Today was very productive. I had a full day out of my classroom to work on my own "Mentor Texts for French Immersion" project. As you’ll recall I am locating books that can be used as part of the Writer’s workshop as Mentor texts, and helping French Immersion teachers to use them.
First, I unpacked, stamped and organized all the books I have managed to locate since April. It was fun to see the books come out of their boxes and see the light of day. I organized the books by genre and then by grade level. I know now which teachers will be working with which touchstone books.
Next, I took a few hours to plan out the actual PD session that I will be leading in April or May. I broke the day down into goals for each hour-long block. I now have a pretty solid plan of what this day will look like. Next time I have some time to work on the project I will have to make up my personal "To Do Lists" for each hour block.
I next took some time to review the Lucy Calkins "Launching" module and I choose a section to share with the teachers during our PD. The section relates to using Mentor texts during a Mini-lesson. I made copies for everyone.
Perhaps the toughest part of the day was making up a useful template for the teachers. This template will guide the teachers through the books I have chosen, giving them options to consider, points to ponder etc etc. I had Denis, our francophone expert, look it over. Making this template took ages because I am so picky about making PD useful to teachers. I dread the thought that a teacher might attend my PD session and feel like his/her time was wasted.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Another day on the job!
Today Cheryl, Francine and I met in Formosa to continue working on our TLLP. It was a beautiful drive to the little town of Formosa and I found the school easily since the steeple of the Catholic Church was a beacon, shining from miles away.
Our "to do list" was vast, but we were fortified by coffee, Hershey’s kisses and Werther’s Originals.
First we talked about our slide show, which some of us had shown to our staff last week.
Next, we looked at the logistics of who would visit each of the 3 remaining Northern schools, to show our slide show.
We then discussed where we should hold the upcoming October professional development sessions. We will be leading the teachers through a "Teacher Moderation" session, encompassing a full day.
Of crucial importance was who would order the food for the sessions, who would pay and how exactly would it arrive? This is not as easy as you might think, since Formosa is half between Nowhere and Really Nowhere. We set the budget for snacks, drinks and lunch and made the necessary phone calls.
Next, we looked closely at the marking rubric that teachers will be using during the Teacher Moderation sessions. We spent ages playing around with the qualifiers, language and spacing of the rubric. We are now happy with our final rubric and have made copies for all.
After lunch, (leftover spaghetti for me!) we looked over the work we had accomplished in August. We made some revisions, re-checked our ‘francais" and rolled the presses. Yeah! We did it! All French Immersion teachers will get the on-demand writing prompts tomorrow.
Last, we prepared packages for each teacher, principal, and Supervisory Officer that will be involved. Cheryl did a great job of writing a cover letter to clarify any outstanding questions and to lay out our future plans.
Next we will meet on October 8th. The agenda for that day includes all those pesky, last minute details that crop up when leading a group of teachers through a new process.
Our "to do list" was vast, but we were fortified by coffee, Hershey’s kisses and Werther’s Originals.
First we talked about our slide show, which some of us had shown to our staff last week.
Next, we looked at the logistics of who would visit each of the 3 remaining Northern schools, to show our slide show.
We then discussed where we should hold the upcoming October professional development sessions. We will be leading the teachers through a "Teacher Moderation" session, encompassing a full day.
Of crucial importance was who would order the food for the sessions, who would pay and how exactly would it arrive? This is not as easy as you might think, since Formosa is half between Nowhere and Really Nowhere. We set the budget for snacks, drinks and lunch and made the necessary phone calls.
Next, we looked closely at the marking rubric that teachers will be using during the Teacher Moderation sessions. We spent ages playing around with the qualifiers, language and spacing of the rubric. We are now happy with our final rubric and have made copies for all.
After lunch, (leftover spaghetti for me!) we looked over the work we had accomplished in August. We made some revisions, re-checked our ‘francais" and rolled the presses. Yeah! We did it! All French Immersion teachers will get the on-demand writing prompts tomorrow.
Last, we prepared packages for each teacher, principal, and Supervisory Officer that will be involved. Cheryl did a great job of writing a cover letter to clarify any outstanding questions and to lay out our future plans.
Next we will meet on October 8th. The agenda for that day includes all those pesky, last minute details that crop up when leading a group of teachers through a new process.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)