Goals+Summary+2011-2012


 * Summary of Goals and Activities 2011-2012**

Name: Jennifer McPhillips Date: May 21,2012

1. Comment on your progress towards achieving the goals you established for this year:

Examine and develop a series of First Grade writing prompts that are in alignment with the Common Core Standards and integrate the Reading Street themes. These writing prompts will focus on specific genres of the Reading Street program and will be used as formative assessments throughout the academic year.
 * __Personal Goal__:**
 * Translated the Common Core Standards into a series of “I Can” statements that are easily understood by teachers, parents, and students.
 * Explored all five units of our Reading Street program to examine the multiple writing opportunities available each week to our first grade writers.
 * Selected the most appropriate prompts that would help students to meet the proficiency of grade one writing standard benchmarks.
 * Chose several writing prompts in the different genres to score with their specific Reading Street rubrics.
 * Discussed the need for a consistent writing program that’s aligned with the Common Core, incorporates 6+1 Traits, a true writers’ workshop model, and sufficient time to write.
 * Investigated Lucy Calkins to see if it better suited to meet the needs of our young working authors, curriculum, and is aligned with our reading program.

Navigating and utilizing our Everyday Math curriculum is in alignment with our district goal – //To Promote High Expectations for All// and our school goal – //To implement Everyday Math lesson plans for revised journals that align with common core standards//. We will work as a grade level team to become familiar and comfortable with the content, components, and strategies of our updated program.
 * __Grade Level Goal__:**
 * Worked with grade level team and Kathy Brooks to determine how the new Everyday Math lessons align with the common core.
 * Discussed pacing guides for each math unit, focusing on the specific changes that were made and discussed ways to improve differentiated instruction and assessment criteria.
 * Explored and interacted with the 21st Century Online Toolkit to enhance our students mathematical thinking and fundamental skills.
 * Used the Interactive Math Toolkit to provide additional skills practice and to promote strategic thinking.
 * Emphasized the teaching and mastery of fact fluency for sums up to ten through monthly math fact probe data.

Navigating and utilizing our new Reading Street program is in alignment with the school goal - //Promoting High Expectations for All// and will allow us to better meet the new common core standards. Therefore, our school goal is to effectively learn, synthesize and integrate the new Reading Street program into our existing instructional practices in literacy. We have committed time each week during our common planning to reflect on previous lessons and skills taught, while also previewing upcoming units of study. We also plan to continue collecting resources as a grade level to best supplement instruction. We will use these new resources to enhance our small group instruction and to continue to spiral and reinforce concepts taught during whole class lessons. Using the STEM lab and our LCD monitors, we plan to integrate valuable Reading Street technological tools and lessons into instruction to increase student motivation and engagement through multiple modalities of learning.
 * __District Goal__:**
 * Worked with grade level team and Lynne Kenny to implement the updated version of Reading Streeet.
 * Examined and incorporated the many new writing components that Reading Street provides (Writing on Demand, Reading Strategy Response Log, weekly Look Back and Write comprehension questions, and application of grammar/conventions skills.
 * Demonstrated effective writing skills to our working authors through "I can" statements.
 * Utilized the weekly writing tasks to incorporate the specific genres in alignment with the common core standards.
 * Included additonal resources to enhance our small group instruction and to reinforce/reteach vital skills and strategies (Primary Word Sorts, Readers' Theater, A to Z Readers, Dibels progress monitoring, fluency practice passages).
 * Incorporated Telian training to develop the critical skills of phonemic awareness, letter/sound associations, and the ability to decode and encode words fluently.
 * Integrated Reading Street technological tools to teach students important skills such as key concepts, essential questions, amazing vocabulary, literary elements, critical thinking skills, comprehension strategies and grammar skills in a innovative and engaging way.

2. Please indicate professional development activities (courses, conferences, workshops, etc.) in which you have participated this year:
 * Telian Training - Lively Letters
 * Telian Training - Sight Words You Can See
 * Everyday Math - Overview of Interactive Math Tool Kit
 * Origo Kit and fact fluency strategies
 * Common Core Writing "I can" statements
 * Professional Day - Examining Reading Street writing prompts
 * DRA Webinar
 * Dibels Training Webinar
 * Beginning Writers' Workshop Training
 * Scott Foresman Training
 * Participated in the Intervention Convention
 * Graduate Course - Information Access and the Internet

3. List committee/professional memberships:
 * Literacy Assessment Team
 * School-wide Dibels Team
 * PCEA member
 * MTA member
 * CTA member

4. List any other information (special projects, experiences, honors, etc.):
 * Created a first grade curriculum podcast.
 * Created a first grade wiki (WikiGood1stGrade) to share with colleagues.
 * Invited parent volunteers for weekly Writers' Workshop, Math Explorations, Book Retell Club, and STEM Lab opportunities.
 * Grade 1 Representative Curriculum Coffee.