The Bilingual Nook

Works for me! Wednesday

Do you have a clip chart? As far as I can tell, the idea originally came from Rick Morris' e-book New Management.  My chart reverses the colors on Rick Morris' original.

I had been seeing them on blogs everywhere and wishing I were back in the classroom so I could use one.   I don't know why I thought I couldn't use one as a resource teacher. 


So anyway...in October this year my wish came true.  I was able to go back into the classroom for a few weeks while we were between teachers.  My partner was super flexible and completely on board with trying a clip chart.  I LOVE it! 

I love that it's colorful, I love how quickly the kids respond to "moving up," I love that it helps me focus my feedback on moving kids up.  It reminds me to spend more time acknowledging appropriate behaviors.

What works best for me is to try my best to keep kids above the "danger zone."  When I see kids on yellow, I try to notice something, anything to get my young friend get back on track. 

The real magic happens when one of the kids who always seems to be in trouble gets all the way up to purple.  It happened to one of my young friends last week.  I know because his teacher told me.  And he told me.  And one of his classmates.  And his brother.  And when his mother came in for conferences the next day, she told me he was about bursting with excitement and pride to share the news with his mom.

I am a true believer that kids need to feel better before they behave better.  (I'm pretty sure that idea came from a parenting book I read.  If you know where it came from, please write a comment.. I'd love to attribute it to its original author.) This tool helps me remember that, and helps me to remember the role I play in not only teaching appropriate behavior, but in helping kids, especially the ones who struggle with behavior, to manage their fragile egos so that they are able to learn.

Now that I'm back in my support staff role, I decided to use the chart for my intervention groups.  Now, with my small groups, I really didn't NEED a clip chart because I rarely have behavior issues.  But since I've started using it, behaviors are even better.  I need to use fewer redirects and am more conscious of acknowledgeing their on-task behavior.  I even clip them up for good use of reading strategies!

If you'd like to try out a clip chart in your classroom, there are several available on TpT.  If you are interested in a dual language clip chart, or are looking for a way to tie a clip chart to an existing PBS or PBIS structure, check out my clip chart resource packet in TpT. .

Mission Monday

 

 

Last week's missions

Check and check!  I got my 3 blog posts done, thanks to being able to schedule ahead.  I also finished an intervention report that I thought served its purpose. 

Blog mission

My blog mission is the same this week.  I have an observation this week using a new observation protocol, so I should be pretty busy figuring out what I need to do.  Three posts a week seems very doable, so I think I'll stick with that.  I'd also like to start leaving comments on other people's blogs.  I'm always hesitant to leave them because I'm afraid whatever I have to say will sound silly.  But I really wish someone would leave a comment on mine, so I think I'll start by practicing the Golden Rule.

Teaching mission

We have a new tutor at school and I have been assigned to manage his intervention times for our dual kindergarten, dual second and dual third (30 minutes each), so I really need to gather materials and protocols to make that easier for him. 

Found it! Friday

Thoughtful Thursday

In a past life I was a literacy coach, so I still follow a few coaching blogs.  This post caught my eye. The article is good, but the real value for me was in the video clips.  This one, from Michael Goldstein's blog, Starting an Ed School: showcasing a teacher (who, by the way, is acting) in a reflective coaching conversation. 






I highly recommend checking out the original blog post this video came from because there are three more amazing clips of the same teacher/actress showing us other versions of getting in our own way when we are trying to improve instruction.

The video below is from David Ginsberg's post on coachability  and helps illustrate what it means to be "coachable."





As I watched, I found my thoughts moving away from seeing through eyes of a coach to looking in the mirror.  Watching these video clips was a great opportunity for me to be self-reflective. I think being coachable is, of course, important when you are working with a coach.  But it is even more important when you are your own coach.  It's so important to own what you can if you want to bring about change.  And it's so easy for me to slip away from a circle of influence focus.

 I think the more stressed and overloaded I feel, the more likely I am to lean toward a fixed mindset/ external locus of control, focusing on issues that concern me but that I have no influence over.  Don't believe me? Check out my recent blog posts.  Thanksgiving. Report cards. Conferences.  I wonder if my "Excuse" mode surfaces from stress or from feeling insecure about not meeting expectations.

Something for me to be thoughtful about for a while longer...

What about you?  How coachable are you?  What do you do to get yourself to a more "coachable" place when you start to slip away?

Mission Monday

Blog mission: To post at least three days

I had to laugh when I actually got around to reading last week's one and only blog post.  It was a Works-for-me Wednesday post that didn't actually get posted until Thursday.  My Blog mission this week is to not let the craziness keep me from posting at least a few times this week.  Yes, report cards ARE due tomorrow.  No, I have NOT finished the 50+ comment sheets for classroom teachers to insert into report cards.  Yes, parent conferences ARE this week.  No, I have not figured out which conferences I can actually make it to and which ones I'll have to give teachers a cheat sheet for to discuss my interventions with parents.

But it's all good because I've recently discovered the SCHEDULE button, so I can pre-write my posts when I do have time and schedule them to go out on another day.

Teaching mission: Intervention progress sheets

I really would like to find or create a parent-friendly (and teacher-friendly!) form to communicate all the progress my students are making in their reading interventions.  Any reading interventionists have one they love?  Ideally, it would be quick to fill out, easy to tailor to individual students, and self-explanatory so teachers don't have to use their conference time to explain my form.

I'd also love to learn about any systems that your school uses to help interventionists see their students during conferences.  Do they try to attend with the classroom teacher?  Pre-meet with the classroom teacher?  Plan a separate meeting with parents?  What works (or doesn't work!) for you?

I'd love to hear/ see what everyone does for report card and conference time!