It's a Process with PROGRESS!

My Action Research Progress Update:

August 15, 2012 was the kick off date of my action research plan.  The instructional coaches and curriculum coordinators presented the district initiatives at the principal’s meeting.  Included in this presentation were the Effective Instructional Strategies.  Since then the Curriculum and Instruction Team has participated in training from McRel (Marzano’s original company when the first edition of Classroom Instruction That Works was written).  We have been trained on conducting classroom Power Walk-throughs that primarily look for effective instructional strategies.  The instructional coaches have 3 goals this school year that tie to our district strategic plan and one revolves primarily around my action research plan.  The first step we did in preparing teachers and training teachers on effective instructional strategies was to map out in what order we would present the strategies.  We were very excited during our training with McRel to learn that the order we had planned to train teachers was the same order that McRel presents the strategies during their training.  Even though some strategies have a higher yield of improvement than others, you must start with creating the learning environment.  The other progress we have made on the action research plan is setting dates and beginning what we have called “Workshop Series”.  Some campuses have set the workshop series to be twice a month during common time (30 minutes, whole staff).  Other campuses are holding their workshop series during conference times once a month( 45 minutes, just one grade level at a time).  On November 1 we will begin our initial round of Power Walk-throughs to gather our initial data on effective instructional strategies happening in the classrooms.  At this time I am very pleased with the progress and track that I am on with my action research.  I would have liked to have my initial data by November 1 rather than just starting it November 1 but this allows administrators to receive the training as well which I will be able to add their data to mine which in turn will allow me to gather data more quickly than I would alone.  

Progress Hours to Date:

Training that I have attended: 12 hrs
Preparing for trainings and presentations I conducted: 6 hrs
Conducting trainings and presentations: 18 hrs
Practice Walkthroughs: 3 hrs

TOTAL HOURS: 39 hours

Power Walkthroughs (PWT)

I am very excited about the progress I am making on my action research plan.  On September 14, our Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Team participated in the training from McRel on Power Walkthroughs (PWT).  Using their walkthrough tool, we conducted a few practice rounds with videos on checking for effective instructional strategies.  After lunch we headed into the classrooms at the high school and conducted live walkthroughs.  These walkthroughs were very similar to Dana Center walkthroughs the instructional coaches have done the past 3 years but now we can FINALLY look at the effective instructional strategies because the teachers are being told by their administrators to incorporate them in their lesson plans and teaching, it is a district initiative, they are not leaving them to the wayside any longer!  The data will be erased at the end of our training because we have not populated our accounts with teachers but it is coming.  Campuses administrators will have the opportunity to participate in a 2 day training at the end of October.  Day 1 will be Effective Instructional Strategies, Day 2 will be using the PWT tool.  On November 1 our teachers will be uploaded into our accounts and we will begin live walkthroughs.  This will be our initial data. The best feature of the PWT tool is that anytime any administrator walks into the classroom to conduct a walkthrough, the data is collective for our entire team.  This means that I will be able to have initial data more quickly than working alone to gather data as we have in the past.

The two diagrams below are observable evidence of Blooms and CITW (Classroom Instruction That Works).  During PWT, the observer carries these tools with them to ensure they are marking the appropriate evidence.

Web Conference Reflection

This weekend I was up bright and early, determined to find a quiet spot in my houseful of kids and husband so that I could participate in a web conference targeted to helping students through this weeks assignment.  The web conferences are always helpful in answering and clearing up details about weekly assignments.  The main concerns from this weeks conference seemed geared more towards documenting our hours and reflections of our course embedded activities and TK20.  I was surprised at the number of students still struggling with TK20 - I was under the impression that we were a cohort meaning we have entered a few items already into TK20 for other professors and our field supervisors.  I did learn during the time in the web conference that I am behind in my reflections for various activities I have completed as part of my intern plan.  

This week, I went into the web conference with one question for the week.  Do I need to prepare a presentation in addition to my outline for a presentation.  Apparently there were others in the group with the same question.  Dr. Abernathy was not positive at first whether we needed to or not, but felt that it was not required.  Thankfully another student had the assignment in front of her and was able to quote the requirements for us.

Sunday evening's conference was a bit more enlightening.  Even with technical difficulties with my computer speakers and being in a coffee house trying to listen without headphones because that was what caused my speakers to go out, I was able to pick up bits and pieces from various parent/school community projects other students were doing.  I was surprised at the number of other schools that participate in Backpack Buddies or something of the same idea.  I wish I could have heard more of the conversation on the ones sharing about helping students keep clean by providing the gym showers early each morning because they do not have the means to shower at home or wherever they are living.

As helpful as the web conferences are for students, there is a bit of difficulty participating.  Students arrive at different times and will ask the same questions over and over again.  You could hear the frustration level in Dr. Abernathy's tone after awhile.  When I first started the program, I attended the web conferences without fail - even leaving my son's baseball game to ensure I was there for a conference.  In the past few classes, I have slacked on attending because some professors will want each person on mic to speak and the conferences can get lengthy.  The lag in technology causes confusion as well in the discussion.  The web conferences that have worked best for me, since being in the program, are the ones that has a student or 2 typing responses for those who do not have audio.  Students typing in questions in the chat box, the professor responding to questions and being the only person on mic.  They are productive and effective.

With everything there are pros and cons but thank you Lamar Academic Partnership professors for providing a way for students to interact with you!

Mapping Out the Strategies

When the coaches began planning for this upcoming school year, we already knew we wanted to grow and develop reflective teachers.  Our resource for this would be Marzano's Becoming a Reflective Teacher.  We also had the charge to ensure instructional strategies are relevant, engaging, and incorporate 21^st century learning skills based on research based effective instructional strategies.  With both the knowledge of the high yield strategies and the design questions from Becoming a Reflective Teacher we created a timeline for a focus each month.

Did You Know?

Marzano's 9 is not really Marzano's 9.  Interesting little fact we learned recently during professional development.  Our district has an initiative this school year - everyone will instruct with effective instructional strategies.  Part of that process was to seek staff development to help administration and district leadership to fully understand Marzano's 9 so we brought in Elizabeth Hubbell with McRel from Colorado.  Dr. Robert Marzano was initially with this company before he left and started out on his own.  While he was with McRel, he developed the 9 Effective Instructional Strategies; however, when he left the company the Marzano 9 stayed with McRel so instead of Marzano's 9 they are Classroom Instruction that Works - research-based strategies for increasing student achievement.

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 Recognize this book? It is the first edition of Classroom Instruction that Works.  This is the research based strategies that Marzano was apart of.

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This book? It is the 2nd edition of Classroom Instruction that Works.  If you look at the authors, Marzano is not part of the 2nd edition.

Why the 2nd edition?  Initially in edition 1, the strategies are the high yielding instructional strategies.  Those that yielded the highest gain were put at the top of the list as important.   However, there is a particular order that the strategies should be implement into your instruction.  Take for example "Setting objectives and Providing Feedback."  This strategy only yields a 23% gain.  "Summarizing and Note Taking" yields a 34% gain.  One would think the higher the gain the quicker I need to use it, but can you summarize and take notes prior to setting your objective?  Makes sense, right?

Our instructional coaching team had already sat down prior to this professional development and mapped out the strategies in the order we wanted to focus on them each month with our teachers.  After a pat on the back, we were pleased to announce that we only needed to move one strategy in our order to match the order that McRel recommends in Classroom Instruction that Works: edition 2.

This is the recommended order of emphasis for this research based instructional strategies:

Step 1 - Create the Environment for Learning

• Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback
• Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
• Cooperative Learning

Step 2 - Helping Students Develop Understanding

• Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers
• Non-linguistic Representation
• Summarizing and Note Taking
• Assigning Homework and Providing Practice

Step 3 - Help Students Extend and Apply Knowledge

• Identifying Similarities and Differences
• Generating and Testing Hypotheses