1. State the purpose of your 2010-2011 PLC
2. How well did you meet your reading goal to affect student learning?
3. Share 2-3 things all staff members might need to know to improve reading achievement based on your findings/research/work this year.
4. Share any highs or lows of your PLC group work.
5. Explain or share anything you want the SIT/staff to know about PLCs.
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1. Our goal was to improve learning in student reading comprehension.
ReplyDelete2. I believe during this year like in other years, the use of reading music as an additional strategy will positively affect reading comprehension levels. We did not gather data for this, though.
3. I believe one thing that is helpful in reading achievement is diversification of reading tasks. Transfer of skills between subject areas is a valuable ability.
4. Initially we struggled to find a cohesive approach with so many varied practices and subject areas. However, discussion revealed the many cross-curricular aspects our courses offer with regard to reading skills.
5. PLCs offer a chance for collaboration and I would enjoy the opportunity to have department or "area" related collaboration in the future.
1. State the purpose of your 2010-2011 PLC
ReplyDeleteOur goal was to improve student learning regarding reading comprehension for every student (in our classes).
2. How well did you meet your reading goal to affect student learning?
We struggled greatly, but we all include reading strategies of some sort in our content areas. We are not specifically trained to assess reading comprehension.
3. Share 2-3 things all staff members might need to know to improve reading achievement based on your findings/research/work this year.
Regardless of what people might think about the "encore" areas, we do teach more than just strictly our content areas. We are very cross-curricular.
4. Share any highs or lows of your PLC group work.
The high was simply being able to spend time with content-alike staff members. The low was that we felt like we floundered.
5. Explain or share anything you want the SIT/staff to know about PLCs.
We sincerely wish we could have spent more time on Curriculum Manager as our focus this year. This morning was the first time we had heard that we only needed to have one class completed in Curriculum Manager.
1. Our goal was to improve student learning regarding reading comprehension for every student (in our classes).
ReplyDelete2. We struggled some to meet this goal, but we all all had reading in the content area goals that were met. We each included and expanded reading strategies in our own classes.
3. We are all are cross-curricular within our content areas and include reading goals.
4. I feel like we didn't have as much success as last year due to a lack of time and sometimes a lack of focus. We need to make our original goal more attainable and measurable. A positive was having time to collaborate with all fine arts teachers in the district.
5. If given a direction to go when planning our goal, I would also like to see an opportunity to pick our own focus to be worked on throughout the year as well. It is fine to have a district goal, but it would be more meaningful for us to also have a goal that in specific to our PLC.
1. To learn more about how online reading is different than traditional reading and incorporate improved teaching strategies to help our students be more successful.
ReplyDelete2. We had some great discussions early on and found some good resources and solid research. We came up with some strategies to help with student reading, but then got kind of stuck in terms of where to go next. Kathy did not see direct improvement with her strategy. I found the most success with just good reading instruction. No data to support strong correlation between strategies and improved student learning.
3.
-Insert questions within the online text to help students pause and reflect while reading.
-Use search and find tools while reading the text to help identify key terms, improve vocabulary, find quotes for research citations, other.
-Set screens with different lighting and/or fonts to help ease eyes, along with using "read to me" services as needed.
-Almost all text can be found online. Take advantage of them.
4. Great ideas to start but felt like we lost direction as things progressed. Not as much intervention needed as we first thought. Still just comes down to effective reading strategies.
5. I still value the concept of PLCs and would like to continue working in small, directed groups. A renewed focus would be beneficial, but being able to choose our own groups is important.
1. State the purpose of your 2010-2011 PLC-
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of your PLC to find the differences between the screen reading and print reading
2. How well did you meet your reading goal to affect student learning? I think we gained an understand of the differences between screen reading and print reading and then found data to back up the our initial feelings. We found found out pro's and con's of both
3. Share 2-3 things all staff members might need to know to improve reading achievement based on your findings/research/work this year. Please see top ten list posted by Steve earlier this year. Titled top ten conclusions about screen reading
4. Share any highs or lows of your PLC group work.
I enjoyed my group and learned but I liked it better when we were allowed to work on the topics we felt we had interest in
5. Our PLC enjoyed working together but it is much more beneficial when we are working on a topic that we have greater interest in
Alison Says:
ReplyDelete1. The purpose was to learn the differences between screen reading and hard copy reading, and come up with strategies to improve/help screen reading.
2. We found a lot of information about the pros and cons to both screen and hard copy reading, and were able to create a list of dos and don'ts to help students and teachers' reading in the classroom.
3. See top 10 list on our PLC blog (Top 10 Conclusions About Screen Reading)
4. High: Learned more that I anticipated about how to better help students screen reading. Low: Was of low interest to me.
5. There is greater dedication and drive in a PLC group when you are able to explore the topic of your choice.
1. Our PLC purpose was to investigate certain reading strategies to use in the classroom and implement them with math problems and questions to increase student achievement. We generally used one question per class period and emphasized a certain strategy.
ReplyDelete2. We will have to wait until ITBS and MAP come back, but the hope is that talking about these strategies will aid reading in some way.
3. I think it is a good idea to specifically talk about the different strategies and how to use them. I think for math, the retell/summarize strategy works great because many students read through something and get an initial inkling, but miss key words. When they are forced to talk it out and say it in a different way, there thinking changes and they start to make connections. Vocabulary strategies like word roots are also very important. You would be surprised at how rephrasing a question to a word that students understand can change the understanding of the question.
4. I like PLC time because we get time to work. Time is the biggest factor for me because I do not have enough of it. Getting time to get together and work is very helpful in order to accomplish those items that you would always like to do but can't...such as reading strategies within my classroom and setting up example questions.
5. Time to get together is great, especially with our common subject areas.
1. The purpose of reading and our PLC group is to comply with the district-wide goal of improving reading comprehension. In elementary music, poetry and sound stories are already a part of the curriculum. However, I conscientiously did more with reading comprehension.
ReplyDelete2. Again, there is a lot of reading and story-telling embedded in the elementary music curriculum. This made it simpler to meet the district goal.
3. I tried to make comprehension part of the 'fun' in class which makes learning fun for the kids. Adding rhythm instruments or movement also helps to make it fun and meets music standards and benchmarks in my content area.
4. It is nice to share ideas with the staff in my area and visual arts, as well. We gain perspective on the importance of reading in our own content and how we contribute to the learning of the children in our district.
5. I think it would be advantageous to choose a PLC topic more pertinent to my content area rather than something district-wide next year.
1. State the purpose of your 2010-2011 PLC; the goal of our PLC was to improve student learning regarding reading comprehension for every student.
ReplyDelete2. How well did you meet your reading goal to affect student learning?; I think we did an adequate job finding research data concerning screen reading vs. text reading. We found strategies that supported screen reading and disadvantages of doing so.
3. Share 2-3 things all staff members might need to know to improve reading achievement based on your findings/research/work this year; please see the Top 10 list that we created as a group titled, "Top 10 conclusions about screen reading."
4. Share any highs or lows of your PLC group work; I think a high was getting together to visit with different people from outside of my content area. I think a low was the distance between meetings and having to regroup each time.
5. Explain or share anything you want the SIT/staff to know about PLCs; I think PLC's are a great idea. The focus on reading can be a double edged sword in that is it good for the kids, but a lack of personal excitement of the goal led me to lackluster performances in attaining the goals.
1. Investigate how reading on-line is different than on-paper reading. Investigate reading strategies related to on-line reading.
ReplyDelete2. There were various strategies shared by members of our PLC that could be incorporated into other classroom activities. There was inconclusive data in regard to improved student reading, however.
3. a) Use Search and Find to locate specific topics within text. b) Font types can be enlarged and less text viewed at one time for struggling readers. c) Quality overall reading instruction and strategies are important for all types of reading, on and off-line.
4. We were more effective in the beginning stages of our PLC but then lost focus. High point includes quality discussions about specific findings in research and then using those strategies in class.
5. PLCs are a great way to collaborate professionally with peers, especially across the curriculum.
Joan Schuller
1. Our purpose was to create an interdisciplinary class on the music, history, cultures, languages, and literature of Latin American countries
ReplyDelete2. For this PLC, we didn't have a reading at this time because we were finishing from last year and putting the pieces together for the class. However, we researched reading strategies for when the class does become implemented
3. One is that reading online and reading a book are different processes and we may need to change out approach depending on the materials we will have for the classes/next year. Another would be that some students will be taking the class in Spanish, so the reading materials will be bilingual.
4. The lows are that everyone in our group ended up being in multiple PLC's because we were splitting the work and another would be that the class may take awhile to get into the class list. Some highs would be that it's a new class that students will be excited about and there was enough interest for a cross-curricular course. A third would be that it is a multifaceted class and not focused on one subject.
5. We are still working out some kinks to get this class moving and it should be (fingers crossed) up and running either next year or the year after.
1. Our goal was to compare the effectiveness of screen reading vs. print reading.
ReplyDelete2. I think that we gained an understanding that there are differences between print and screen reading, both of them have pros and cons.
3. See "top ten conclusions about screen reading" list sent out by Steve Hinderhofer earlier in the school year.
4. I feel like our group worked well together, however I personally felt confined by the reading constraint that was placed on us. We struggled to find a new area of study after we completed our initial goal.
5. I really enjoy the concept of working together as a team. Choosing the people we get to work with really helps me personally with motivation.
PHIL:
ReplyDelete1. to improve reading thru problem solving questions in the math classroom
2. I was able to incorporate some math questions in reference to the compass test, but did not get as many generated and on to study wiz as I had hoped.
3. Students struggle with "story problems" and typically shut down quickly. Mistakes are made just from going to quickly and not comprehending what was read.
4. We did not get as far as we needed to.
5. It was hard to tell if we improved reading by what we did in the mathematics classroom.
1. The purpose of our 2010-2011 PLC was to improve reading comprehension in a mathematics classroom.
ReplyDelete2. I have not yet met my reading goal to affect student learning in my classroom, because I am still compiling and typing word problems from sample compass tests, ACT tests, and other standardized tests to use with my classes.
3. When solving a multi-step word problem, it is important to read aloud and model for the students so they learn to define the question and to pick out the important information.
4. The high was that we were given time to work together to discuss our content area. Even though it wasn't our PLC goal, we discussed our accelerated math program and have begun to collect data on these students. The low was that since I was gone for many of the meetings we haven't met together (all 3 of us) many times and did not complete our goal yet.
5. I really like that we get time to talk with one another but the focus needs to change.
1. Learn more about reading on a screen vs. traditional reading. Look at strategies to help students.
ReplyDelete2. Found some good strategies but results were mixed. Kathy did not see direct improvement when she implemented her strategy. The discussion has been started and reading on the screen is not going anywhere. Good start to a huge topic.
3. Mess with the settings --- expand text etc… Also expand to a small amount for struggling readers…. Investigate the various software on your computer like kindle, nook and fbreader. Need to become fluent in the use of the interface so you can help kids with strategies.
4. Very good discussion but not enough practice in the classroom. Needed better implementation ideas --- not familiar enough ourselves I think. Do think this is a skillet all teachers will need as materials become digitized.
5. PLC's are very valuable but in the technology area the members need to have active Personal Learning Networks to help feed the PLC's. PLN's allows you to easily find materials that are valuable to your PLC.
1. State the purpose of your 2010-2011 PLC.
ReplyDeleteLast year our group focused on finding ways to motivate student learning and increase reading comprehension. Since this year's focus was on reading comprehension, we pretty much kept that same purpose, but we wanted to jazz it up with something a little different.
2. How well did you meet your reading goal to affect student learning?
I don't think that any significant changes or advancements were made in student learning because of this group's work. Since we are already all 3 involved in reading comprehension for students, it's what we do all the time.
3. Share 2-3 things all staff members might need to know to improve reading achievement based on your findings/research/work this year.
Staff members who work in the content areas need to work on comprehension strategies just as much as we who teach reading do. The kids may learn a skill in my class but really see a connection if they can apply it in the content areas. Main idea, paragraph topic, fact/opinion, cause/effect, sequence of events, etc. are so much more effective when they applied to the content that the kids are reading.
4. Share any highs or lows of your PLC group work.
The lows: We had a problem all being here on the same days. Eileen often had special ed meetings during this time period. Chris and I used one meeting to drive to Denver and hear a speaker talk about bullying and used another meeting to view a webinar on misic/map information. I was out of town on another date, and Chris was gone on a different one. Our group didn't seem to have the continuity of meetings like we did last year.
The highs: It is always nice to have time to get together with colleagues of like interests and bounce ideas back and forth for what may work for different kids in terms of reading strategies comprehension.
5. Explain or share anything you want the SIT/staff to know about PLCs.
I think the PLCs are a good idea, but we seemed to do better when we chose our own purpose and focus than when we were asked to all concentrate on the same topic. Perhaps the content area teachers needed to work on reading comprehension, but I felt like our group needed something different.
1. Our goal was to improve technical reading comprehension in our content area.
ReplyDelete2. We were still in the process of researching information to help improve technical reading comprehension.
3. I do not feel that I can comment on the research that we were exploring. In science, we focus on inquiry skills and concept development. Students struggle with following directions if necessary to complete an activity or write the the procedure they used during their experiment.
4. I felt it was difficult to wrap up our previous PLC's focus mid-year and find a new topic to get started on.
5. Our PLC worked very well last year and things fell apart this year.
1. Our purpose was to finish our Employability PLC. Then we regrouped and started looking at technical reading comprehension in our specific content areas.
ReplyDelete2. We we're still in the process of researching and we're having some difficulty finding specific strategies for our specific content.
3.I feel that we/I do not have enough research to answer this question. However, I need to improve on looking at students reading levels and the Lexile score's of my textbook.
4. It seems we really struggled finishing up the Employability PLC and getting started on the new one. I think others have used the word floundered... I think we did also.
5. I think the PLC is a valuable tool but I really would like to focus on something in my content area.
1. Our goal was to find articles on reading strategies.
ReplyDelete2. In the beginning we had great discussion and need redirected after awhile.
3. Teach them how to use the various tools online. Set the screen and font size. Get them questions to guide them along as they are reading the material.
4. Discussion early on good but as we all get busier in the year it seems to be harder to continue the deeper discussions.
5. Small group time is very important new direction is needed at this time.
1. State the purpose of your 2010-2011 PLC
ReplyDeleteContinue pursue the goal of finding strategies and motivation to improve reading comprehension of middle school students.
2. How well did you meet your reading goal to affect student learning? We found a few things but were frustrated by the few and far between meeting times as other items were put in that time slot.
3. Share 2-3 things all staff members might need to know to improve reading achievement based on your findings/research/work this year.Since I reteach this in special ed, I find that more modeling of thinking about what they are reading (read aloud/think aloud)has helped my students, also vocabulary, vocabulary building.
4. Share any highs or lows of your PLC group work.
I enjoy working with the "same" subject teachers, we have been working on improving reading for several years from Second Chance reading to our plc last year and hopes for this year. The Frustration,,, we 3 would get pulled in several directions during our PLC time and not get to focus on topic as we did last year.
5. Explain or share anything you want the SIT/staff to know about PLCs.
I do like the early morning time..more need to be efficient and focused in a 2 hour time...a little stressed because we didn't have much time.