Moving+Forward

== Let's discuss: //(Don't forget, you can add your own questions!)// Where do you think our school will be next year? What progress will we have made? What changes do you foresee? What changes should we make? ==

[|slwalton] I'm new to wikis - but I have wanted to play with one, so thank you Teneika for getting it started. Am I doing this correctly? I have given these questions a lot of thought. Roberts is a great place, but I think we all agree that we can be better. Over the last 5 years we have made so much progress it is hard to list everything, but at the same time I wonder if some of those things still need improving. We have made a ton of progress on our units of inquiry, but I also wonder how many teachers are only giving them lip service. Are they truly at the heaert of what we are doing? Or have we slipped back into more teacher directed lessons? The things that are are also really eating at me are how to make sure that students are getting the intervention they need in their classroom (especially in reading and math). We can't just hope that somemone else is going to fix the problem. We have the staff that we have and we have large classes, that's not changing - so what are we going to do? I also think we need to spend more time talking across grade levels about what is missing as the students move up (especially in math and writing ). So.....to answer the orginal questions - by next year I hope that the Programme of Inquiry is revisited as a full group and it is realigned. I hope the units of inquiry are totally moved over to the new format. I hope every grade level has a lap top cart and that they are being used everyday. I hope every teacher has a SMART board and uses it everyday. I hope that the gaps in our writing and math curriculum are examined and fixed. So many people think - if it's not broken, don't fix it. But can't we make anything better?

**__tpunch__** - Kudos to Stephanie for getting the discussion started with some really good points. Ok, I think our school is one of the most well equipped and forward thinking schools, but of course I'm biased. To think, we have been leading our own professional development all this year. It really is amazing. I hope that we will continue that next year. I am sure there will be a change to the essential agreements if we do continue. I would love to see us do more make and take within our inquiry groups. I love that kind of professional development.

As far as our IB planners go, I have to admit I have been one of the people saying if it's not broken, don't fix it. It is due to the amount of care that went into the drafting of the Kinder planners that makes me hesitant to change them. I know that they were created to encompass the kindergarten social studies and science curriculum. I can see that was the logical thing to do because we already had a math and language arts program. I feel that if we were to change the planners, we would have to bring something in to supplement the Science and Social Studies. Off the top of my head, I would suggest each class have a subscription to Weekly Reader.

I am happy to hear that we will all be having a smartboard in the classroom. I know we could all, especially me, use more training on using them and other technology in the classroom. As much as I love learning about technology, my time is very limited. Between school, planning, extended day and my online class, I doubt I could fit in a traditional professional development class. Luckily, there are so many online resources that I can almost always find what I want to know(and even some things I didn't know I wanted to know). I recently created an online classroom on Tapped-In.com They often have professional development events online. I think that we should start taking advantage of the many resources online and learning in the way that our students will eventually have to. It seems to be the way of the future....


 * __jstamand__ -** Great responses from you both! I think you have made some very important points. I guess I am the opposite of Ms. Punch. I like "fixing it", even if it's not broken! :) I think that is one of the things that I love about teaching--constant change. I like reflecting on planners and tweeking them to make them better. I don't even mind tossing one out completely and starting over if necessary. Though it is a difficult task, I love the challenge of coming up with something exciting and new. Now to the questions at hand. Next year, I think our school will be moving more towards coordinating technology and the library. I believe the IB evaluation will show that those two areas need to work more closely and cohesively in order for the students to be able to research effectively. I think that as a school we all need to do a better job of working collaboratively. I have noticed the "isolation factor" increasing more and more. In order to improve our practice we must work together with our own grade levels, vertically, and with administration. This will not only help us to better ourselves, but will help us to better our students. We need to make use of the most valuable resource we have...each other! It would also be extremely beneficial to me to be able to observe other teachers and have other teachers observe me. I find that this promotes deep and meaningful feedback and always provides you with great ideas for your own classroom!