Saturday, December 16, 2017

25 Days of Classrooms: Focus Walks

This month I am sharing stories from
classrooms in Berwyn South District 100.

Day 16 & 17: Focus Walks at Pershing with Foltz/ Ziegler/ Huerta/ O'Brien/ Arvis/ Wagner/ Szalko/ Asgharzadeh/ Reckley (Pershing)

     This post will count as 2 days, since I went on 2 Focus Walks.  I know that's cheating a little bit, but that's ok.  

     Pershing decided to try Focus Walks out this year!  I was very excited, since they were one of my favorite things while I was at Hiawatha.  Focus Walks are basically times that you slot that allow teachers to leave their own classrooms go down the hall and see another classroom in action!  Typically, there is a common focus for the teachers, usually a topic that has been a focus of building PD or the SIP team.  At Hiawatha, we have done walks for math, EL strategies, writing workshop, RtI block, and a bunch of other topics.  This time, Pershing was simply going to Notice and Wonder things that make #teampershing a pretty special place to work.  The walks were organized, led, and debriefed by their literacy coach, Meg Reckley.  The classrooms you can visit are volunteered by classroom teachers, and the teachers that visit choose to sign up for a slot.  Here was their schedule!


Walk 1


       

     The first walk was through all three 2nd grade classrooms!  At the same time, there were all in 3 different parts of their literacy block.  We got to catch a glimpse of a read aloud, reading workshop, and word work.  Our observation structure was Notice Wonder.

     In 2H, I noticed a fantastic interactive read aloud in Spanish.  Maricela used a simple boxes and bullets anchor chart and modeled her thinking as they read about the prairie.  The students showed their understanding both through conversation and hand motions, and made inferences about the topic as well.  My wondering was if they use that same boxes and bullets organizer in their research, since Ms. Huerta did such a nice job of modeling how to pull key details about a topic in her own words using that structure.

     In 2FZ, I noticed a smoothly running reader's workshop!  The students who were all independently reading were engaged, and knew what they were practicing while reading their informational books (plus a few fake books too, as was pointed out to me by a friendly young reader).  Both coteachers had reading groups going.  Carrie's group was using a Serravallo strategy to paraphrase a nonfiction plant article, right next to a table where real plants were growing.  Ms. Ziegler reviewed vowel sounds, worked on vocabulary, used a connection Response Frame, and picture walked all in such an efficient  use of time!  My wondering was if those plants will make it over winter break...

     In 2O, I noticed word work in action.  Ms. O'Brien had students around the room working on different activities to support word work.  What I noticed was that she was roaming around doing conferences with students, with a white board and marker in hand.  "What are you noticing about your words?" she would say as she kneeled down next to them.  What a great way for students to verbalize the patterns they were finding in their words. I wondered how she organized her conferring schedule, and if that conferring helped the transfer to their writing.


     After we were done, we sat down and debriefed.  Maribel Gálvez, Elisa Anderson, and I were guided by Meg as we noted what we Noticed and what we Wondered.  The resulting conversation was such a nice celebration of the teaching and learning that we saw, as well as some reflections on our own practice and some stories of collaboration.  The debrief is SUCH a great way to end a walk.

Walk 2


 
 

Important Note:
I wasn't able to stay at Pershing to see classrooms from 10:15-10:45.  I'm sorry I missed you this time 1R, 3G, and 5D.  I returned in the afternoon for another walk.

     In 4AW, I noticed that they were working on their informational research about natural disasters.  They were learning a Serravallo strategy where they kept their topic and essential question in mind, looked at the table of contents, and then decided which part of the text they needed to read to answer that question.  They had all their books waiting for them at their tables, and they were already in their topic groups.  We left before they returned to their desks to research, so I wondered what their notes looks like.  Next time I pop in, I'll have to ask a student to share with me.  :)

     In KS, I noticed kinders writing about community helpers!  There were independently writing, with the assistance of the anchor chart they had saved in SeeSaw.  There were different levels of supports in place for students to be successful as well.  I also noticed that Ms. Szalko had a student writing sample on the SMART Board that she had annotated over to show the strategy of making their pictures a WOW Picture.  Overall, I noticed how intentional her use of technology was to support her students, and I wondered what her first steps were in the year to get her students so comfortable navigating their iPads.  I even had a K student give me a tour of their PowerSchool resources.  




     In 1A, I noticed that they were mathematicians!  Ms. Asgharzadeh's students were all engaged in math games around the room.  One of the stations was a group with her, and they were using a deck of cards to add and demonstrate their thinking on a number grid.  I noticed that Ms. Asgharzadeh always makes the students say their math thinking in a complete thought after their turn.  This is a very intentional use of language.  I wondered if that had a positive impact on their ability to play the game with partners after she released it to them.  I think it might.  :)

      After we were done, we went again and debriefed, this time with Lynne, Amy, and Jen.  Meg once again led us is a brief conversation about what we noticed and wondered, and we celebrated the dedication, planning and intentionality of the Pershing teachers.  Without this debrief, we would not have been able to hear the perspective that we all bring when we observe the same classrooms.

      THANK YOU to Robin, Chris, and Bazz for covering classrooms for half an hour so that teachers can learn from each other.  The beauty of these walks is that teachers get to visit their coworkers in the spirit of collaboration.  We are truly #bettertogether, and these walks were an example of that.

  
These were just my informal notes.  :)

     Thanks, Meg and Bazz, for giving your staff the opportunity to learn from each other.  Thank you, Pershing staff, for opening your doors and leaving your own classrooms for just a small amount of time.  That time can make a big impact on our students, and on future collaboration.

You are #bettertogether at #teampershing.
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