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Ways to improves Professional Communities:

• Building & earning trust has to be priority
• Keep great communication going
• Big data diving
• Projection Model

Norms or standards: represent procedures and commitments developed the plc team to guide Members work collaboration. Norms help clarify expectations concerning how they will work together to attain shared goals. Examples of Team Norms includes: positive tone, listening, collaboration, offering solutions and time oriented.

Insight into Knowing 3 components of PLCS which includes Learning, collaboration and authentic results. Learning: considering PLCs, building principals observe teaching, instruction and talk over important issues, such as instructional information and student efficiency. However, the attention stays with results but should be on instruction.

 Learning forward describes PLCs as Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness. The results for all students occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and goal alignment. It can also be described as is a method to foster collaborative learning among colleagues within a particular work environment or field. How does your school or district organize PLCs?

Teachers are required to create an implementation plan to integrate Writing in Math.

Teachers will use S.M.A.R.T. Goals with the implementation plan

To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:

· Specific (simple, sensible, significant)

· Measurable (meaningful, motivating)

· Achievable (agreed, attainable)

· Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based)

· Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive)

Keep it Simple Approach - Begin with a task where students write about how they feel about math. At the beginning of the school year, I like to read The Math Curse. Then, I ask students to write about how they feel about math as the first entry in their math journals. This type of task helps students get familiar with writing in math and the expectations for math journals

House Keeping Rules - Add required tasks to the journals

• a task for rquire students to go beyond basic facts or simple procedures
• a task to require students to understand the problem to complete the task
• a task to encourage students to communicate using visual pictures or models
• a task to allow students make connections to other content and skills, and use math terms and vocabulary

What Is Math Talk?

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) defines math talk as “the ways of representing, thinking, talking, and agreeing and disagreeing that teachers and students use to engage in [mathematical] tasks” (NCTM, 1991) Begin by relating something that is current in today news that fits the specific standard you are teaching. Take some TIME to discuss it with students in groups or as a class. Use any kind of physical demonstrations if possible. Use the THINK, PAIR and SHARE strategy. "This opportunity to connect math and language benefits all the students and deepens their understanding of math concepts. The teacher listens as students converse about their problem-solving process."

Have student groups share their thoughts before writing. Students are cautious to write in math because of failure and lack of confidence in themselves. They may struggle to out their thoughts in writing with Language arts so you can understand how math may scare them. A small group practice before will help them get their thoughts straight. It also provides support as their group members is able to ask questions for clarification.

To every teacher, EYPD EDUCATION honors each of you! You touch our lives and make us stronger and better! That is no amount of thank you’s that can every suffice. PreK-12 Teachers should be one the highest paid professions. You spend more time with our kids. You even talk with them more! You are a strong influence in their lives! Without teachers, our future would be bleak. You also protect and serve our communities as a role model for our youth! Your job never ceases to end. With so many initiatives and policies, you manage to keep students as your focus! Thank you for what you do each and every day!

Online Classroom Management 

This present opportunities for teachers to reach students academically at home. With the advanced tools that automate so many useful reoccurring tasks, academic gain increases. Teachers are using these technology advances to increase more interaction with students. Online classroom management may seem to be less complex than in the physical settings on the surface. However, some aspects of Online classroom management are very challenging!

Creating Enthusiasm In Your Online Classroom

 Creating engagement in the physical classroom may not be equal in the online area. Finding the balance in your hybrid classroom is important for long-term success! Some educators find it difficult with the online part of their instruction. Since online instruction gives you more opportunities to interact with students, you able to give more supportive feedback. You can academically correct students online with pinpoint accuracy that can give the face-face 2 teaching the support it needs. The student-teacher interaction is greatly improved.

Setting Up Structure 

Having the resources for an online environment is one of the most important parts to foundational success. The second is having good logical structure. How you are presenting these resources are critical for student success. Collaborating among school leaders and peers will be most rewarding. As some of the best academic teachers in a traditional classroom may suffer greatly with online organization. The technology cannot overwhelm the instruction or the teacher!

Knowing Available Online Resources

LEAs have invested much in the area of academic preparation resources. Many teachers may not be aware of the many resources afforded to them. So much information resides online. Hybrid instruction combines face-2-face and online instruction. They form a robust process for student active learning. The classroom is extended beyond the four walls.

Team Teaching:

Meaning: Well-organized, co-teachers lessons show a seamless flow of instruction without a lead teacher. Using a Co-pair strategy, both teachers are enthusiastically involved in the lesson. Both teachers share the teaching responsibilities, freely add information, help students, and answer questions.

For instance:Both teachers share the reading of a story/text so that students are hearing two voices.

Alternative Teaching

Meaning: The alternative teaching strategies gives students with other methods to learning the same content. The learning outcome is the same for all students; however, the instructional approach is different.

For Instance: One teacher leads part of the class in dividing with making equal groups and the other teachers using equal groups with place values.

Meaning: This strategy permits one teacher to work with students on their projected grade level and the other teacher works with those students who need content reviewed or remediated.

Example: One teacher assists with students who need a concept re-taught while the other teacher continues the learning objective or concept for remaining students.

Parallel Teaching

Meaning: The class is divided into two parts. Both teachers instruct their students. The same teaching and presentation content is the same including the same strategy. Parallel Teaching reducing the teaching workloads. The teachers have more time to work with student in a more manageable format. 

For Instance: Teachers are able to take a content standard and make better and faster strides in teaching.

Station Teaching

Meaning: The teaching pair splits the teaching content into sections and the students into collaborative or cooperative groups. Each group has an amount of time at group station. In some cases, an independent group station could be used with the two teacher group stations.

For instance: One teacher leads a group station with the students writing an outline for an essay, while the other teacher gives ideas on acceptable essay topics that are in scope.

Teach One & Assist One

Meaning: This strategy is an add-on to Teach One, Observe One. One teacher has main teaching responsibility and the other teacher assists students with their classwork and observe behaviors.

For instance:  One teacher is the led teacher, the teacher assisting is a helper for the students when they do not understand or are experiencing difficulties.

Teach One & Observe One:

Meaning: One teacher has the main duty while the other teacher records detailed observational data on students or the lead teacher. The key to this approach is to have a emphasis for observation. For Instance: one teacher monitors students to define how well they comprehend instructions.

The Effective K-12 Hybrid Classroom – Part 1, an online professional development course geared primarily for educators. This course requires educators to implement new or improve current strategies for hybrid classrooms. Online or virtual learning is inevitable in education. Many LEAs have implemented a hybrid environment for students and teachers. The majority of educational resources are online. LEAs have invested much in the area of academic preparation resources. Many teachers may not be aware of the many resources afforded to them. So much information resides online. In the event that schools are not accessible for students due to student illnesses, natural disasters, building infrastructure or unforeseen issues, approved contingency plans are necessary for instruction to continue. LEAs are putting more professional development time in educating instructional leaders in using these resources.

Improvement of student learning and professional development can start with Professional Learning Communities. There are planned and scheduled processes that allow teachers and others to work together in a collaborative setting. Depending on the school district structure, the early release of students allow time to conduct such planning and development. A PLC plan has to be ready before any meeting time takes place. Professional Learning Communities is a never ending process that is meant to not only help students improve academically but improve the quality of instruction through analyzing data effectively. Often times teachers put together "best strategies" cook book in their implementation that is shared. Teachers are empowered by Professional Learning Communities to stop working in isolation and to promote collaboration on a basic, meaningful and productive level. It does take time to building trust among educators.

Classroom management on all grade levels aim to achieve at the same end results which can be (1) effective management of students and (2) to improve academics. Management in different grade levels vary because of age and experience. There are many ways to look at classroom management and many strategies to implement it. No one classroom is the same. So why should classroom management be the same in each classroom? Creativity in this area should be explored with proven concepts.

How well does the special education and subject area teacher work together? Is it painful with contention or well planned with equal input. Is the focus really on the students? Making sure all students get the opportunity to access the very best of a school system is imperative to the success of the relationship of both parties. Most students with learning disabilities share the same learning environment with all students. It takes collaboration with special education and subject area teachers to plan out an effective strategy for students. A part of the planning includes the general education teachers understanding of Adaptations, Accommodations and Modifications. Bringing clarity to these areas puts instruction and the curriculum into perspective for general education teachers.

Classroom management on all grade levels aim to achieve at the same end results which can be (1) effective management of students and (2) to improve academics. Management in different grade levels vary because of age and experience. Secondary teachers must know how to provide their students with direction because those students don’t always focus on their education. There are many ways to look at classroom management and many strategies to implement it. No one classroom is the same. So why should classroom management be the same in each classroom? Creativity in this area should be explored with proven concepts.

Cooperative Learning, sometimes called small-group learning, is an instructional strategy in which small groups of students work together on a common task. The task can be as simple as solving a multi-step math problem together, or as complex as developing a design for a new kind of school. In some cases, each group member is individually accountable for part of the task; in other cases, group members work together without formal role assignments.

Cooperative learning changes students' and teachers' roles in classrooms. The ownership of teaching and learning is shared by groups of students, and is no longer the sole responsibility of the teacher. The authority of setting goals, assessing learning, and facilitating learning is shared by all. Students have more opportunities to actively participate in their learning, question and challenge each other, share and discuss their ideas, and internalize their learning. Along with improving academic learning, cooperative learning helps students engage in thoughtful discourse and examine different perspectives, and it has been proven to increase students' self-esteem, motivation, and empathy.

Classroom management on all grade levels aim to achieve at the same end results which can be (1) effective management of students and (2) to improve academics. Management in different grade levels vary because of age and experience. There are many ways to look at classroom management and many strategies to implement it. No one classroom is the same. So why should classroom management be the same in each classroom? Creativity in this area should be explored with proven concepts.

How much more can we ask teachers to do! It never ceases to end…but that’s the nature of teaching. Ideas come and go. Some ideas stay the same but restated in different names. But writing and reading are stable cores to learning. Why limit writing in ways to one subject area? This workshop will explore writing that expands across subject areas. While the topic is not new, it does helps to fresh and have educators retool themselves. Reflecting on current instructional and planning practices are a necessary part of the teaching.

What does co-teaching look like in practice? Providing professional development on collaboration, inclusion and co-teaching can not be under emphasized. How are both teachers planning together? What is being planned? Co-teaching enables teachers to work together within the same classroom. Both will share the instructional duties or responsibilities within the curriculum. The ultimate goal to improve academic progress of all students while maintaining proper compliance's for students with learning disabilities. Co-teaching comes with the task of developing a working relationship among educators that fuels the power of teaching with the excitement of learning.

How much does the behavior of teachers assist or limit students’ academics in diverse classrooms? Should understanding culture of diverse classrooms be a priority for teachers? Educators can receive students from many different nationalities and backgrounds. How a teacher embraces the diversity from the students and parents or guardians can have a profound impact on academics. You will need a mentor or administrator to complete some parts of this workshop.

There are many school factors that affect the success of culturally diverse students – the school's atmosphere and overall attitudes toward diversity, involvement of the community, and culturally responsive curriculum, to name a few. Of all of these factors, the personal and academic relationships between teachers and their students may be the most influential. This relationship has been referred to as the "core relationship" of learning – the roles of teachers and students, the subject matter, and their interaction in the classroom. (ERIC EC Digest #E584, Author: Jane Burnette, 1999).

Some instructional strategies allow educators to form a stronger teaching and learning connection with their culturally diverse students. Some strategies demonstrate standard practices of excellent teaching. While other are catered to assisting with students from diverse cultures. How an educator embraces the diversity from the students and parents or guardians can have a profound impact on academics. Great teachers find ways to reach students and provide the environment that allow learning to thrive.

This workshop requires educators to implement new or improve current strategies in their education setting. All teachers will participant in peer classroom observations for learning and improving current practices. A district, school and teachers have to find the right balance for their environment. You will need a mentor or administrator to complete some parts of this workshop.

Teachers incorporate writing in math class to help students reflect on their learning, deepen their understanding of important concepts by explaining and providing examples of those concepts, and make important connections to real-life applications of the math they are learning. Teachers use the writing assignments to assess student understanding of important concepts, student proficiency in explaining and using those concepts and each student's attitude toward learning mathematics. Writing in mathematics is a win-win for both teacher and student. Although it may be difficult to introduce this practice, it is well worth the effort. Look for simple ways to incorporate short writings throughout daily lessons and longer writings over the course of weeks or math units. - mathwire.com

Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning. An individual's ability to comprehend text is influenced by their traits and skills, one of which is the ability to make inferences. In today’s world of academia, students are expected to perform at even higher levels. Understanding the reading material provides students with the ability to process the information to make better decisions. This workshop will provide K-2 educators with strategies to incorporate into their current teaching practices.

When it comes to improving reading comprehension in middle school, students are often more open to creative exercises. By middle school many of them should be good readers, but reading comprehension should be the catalyst. Reading comprehension must be improved and enhanced as they prepare for high school and college settings. Reading comprehension as well as general comprehension abilities are foundational in how successful a student will be in the educational process, and ultimately out in the workplace. The National Reading Panel has stated that comprehension is an active process requiring a thoughtful and intentional interaction between both the reader and the text being read.

Bullying! An issue that has far been overlooked even when guidelines are in place! What good are bullying prevention plans when not implemented correctly? Teachers, administrators, staff, students and family must be involved! How many incidents could have been avoided if the situation was handled better? Reflection on all practices always help to retool and refocus!

Some of the most academically successful educators understand how to correctly use the energy of students to propel learning. The learning process is amazing if you find time to see it. Are you so stressed/focused with students reaching benchmarks, milestones and reaching objectives that you can’t enjoy the learning process? After all the preparation, assessments, new strategies, training and professional development what’s left? What do you have left in the tank? Take time to enjoy your students even the most challenging behaviors. If not, you may become unhappy, irritated, unmotivated and not productive.

Teachers need to expose students to a variety of motivating non-fiction texts that are challenging. There should be a plethora of oral and reading activities to help close some of the reading gaps (teaching.monster.com). Several studies have found a correlation between the reading of nonfiction and the development of literacy skills. Generally, students who read magazines and nonfiction books have higher average reading proficiencies than those who do not (Campbell, Kapinus, & Beatty, 1995). Also, nonfiction that presents concepts and vocabulary in a concrete way can help teach literary skills and can provide a bridge to textbooks for non-native as well as native English speakers (Hadaway, Vardell, & Young, 2002).