Crisp New Clothes

It is day one and the halls are an organized frenzy.  There are eager little faces, with eyes wide searching for their new teacher.  There is crying, tear drops spotting crisp new clothes, arms clinging desperately to moms who have that look..."I can't let them go just yet." There are teachers with wide smiles, reassuring eyes, comforting hugs (for moms and children alike), and an air of enthusiasm for the journey ahead.  And there's me, class lists in hand, welcoming new faces and familiar smiles, pointing them in the direction of the room they'll walk to every day after this and sometimes walking hand in hand with littles who are too scared to brave that long hallway alone.   I spot H, my now second grader (ack! how did he get that big?!), walking confidently in line with a bulging How To Train Your Dragon backpack and a sharp new hair cut and find that I have to put away a few of my own tears.  As a Title I teacher I won't have my own students for another couple weeks, but this first day brings excitement all the same.

After everyone is in their place I retreat to my room to sort through testing materials, buckle down with the task of getting everything scheduled, and think about what I will need to make interventions more successful this year than last.  Over the summer I attended a teaching conference where we focused an entire day on setting goals, not just teacher or school goals, but the importance of students setting goals for themselves....and wha-la, I have a place to start.  This is what I found scratched on my notepad from that day in my not-so-teachery handwriting:

 "It's NOT enough for students to just KNOW the goal.  The have to do more than set the goal.  They have to make a specific plan to achieve it."

Do I do this as a teacher?  Not nearly to the extent that could impact my students in a great way, I decided.  And so I've determined the place to focus first is fluency and retell.  Assessed by DIBELS first thing (in a week!) it will be a place to start and keep my kiddos accountable for their own learning. I believe it's a powerful thing to sit one on one with a student who can truly reflect on how they learn, what is helping them to make progress and what is not, and to formulate a plan to raise achievement.  And I'm sure hoping I can start to foster this in my own classes.  

My plan:
 - progress monitor fluency and retell weekly (a regular classroom would most likely have to go monthly)
 - meet weekly to review, reflect, and modify goals
 - keep a binder for each student with the pages below to keep transitions smooth and records accessible to both myself and my students.
 - focus on possible learning strategies that could benefit this process in class instruction

In my binders:

You can get these at my TPT store. 

Hope you all had a great first day back too! 

- Mel