Rick DuFour

For quite some time, I have been following a blog written by Rick DuFour on Caring Bridge.  His blog chronicled his battle with lung cancer.  Rick's writing and wisdom has always impressed me, and his writing about this awful illness was no different.  I was always amazed at his ability to use this experience to continue teaching.  His words always touched me.  This past week, I opened the site to read his latest post, and this is what appeared on the page:

No More Pain

Journal entry by Becky DuFour — 2/8/2017

Dear Family & Friends,

It is with both a heavy and grateful heart that I write to inform you that Rick passed away peacefully at our home this morning after his long, hard-fought battle with cancer. We are deeply saddened that he’s no longer with us and yet so thankful that his pain and suffering are over.

It will come as no surprise to those of you who knew Rick that he donated his body to medical research. The Hospice staff cautioned us last week that sometimes bodies can be rejected for research if they are too emaciated, or suffer from other conditions. I just received a call a few moments ago assuring me that Rick’s body has been accepted. Leave it to Rick to conduct research, even after death…..always the teacher.

And speaking of teachers, Jeff Jones and our wonderful friends at Solution Tree have asked me to share the following link to a video they’ve created in memory of Rick – we hope you enjoy the tribute.  

           https://www.solutiontree.com/richard-dufour-legacy

There are no words to express how much your comments, hearts, words of encouragement, and prayers have meant to Rick, me, and our entire family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for walking with us on this journey.

With love and gratitude,

Becky

Needless to say, my heart sank.  I couldn't believe what I was reading.  I had learned so much from this man.  He encompassed so much of what I believe in education.  He literally changed the way we do business.  I think many of us have been able to meet Rick at a PLC Institute.  He sat with us many times during work sessions, some of us have been able to dance during Love Train with him at an after party, and all of us have been impacted by his teaching.  I look at my bookshelf, and so many of the books are written by or cowritten by Rick DuFour.  One of his latest books, In Praise of American Educators, needs to be read by our new Secretary of Education.

Since reading Becky's post, I have thought a great deal about the work we do at Parma.  I have thought about my conversations with Rick and Becky.  I can remember a time I had emailed Becky, and she responded with a phone number to call her as she and Rick would be in an airport for awhile.  I was able to talk to both of them for clarification and advice.  I remember that every conversation or email or encounter with him he always came back to the mission of High Levels of Learning for ALL students.  He believed that the only way this was possible is for the school community to work as a Professional Learning Community.

  

His passing has made me step back and look at our work as a PLC.  Are we implementing with fidelity?  Are our PLC meetings focusing on the right work?  Are we using data to guide our discussions?  Do we have a safe environment that allows us to be vulnerable and share and receive help?  Do we learn from each other's strengths?  Please think about this the next time you sit down with your grade level to meet.  What are you bringing to the meeting?  Is your focus on student achievement?  Are you working as a Group or a Team with your colleagues?

Please take time to watch the video link in Becky's post.  It is a beautiful tribute to Rick.  It is important to me that we do this work, his work in a way that makes all the difference for our kids and honors this man I respect so much.  Please read one of his last posts from fall. Even in his battle, he was growing, learning and changing and talking about what that entails.  My favorite line is: "My point is just that in order to bring about changes in my practice I had to engage in new experiences, which required new behaviors, which often required a re-examination of my assumptions."  The lesson for us, we have to be willing to try new things in order to continue growing and learning.

Reprieve and Observations

Journal entry by Rick Dufour — 11/30/2016

My oncologist greeted me today with words that were music to my ears – “Your CT scan shows no growth of the cancer cells.” There is additional fluid that has surrounded my left lung, but he doesn’t see that as a cause of grave concern yet. So the good news is, I will remain in the trial for at least another two months. Thanks to all of you petitioning heaven on my behalf.

 In an earlier post I cited Victor Frankl, a survivor of the concentration camp at Auschwitz, who wrote, “between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is the power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”  I believe he was absolutely right, and that we can choose our response to a difficult situation. I would add that choosing a different response often requires a willingness to change one’s perspective.

For example, for 65 years of my life I have never opted to take a nap unless I was really sick. When I did try to sleep in the afternoon because I was ill, I almost always woke up feeling worse. Furthermore, napping seemed frivolous in light of all the things on my professional “to do” list. 

For approximately a year now I have taken a different perspective on naps, and I look forward to taking one each day. I rationalize that my body needs time to rest and if I could fall asleep it was one way to avoid the chronic pain. I am now an unapologetic advocate for naps. Naps can be dandy! But changing my response to the idea of napping meant I had to change my perspective on the potential benefits of naps.

I tried to watch what I ate as an adult. That meant when I went to a fast food restaurant that listed the calories of different entrees, I read the menu from right to left. The more calories, the less likely I was to order it to avoid becoming heavy. I found myself continuing this practice until a few months ago. Even though my concern over gaining weight had disappeared due to my cancer, I was still reading menus right to left out of habit. Today, I look first at what looks good, and second which choice has the most calories. But it took me a while to overcome an old habit and approach food and caloric intake from a different perspective.

Ever since the time I was a teenager, I understood that one of the obligations of being a man was to drive the car (while his spouse or girlfriend helps by pointing out the speed limit or directing where the man should park). I apparently thought good driving required just the right amount of testosterone which eliminated women from the good driving pool.

But since I have been put on some powerful painkillers, I have been advised not to drive. So for months now, Becky has taken me everywhere in the car.

I have had to evolve on this one. At first I resented giving up driving because I felt somehow disempowered. Soon I began to see my being a passenger as a good thing. I could get work done, or I could just snooze. And did I mention that I have come to love naps? Even a nap in a car beats a day with no naps. I think I may have Becky sign on as an Uber driver with one client – me.

A reader of this blog might conclude that as the cancer has caused me to abandon certain assumptions, Becky has had to take on more and more. My response to that is, “you are absolutely right.”  It is my good fortune to have married someone who is fluent in the 5 languages of love (a book I would recommend). One of those languages of love is the language of acts of service, or devotion. Becky is never happier than when she is doing something for others, so if our current trends continue, she should be euphoric by the end of the year.

My point is just that in order to bring about changes in my practice I had to engage in new experiences, which required new behaviors, which often required a re-examination of my assumptions.

I truly believe most people act in good faith, that new actions expand your experience and your perceptions, and expanded experience and perception can change one’s view of the world. It has for me,

I’m happy to end this message as I started it –no new growth of any cancer cells!! Thanks to all of you pulling for me.

Sincerest thanks,

Rick

Rick's last post was written on January 8th, exactly one month to the post written by Becky.  Rick ended that post with these words:  Your support has been amazing as well, and I hope it will continue. I’m extremely grateful to all of you who are taking this journey with me. I feel like your ongoing support lightens my load, and I can certainly use all the help I can get.

We have lost one of the best in our field.  I am hopeful that we will think about what we have learned from Rick and Becky DuFour.....perhaps most importantly the importance of working as a team and always being willing to learn and grow in order to reach high levels of achievement for ALL!

Collective Commitment

Every year a school improvement plan is written.  New goals are written with new strategies and activities.  These goals center around student achievement, and we seek to find best practice, research proven strategies to meet these goals.  All of this can be done, written on paper, implemented in some classrooms, and we still won't see the results we want if we do not have a collective commitment to full implementation across all classrooms.

In order for us to evaluate a strategy, we have to know it has been implemented with fidelity and given time to work.  If this is not happening across the board, we may never know how successful a strategy could have been with our students.  If everyone is implementing the same strategy, it also allows us to collaborate on ideas, successes and failures, struggles, compare data, observe each other, become better and stronger together.

During our work in school improvement committees, we agreed to collectively commit to the strategies recommended by each group.  Let me remind you what those are:

Math:

envision MATH Implementation – All classroom teachers will implement envision Math Units in math.

• Number Talks at least 3 times a week
  

Standards of Eight Mathematical Practices – Teachers will implement the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice in the course of daily math instruction.

Reading:

All teachers will implement the Common Core State Standards in reading, using reader's workshop and guided reading.

• 3-5 Mini-lessons a week from MAISA, Lucy Calkins, or other resource (TPT, Pinterest, etc.)
• Meet with differentiated guided reading groups as needed
• Increase students' stamina for independent reading with choice of just right texts.
• Conference with individuals and small groups during independent reading

All teachers will directly teach comprehension strategies during reader's workshop and guided reading.

• 7 comprehension strategies: 1. Imagination/Sensory 2. Background knowledge 3. Questioning 4. Inference/Draw Conclusions 5. What is important? 6. Synthesize 7. Fix Up

All teachers will implement the Common Core State Standards in Phonemic Awareness, Word Work, and Decoding.

• Words Their Way
• Use writing and reading Dolch sight word list

Writing:

The staff will continue writer’s workshop based on the MAISA writing units

• Use writing workshop 3-5 days each week                       

All teachers will model and guide students to develop and elaborate writing ideas. The guided writing will include personal narrative, persuasive essay, and informational. It should take place across the curriculum.

Teachers will give a personal narrative common assessment each quarter with the goal of moving to each month, (monthly would be dependently on text type) swapping papers with partner teachers, checking papers with an agreed upon rubric.

Career Prep and Beyond School:

• Lead Time Lessons at least twice a month 
• Continue teaching the 7 Habits                       
• STEM activity at least twice a month
• New Parma Praise tickets focused on 7 Habits

I am excited to see what we can accomplish this year together. Reach out to each other for help in areas where you may need ideas. Thank you for making this collective commitment!

Video Worth Watching:

Are you a Tiger Woods or a Michael Jordan?  In the work we do, we have to be like Michael Jordan in order to achieve our goal.  Listen to what happens to Michael Jordan in his first 6 years as a pro.  He was the best in the game but not achieving his goal.  Why not?

When We Know Better...

Do you ever have those periods of time when you are too busy to learn?  Okay, maybe it's not too busy, maybe it's not taking time to learn?  If you are like me, during these times, you feel like you are in a lull, just going through the motions, not inspired or inspiring.    This leads to frustration and feeling disgruntled and feeling less effective, and so on.  Full disclosure -  I'm guilty!  I consider myself a learner, a reader, and someone who strives to continue growing.  I'm not sure how that got away from me other than.....life.  The hectic pace in which we live.  I could give you my list, but I think you get the picture.  My guess is that you more than understand.....you have probably been there and felt the same way a time or two.

The last couple weeks I have been reminded of how important it is for me to continue growing and learning.  I have been inspired, encouraged, and am on fire to grow and learn more.  

One statement I have heard more than once this week has resonated with me :  "It is okay to not know something, but once you know, it is not okay to not do something with the information."  Sometimes when we learn something new, we shut down because it makes us feel like what we have been doing is wrong.  This isn't always accurate.  We do the best we can at all times with what we know now.  Now that we know better, we have to do better.  This doesn't mean we have been "wrong".  It does mean we can grow and learn and do better based on what we know now.  We have all heard the term Growth Mindset.  This is having a growth mindset.  Learning and being willing to try and change based on that knowledge.  Once you know, it is not okay to do nothing with the new knowledge.  We at least have a decision to make with what we want to do with the new information.  Doing nothing is not an option.

I have talked to or listened to many of you talking after our Reading Workshop training on Monday.  I have heard statements of fear and concern.  I have heard fixed mindset statements.  I have heard statements of defensiveness.  I have heard growth mindset statements and excitement around learning and making changes to impact the reading culture in our building and most importantly the reading lives of our students.  All of this to say, we were given much information on Monday.  Now there is a decision to be made.  Do you approach this new knowledge with a fixed or growth mindset?

Have we learned something that will allow us to do an even better job at "growing readers"?  As we continue this journey with readers workshop, please keep an open mind, have a growth mindset.  Let's grow lifelong readers!

Balanced Literacy Schedule:

Article Worth Reading:

The 6 Ts of Effective Elementary Literacy Instruction  by Richard Allington

Videos Worth Watching:

Shared Reading: (The video Anne Marie shared on Monday)

First Grade Shared Reading: This one shows the class setting up for reading workshop and then going into shared reading.

First Grade # 3 - Shared Reading Experience from TC Reading and Writing Project on Vimeo.


First Grade Reading Workshop:

First Grade # 4 - Reading Workshop from TC Reading and Writing Project on Vimeo.

Be Present, Be Kind, Be Open

It is that time of year when everyone considers New Year's Resolutions and setting new goals.  What is it we hope to accomplish in the new year?  What are the things we know we need to work on?  I have thought much about my own resolutions, both personal and professional, and I have found that my primary goals overlap.  Of course, every year there is the get healthy goal.  That one is a given.....but this year I mean it! : )  I'd like to share the other goals with you, and I ask that you consider joining me at Parma, or at least hold me accountable.

I believe that as educators we face a challenge when thinking about what some of our resolutions may be.  The difficult part is finding a balance between work and home.  Working on one without taking away from the other.  Every educator I know struggles with balancing the work load of our job and the amount of time it takes to do the job well and yet still being the mom, dad, daughter, son, grandmother, aunt, etc. that we all want to be and that our families deserve.  I wish I had the answer, the easy solution.  I don't, but this is the reason for my first resolution.

Resolution #1:  BE PRESENT:  I often find myself thinking of 10 things at once,  even when I am listening to someone.  I take my phone in to my parents when I go there every week for dinner.  I check my email during a meeting or during dinner.  My goal is simply to be present wherever I am. My resolution is to focus on the person I am with at the time.  To be the best I can be in that moment.  When I am with my parents, I need to be the best daughter I can be, and just be present with them.  When I am with friends, at dinner, talking, put down the cell phone, turn off the email and just be the best friend I can be, just be present with them.  I challenge you to do the same.  Our families and friends deserve that!

This is just as important in our professional lives.  When I am at work, I need to be present.  I need to be the best principal, colleague, coworker I can be.  I am guilty of "multi-tasking" during meetings or conversations.  My goal is to focus and be present in the moment.  Being present for our kids is critical.  For me, that means meeting them at the front door in the morning, sitting with them at lunch, having conversations where they have my undivided attention throughout the day.  At the heart of everything we do is building relationships.  Being present is a must!  Join me!  Hold me accountable!

Resolution #2:  BE KIND:  Mr. Smajda challenged us at the beginning of the school year with this.  I believe it is important to keep in mind throughout 2016.  When I look back at the year, I want to be able to say that I handled even the most difficult people and situations with kindness.  There are far too many of our kids who are living in environments that are not kind.  The words they hear are not kind.  The way people treat each other is not kind.  I want Parma Elementary to be a place that shows
them kindness, that lets them hear kindness, that lets them feel kindness.  How we treat each other, work together, speak about each other......there is no question that it should always be with kindness.  We are after all in this together.  We are a PLC.  We are colleagues and friends.  Be kind is a given, but it is something we can all work on.   Join me!  Hold me accountable!

Resolution #3:  BE OPEN:  Education is constantly changing.  We have to be willing to consider new ways of doing things.  We have to be open to trying new things and exposing our kids to new ideas.   It is my resolution to continue being a learner, and to be open to trying new things as I learn.   Be Open to learning and growing.  Join me!  Hold me accountable!



Next Week At A Glance:

Monday, Jan. 4th:  School Resumes
Wednesday, Jan. 6th:  8:35-9:00 K and 1 Assembly and Intervention meeting
Wednesday, Jan. 6th:  2:35-3:35 PLC meeting in the library to review MStep Data
Thursday, Jan. 7th:  Happy Birthday Lisa Wollet
NWEA Map's mid-year assessments begin Monday, January 11.  Schedule testing dates this week.

Articles Worth Reading:

Be a Change Agent - +George Couros
Mindful Resolution Re-Boot
5 K-12 Trends to Watch in 2016
Got Resolutions? How About these In Education - +Ben Gilpin
2 Books to Help Children Think About Changing the World
As a Student, I Wish You Knew - @TechNinjaTodd
It's Time to Take a Hard Look at How we Teach Reading - "There are more books in the classrooms of high-achieving schools, and more students who read frequently."

Videos Worth Watching:

Google - Year In Search 2015

Pay with Love McDonald's Commercial:

I love the message in this...being selfless!

Being Mindful and PRESENT in the Moment:

Teacher's Impact

When you consider the people in your life who have had the greatest impact, chances are a teacher makes the list.  I have many teachers who are unforgettable...some for what they taught me, some for the care they showed me, some for making me feel special, some for pushing me hard, holding me to high expectations and helping me succeed.  I have others who are unforgettable unfortunately for a negative reason.   I had a teacher who never planned or prepared for class, and even at a young age, I knew he was wasting my time.  I had a few teachers (thankfully not many) who were so negative and made no attempt to connect with their students.   I can remember the teacher who spent most of the hour sitting at his desk and not paying attention to the students who were doing nothing or cheating or goofing around.  I wanted a safe place to learn.   I can remember those classrooms that felt very safe and those that did not due to the behaviors that were allowed or the attitude of the teacher in the room.

I remember awaiting anxiously to get a paper or project back from the teacher and being so excited to see the comments about my work.  That feedback was as important as the content I was learning.

I have thought a great deal lately about how in the world are we to ever compete with the world of technology and video games that we now live.  How can we keep our students engaged for long periods of time when we are using a book or notebook and not a joystick or monitor?  I believe that one way is to provide quality feedback.  Think about the feedback our kids get from video games.  It is constant, timely.  It happens right after they complete the level or even after making a wrong move.  If they screw up, they get to start over and try again.  I'm not proposing that we begin to teach like a video game, but I am suggesting that perhaps we could learn a thing or two from the gamers handbook.  Kids have to know it is okay to try and maybe fail and need to start over.  Our kids who know how to reach the highest levels in a game started off failing at level one or two and then trying again and again.

Please consider what impact you are leaving on the lives you touch every day.  Know that they thrive on your feedback and depend on you to guide them and encourage them and challenge them every day.  What feedback are you giving your students?  It is this feedback that allows learning to happen and for students to "move to the next level."


Links and Articles Worth Reading:

A Teacher's Influence Reaches Far Beyond the Classroom
How Visuals Improve Conversion Rates on your Content By 300%
What's Lost as Handwriting Fades
School Neuroscience Unleashes Students' Brain Power
If You Want Your Children To Succeed, Teach them to Share in Kindergarten

Videos Worth Watching:

Even though the dog won't fetch.....little boy still shows he loves him!

What an impact teachers have!

Excellence

I heard a message recently about being a "Person of Excellence" and what that means.  The speaker explained that in order to be a person of excellence, we do not accept the status quo or less than our best in all that we do.  He also talked about the fact that we all represent something far greater than ourselves in all that we do.  He used the example of being in a grocery store and deciding part way through the store that you don't really want that box of cereal after all.  He explained that a person of excellence doesn't just put the box of cereal on the shelf next to the laundry detergent.  He said that when walking down a sidewalk, a person of excellence doesn't just walk by the piece of paper blowing on the ground.  He said that a person of excellence doesn't let him or her self become negative, treat others with disrespect, use language that is unflattering, or even allow his or her appearance to be sloppy.

I have thought about this message many times, and have had to remind myself in the grocery store when I decided I didn't want that box of cereal.  Just yesterday, it would have been much faster to set the cereal on the shelf next to the salad dressing, but I took time to walk to the cereal isle and put it right back where I had picked it up to begin with.  I almost convinced myself that there are people who get paid to reorganize the shelves, but then I remembered that we should all strive to be a person of excellence in all that we do and everywhere we are.

Then I started thinking about our school, our staff and our kids.  How can we use this message at Parma Elementary School?  Are we a school of excellence, are we teachers of excellence, are we helping our kids be students of excellence, am I a principal of excellence?  What does this look like?  As a school, do we represent #ParmaPROUD, #WSDPanthers, #TeamJXN?  Some things seem so simple, like being in the hallway in the morning to greet our kids, walking in the hallway, saying thank you, having lessons planned out and ready, being prepared, being on time (I'm working on it.).  Some days it would be easy to stay in my office to finish some things up, or to stay in your room to finish when kids start coming in at the beginning of the day, but is that being a principal or teacher of excellence?  Are we being a staff of excellence in our collaboration with each other, during our PLC time and RTI meetings?

How can we share this message with our kids?  How can we help them become people of excellence? I think the first way is for us to model this for them.  We need to talk to our students about what this means.  We also need to hold students to high expectations and hold them accountable.  It starts with the little things.  Every assignment they do, encourage them to look at it, does it display excellence and represent who they are?  Are they treating each other with kindness?   I challenge you to remind yourself to become a "person of excellence."  Does the lesson you are teaching represent a "teacher of excellence"?  Let us help each of our kids be a person of excellence, but let it begin with us!  Let's create a school of excellence in all that we do.  As Patsy Clairmont stated in the video we watched during our opening staff meeting,  AIM HIGH!


This Week At a Glance:

Sunday, September 13:  Happy Birthday Colleen White
Monday, September 14:  NWEA Assessment Testing Begins
Tuesday, September 15:  Kindergarten Readiness Testing with ISD
Wednesday, September 16:  First Early Release and Assembly with Grades 4 and 5.
Thursday, September 17:  County Principal Meeting 7:45a.m.
                                          School Board Meeting 6:30 p.m.
Friday, September 18:  Fire Drill a.m.
Saturday, September 19:  Happy Birthday Sarah Walter

Links and Articles Worth Reading:

Too Much Homework

A Closer Look at Reading Incentive Programs - +Donalyn Miller

What is lost as Handwriting Fades

Bring Learning to Life With Augmented Reality - @KatieAnn_76

4 Reasons People Don't Blog and Ideas to Help Change Their Minds by +George Couros 

Using Visuals

Videos Worth Watching:

300 Potential Teachers!

Learning To Play the Piano:  Patsy Clairmont

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

(She will be visiting our school in September)

Milo Speck by Linda Urban

(She will also be visiting us in September)

Better

I have been reading a book about medicine, about surgeons and doctors and about performance in the field of medicine.  The book is called, Better by Atul Gawande.  Why would an educator want to read a book about doctors and medicine?  This is what the back of the book states, "The struggle to perform well is universal:  each of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do.  Nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives may be on the line with any decision."  This struck me as we are also always seeking to do better in education.  We face the same struggles of fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities.  And along with the field of medicine, our field of education also has lives and futures at stake.  We are constantly seeking ways to improve, ways to reach (cure) every child, and how to constantly get "better".

The book is filled with stories of specific patients.  One story is about a woman being treated in the hospital but with no real diagnosis.  Gawande was a resident taking care of her while a senior resident kept a close eye on her and continued to check on her.  The senior resident ended up catching and treating what could have been a life threatening condition.  "Because he checked on her, she survived." He checked her temperature, her blood pressure, her oxygen flow, etc.  He performed "formative assessments" in order to inform his diagnosis and treatment.

From this case Gawande stated, "What does it take to be good at something in which failure is so easy, so effortless?  When I was a student and then a resident, my deepest concern was to become competent.  But what that senior resident had displayed that day was more than competence - he grasped not just how a pneumonia generally evolves and is properly treated but also the particulars of how to catch and fight one in that specific patient, in that specific moment, with the specific resources and people he had at hand."  We know that not every child responds the same way to instruction.  If they did, our jobs would be so much easier.  Not every child will respond the same to any given instructional strategy.  Some students will grasp the concept the first time around.  Others will require reteaching or interventions before they get it.  And some students may require a completely different approach before they understand the concept.  "What does it take to be good at something in which failure is so easy, so effortless?"  It would be easy to teach it once and move on.....effortless.  It would be easy to assume our instruction worked the first time without checking the temperature, blood pressure, oxygen flow of each student to make sure our course of instruction was working.

Formative assessments are crucial to the success of every student.  I know this year has been a frustrating year to say the least with assessments.  NWEA and MSTEP testing has and will continue to take a great deal of time in our classrooms.  Most importantly are the formative assessments that we need to be giving throughout all lessons.  A check for understanding, a pulse, of each student in order to determine next steps and interventions needed before moving on.  There is compelling research that says that frequent formative assessments improve student achievement for all students.  Our PLC focus should continue to be spent discussing common formative assessments.  If this is not happening during your grade level time, what is being discussed that has more value?

Read this final passage from Gawande's book and replace medicine with education.  I'm sure you will see the correlations I see:

"In medicine, lives are on the line.  Our decisions and omissions are therefore moral in nature.  We also face daunting expectations.  In medicine, our task is to cope with illness and to enable every human being to lead a life as long and free of frailty as science will allow.  The steps are often uncertain.  The knowledge to be mastered is both vast and incomplete.  Yet we are expected to act with swiftness and consistency, even when the task requires marshaling hundreds of people - from laboratory technicians to the nurses on each change of shift to the engineers who keep the oxygen supply system working - for the care of a single person.  We are also expected to do our work humanely, with gentleness and concern.  It's not only the stakes but also the complexity of performance in medicine that makes it so interesting and, at the same time, so unsettling."

So, what does it take to be good at something in which failure is so easy, so effortless?  Teaching a lesson and moving on would be easy.  Assuming they all got it...effortless.  "Better" requires the time to assess and inform instruction based on results.  "Better" requires professional development and seeking ways to grow and improve.  "Better" requires that we take a look at our instructional practice and strategies against the assessment data to determine if what we are doing is working.  Shame on the doctor who continues a course of treatment when the vitals are not improving and symptoms are not decreasing.

Let us refocus on our common formative assessments so that our kids will get BETTER!!!


Articles Worth Reading:

The Importance of Trust in a PLC

Tour of Your Chromebook - shared by +Stacey Schuh

When a Child gets Angry - We Punish - @pernilleripp

The Importance of Reading Aloud - +Katherine Sokolowski
 (be sure to watch the video at the end of author, Kate DiCamillo talking about Reading Aloud)

There is a Book for That - Nonfiction Picture Books

The Neuroscience behind How Children Learn to Read

Helping Students Develop a Desire to Read at Home

Videos Worth Watching:

Rick Wormeli on Summative and Formative assessments:

Dylan Wiliam: 5 Strategies of Formative Assessments:

Kid Snippets - Math Class - I'm sure this teacher taught this!