EDL 281 Clinical Journal

7/31/2013 Today I met with Lara Justmann for the first time. I had tried to contact Dr.

Stilwell previously about arranging a mentor to work with for this semester, but failed to connect. After a couple of weeks, Dr. Stilwell connected me with Lara, and we met today. We first discussed our backgrounds academically and professionally and got to know each other. We spent some time talking about some of my strengths and weaknesses and areas that I would like to focus on as an aspiring administrator. I tied in some of my experiences at Des Moines Christian School (DMCS) and revealed some things that I would like to work on. I expressed my interest on learning how “systems thinking” and “systems learning” works, seeing that in action, and how to implement it. I also sid that a big thing that I am missing is some background in dealing with special needs students, especially from an administrative perspective. We came up with a plan that through the course of this semester we will be working on the Special Education component, PLC groups and activities, Data collection and analysis, implementation of programs, and staff development. One thing that we added into this mix that we were going to learn together is formative assessments. Lara gave me a list of dates to put in my calendar and advised me to be at various meetings. We talked about the content of each of the meetings and what the expectations for these general meetings would be. I took a tour of the school and concluded our initial meeting. I will be going back tomorrow and attending an administrative staff meeting.

8/1/2013 Dr. Stilwell addresses the goup and encourages them to be principal driven,

live out the mission, vision and core values. There are times of variation. Stilwell emphasized the need for systems thinking and moving forward as a group.

This was a great Segway fro Lara Justmann to talk about the code of cooperation. These are the things that the admin. Team is committed to in order to work collaboratively. These codes are located at the bottom of the agenda.

Mark talked about the importance of knowing one another’s strengths in order to better work with each other and to use other’s talents and abilities. This is derived from Tom Rath’s “Strength Finder 2.0”. The goal is that the AO members will have a fundamental understanding of each individual’s strengths, identify, appreciate, and apply the individual and collective strengths of the Urbandale Admin team. This will be the pre-requisite for the PD on August 27th. This is a really great activity to promote system’s learning and systems thinking.

Doug Stilwell and Mark talked about the Administrative PD/Evaluation. The PD that was in place last year will be used again this year. This PD is strengths based. Will be continuing “Walk-throughs”, but will be changing the form to reflect the direction that the district wants to move. The entire

intent is for improvement. Senge indicates that for true success to occur there needs to be personal mastery. We want to make sure that we use the “strenths based” approach to provide feedback that does not compel fear. This will be a common tool among all of the buildings. Personal reflection to help us all grow. Mark talked about the Admin council fostering meaningful collaboration among the admin team. This was all addressed in the “2013-2014 Urbandale Administrative Council Fostering Meaningful Admin. Team Collaboration” document. It was recommended to read “Cultures Built to Last” by DuFour. We also took time discussing the “Shared Goals Dialogue”.

We broke out as a team and discussed “Shared Goals Dialogue”. We talked that we should be monitoring student achievement data, especially among all sub-groups. We need to be looking at academics, attendance, and discipline. We need to have systemic process to collect data so it can be analyzed. We talked about the need to celebrate improved results. It is easy to celebrate achievements, but some achievements won’t necessarily be seen in the short term. It is important to see incremental improvements. We also need to celebrate the implement journey. When special programs are being implemented, it is important to celebrate the steps in the journey. We talked about that the structure of monthly AO/Principal/and AC meetings have been good things to ensure meaningful collaboration. Something that our group felt that could be improved upon is the “non-business” gatherings to build relationships and establish a context. The final thing we discussed is the need to reflect frequently to mission, vision, and core values. We need to live out these things in order to keep ourselves accountable.

Spent considerable amount of time working through, discussing, and thinking about the strategic plan. Make a point to get Deming’s book about 14 points of profound knowledge.

8/14/2013

Meeting with instructional coach. Karen Acres has moved up on their “Title 1” status to “safe harbor” status. Her position is to help with implementation on programs, PD, and her job is to make each child succeed (specifically literacy coaching). Her job is to collaborate with teachers to walk alongside them and provide assistance to meet the needs of students. This is a branch of the AEA. The Strategic Plan integrates instructional coaching models. How is literacy evaluated and compared?

Classroom Learning Systems: High Student Achievement. Teachers and administrators went through Langford training ensuring continual progress and learning through systems learning. Shippley –Plan, Do, Study, Act. Continual progress, things that you can apply with students. This is something that can be applied at the grass roots level with teachers and then immediately begin to implement things to students. Engagement includes continual improvement methods and clear direction. The whole purpose of this is to provide more structure to make things more efficient. This is something that is initiated by the UCILT (Urbandale Continual Improvement Leadership Team). The principal through walk-through observance utilizes

this. This is alignment with rest of the PD that has already been done. This is all done within the context of systems thinking and learning. This can focus on a singular problem and be used in a variety of contexts. This is a concrete absolute method that distinguishes a “good teacher” in checklist form.

Staff did reading camp for students. This was a “United Way” grant ($10,000) to reinforce student literacy. Most of the students that were involved were “Title 1” students, so they will be bench marked right away to get an assessment from where they were at the end of the school year last year and measure the improvement over the summer.

This portion of the meeting was about communicating with parents in a variety of venues. Communication about miscellaneous things (field trips, conferences, any other pertinent information). CINA (inform parents about areas that need improvement in math). SES (supplemental education services) will not be available for literacy, and will not be available for math because it is a year two plan. Data Binders – goal setting, accumulating artifacts and having students graph their own improvement data. Each student must have at least one reading and math goal. The goal needs to be based on the DIBBLE scores. Teacher Evaluation: Professional Development Plan. This template can be used in the form of a PDSA or on Moodle. It would make sense to have your partner have the same individual growth plan. Refer to “Agenda” for information. September 16 is the first DATA Day. Looking at the new Literacy levels. Identify students that have concerns and benchmark them prior to the first “DATA DAY”. Parent Communication: Building positive relationships. This information includes new things students are learning, things that parents can do with students, through a variety of ways. This is something that is being done as a result of parent feedback. Committees: These are opportunities for staff to be part of the overall function of the system.

Addressing the grade literacy SMART Goals for 2013-2014. Reviewing the district goals and the building goals. The SMART Goals were not matching throughout each of the time constraints, so revision is being made to make sure that a variety of assessments are including in determining proficiency or growth.

Meeting for agenda structure for attendance and tardy training meeting. Address tardy and attendance tracking. Kari will address when a student is late. Students sign in as late, and it is marked as tardy in the computer system. This will be marked in the notebook and in power-school. Many students are slipping through the cracks. The goal of this is to reduce variation from building to building, and to set up a routine that is expected for future years. This is a great systems thinking and learning process. One of the issues is that we need to code the tardiness and absences so that instructional time can be tracked. Then the process is followed on such that after the third tardy a note is sent home and must be signed by a parent. If the note isn’t signed and brought back, then a call to home from the principal. After the second third time there is another note sent home. After ten tardies there is a parent meeting. There will be a spreadsheet created and there will

be a tab for tardies and one for absences. The absence process is that if a student is absent ten percent of the time a letter is sent home, and a thank you letter is given to parents who are communicating, and the next letter is given to those who are not communicating. Sometimes a phone call is given as a “heads up” when it is necessary. Names are entered on the absence tab, and the information is updated weekly.

8/19/2013 Met with Austin Temperley and discussed international students and setting

them up with temporary VISAs to study here in the US. We did a training program on SEVIS, logged in information on several students and sent information home to verify all of the information was correct. When all of the information is returned, we will then submit the information to SEVIS in order to validate the student’s I20 status.

8/20/2013 Met with Urbandale law enforcement and discussed lockdown procedures,

evacuation procedures and intruder actions. We discussed that student safety is paramount and the goal is to evacuate as many students as possible. We discussed how to barricade a door, and what actions we should take provided that an intruder enters our room.

8/22/2013 Spoke to students in grades 7-12 about the appropriate use of media. I

discussed purpose, motive, appropriate tools to express certain ideas and emotions, collectively came up with ways to positively use media.

8/23/2013 Worked with Lara in planning a Karen Acres community picnic. We invited

all of the KA staff and families, all of the students and families, and were able to elicit the catering support of Hy-Vee stores. I was able to help in the planning, set-up, and teardown. I was able to have conversations and build relationships with staff, students, and student’s parents. This was a very good activity used to build up community relations with others and the KA community.

9/3/2013 PD with KA staff. We talked about the importance of keeping the end in mind

for the reading improvement needed. We talked about the why, what, and how regarding guided reading. We discovered that systemically there has not been adequate training for the staff regarding guided reading, and that there a variety of programs at conflict. . The ultimate goal for guided reading is to match guided reading instruction with each individual student’s needs.

Nicole (reading coach) talked about the 5+1 traits and strategies that support comprehension. We talked about how identify students through formative assessments and through benchmarks and DIBELS.

9/3/2013 PTO meeting. Treasury report includes two different accounts, a savings

account that is for bills and requisitions above $100, and a checking that is for anything below $100.

Principal Justmann – needs a parent to be on yearbook staff. This person will be a representative of the school and take candid photos for “LifeTouch” and puts together the photos. At the end of the year the company gives the school $200 for this. Ask parents what their interest areas are to increase parent interaction and involvement. This would be on a different evening than PTO nights to save time. Too time to explain the boards in the hallway. One was designated to celebrate student character. This is all under the idea of positively influencing the culture. Another board was designated as a calendar explaining activities, birthdays, and other things. The final board was designated toward allowing others to see the progress in the reading initiative.

Budget from PTO president. Talked about increasing the budget to accommodate a “baby-sitter” or two for conferences, PTO meetings, etc. The budget will be included in the next parent newsletter to show parents where the money is going. Talked about approving funds for the running club. Talked about getting binding for the directory. Talked about finding a new Vice President for the PTO. President spoke of the discretionary need to make emergency purchases up to $100 in the event of an emergency for the president and the secretary. Discussed the need to have a co-position on the two-year held position in order for one to shadow and learn the position. Also spoke of the need for the fundraisers and the people to lead the fundraisers. The new posed fundraiser has students participate in a “Read-A-Thon” reading for pledging for minutes read. PTO spoke of the need for increased parent volunteers for fundraisers, homeroom parents, class parties, and other activities.

Group discussed teacher allotment for funds, class parties, fundraisers, and teacher appreciation funds.

9/5/2013 Intervention plan for a student at Karen Acres. Began talking about

reinforcement measures. Spoke about replacement ideas, making sure that his attention is still engaged. When the break is done, the student is brought back to the task. Rewards are given as a result of a clip chart. Rewards are timed and it is a preferred activity. Discussed some response strategies, making sure that it is immediate and specific. Talked about redirection measures. The idea is to give repeated neutral reminders that are short and concise. Not engaging, arguing or escalating. Discussed the importance of established and consistently keeping a routine. Interesting conversation about “neutrally blocking” an item versus something becoming a game.

Also talked about an intervention plan for another student. Much of the same as above. One discussion was about trouble issues during transition times. It

is important to perhaps give the student something to do during transition to curb some of the behaviors. Rather than telling a student what not to do, give positive things that the student can do.

9/6/2013 Two phase intervention plan for a student that had been pulled out and been

receiving small group instruction. The plan is to now begin to integrate this student into the general classroom. There is a need to get the student to be integrated into math and “Words Their Way” programming in the general classroom. There was a lot of conversation about the general classroom producing a positive affirming experience for the student. The student is indicating that he hates math, but he seemingly does well. It was determined that Words Their Way, the Mini Lesson, Read Aloud, and other programming is ideal because they are 20 minute sessions that can captivate his attention. When aggressive behaviors arise, he is given the opportunity for moderately preferred activities during breaks. Drawing used to be a moderately preferred activity, but has now moved up to a highly preferred activity. I suggested that he would be given a choice book, which is listed in the moderately preferred list and is in alignment with building goals. We also discussed that when physical aggression to an adult occurs, that it results in going back to the small group. Careful attention needs to be given because this could turn into a reward. My questions after this was the following: Can these same interventions be done and reinforced at home, Can he be given choice books?

Had an after school meeting with Lara and talked about the intervention strategies the previous day, and the integration plan for the student. We also talked about personnel issues, PTO issues, and planned for upcoming meetings.

9/9/2013 BIT meeting – Building Improvement Team Meeting. Address issues as to

how response to problems as a building. As a principal, Lara can’t be the only one that is making decisions, everyone needs to be a leader, and the BIT team can help to make the decisions. Make decisions that are fair and the best interests of the students. Whiz Kids process for directions after school. For a couple of weeks, a teacher will escort them to the church. After the couple of weeks the older students lead the way without the escort of a teacher. The problem is that kids are cutting through the parking lot creating a safety issue. Students are also not walking on the sidewalk causing other issues as well. Need to come up with an absolute routine. We will have the students that are a part of Whiz Kids meet in a teacher’s room at a certain time and then be walked over to the church.

After school there is supposed to be a designated area for students to wait for their time. They need to be sitting on the bench or sitting along the wall in the shade. The problem really generates with the band kids causing traffic flow issues. If there is rain, they can just stay inside the foyer.

Lunch/recess supervision – The issue is that there is not clarity as to who is covering which students. Some teachers are general duty and some are one on one attention.

Headphones – the headphones are not consistent, some work, some don’t, some are new, some are wore out…etc. Is there a need for two people listening at the same time? There is a need for splitters so that two people can be listening on one computer at the same time. We need to elicit feedback as to what their needs are for headphones. What are their current needs? Also, would they like to have two students at one time listening together?

Discussed updating family photos. Also talked about breaks for all conferences. Questions regarding conferences are about if you have a certain amount of students, then you potentially wouldn’t have that 20 minute break in the middle. Need to make the parent teacher conference sign-up sheet available at the hand in hand questionnaire.

Classroom set up time. There needs to be some discussion district wide about how much time is needed to set up the classroom. It is important to make sure that your room is ready before you go to all of the meetings. This happens to be a negotiations issue. This is something that could be put on the “parking lot” to be addressed at the building level. There needs to be time given to teachers to take the mandatory trainings.

Hand in hand questionnaire is not an absolute form that teachers have to use. There can be other questions that can be put on the form. The time can be better used to discuss the logistics. The hand in hand is a format for parents to give to us, the open house is for us to give to parents. Teachers will look at that form and edit what needs to be edited then submitted to Robin.

Tech Talk – Is it a need? Maybe come up with a two question survey that indicates the need for it.

Lamination schedule – Is there a set absolute time where teachers could take advantage. There needs to be absolute time designated for this so that teachers can be assured that things can be done and used. Another option is to use the lamination service through the AEA. Can we elicit a volunteer to come and train to do lamination.

Discussed electronic database for Guided Reading library. There really isn’t anything that is currently available. Someone needs to create a template on how this could get started. It would be nice if some of the reading would be separated from fiction/nonfiction, but it would also be appropriate to determine what the reading level would be.

9/10/2013 Used a resource to determine what guided reading is. The resource gives

instruction on guided reading and the different levels. The lessons that are given for GR are for smaller works. You can build in intervention time, but it would be limited to an individual group. The bulk of the GR lesson should be the kids reading the bulk of the texts. The end goal is to be able to look at student data (benchmarks and DIBELS) and implement a clear learning strategy within GR. The goal is to improve this process over the next several

weeks. We need to make sure that we are hitting all five of the reading components. Groups are determined by assessments. We watched a video that demonstrated the different components of guided reading. The teacher helps build a context. In this lesson the teacher establishes the idea of compare and contrast. At the end of the PD session there was time built in to elicit feedback from what was heard. The format was that of “Parking Lot” (positives, negative factors/inhibitors, questions, and ideas for improvement).

9/10/2013 Administrative Council Meeting – Talked about the business office showcase.

Talked about the office personnel in the business office and what their responsibilities are. The goal is to have a better understanding of the work that the business personnel does.

We talked about our communication (specifically how). We need to review the protocols for consistent communication district wide. The desired outcome is to have a common understanding of best communication practice. We need to understand that everything that we send out is a representation of the school and leaders of the school.

We discussed the topic of an Active Shooter. We have Urbandale Police Chief McCarty leading the discussion. We want to become aware of the active shooter process, relative to school safety. McCarty suggested that we spend more time in the mental health of students to ensure safety in the long run. Urbandale is deciding that they are not going to carry through on the ALICE program. They are going to tailor a program that better suits the needs of UCSD. The plan is dependent on situational awareness. The lockdown procedure is viewed as a “safe”. Helping elongate the time of response of teams to come and intervene. Intervention teams are designed to eliminate threat, not to aid. The plan is made up of prevention, response,? . As an administrator we need to make sure that there is a plan and that everyone knows and understands the plan.

Building/Department budget update. The goal was to share the budgets and process for developing budgets for the 13-14 school year. Leaders will know their budget numbers and the process used to develop them. Handouts included the qualified organization gambling licenses, overview of funds, and the building budget allocations.

We talked about expectations for moving forward with Q/CI (Continuous Classroom Improvement) implementation based on the work with Shipley. We discussed the CCI and the 8 steps, and desired that a common understanding will be developed and that staff can move forward with Q/CI. Went through the implementation plan for CCI.

Human resources update – The goal was to develop and reinforce the HR processes in order to reduce variation. There needs to be a common understanding of the HR process to reduce variation. Need to find a way to make sure that internal job postings are reliable and the postings that are in Teach Iowa are also accurate. Wanted to elicit feedback – what can HR do to

reduce variance in recommendations, what do you need, what can you do that job postings are accurate

9/11/3013 Karen Acres PD – First we are talking about DIBELS progress monitoring. We

were able to get to the DIBELS website and were able to look at the different screens where they can input data and monitor student progress. The DIBELS system is a way of scoring fluency and accuracy. This is assessed three times a year, but can be assessed more frequently for targeted students. F&P is a system that focuses on reading comprehension and are benchmarked and assessed three times a year also. Benchmarking also indicates where the student should be at any given time. The goal for KA is that at each of the benchmark dates every student will be at grade level expectations or beyond.

We discussed “Parking Lot Feedback”. Addressed some of the concerns, questions, and possible ideas. Talked about that all students need to be in guided reading groups using smaller texts.

Looked at F&P Continuum books. Examining the scope and sequence. There is a descriptor that talks about guided reading. Examined the resource that teachers are supposed to follow.

Looked at Grade 5 student’s benchmarks to assess where students are in terms of DIBELS and F&P. We then shared the lesson plans and looked at groupings to see how each student’s needs are being met.

9/16/2013 Meeting with Lara Justmann – talked about technology, technology planning,

integration, staff development and student achievement. Talked about the profession of a principal, what prepared her for the job,

what are the benefits of the job, working with a staff, hiring, letting go, etc.

9/18/2013 Intervention meeting for a student that is showing a decline in behavior.

Looked at a student’s benchmarks and assessments behaviorally in the Iowa IDEA (Web IEP), and was able to look at a graph that demonstrated a decline in behavior. Talked about office referrals, and some of the things that the student is doing. Talked about giving the “buddy break” cards. This is where he is able to go and shoot hoops with a buddy. It seemed that the student is verbally distracting in the classroom. It seems like he is experiencing “avoidance” when it comes to new work. He is getting pulled, reward time, and other things but he is missing on academic time, and it is beginning to really manifest itself in scores. A student was able to intervene and turn his day around. Everyone was trying to problem solve with him, and he was getting tired of everyone talking to him. The attention that he is getting for disruptive behavior causes him to avoid class work. Lara, indicates that in some way she would not be ok with certain behaviors if that were her child. How do you guarantee the safety of an individual student with special needs

while also guaranteeing the safety of all of the other students in the room? The key is how to receive the positive attention from his peers, which seems to be a key motivator for him.

The classroom teacher wants to use other students to use positive reinforcement in order to provide incentives toward positive behavior. Maybe the “buddy” time is to do the same activity but with a person of his choice. The student will be given a “punch card” in the morning and a fresh one in the afternoon, which gives him the privilege of sitting with a buddy. Instead of giving him a punch ticket, give him opportunities to do this as often as he needs. The teacher expresses a need to have a one on one. It seems like the issue is that the needs of the individual student is taking away from the attention of the other students in the classroom. Teacher indicates that she needs to see others interact with the student so that she can simulate those same interactions (power of collaboration).

Now that we know that the base line was established, and it was skewed, where do we go from here? Also will keep reward time the same as of right now, but will start to decrease the amount of time in three weeks. Will talk to the student in the morning, talk to select student group, train and model expected behavior.

It is interesting that in all of my classes it is said that mainstreaming students in a classroom doesn’t effect other student achievement. It is obvious in this situation that is does.

9/19/2013 The purpose and goal of these DATA Days is to be able to use data to

determine appropriate, specific and timely instruction for students who are below grade level as measured by DIBELS and/or F and P Benchmarking, in order to ensure that they perform at or above grade level by the end of the school year.

Data used to inform decisions: DIBELS, F and P Benchmarking, Words Their Way, progress monitoring, and others.

Team will look at student’s data to understand where he/she is discrepant, Determine and document instruction that is appropriate, specific and timely

for the student to receive, a goal that projects students to be at grade level by the end of the year, between now and next 6 weeks, from whom, and how progress will be monitored during that time period.

Team will ensure appropriate supports are in place or teachers to carry out the plan for the student.

The graphing includes the student’s name, data to support concerns: DIBELS, Benchmarking, Spelling Inventory, Observations, 6 week goal, description of intervention, whether or not that they met the goal, and then this is repeated every six weeks.

Talking about intervention strategies about word identification and sound identification in order to help with reading. Also gave ideas for how to deal with integration and craft and structure. (Beyond and About the text)

I would like to know the difference between Title 1 Reading and IEP reading objectives. This experience is really good because it is demonstrating being “Data Informed” and providing strategies to ensure student growth. It is interesting to see where students need to focus. Some need to focus on accuracy, some need to focus on fluency, and some need to focus on comprehension. In many cases it takes the teacher making real life connections for students in order to bring about growth. This is all about looking at data to design instruction.

This whole experience is surreal. I am reminded of when I was a child and struggled with reading and comprehension. I also struggled with syntax. It is interesting to see the benchmarking assessments and the different focuses of growth.

There is a letter that will be sent out to parents to include them in the enrichment process. There will be a letter given to parents to let them know why their child is identified in Title 1 services or why they are below grade level. They will also be given strategies and techniques to work at home to provide enrichment. This is a good way to build the relationships between school and home. This is also a good way to include parents in the learning process and give them accountability. I also wonder what is the standard deviation for each of the benchmark.

There was a time where feedback was elicited from each of the team members. The whole process was efficient and not a “gotcha” moment. The whole process is designed to increase student achievement in the areas of reading and comprehension.

9/19/2013 UCILT Meeting – Discussion about core values of the school. Why are we

here? If students were not forced to be here, would they still come? The vision needs to be a shared vision. We need to share what is in our hears so that people know what we are about. It is not about what the vision is, but what it does.

Julie shared some things that are happening in her classroom – she is a level 3 Special Ed program at the high school. She kind of coaches the middle school and high school. Quality in education, a 21st century approach, includes skills, real world approach, relationships and a community effort. It is important to bring learning to life for everyone. Elicited feedback from the team and they wanted a communication board. They came up with a schedule and put it in “stranger” language. Focused more on quality, so the created a self-monitoring tool. This provided great clarity so that expectations were clear. Then they began talking about the students and came up with goals. The goal is made available on the wall in written form for all readers and in symbols for non-readers. Created a mission, a visual representation of what they wanted to accomplish. Talked about structure and focused on being student centered. Students then work on PBL activities. This is all student driven instruction. Students know that they need to complete projects in corresponding tubs. These are individual job

skills that they can be equipped for out in the community and be gainfully employed. Just started a new process involving data collection. They begin to graph assessments from two weeks ago to this point.

AYP – Adequate Yearly Progress, as a result of NCLB requires each district to annually demonstrate adequately yearly progress. Safe harbor – reduce non-proficient by at least 10%, Biennium(average 2 years of weighted data), Triennium (average 3 years of weighted data). Now we need plans to improve. Use the classroom learning system training to transform classrooms into learning systems vs. teaching systems: implement characteristics of effective instruction, provide teacher collaboration focused on student learning and results, implementation of Words Their Way, all k-5 classrooms by 2nd semester, implementation and review of reading units, implementation of Everyday Math including differentiation routines, Building Action Plans based on building data. Based on these things there are annual improvement goals

Karen Acres needs to update the plan, have the SINA team come together. The plan is then paired with another school that has similar demographics and they share plans for peer review.

Discussed connecting continuous classroom improvement to Iowa Core CEI Student Centered Classrooms and also Assessments for learning.

9/26/2013 Third Grade PLC Meeting – met with the third grade teachers, Lara Justmann

(elementary principal), and a literacy coach. Discussed learning plans for students that are below proficiency according to DIBELS. Also discussed progress-monitoring techniques. Came up with activities that teachers could use to focus on fluency and accuracy.

9/26/2013 Title 1 Open House – Greeted and welcomed parents and students that

qualified for Title 1 support in reading and math. Worked with teachers to give parents support information, show student progress and talk about parent contract regarding these efforts.

9/30/2013 Pre-observation for teacher – teacher fills out pre-observation form online.

Teacher also provides a lesson plan and an outline on what she intends on doing during the observation. The pre-observation includes standards the teacher intends to cover doing the class. It also includes what the administrator will see the teacher do. Teacher needs to describe the strategies the teacher will do to help students learn. The third element will be to explain what the students will do. The fourth element is describing some form of assessment. The teacher needs to decide what the administrator should observe. What data will help the teacher become a better instructor? Administrator gave ideas on things to expose…possible areas that she may need work in. Teacher wants to work on gradual release model and classroom discussion observation. Administrator also gave a

suggestion to tie knowledge to other areas of learning. Lara told her that she would also be making a script. Lara will provide information to create a chart of some sort in order to provide data for the teacher. Teacher walked through the lesson completely, aligning with curriculum goals. Lara asked questions how the teacher knows what students are working on. Sometimes the teacher works or review, readiness, or both. Lara does a great job of asking questions, listening actively and providing empathy. Lara wanted to know about her PDSA. Teacher wants to use something that she could assess every two weeks especially using problem solving strategies. Lara also asked about measureable strategies.

10/01/2013 PTO Meeting – Discussed finances (ledger, accounts receivable and accounts

payable). Discussed making a student directory for the PTO and families. Discussed that conferences conflict with a PTO meeting in March. Decided that the PTO meeting will be pushed back a week. Talked about buying a license for games and soliciting funds.

Parent night -

10/4/2013 All day shadow with Lara Justmann – did observation for student Met with family coach discussing tardies and absences. Run a query through

“power school” identifying students that have 10% or more absences. We want to see a “0” from one week to the next. When students show improvement parents are given a “thank you” letter. Identifying several students that determining the why, who, and what of the absences. Some letters are given to indicate that they need documentation. Went through students and determined what kind of letter should be sent to parents. When they have three tardies they are put on the list and a note a sent home and it to be returned. Some student tardiness is excessive. These behaviors indicate “at risk” students. Lara is able to pinpoint the date, time and why students are late.

Lunch Duty – I had the opportunity to assist and supervise in hall duty. This was a particularly difficult day for lunch because the weather was bad so students had indoor recess and Karen Acres was hosting a clothing drive for ELL community families. Students were not able to eat lunch in the lunch room so they had to come get their lunch and walk it back to their classroom. I had to assist with students carrying lunches (especially younger students and students with special needs).

Observation Zach Martens – this was a great experience because I was able to do a wide lens observation, go back through my notes and provide anecdotal support for the principal and the teacher. I was able to contribute to continual improvement for building goals and teacher goals, as well as provide visual aids to help with feedback for improvement.

Observation Judy Erickson – This was a good experience because this was a Title 1 teacher that was working with four students. My objective during this

lesson was to assess whether or not the four students were on tasks during the lesson. I created a chart that had the students (four) along the top, and on the left I numbered the spaces to represent each minute. Each minute I observed each student to determine what their activity was. When the observation was complete I was able to go back and create a graph that demonstrated a general “on task” query of the students as well as provide individual information.

Observation Special Ed. – This experience was especially unique because I had to watch a special ed teacher work with a student on fluency and accuracy as related to reading literacy. My responsibility was to provide data on whether or not the teacher was making connections from instruction (ee, oo, and silent e) to the reading material.

Third Grade PLC – In this meeting we were talking about particular students progress as it related to DIBELS and how we could improve their scores to make sure they were on target. We looked at a couple of different instructional strategies that can be used individually and during small group time.

Recess issue – There is a new teacher that is monitoring recess, and the students are not respecting the new teacher by not responding to the whistle when it is time to come in from recess. We addressed the students by cutting recess early by five minutes and providing them instruction and examples of what to do and what not to do. We also used a “gradual release” model that includes teachers to come out at the end to provide more adult support.

Students bullying issue – met with the guidance counselor to discuss a couple of girls that are potentially bullying another student. I was able to listen to both sides of the argument (bullied student and the perpetrators) and did find that there was a minor case of bullying. The guidance counselor was able to provide support for both sets of students. The principal talked to the students and called parents. There is a plan for the parents to come in and meet with the principal to discuss this further.

Student behavior issue (pink slips) – Throughout the day there were several behavioral issues that needed to be addressed. We went through the referrals and prioritized them, and came up with a plan as to how to address the issues. We then went directly to students and talked with them. After we talked with the students a phone call home was made.

10/17/13 Discussing the SINA plan. Discussing any changes that need to be made and

any evidence of the plan being implemented. We also talked about family reading and math night. A meal would be provided to make sure that the target families would come. Strategically planned that it needs to be in conjunction with other activities.

Discussed allocating funds to meet SINA objectives. Building used a “Langford” tool by incorporating several models for feedback. Teachers were able to put on a document what they felt like they needed. Teachers were then able to go back and pick out the top 5-10 ideas that were most relevant

to them. After they came up with this list, they were able to go back and rank them and come up with a score that would prioritize what they should spend their money on.

10/23/2013 Special Education Migration to electronic records meeting. The focus of the

group is to plan the scope and sequence of the transition to electronic storage of special education records. Need to draft out a file structure for security. Each teacher would have a room; principals would have access to rooms for teachers in their building. Special Education Coordinator and Admin assistant would have access to all rooms in district. Each file would have three different levels (active/inactive, student ID/name, folders). The third level would include the initial entitlement folder, IEP, Progress monitoring folders, rubrics/checklists, emails, and general documents. The important thing to remember is that security of the information needs to be important. The focus of this meeting was to talk about making the whole process of the electronic transition more systemic. Jason Vulmer was eliciting feedback from a variety of people to make sure that the there is a consensus on the procedures.

11/25/2013 Going over a student’s IEP. Giving artifacts for places where the student is

meeting projected goals and where the student is not meeting objectives. Some of these ideas discussed were assessed through benchmarking and progress monitoring. Discussed several implementation techniques, including reading, comprehension, vocabulary, decoding, etc. Student is currently in fourth grade reading at a second grade level. Discussed techniques to improve reading scores. Discovering that the student has issues decoding. There are too many steps from decoding to writing. Talked about the celebrations of where the student was to where he is now. Discussed some writing goals such as computation, money, time, and number concepts. The rubric will be used for progress monitoring. The student’s behavior indicates more help with independent work is needed. Discussed intervention strategies for social skills. Student is receiving direct instruction in many areas.

11/25/2013 School board meeting. Third grade class presented PDSA initiative

implemented in the classroom. This is something that is part of the strategic plan of Urbandale High School. This was used as evidence of the superintendent’s initiative to improve schools. There was also a presentation from a community member that discussed frustrations about building a new football/track for a middle school without supporting the necessary improvements for the elementary schools. The board listened and offered no comments. There was a presentation given by a school counselor regarding the mental health services that are currently provided and that

will no longer be available due to the state sanctioned limits to multiple providers. They discussed the need for an organization to provide mental health counseling. Also heard a presentation from the company “Flying Hippo”, a website design company that would provide their services in providing a new website and mobile services for Urbandale High School. There was also a presentation from the school’s health insurance provider giving the school board a clear picture where they stand as far as their investments are concerned.

12/4/2013 Sandy Nelson – Context: educators were working on flow charts and pick a

student to work through a diagnosis process. Considered the idea of “test back”, and how to determine instructional level (not grade level). Watching a student and score the student using the “DDS” (Diagnostic Decoding Survey). The DS is a great way to look at a student’s decoding skills. The difficulty lies within the analysis, not the testing. Reviewed the LETRS/IRF Student Data recording forms. The purpose is to put to use the Diagnostic Learning, and to provide avenues for continuous improvement. The DIBELS Next determines the Grade level benchmarking. Accuracy is also determined by DIBELS Next. Benchmarking reminds us where the students are supposed to be, helps to recognize the gap, and gives us an idea where to go (progress monitoring). How do you determine instructional level? Looked at Phonics Boost which is resource used to improve reading skills for students in grades 2-12. Take a look at materials from “Really Great Reading”. Also, take a look at (Blast, Boost, Blitz).

Conversation with Jason Vulmer – Discussed students that qualify for special education services. There is a situation where a home schooled student wanted to be tested in order to qualify, but there needed to be evidence of progress monitoring. Urbandale and many other AEA schools do not use standard IQ tests or others to determine whether or not a student qualifies for special education services. All those tests do determine the gap in relation to other students. In order for a student to qualify for services, there must be an apparent disability. Within the realm of possibility is the fact that there may be deficient instruction as a result of being home schooled. This raises a larger systemic issue because a student may qualify for services in one state, but may not qualify in the state of Iowa. If a student comes to Iowa with an IEP, it is incumbent upon the schools to serve the student until progress monitoring reveals otherwise. This student could qualify for Title I, but may not qualify for special education services.

Board meeting – indicating the hopes and expectations for the day, specifically from the special education sector. Information that was shared was clarity of the big picture utilizing the website. This articulates the learning goals for a variety of learners, at risk, talented and gifted, etc. The big picture of special education is to provide students that have disabilities. This is not to be confused with students that are discrepant, but there has to be some kind of disability that is determined through testing and progress

monitoring. Services range from mild to substantial disabilities. The goal is to accelerate learning and to close the gap. The aim then is to help students become more independent and to acquire skills that will help them become healthy adults. Discussed monetary loss when a school accepts an open enrolled special education student. Now, Urbandale considers special education students that are enrolling and being accepted into the program to be considered if there is room in the classroom and whether or not there needs to be an associate hired in order to serve the student. Section 504 is a diagnosed disability, requires accommodation, but the nature of the need doesn’t need specially designed instruction. Talked about the purchasing process. Any requests are made with Jason Vulmer and he approves or disapproves of each and every request.

Meeting with AEA – discussing students with special needs. Talking about the next steps for intervention of specific students. Discussed the monitoring of a student and that they were able to replicate the IEP behaviors. The goal was to get the student to abstain from self-injury. There are three associates that are serving one student (sounds like they are serving others as well). There is also another teacher that is providing services in helping this particular student. The student comes from a group home into the district and so funds are coming from “Cardinal”. There may be a need to implement FAPE. There is a need to increase play skills, life skills, and demands. Another student within the group home is doing much better. There is documentation happening for self-injury and the student can be talked down from certain behaviors. Talked about a student at another school. Looking at the intervention methods and intervention strategies for his teacher. There needs to be a coaching/mentoring monitor. Also considered re-integrating another student within a classroom. Talked about another student that is in need of early intervention. Bad behavior is reinforced in certain situations because providing reinforcement at a low level of incidence and reinforcing consistently has shown to limit escalation. What does it mean that the assessment didn’t replicate? When a behavior is being reinforced, you try to create an environment/situation that would stimulate that same behavior in order to identify motivations. The student is very “high-stakes” right now and nearly out of the realm of help for the group home. It is important that FBA’s and goals are aligned.