will begin to make a plan for Tier 2 & 3 interventions.  Next week we will begin to administer the winter universal screener-FAST. 

Once the data is collected from FAST we will decide who are the Tier 2 students & Tier 3 students.  Teachers will create accounts and have access to the Iowa Tier site for South Side.  I will help teachers set up their accounts and how to use the site.  We will work on this during PLC time and then analyze the data at our literacy work days.

 The MTSS committee will produce a specific intervention list to be used for each main area of literacy.  (Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency & Comprehension)  Each intervention will have a suggested duration of time to be given (such as 6-8 weeks) and intensity (daily/20 minutes, daily/10 minutes or etc.).  We will also discuss who will be administering the interventions etc.  We will also develop ways to inform parents.  We need to make sure they are aware of the learning need and how they can help.

This is the part that will take a lot of time!! The interventions must be researched based, evidence based and specific to the learning target.  What resources we will use?  How will we make sure we have the materials and resources needed? Who will be delivering the intervention and who will monitor and enter data, weekly or daily for every student receiving intervention. This will require patience as we try things.

For the MTSS approach to work in a school, the system must be well-organized, easy to access and EVERY individual will need to follow the decided approach for Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions.  We will need ALL certified staff to be teaching small groups.  We will ALL need to know how to progress monitor, assess and record the data through the IowaTier site.

As you can imagine we will need to think about sharing students among teachers, letting go of past practices if the practice no longer produces student improvement and finding PD time to learn how to effectively do what we need to do! 

Can you see how much work we have yet to do?  WOWZA!

In the meantime keep strengthening your whole group activities and small groups. Here are some reminders that you may already be doing.  

Strengthen your IDR time with conferring

  Use the CC Pensieve everyday and document who you are working with and what you are teaching them.  Use those CAFE goals.  Where do they struggle, how, what do they need to work?  Does the child know their goal and how to practice it?  If a child is a struggling reader (below grade level) then make every effort to meet with him/her daily (3-5 minute conferring conference).  Use the extra certified staff member during this IDR time.  If you do not use the CCPensieve- start now because conferring is a great Tier 2 intervention and the CAFE goals should be taught at every grade level.  

Guided Reading or Strategy Groups

This is actually considered a Tier 2 intervention.  The Next Step to Guided Reading is a great resource for small groups.  Our BAS leveling kits are also filled with resourceful text in regards to teaching small groups.  You can also plan to observe teachers teaching small groups.  I can also recommend DVDs to watch or look on Youtube. 

Daily 5 Rounds

 Make sure each round is productive for the student.  Fair or equal does not mean each child should get the same thing.  If a child is a struggling reader they need partner reading or read to self an additional time.  If they struggle with English they need listening to reading daily.  MAKE sure they are ready for independence before you send them off. Take advantage of those top kids...let them help the struggling readers during rounds through partner work or small groups.  Daily 5 is only strong if it is truly meeting learning needs.  

Volunteers

If you have many ELL students or struggling readers start looking for outside volunteers.  Email your church groups, mother’s clubs, classroom parents.  Find people that may be willing to come and listen to your readers during IDR time or choice time.  I would find many of my classroom volunteers through church.  If you need help with this, let me know and I can try to help “advertise”.

ENGAGEMENT- make learning fun, make students accountable, be intentional.

Use choral response, use motivational techniques, use brain breaks when needed. Create fun theme reading corners-dinosaurs, insects, fairy tales, legends, penguins, seasonal,  dogs, cats, favorite authors, poetry and on and on.  Think back to our literacy night...that was fun because of the environment, the books and the enthusiasm from adults.

FLUENCY Time- create a time to practice using poetry, reader’s theater, send home fluency packets.  Look back at the book The Fluent Reader and use Mr. Rasinski’s suggested activities with repeated reading, partner reading etc. 

Please know I am working hard at our intervention list. BUT I can’t do it all by myself.  If you have any interventions that you use and find successful please share with our committee.  If you would like to help create the list of interventions, we need your help so let me know!

ALSO remember to  SHARE, SHARE, SHARE what is working in your classrooms with your team.  We can learn so much from each other.

Happy Reading! Mrs. Speake

Merry Christmas!

Can you believe it is the end of our first semester and end of another year?!  Time once again to reflect and think about things that went well and things we'd like to improve.  

Lately, I have been asked about our mission statement and I heard a question.....Are we (teachers) striving for excellence every day?  My initial reaction...you really have to ask this question?  We show excellence every day.  At least the teachers I work with strive for EXCELLENCE every day.   After a little time, I realized the public doesn't get to see what I get to see on a daily basis.  It will not make the newspaper or the 5 o'clock news, it won't be shouted from the rooftops and teachers will not be receiving that huge Christmas bonus they so deserve.

I am blessed to be in a position to work with every grade level team K-3 and in the past 4th, 5th and a little with preschool, 6th, 7th & 8th grade literacy teachers.  I KNOW beyond a doubt we have excellence every day. SO when I’m asked the question, “do we have excellence in our buildings?”, get ready........ because I can talk with you for hours and tell you all of the excellent things I witness on a daily basis. 

We have overhauled and strengthened many areas of our teaching the last few years.  With our new focus of the Iowa Core we have raised our expectations for student learning and for meeting individual needs. 

 Each teacher strives to help each child reach grade level.  With our current demographics, we no longer have classrooms with easy average learners.  We have a large percentage of SES students and ELL students.  This leads our teachers to differentiate every day.  We have added curriculum pieces to our literacy....the Daily 5, the CAFE, Making Meaning, Being a Writer, Guided Reading, Strategy Groups, Independent Reading, Leveled Classroom Libraries and Guided Spelling.                    “Diversity is our strength” 

These pieces allow teachers to meet individual needs through small groups, 1 to 1 conferring, partner work and daily reading and writing activities to build their reading stamina.  We know research states...”children from SES homes or ELL homes will not come to school with the necessary literacy skills needed to be successful and they will be far behind their peers in vocabulary from the first day of school.”  These curriculum pieces also allow us to challenge and provide enrichment literacy activities for our children who are above grade level.  It is a constant balancing act for teachers.   

I probably average at least 3 teachers a week that stop in to talk about their student’s learning needs.  I often hear....what else could I try?  I hear her struggles and I see her face after a night of no sleep due to the heartfelt concern for a student who may be struggling- academically, emotionally or physically.   “Learning is our priority”

Every year I see teachers spending their own money on their classroom libraries or curriculum materials.  Teachers know that children need to have a successful IDR time and to ensure this happens it takes hundreds of books.  Walk into any room and teachers will show you the wonderful libraries they are creating and the many cozy book nooks they create to enhance children’s reading experiences.  We believe our children deserve this gift.  “Respect is our norm”

Every day teachers either come in at 7:00a.m. to prepare for the day or they choose to stay until 5 or 6pm.  Our teachers come in on weekends or back again at 8 or 9pm after they have tried to meet their own family needs.  Does anyone see this?  Probably not.  But it happens every week, every weekend.  Teachers cannot prepare and have their classrooms organized while 23 children are in the room.  It takes outside time to plan and prepare.  Teachers care about the quality of their lessons and activities.  “Integrity is our foundation”

 Every day I see teachers tutoring children during their recess break, lunch break or before/after school.  This means limited restroom breaks, no coffee breaks or no lunch break for the teacher.  “Learning is our priority”

Every day I see teachers working together in classrooms to meet children’s needs.  Co-teaching, sharing groups or removing a child so the teacher or child can regroup and positively participate in class.  I see teachers have tears when a child is taken from the home, or if the teacher had to inform a parent that their child may have serious learning disabilities.  It can happen, it does happen and its hard but that’s what we do.  Teachers care about their students.  That is why we say “OUR kids”.

Currently we are doing a book study (Pathways to the Common Core) to dig deeper into the state’s mandated learning goals called the Iowa Core.  33 teachers--reading and studying the book on personal time.  They are meeting to discuss and to question current teaching beliefs because they want to be sure they are doing the best that they can do for students.  It’s hard work and we take it seriously. We care if our students our prepared for the work force and college.  We are being proactive and we strive to learn and stay in touch with researched strategies for our students.  “Collaboration is our culuture”

Back to the question I heard.....Do we (teachers) believe we have excellence?  Is our mission statement fitting for North Side, South Side and the Middle School?  Absolutely, positively....YES! 

I am blessed because I witness this excellence every day. It’s an honor to work with such an AMAZING staff.   THANK YOU, teachers, for creating a safe, caring culture of high expectations where all students reach their greatest potential! 

The video was a few pictures I took in just one day. Imagine the excellence we could capture over time!

Merry Christmas and may each of you have a blessed year!! Mrs. Speake

Searching for Answers

At South Side we just finished our literacy work days.  I love connecting with the teams and appreciate their dedication to literacy.  It seems we are working harder than ever and yet we still feel like something is missing.  

South Side became a pilot school for Iowa’s RtI plan called C4K. I hated hearing the news that we were going to be starting RtI as dictated by the state.  Mostly because I was fearful of what this meant for my job.  I knew the data from our Benchmark Assessment System showed we had far too many students still below grade level.  

      More meetings, more things to add to the teacher’s already FULL day, more paperwork, more data to analyze, more reading and research to do and the reality of focusing on what is NOT working.  

Much to my amazement, I have been pleased with the C4K plan so far.  In a nutshell, it is going SLOW!  I can handle slow.  The first and most important step is to analyze our universal instruction.  We have done many things over the past two years to make our literacy programs effective.  Luckily, we were ready for the next intensive step....implementing the Iowa Core Standards or the Common Core Standards as the rest of United States calls it.  As most of you are aware this has raised the bar for all learners.

Look at the many things we have already begun!

                                              

In Iowa’s C4K plan, schools must determine if their Tier 1 instruction is meeting the needs of the majority of students (80% or greater).  If the Tier 1 instruction is not working, then a school is faced with a high number of students that need intensive interventions.  A school who has 30-50% of students falling below grade level will NEVER be able to intervene their way out of the pit.  Resources such as staff, materials, and funding would never be able to sustain the level of interventions that would be needed.  To analyze our Tier I instruction we have given each student a universal screener or test.  This will give us a snapshot of the students who are at-risk or who are falling below the grade level benchmark.

What does this mean for South Side?  As we already knew from our Iowa Assessments, we have far too many students needing interventions. We would not be able to sustain the level of interventions that would be needed in regards to time, staff and resources available.  

Bottom line....we must change, improve and/or strengthen, our Tier 1 instruction.  What does this mean since we have already changed almost everything we are doing?!   I attended a conference entitled Maximizing Tier I (Wayne Callender) that presented several options that I feel our district needs to address.

Teachers must make their daily instruction the best it can be for ALL students.

Think about this......

Our house represents our classroom.   The fires could be the many learning struggles that we must address.  I think we would all agree we must prevent the fires from even beginning.  

Step 1 

Who are our students?  What is their background in regards to living environment, income status and language? 

Step 2

Data- assessment results

How are the various population of students doing academically?  Which group of students are at-risk and in what areas?

Step 3

Does our universal instruction and/or curriculum pieces fit our at-risk group of students?

If YES-  Then we ask....Are we delivering the curriculum in the correct format necessary?  

If NO- What curriculum pieces should we add or delete?  Have we prioritized? 

Three ways a school can help to narrow the gap for struggling learners are in the areas of..

           Active Engagement - Differentiation -Vocabulary

Here are just a few of the highlights that I shared with teams.  Hopefully it will spark an idea or give you a little hope on simple things we can change just by being aware of what our learners need most!

  

The following are videos by Anita Archer in regards to a few things to keep in mind as we strive to close the achievement gap.  Her work and ideas hooked me instantly. I am anxious to read more ideas in her book, Explicit Instruction.

Closing the Achievement Gap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfjOJQFusrc

Instructional Routines (struggling learners must have consistency every day)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzvPwvxnBrQ


Teaching Choral Response/Turn & Talk-Active Engagement 
 (A MUST WATCH....NO MORE HAND RAISING IN THE CLASSROOM)
http://explicitinstruction.org/?page_id=92  


Being A Relentless Teacher 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY5nYuE6IhY

With differentiation, co-teaching fits beautifully here!

Models of Co-teaching

One Teach, One Observe – one teacher has primary instructional responsibility while the other gathers specific observational information on students or the (instructing) teacher.  The key to this strategy is to focus on the observation – where and how the teacher is doing the instruction and observing specific behaviors.  

One Teach, One Assist is an extension of one teach, one observe. One teacher has primary instructional responsibility while the other assists students with their work, monitors behaviors, or corrects assignments, often lending a voice to students or groups who would hesitate to participate or add comments.

Station Teaching occurs when the Co-Teaching pair divides  the instructional content into parts –Each teacher instructs one of the groups, groups then rotate or spend a designated amount of time at each station – often independent stations will be used along with the teacher led stations.

In the Parallel Teaching approach, each teacher instructs half the students.  The two teachers are addressing the same instructional material and presenting the material using the same teaching strategies.  The greatest benefit to this method is the reduction of the student to teacher ratio.

The Supplemental Teaching strategy allows one teacher to work with students at their expected grade level, while the other teacher works with those students who need the information and/or materials re-taught, extended, or remediated.

Alternative or Differentiated Teaching strategies provide two different approaches to teaching the same information.  The learning outcome is the same for all students however the avenue for getting there is different.

Team Teaching incorporates well planned, team taught lessons, exhibiting an invisible flow of instruction with no prescribed division of authority. Using a team teaching strategy, both teachers are actively involved in the lesson. From a students’ perspective, there is no clearly defined leader – as both teachers share the instruction, are free to interject information, and available to assist students and answer questions.

BUT remember.....co-teaching is a teaching strategy.  It can be powerful if both parties are knowledgeable in the beliefs behind the techniques!!

The fun of going to a great conference is seeing the ideas already being implemented in many of the classrooms at South!  You will see classrooms using choral response now-THINK/GO !  We will also be searching out the vocabulary issue that we know could make a huge difference for our kids at South Side.  Hopefully we can find one that will meet the needs of our struggling learners!

Happy Reading & Have a blessed Thanksgiving- Mrs. Speake

Pathways to the Common Core

     It is hard to believe the first quarter of the school year is complete!  Teachers are busy entering grades using a standards based reporting system as we emphasize the Iowa Core standards for literacy and mathematics.   Last year the teachers at South Side spent endless hours looking at the Iowa Core Standards and determining if, when and how it is being taught at their grade level.  Assessments were chosen for each standard.   This work has been strenuous, tedious and far from fun.

Reality:  Many of us are feeling as if we barely understand the Core.  Do we have the background knowledge we need to understand the Core?  Only if you have spent personal hours reading articles, blogs or books.  Sounds like fun, enjoyable reading, right?  Not so much.

The Common Core State Standards in Literacy and Mathematics were integrated into the Iowa Core by Iowa State Board of Education action in 2010. All school districts and accredited nonpublic schools are required to fully implement the Iowa Core in grades 9-12 by July 1, 2012 and grades K-8 by the 2014-2015 school year.  Our South Side SINA team made the Iowa Core are driving force for teams to "unpack" and begin using the documents to drive our teaching and students learning.  Did we receive formal training?  No.  Each team dug into the work as best they could.  Basically we looked at the standard's learning targets ("I can" statements) and decided how we could best assess the students work in regards to the learning targets.  

So where are we now?  We know the standards, we have our assessments and we are trying to integrate this with our units of Being a Writer, Making Meaning, Guided Spelling, Phonics and independent reading activities.  This trial & error work is causing teachers to ask tough questions and question if we are even on the right path in regards to our daily teaching.

As literacy coach, I have at least one teacher a day asking honest questions or making honest statements when it comes to the core assessments her team has decided to try this school year.  For example:

What am I going to do?  I have to give this assessment but I don't teach the skills? 

I gave this assessment and I found out it doesn't assess what I thought it would...now what do I do?  

We all did the assessment differently , is that okay?

Do I have to do this Core instruction?  Who will know if I don't do it?

Why are we assessing now?  I only assess when I know my students are going to pass it.

What do they mean by informational text?  I don't use a lot of non-fiction when I teach but should I be? 

Why are we doing all this change? We teach all this stuff already.  

If we do this core won't we just be making the gap greater for our top students and struggling students?

Do I understand the core deeply in regards to the why, how and what?  No.   I see what other teachers are sharing through blogs.  Their work with the core is remarkable.  I know we can get there too.  But what is our next step?  How do we embrace it and truly strive for school improvement and personal improvement in our teaching abilities? 

What I do know is that we have made huge gains in our expectations and our beliefs in regards to literacy.  We have added the workshop approach which allows for students to be engaged and held accountable to deeper thinking through conversation and rich literature.  Students must be doing the hard work and thinking.  We also believe every student should be actually reading  for at least 30-45 minutes during the school day and they should be authentically writing every day!  We have come so far and I believe the Core can fit well with what we need to do next.  BUT we have to have a plan or our trial & error method will lead us down the wrong path.

I am reading the book Pathways to the Common Core.  I was so excited after the first chapter that I knew this might be able to provide our next step on the path to adopting the Core.   I have asked administration if we could offer this as a book study.  I believe we can develop a great plan for H-D if we have informed teachers.

That is the beauty of the core.  The standards are the academic beliefs concerning what our students need to become successful citizens as they enter college and/or the career force. The core does not dictate how we must teach but what the end result should be.  As a district, we must look at our students, our assets, our teaching strengths and together develop a path that will lead our students to success.

If you are struggling with understanding the Core please think about joining the book study, Pathways to the Common Core. 

Together I believe we can reach a deeper understanding of the core that will lead us to improve our teaching units, teaching strategies and above all to improve the academic success of our students.  At South Side we will be analyzing our core instruction at every grade level.  This is due to our Year 2 SINA plan and as we pilot the states RtI plan.  I am hopeful this text may help answer many of our tough questions and lead us to our next steps in regards to our daily teaching.

For more information, click this link.  Find the tab "samples" to read the introduction and Chapter 1.  I hope the first chapter alone offers insight in regards to why we must dig deeper into developing our own plan.   Details will be developed in regards to time, location and place of the book study.  Email me if you may be interested in participating or if you have suggestions and/or questions.  There is PD money to support our study.  

Happy Reading! Mrs. Speake

Time for Small Groups to Begin!

We have been in school for several weeks  and the students are successfully building reading and writing stamina every day!  It is time for the next steps.  Our conferring notes have been viewed, the formative assessments have been collected and the data from the MAP assessments are in.  This all leads to what we already knew...
         our students will need differentiated lessons or we will never meet their learning needs or support their learning strengths!

Last year I worked in a Kindergarten and 3rd grade classroom on a regular basis.  It can be tough going into a classroom to support readers and/or writers without all of the "teaching stuff" you need at a moment's notice.  I developed a small group reading binder that works well for me.  This year I am in a co-taught first grade room so I am going to use the same methods and I added a few things.  I thought the best way to show the idea was through pictures.....

I will keep my binder, students trays, books and magnets in one large plastic tote or basket.

This is one idea but sometimes seeing one idea leads to something that works best for you.  One point I wanted to make is that you do not need to have lots of shelf space to house your small group reading supplies.  I could easily carry my binder & basket room-to-room if I travel to various classrooms.

If you see a sheet in the post & would like a copy....let me know.  Most of the items are from our F&P Phonics CD, The CAFE text & website or from the The Next Step in Guided Reading text & website.

 If you are new to teaching small groups and would like help in getting started let me know-stop in my office or send an email.  I will gladly help you get your supplies ready to go!

Happy Reading! Mrs. Speake p