Note of the Month: Success in the New Year
Hands down, this is the year for Quail Hollow Middle School! We have the right people on the bus, in the right seats, and we all agree on where we are going. You may have noticed shirts, pens, and other references to being School Teachers. Every member of the QHMS team is a School Teacher. The language was introduced by an editorial written by Abra Sussman. As a faculty, we reflected on Ms. Sussman's writing and have embraced this notion of collective ownership for each student in our building. We are all responsible for each Falcon's success in every class. This philosophy is best for kids and it has driven us to make a number of changes to the way we operate.
This school year, we have three "big rocks": data driven instructional practices, literacy, and growth mindset.
Data Driven Instructional Practices
The most highly effective teachers are those teachers who are focused on what students are learning, as opposed to what teachers are teaching. A teacher may think he or she has "taught" something, but if the students' haven't mastered the skill, then we must go back and re-teach (in a different, more effective way) that knowledge or skill. We seek evidence of student learning through mid-class questioning, exit tickets (mini informal quizzes at the end of a class), quizzes, and tests. Some of these tools are also used to assign grades to students, but their real utility is in telling us what students have mastered and what they have not mastered yet. This allows teachers to adjust what they are teaching and how they are teaching it to lead as many students to mastery as possible before the end of the school year. It also makes sure that - once a student has mastered a skill - the student is challenged to extend his or her learning. This focus on seeking evidence of student learning is called "Data Driven Instruction." Parents should see evidence of this through communication of test grades by objective, flexible grouping of students based on their mastery levels, and re-testing when needed.
Literacy
In CMS, literacy is our North Star for good reason. Literate students are able to be lifelong learners. Literacy includes reading, writing, speaking and listening. Your child should report that learning feels different this year at QHMS because of our focus on literacy. Instead of teachers giving students all the information, in many cases, students are asked to gather that information from texts. Students are taught to annotate what they read ("talking to the text") to strengthen their reading comprehension. They are also asked to support their answers to questions by citing the text. In some cases, this has been an adjustment for students who are used to a teacher standing in the front of the room while they copy notes. Students are expected to engage in deeper levels of thinking this year and we see it translating to stronger academic skills. Teachers are participating in monthly professional development workshops to collaborate with each other and learn new strategies to support students in becoming excellent readers and writers (phase one of our literacy work).
As I reflect on my personal experience, I know this is the right thing for kids. My father had a difficult home life when he was growing up and school was his escape. He became a very good student and strong reader. When he moved to Columbus, Ohio on his eighteenth birthday, he had a suitcase and $500. He started working in gardens to make ends meet. He started taking classes at The Ohio State University, but it was too much to balance classes (and the cost of classes) with the business he formed. Thus my father educated himself through reading. When I grew up, my father had shelves and shelves and piles of books all over our house. He educated himself through reading and is now a guest lecturer at The Ohio State University, despite never earning a degree himself. To me, this is the power of literacy. It can truly change lives for generations.
Growth Mindset
Building a Growth Mindset among our students is all about the P in PATH that stands for Perseverance. Carol Dweck is a psychologist who, after significant research, distinguished between growth mindsets and fixed mindsets. If you have a growth mindset, you believe you can practice and get better at a given skill. As I watch my 18-month old, each day I see evidence of her growth mindset. Last week she watched her cousin climb on the chair without help so she proceeded to want to do it too. She pushed away my hand when I tried to help. It took a few tries, but she got it eventually (and promptly clapped for her success!). But the reality is that we frequently, unintentionally send messages to children and each other that support a fixed mindset. If a child does not believe he or she can be successful, the child stops putting forth his or her best effort. This is why it is SO important that we develop growth mindsets among our Falcons. You can learn more by visiting Carol Dweck's website.
As a team of School Teachers focused on our three "big rocks," we are going to see high levels of growth among our students!
This school year, we have three "big rocks": data driven instructional practices, literacy, and growth mindset.
Data Driven Instructional Practices
The most highly effective teachers are those teachers who are focused on what students are learning, as opposed to what teachers are teaching. A teacher may think he or she has "taught" something, but if the students' haven't mastered the skill, then we must go back and re-teach (in a different, more effective way) that knowledge or skill. We seek evidence of student learning through mid-class questioning, exit tickets (mini informal quizzes at the end of a class), quizzes, and tests. Some of these tools are also used to assign grades to students, but their real utility is in telling us what students have mastered and what they have not mastered yet. This allows teachers to adjust what they are teaching and how they are teaching it to lead as many students to mastery as possible before the end of the school year. It also makes sure that - once a student has mastered a skill - the student is challenged to extend his or her learning. This focus on seeking evidence of student learning is called "Data Driven Instruction." Parents should see evidence of this through communication of test grades by objective, flexible grouping of students based on their mastery levels, and re-testing when needed.
Literacy
In CMS, literacy is our North Star for good reason. Literate students are able to be lifelong learners. Literacy includes reading, writing, speaking and listening. Your child should report that learning feels different this year at QHMS because of our focus on literacy. Instead of teachers giving students all the information, in many cases, students are asked to gather that information from texts. Students are taught to annotate what they read ("talking to the text") to strengthen their reading comprehension. They are also asked to support their answers to questions by citing the text. In some cases, this has been an adjustment for students who are used to a teacher standing in the front of the room while they copy notes. Students are expected to engage in deeper levels of thinking this year and we see it translating to stronger academic skills. Teachers are participating in monthly professional development workshops to collaborate with each other and learn new strategies to support students in becoming excellent readers and writers (phase one of our literacy work).
As I reflect on my personal experience, I know this is the right thing for kids. My father had a difficult home life when he was growing up and school was his escape. He became a very good student and strong reader. When he moved to Columbus, Ohio on his eighteenth birthday, he had a suitcase and $500. He started working in gardens to make ends meet. He started taking classes at The Ohio State University, but it was too much to balance classes (and the cost of classes) with the business he formed. Thus my father educated himself through reading. When I grew up, my father had shelves and shelves and piles of books all over our house. He educated himself through reading and is now a guest lecturer at The Ohio State University, despite never earning a degree himself. To me, this is the power of literacy. It can truly change lives for generations.
Growth Mindset
Building a Growth Mindset among our students is all about the P in PATH that stands for Perseverance. Carol Dweck is a psychologist who, after significant research, distinguished between growth mindsets and fixed mindsets. If you have a growth mindset, you believe you can practice and get better at a given skill. As I watch my 18-month old, each day I see evidence of her growth mindset. Last week she watched her cousin climb on the chair without help so she proceeded to want to do it too. She pushed away my hand when I tried to help. It took a few tries, but she got it eventually (and promptly clapped for her success!). But the reality is that we frequently, unintentionally send messages to children and each other that support a fixed mindset. If a child does not believe he or she can be successful, the child stops putting forth his or her best effort. This is why it is SO important that we develop growth mindsets among our Falcons. You can learn more by visiting Carol Dweck's website.
As a team of School Teachers focused on our three "big rocks," we are going to see high levels of growth among our students!