Session 3
Facilitated Conversations:
Custodians/Maintenance - PPE Hazardous Assessment: Personal Protective Equipment needed for custodial services
Facilitator(s): Michael LaPlante
√ Food Service – Team Building
Facilitator(s): Paul Schmid
Goals for Cafeteria:
More input on lunch schedule
Positive attitude
Team Work
Quality Food
Nutritional Food
Making money
Theme Day
A+ Desserts
H U G S
e s e t
l t a
p r
i t
n e
g d
FOOD AND CHILDREN GO HAND IN HAND
Guidance
Facilitator(s): Sam Runco
Librarians – Investigating open source library catalog software options
Facilitator(s): JoAn Petersen
There were presentations on open source online cataloging systems for libraries, with John Clark on Evergreen and Frank Bridges on Koha. Many libraries are moving to open source because the costs for proprietary software are increasing rapidly. As the online catalogs were demonstrated, many questions arose about the visual home page and available access points for the public catalog, and the reporting capabilities of the management side of the software. Additionally, the differing design and access point needs from the perspective of the elementary school student users and the upper level student users were discussed. Evergreen software is currently being considered by the Maine State Library for statewide use. In its present form, it doesn’t have a user friendly look for elementary students, but the software is rapidly evolving. A modification to the program to improve it for this purpose could be made. When converting to another catalog, the data migration will undoubtedly have rough patches. Various fields in the MARC record coding have caused issues, so it was recommended that a vendor be obtained for the process. Costs may vary depending upon your current records. This would be a one time cost, and it is critical step that this in the process be done in a timely, efficient manner. The initial cost of the open source software is minimal and annual support is reasonable. Evergreen has excellent documentation, and support vendors. Library and tech personnel agree that in the future it would be more efficient to have one cataloging system within the district, and that there is time to investigate what the optimal choice will be. Due to the cost saving potential, open source is a viable option,.
Lindsay from Mt. View shared exciting news about the Library Club she has initiated.
√ Nurses – Reviewing policies and health plans used in the three districts
Facilitator(s): Janis Hogan
1. When health policies are reviewed – consult school nurse and/ school physician
2. Draft a letter to RSU regarding input into policies
3. Discussed differences in district policies
4. Discussed 504 implementation
5. Case review
Secretaries – Chart of Accounts Clarification
Facilitator(s): Bruce Mailloux and Brian MacFarland
Transportation – What’s the future of School bus transportation in the state of Maine?
Facilitator(s): Ronald Deegan and Lennie Goff
Title 1
Facilitator(s): Roy Morris
K
Facilitator(s): Linda Bowe
Share moments from morning – what we found significant/moving…
How do we balance pressures of academics rigor/standards and development of the whole child …
Institute at UMO: August 5: Importance of play.
Kindergarten – The role of differentiated instruction.
Assessment – Strategies.
“RTI Groups” + (RTI Process – variability).
Literacy Groups – Ability Grouping – Focus Groups/Skill Work.
Title 1 – How does use of services differ from place to place.
Title IIA money.
Planning Time – Becoming “Meeting Time” – being asked to do more with less time.
√ Grade 1
Facilitator(s): Devora Kamys
Shared names and school placement; class sizes
Discussed optimal class size, pros and cons of small/large classes. One member shared that she had come from Massachusetts where she had had a class of 26.
Focused on reading instruction, particularly in reference to classroom management to facilitate differentiation:
Centers: shared examples and strategies
Work stations ala Debbie Diller: shared examples and strategies
Daily Five: described and shared examples
Generally folks were very excited about using Debbie Diller and Daily Five or a combination thereof. They agreed that it took much training of the students to get them to the point where they would be independent in following procedures and protocols, but felt that it was well worth it. Members also shared management techniques for responding to student interruption during managed independent learning.
Response to Intervention: Members initially expressed that they felt that there has been another layer of responsibility laid upon them; that they find it overwhelming, BUT agreed that they have now put a name to the myriad adjustments and differentiation tactics they do throughout the school day for most students. They also felt that it has forced good documentation of assessment results and the various accommodations and modifications put in place for students. It was expressed that teachers should feel more empowered when they come to student meetings with this documentation to present.
Some expressed frustration over the reduction of availability of support staff and substitutes who used to be more available to support them as they do more individual work and assessment with students.
Debbie Diller conference this summer – August 19. Many members highly recommended this conference.
Could have used more time devoted to this excellent discussion.
√ Grade 2
Facilitator(s): Erin Woodsome
Grade 2 Roundtable
Facilitator: Erin Woodsome –
The group wanted to address the following questions:
Q: What different buildings are doing to get ready for the new tests (Necap) that are coming up next year and what we think we can do to help the 3rd grade teachers to get ready
A:
Q: Aha’s/ Questions from today
A: Doctors are now recommending children w/ADHD had
Q: Accelerated math use
Q: If other districts have a “you must use boxed phonics program”
Aha’s. ? I want to know more about Brain Gym using caffeirn to settle kids down,
Becky Ranks at techmaine.pbwiki.com go to digital literacy links. They are amazing, FSU has books on tape that can be accessed and used by anyone.
Becky is available to work in schools 1 hr once a month.
Wordle …When you type in some words it expands vocabulary
ethemes – if you are doing South America the best resources are scanned into the site so students can get information right there.
voice thread is a good tool that tapes kids’ voices, with safari highlight text and it will be read to kids….
slide show using keynote is great. Technology Integrator, Barb Rehmeyer of MSAD 56/ helps teachers do this.
No tech integrationist at CASS They have one in the budget for 2009-10
NECAP ..The NECAP will be administered in Oct. 2009 ….If the Necap is done on a computer students will need experience testing on a laptop
Reading expectations on the NECAP are different K-2 material is tested in Oct. for 3rd graders
Students will need to learn test taking strategies such as “read the questions first”…learn assessment vocab. Use of text features on the NECAP.
People are concerned about the loss of skills during summer vacation and that the loss could impact students negatively.
Assessment vocabulary should include the following:
least likely
certain
unlikely
impossible
vocabulary
We will want to set children up enough so they are successful. Want to set kids up for success
Accelerated math… It’s hard to fit everything in….some accelerated math components are done at home…At school students scan their worksheets in so they can be corrected. It’s too much trouble .
Accelerated math seems to work well for kids that need enrichment
Learning math facts was of interest to grade 2 teachers. How much time is spent on math facts? …Students in one district need 20 out 30 in 2 minutes to meet the standard on report cards. Students seems to be able to do it orally very well but writing it is harder for them…
How often do you do facts check? Every day,
I always give math facts practice for homework cause it isn’t addresses in Investigations
Students made graphs of their progress so they try to raise own level.
Some students are still counting on their fingers.
One district has a Portaportal on it’s website. The portaportal has a math magician website which is excellent, kids pick what they want to work on, timer if you get 95% or higher they print out an award which the teacher posts on the wall..Once students master all add and sub problems, kids are ready to move onto multiplication and division
At home practice, makes kids better at it…
Is RSU going to be doing Saxon? No decision at this time.
In one of the districts lots of 2nd graders don’t have basic phonics skills In other districts students get a strong base in phonics with Phonics programs.
A teacher shares her feelings: Saxon makes a difference
Another teacher shares that, “It’s nice to be trusted to teach phonics in a way that makes sense to you.”
In one district 3 different 2nd grades are all doing different things w/ phonics instruction
It’s nice to get together. Too bad it’s only once a year.
What should we talk about next year? AIMSweb and a way for ongoing collaboration among grade level teachers.
Grade 3
Facilitator(s): Deb McIntyre
Grade 4
Facilitator(s): Matthew Houghton, Principal Morse & Monroe Schools- MSAD #3
SOCIAL STUDIES Discussion:
Mount View will get more staff, so teachers need to get on the same page.
Teachers want to know which grade teaches which topic. There was a draft for a curriculum 4 or 5 years ago but no one is sure at this point.
Science and SS for next year what is it going to look like?
SAD#56 = Introduction to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Community. What do the other district’s do?
** BURNING QUESTION**
WHAT ARE WE TO TEACH??
Additional thoughts and notes:
SS and Science Curriculum questions on who teaches what, when.
- Maine Studies – Grade 4
- Exploration and Colonization – Grade 3
- Colonial Times – Grade 4
- Maine Studies – not tested for NCLB purposes
No Book or resources that are Standard
Colonization, why did people settle here? Back proved info.
Basic understanding of community at grade 3 is a must.
Grade 3 – Exploring community, Government, Native Americans
Grade 4 – State Government, American Revolution comparison
US Regions and population
Continent Study (Asia)
NECAP Discussion:
4 Types of Writing: – Report
- Literacy
- Informational
- Narrative
Grade 5 – Writing will be field tested next year on the NECAP.
Additional information will be on the Maine DOE web page soon. http://www.maine.gov/education/lsalt/necap/index.html
- Using the computer to talk back and forth between other schools to share
Writing is helpful and suggested to those not currently doing it.
- Consistent Expectations and Response.
- Make the students give more detail in their writing.
NECAP Standards are very specific and not aligned to our new Parameters of Essential Instruction. This work will be done this summer.
Mechanics Grammar – Need to be taught more the NECAP Test.
New test is not in context.
Measured Progress designs the NECAP so it will look and feel like the MEA.
Writing will blow us away – This year is just for student setting.
** BURNING QUESTIONS**
How can we collaborate to get these documents done and be more aligned?
Teachers can still put their own personalized into the teaching itself.
Can the State do this work and simply hand it down to each district?
Integrations is a must – To fit it all in.
REPORT CARD Discussion:
Report Cards: SAD # 34 is nice!
Objectives are all clearly written MSAD # 15 just based on numbers not data. Can’t correlate skill power.
Searsport – Very general and objectives need more work.
We need to be less specific. We like the guiding Principles.
Difficult to translate the numbers to parents. What does a 2 mean?
Does a 4= an A – Right? 4 means above and beyond! Mostly 2’s and 3’s are given currently.
The report card is junk! It doesn’t mean anything to the student. It does not motivate them to improve. The progress is difficult to see. Using (+0 and (-) in the reporting can be helpful. There is not a lot of space for comments on current report card.
** BURNING QUESTION**
Can administration take the lead in revamping the report cards in each district?
HELPFUL HINTS FROM THE TEACHERS
Letters home to parents to give details of what is covered in the trimester
Have Parent Teacher Groups help educate parents.
We need to re-clarify what each number means :
2 = Low; 3 = Meets; 4 = Above and Beyond; Intro = NA
INFINITE CAMPUS Discussion:
** BURNING QUESTION**
When will this be rolled out to staff?
What will it do that MMS is not currently doing?
Will all Maine schools be using it?
INTERVENTIONS Discussion:
RTI Programs are beginning with various degrees of success in each district.
Kids develop at their own rate!
Is it realistic for all to meet? NCLB says so.
Basic Reading and Basic Math – Can kids get it?
More grade 4 students are being retained – transient students, boys, late summer B-days
Intervention programs currently being used in the three districts:
SPED, Title I, Behavior Plans, (K-2) Head Sprout, S.P.I.R.E., Brain Gym, Lexia, Alex, Razkids, Accellerated Reader.
** BURNING QUESTIONS**
What do you do with those that do not make it?
Assessed for SPED but do not qualify. What do you do?
What do we do with students who are developmentally not ready?
Grade 5
Facilitator(s): Laura Gabriel
1.What assessments do you give and what is the timeline? How do you use this data to drive instruction?
NWEA
results within 2 weeks
Breaks down math into strengths and weaknesses of math skills
STAR Math -2-3 times a year
STAR reading – 4 times a year
Running Records
Aimsweb
Fluency-RCB-M (measures how fast students read) Maze
Benchmark –fall, winter, spring and weekly practice for those who need more interventions
Math computation and facts (given once or twice weekly)
Mathland assessment
Unit reviews (4x’s a year)
Daily tune ups
Writing Prompts-fall and spring
MEA-March
DRA-fiction (fall), nonfiction (spring) some felt it takes too long to administer
Everyday Math – unit tests, midyear and end of year assessments
Math facts timed tests-Jan., March and May
Teacher created assessments, observations
ALEKS – computer generated math program (expensive) tailored to students needs
All assessments are used to drive instruction, although some are better than others.
Concerns about over assessing
Teachers being asked their opinions about the different assessments and what will happen with those schools that consolidate
2.What instructional practices and methods are you, your team, and your district using to implement RTI?
Aimsweb
School literacy team to discuss/share intervention ideas
Special education- resource room
Differentiation
Modification
Documentation
Observations
STAR team
STAR
Title 1 reading
After school program (targets reading & math)
LEXIA
Symphony
ALEKS (math)
NWEA
School Committee
Introductory level-tier 1 whole class, tier 2- individual (behavior, extra help before school)
3.What do you use for academic and behavior interventions, data collection, monitoring progress?
Differentiation
Behavior plans/charts/rubrics
Modifications
RTI spreadsheet
SAT that meets on referred students
Small consequences that fit the misbehavior
Olweis Bullying program
Resource room where appropriate
DRA
Everyday math-mid year, end of year and weekly assessments
4.What do you se for a core mathematics program, reading program? How do these work for you and for students?
Houghton Mifflin (Expeditions)
Some piloting
Lots of material
Seem to feel it is missing the novel aspect
Great for guided reading
Doesn’t match up with assessment-MEA, NWEA
Spelling-Developmental Program-word study
Mathland
Lacks in direct instruction of computation skills
Everyday Math
Investigations-many supplements
5.What tool is used (report cards, progress reports, etc.) and how often do you, your team, your district communicate student progress to parents and does it meet your current needs?
Trimester Progress reports
Report cards-3x’s a year- need to be revamped
Progress reports-4, 3, 2, 1 reporting
Parent conferences
Bi-weekly papers and information to parents
Standards based report cards- some feel overwhelming
Assessments throughout the year
6.How do you utilize technology to meet your curriculum goals?
Not well-little training
Typing skills-Ultra keys
Interactive games to reinforce math/science
Student exploration
Instructional sights
Studyjams
Presentations (imovie)
Portaportal
ALEKS (math)
Research program
Pages
Lexia
Symphony
Bulit-in computer block to teach typing, word processing, slideshows, online google searches, literacy work stations
Other discussions/issues/questions
Many questions about the NECAP
Will consolidated school districts reach out to teachers to see what they want to do with CIA?
MEA GLE’s have been compared to Everyday Math program can find the results on the Maine Gov. website-Downeast Educational Partnership
How do we fit in Science and Social Studies?
Houghton Mifflin takes much time to implement
√ SPED Teachers K-5
Facilitator(s): Sharon Goguen, #56
17 staff present-Introductions made
1.What assessments do you give and what is the time line? How do you use this data to drive instruction?
SAD#34 Assessments used—STAR-Accelerated Math
Aimsweb—reading and writing—Grade K
DRA
Dibels
Observation Survey—Grade One
SPIRE assessments
NWEA-grades 3-5
Great Leaps
Brigance
Resource teachers do most testing for day treatment
SAD#3 Assessments used— Aimsweb
Bader Math Assessment
Everyday Math
SAD#56 Assessments used— DRA
SPIRE assessments
Everyday Math assessments
Lexia
Great Leaps
Speech/Language Assessments used—CELF-4, Articulation, language samples, Test of Pragmatic Language, Test of Narrative Language, EASIC, Behavior Characteristics Progression, PPVT, EVT, Test of Word Finding, LAC, PAT, Test of Problem Solving,
There was discussion about using data to write IEP goals and objectives.
2.What instructional practices and methods are you, your team, your district using to implement RtI?
SAD#34—Using Aimsweb for reading and writing screening at K and grade one.
Have RtI/SAT teams. Focus has been on reading, goes to Title One for interventions first, they use a lot of computer programs, Great Leaps. Etc. or they may be included in a resource group
Some behavior screening being implemented in some schools
Sp ed staff finds more things being tried before referral
Some school have stronger teams and processes
A few years ago one school was doing school wide interventions (Like the Dufour model) but this seemed to fall apart and is no longer done
Feels Houghton Mifflin reading program helps teachers differentiate
Speech is doing “Speech clubs” and involving some non identified kids in speech groups. Therapists are able to do whole group work in some kindergarten classrooms.
SAD#3—Process is inconsistent between schools.
First intervention is usually Title One.
Some students are/were included in resource groups and do well there but fall behind when returned to the regular classroom. Sp ed staff would like more time to work with regular teachers.
Pace of regular classroom curriculum is too fast for many kids.
Kindergarten “boot camp” for incoming K kids made a big difference
SAD#56—Has forms and process but implementation is up to each school.
Difficult to find time to have RtI meetings in some schools
Few school/district wide CBMs available and as a result teachers find the process arduous
Title One is available for interventions but teachers must also do some interventions themselves
5.What tool is used and how often do you, your team, your district communicate progress to parents and does it meet your current needs?
SAD#34—Reports quarterly but report cards are trimester
Concern about having to report sp ed grades on standards based report cards
SAD#3 ?????
SAD#56—Reports via IEP progress report trimesterly but do day treatment checks quarterly
Do not report grades on report cards
SPED Teachers 6-8
Facilitator(s): Sandy Lannon, #34
Location: SDMS Room 4
SPED Teachers 9-12
Facilitator(s): Carrie Thurston, #3
SPED Ed Techs K-5
Facilitator(s): Michelle Philbrook, #34
√ SPED Ed Techs 6-8
Facilitator(s): Kim Buckheit, #34
How are services provided to Sped kids?
Direct classroom intervention – teacher collaboration
In Classrooms direct instruction
Pushing for inclusion
Teachers and ed techs work to make accommodations
Mainstreaming also needs some “instruction” from ed tech.
No life skills at Searsport
Horizons – Emotional Disorders
Go out to mainstream
Goal is to get them out in mainstream
Paws – More significant disabilities – Life Skills
Excel – Multiple needs Life Skills/academic. Both classroom help and in Excel room.
Issues:
Searsport – Interventions Lexia and Aleks
Sometimes modification are done for the ed techs, sometimes they’re not.
People in the mainstream don’t know what you do.
Ed techs aren’t invited to IEP meetings. Giving “notes” for a meeting is not enough.
Ed techs would like to be invited to IEP meetings. Many ed techs have advanced degrees and multiple years of experience
Ed techs aren’t economically valued (pay)
Alternative treatments for kids, other than meds, should be considered.
SPED Ed Techs 9-12
Facilitator(s): Terry Drapach, #34
VPA, G/T – K-12
Facilitator(s): Argy Nestor, MDOE and Jacquie Kahn, #34
ELA and Math – MS/HS
Facilitator(s): Gregg Palmer, #56 and Patsy Dunton, MDOE
Health, P.E., Coaches and Foreign Languages – MS/HS
Facilitator(s): Ruth Fitzpatrick #56 and Butch Arthurs, #34
Science and Social Studies – MS/HS
Facilitator(s): Linda Lettney, #3 and John McDonald, #34
