Strategic Planning 2013 - 2014
Each year our vision statement changes and long term goals are created to form a strategic plan that includes specific short-term goals. This year's vision statement is "Opening new worlds for personalized and purposeful learning." Our strategic plan will include a clear descriptions and direction for integration and implementation of all goals at all levels. This approach will provide us with avenues to change in a gradual and organized fashion. We have several layers of professional development teams led by teachers. Each team has a specific goal to meet that is aligned to our building goals. These teams are specified by purpose and include; the Building Literacy Team, the 21st Century Learning team, and the Student Advocacy Team.
Opening New Worlds refers to teaching twenty-first century skills that include a student's ability to use a range of electronic technologies to access, synthesize and apply information. These skills include the ability to think critically and creatively and evaluate the products of one's thinking. Students mastering these skills will be able to communicate effectively and collaborate with others, particularly in diverse and multicultural settings.
The Building Literacy Team (Purposeful Learning)
The Building Literacy team has chosen writing as our targeted literacy skill for the 2013 – 2014 school year. The committee identified 7 components or sub-skills for all students to master in all content areas. The sub-skills have been rank ordered. Each month the team will chooses a different strategy or technique that will be taught to all students in all content areas. The team’s primary resource for improving instruction will be “Teach Like a Champion.” Once a literacy skill is chosen each staff member will be trained by a teacher expert within our building.
Purposeful Learning is learning how to learn. Purposeful learning includes;
1. To look at a question, be able to read it independently & formulate an answer independently (active reading strategies)
2. To generate a response to what one has read, viewed or heard
3. To explain one's thinking in complete sentences
4. To take Cornell notes & use them to write an open response
5. To describe an experience & report one's conclusions
6. To compare & contrast
7. To argue an idea and support one's thinking
The Building Literacy team has chosen writing as our targeted literacy skill for the 2013 – 2014 school year. The committee identified 7 components or sub-skills for all students to master in all content areas. The sub-skills have been rank ordered. Each month the team will chooses a different strategy or technique that will be taught to all students in all content areas. The team’s primary resource for improving instruction will be “Teach Like a Champion.” Once a literacy skill is chosen each staff member will be trained by a teacher expert within our building.
Purposeful Learning is learning how to learn. Purposeful learning includes;
1. To look at a question, be able to read it independently & formulate an answer independently (active reading strategies)
2. To generate a response to what one has read, viewed or heard
3. To explain one's thinking in complete sentences
4. To take Cornell notes & use them to write an open response
5. To describe an experience & report one's conclusions
6. To compare & contrast
7. To argue an idea and support one's thinking
Student Advocacy (Personalized Learning)
The Student Advocacy team provides knowledge resources for student centered learning that focuses on the development of student led conferencing and portfolio development. To address student advocacy the team is developing ways to help students set up their own personal learning environments. Some future ideas include instructional tools that will help students to reproduce data and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge gained from digital environments. Curriculum for student advisory time will also be developed for all three grade levels that support digital literacy. These digital literacy skills for the 2013 - 2014 school year will include topics on Skills for the Digital Age. Themes for the month will support critical thinking skills, communications, collaboration and digital citizenship.
The Student Advocacy team provides knowledge resources for student centered learning that focuses on the development of student led conferencing and portfolio development. To address student advocacy the team is developing ways to help students set up their own personal learning environments. Some future ideas include instructional tools that will help students to reproduce data and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge gained from digital environments. Curriculum for student advisory time will also be developed for all three grade levels that support digital literacy. These digital literacy skills for the 2013 - 2014 school year will include topics on Skills for the Digital Age. Themes for the month will support critical thinking skills, communications, collaboration and digital citizenship.
- Personalized refers to instruction that is paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and tailored to the specific interests of different learners. In an environment that is fully personalized, the learning objectives and content as well as the method and pace may all vary (so personalization encompasses differentiation and individualization). Personalizing learning starts with the learner. Personalized learning means the students drive their learning and the teacher is the guide on the side, the co-designer of their learning, and more of a facilitator to make sure the students is meeting their learning goals.
Providing Feedback on Results
We recognize that to be successful within our strategic plan we will need to provide feedback on results. Regular checks on student learning will provide teachers with direct evidence of the results of their teaching efforts. This feedback will be used to guide revisions or to showcase improvements. In addition, these support mechanisms will serve as motivation for those whose desire for improvement may be weak. To continually check our strategic planning results we will develop multiple surveys using Google forms and walk through data assessments. Walk through data and surveys will be an easy way to collect data to measure both desired input and ideas for continual improvement.
We recognize that to be successful within our strategic plan we will need to provide feedback on results. Regular checks on student learning will provide teachers with direct evidence of the results of their teaching efforts. This feedback will be used to guide revisions or to showcase improvements. In addition, these support mechanisms will serve as motivation for those whose desire for improvement may be weak. To continually check our strategic planning results we will develop multiple surveys using Google forms and walk through data assessments. Walk through data and surveys will be an easy way to collect data to measure both desired input and ideas for continual improvement.