A Clearinghouse for Martensdale-St. Marys Community Schools Professional Development

Monday, October 11, 2010

Whatever It Takes, Chapter 2

We continue our study of Whatever It Takes with chapter 2: "What Do We Do When Kids Don't Learn?" If you recall from last week's reading, this is one of the three essential questions of the PLC theory. The content of this chapter might challenge us a little by asking some difficult questions. It is important work, however. Use the time today to really dig in and address some of those tough questions with your peers. I applaud you for your work on previous chapters and it is my hope is that you and your team members will continue to work together and get the most out of your PD time. I will also encourage you to take time to read comments from the last two chapters. You'll find that the staff at MstM is a collection of conscientious, deep-thinking educators committed to student achievement. Happy reading!


1. This chapter describes the different responses of four schools that confront students who are not learning. Are there other responses you can identify?

2. Do you agree with the assertion that “in the real world of schools, we have all four of these responses occurring in the same school at the same time. . . . Students in the same school who experience difficulty in learning will be subject to very different responses based upon the beliefs and practices of their teachers”? Cite evidence from your own school to support your answer.

3. The authors contend that PLCs approach time and support for learning from a very different perspective than that of traditional schools. Summarize that difference in your own words.

4. Educators could argue that time and support for learning have always been variables in school. They could point to retention, summer school, remedial programs, and schools that design curricula to stretch 1 year of algebra into a 2-year program as examples of traditional approaches that give students extra time and support for learning. Why would the authors reject these strategies as inconsistent with their message?

5. The chapter concludes with the scenario of what happens to Johnny Jones when he is not learning. Do you agree with the idea that “this situation represents the norm in most schools?” Why or why not?

10 comments:

  1. Terah Henson, Rana Webster, Kim Burns, Brian Spanhut

    1. All kids can learn...when the community, parents and teachers are on the same page. Open and honest communication is key. As is accountability.

    2. We don't want every teacher to be exactly the same, but collaboration amongst peers is paramount to success for all students to achieve our goals. Designing lessons that are differentiated is one way to help. Formative assessment is a great way to show evidence of student learning.

    3. Sharing information allows teachers to build a better school. When we assume responsibility for all students and learn to adjust, it benefits us and our students. It is our job to make sure all students are learning, and we must adjust the them, rather than calling out the students all of the time.

    4. The support and the time for summer school and longer classes just spread out the what is being taught and how it is being taught is not effective.

    5. I would say that it used to be normal. The fact that so much time had gone by without communication from the school is not a good thing. We feel that it is our responsibility to communicate home when strategies need to be changed. Schools need to take a proactive approach.

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  2. 1. We couldn't think of any other responses other than possibly a combination of the four combined.

    2. All teachers have different personalities and different styles of teaching, some teachers are very black and white while others are more compromising. This can cause different responses to even the same student in a school. Even though you are following the same curriculum, the depth/approaches/expectations might different from teacher to teacher. The curriculum can also be a factor because teachers sometimes don't feel that they can reach outside of the curriculum and teach to the moment.

    3. PLC's develop a collective, constant, and ongoing response to assist teachers with providing extra time and support. In traditional schools, it is left to the individual teacher to decide how to give extra time and support, and who to give it to.


    4. Retention, summer school, etc are reactive to a student not learning, instead of with a PLC being proactive and MONITORING student learning as you go, not waiting until it is too late. With summer school, retention, ect. we are not having a plan, it is more of waiting to see whether or not the student is learning, not giving them the continued support they need to ensure that they are learning.

    PLC's work the best when ideally teachers have the same shared vision. We agree that this would be great, but can we get everyone on board? Community members, parents, administration, and teachers ALL have to agree on the same plan and shared vision, which we understand will be a continual process, and we know it won't happen overnight.

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  3. ~Sara F., Dianne, Jen P., Amanda, Mollie

    1. As we read the responses, we did not think of any more to add. The basic four ideas sum up theories well: ability based, opportunity / effort based, nurturing environment, and more work/high standards.

    2. Yes, we agree that all responses can happen simultaneously in the same school. Examples from our own school occur on a daily basis. In simply looking at behavior, teachers respond in different ways. Some teachers dealing with a poor-choice student would give that student time out and not discuss the issue. Another teacher may make that student reflect on the issue and figure out how to make better choices.

    3. Tradition public schools are not currently as flexible as PLC schools, citing lack of time or resources. Transitioning to a PLC school requires an effort by all to change thinking and behaving. 100% of the PLC must be in favor of the PLC concept and willing to change their ways. Change requires work, which is where all people have to be on board. We are shifting the support we give students as we are learning ways to do this in PD. This year, we are utilizing associates to spend extra time with students that need more intensive support. We are changing old routines and utilizing more individual time with students to better learn about and meet their needs.

    4. The authors would reject this notion because we are expecting lower results from students, and remediating those that we were unable to motivate during the allotted time.

    5. We agree that in older grades, the Johnnys are held responsible for their own achievement because older students should be more responsible and self-sufficient. This makes parents less involved. At MSTM, parents have the advantage that they can check their kids' grades online at any time to stay in the know. In the lower elementary grades, kids bring home work each night for parents to look at to see how their child is doing, so parents should have a good idea of their child's achievement.

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  4. Brenda Halverson, Jan Devore, Sara Kuhns, Jodi Noga, Melissa Schad, Joe Franey, Amy Dewaard

    1. Yes, In other schools, the "special ed" teacher is solely responsible for that student, not the whole community of teachers. This doesn't happen in our school, but has happened and is happening in other schools.

    2. In the past it has been left to teacher discretion, but now we are trying to move towards a more standardized way of doing things. For example, we have created a systematic way of completing the BAT process, as opposed to different teachers doing their own procedures. We have become more open with our ideas and share with our peers through our PLC groups, or our grade level teams.

    3. We use differentiation, rather than the scripted method of teaching. Everyone is willing to change, but what does that model of change look like? We, as teachers, are open to change, but we need that good model to demonstrate to us what it looks like. We are asked to model to our students, but, seldom are given good models of what our procedures should look like. Where are the tools that we need? What do those schools that have fully implemented PLC groups look like?


    4. They would say focus on changing the design of your instruction and your teaching, rather than taking more time. We need to be doing a better job of giving kids the responsibility of their own learning.

    5. We don't agree that Johnny's scenario represents the norm in most Iowa schools. We have to demonstrate our Iowa teaching standards with parent communication and our expectations. We aren't sure that all states have the same expectations. Our more challenging obstacle in this state, we believe, is getting parental support when we do have concerns

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  5. PLC Group #1: Caleb, Don, Paula, Noel

    1. The mixed salad school. It really depends on the individual student which approach to use.

    2. Yes we do agree. We sometimes spend more time on students who are more willing to learn or who have a better chance of success.

    3. In PLC's failure is not an option. In traditional schools failure is. PLC's go beyond what traditional schools have done in the past to support students who are struggling.

    4. They never responded to the individual student's needs. It was essentially a mission without a plan.

    5. This does represent the norm in most schools. Schools typically have no plan for responding when a student is not learning.

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  6. Question 1 - We feel all of the possible responses could be found in the four responses presented.



    Questions 2 - Yes - Isn't that what differentation is all about.



    Questions 3 - The different is to get everyone on the same page to work together to help students that are not learning. Under the current system, each teacher handle the student in their own way.



    Question 4 - The author would see these strategies are punishment. Shouldn't the PLC address all students?



    Question 5 - It is what happens in most schools. Teacher are not given enough to discuss students together and see how a student is doing. Most schools clear plan for working with failing students.



    Hatcher's Room

    ReplyDelete
  7. Question 1 - We feel all of the possible responses could be found in the four responses presented.



    Questions 2 - Yes - Isn't that what differentation is all about.



    Questions 3 - The different is to get everyone on the same page to work together to help students that are not learning. Under the current system, each teacher handle the student in their own way.



    Question 4 - The author would see these strategies are punishment. Shouldn't the PLC address all students?



    Question 5 - It is what happens in most schools. Teacher are not given enough to discuss students together and see how a student is doing. Most schools clear plan for working with failing students.



    Hatcher's Room

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1. We felt the responses were all-inclusive.
    2. Blue Devil diplomas, IEP/504 plans, and pressure from administration are all examples of each approach existing in our school.
    3. Universal approach to handle students who aren’t learning is the main difference between our current system and our school as a PLC.
    4. The first two are reactive responses, instead of a proactive approach. The year-long algebra is the Darwin approach (lowering the bar).
    5. We feel that we are able to keep better track of students because of the size of our student body and organizations like the BAT team. Kids are encouraged to check their grades and this is also available for parents to see too. We send out progress reports every three weeks so parents are aware of progress.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 1. We felt the responses were all-inclusive.
    2. Blue Devil diplomas, IEP/504 plans, and pressure from administration are all examples of each approach existing in our school.
    3. Universal approach to handle students who aren’t learning is the main difference between our current system and our school as a PLC.
    4. The first two are reactive responses, instead of a proactive approach. The year-long algebra is the Darwin approach (lowering the bar).
    5. We feel that we are able to keep better track of students because of the size of our student body and organizations like the BAT team. Kids are encouraged to check their grades and this is also available for parents to see too. We send out progress reports every three weeks so parents are aware of progress.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1. We believe that all four strategies are pretty general and are used in our school, and possibly many other schools. One option not mentioned, is if all four strategies fail, or if we try earnestly and one strategy fails, we just quit.
    2. We agree that all four strategies are tried in our school. There is a wide variance in grading policies, and different subjects are being taught in different ways; some teachers may not share the same beliefs. While some teachers are willing to try and try again to find strategies to help students succeed, others may give up. Our special education program, TAG program, BAT team, and Professional Development focus on differentiation and Iowa Core are all evidence of providing a wide range of strategies for all students. Each stun dent learns differently.
    3. Support among staff is very important to ensure the learning of all students. PLCs value working together, as traditional schools worked more as individuals. Focus is more about all teachers reaching all students, rather than just reaching “mIne” and “yours”.
    4. Time and support for learning are still an issue. Retention, summer school, remedial programs, and schools that design curricula to stretch 1 year of algebra into a 2-year program are punitive and redundant. The reason the authors reject this is because in these situations, learning is not the constant. The focus may just be to get them up to speed, rather than ensuring that they are actually learning.
    5. We can’t speak for other schools, but can assume this is the norm, considering other schools’ graduation and drop-out rates. In larger schools, this may be the norm, where teachers have hundreds of students, and maybe even a large number of teachers that are spread out in many buildings. At our school, we are able to communicate well with each other; we set high expectations, and try to stay on top of these situations. We should have shared expectations with each other, as well as with our students. We need to be teaching kids to be responsible, hard-working self-advocates.

    ReplyDelete