Plans That Make a Difference
A superintendent I met at a “Leading for Results” workshop I conducted told me with some pride about his district’s strategic plan. To help me understand the elements of the plan, he pulled a decidedly low-tech tool from his bag—a laminated piece of poster board which contained a diagram illustrating its key feature. He propped it on the table top in front of me and explained that the plan’s focal point was “reflective practice”—what the system and its members had to do differently to serve all students rather than on how students had to change to serve the desires of the organization. To that end, the plan empowered teachers to teach less by “cleaning their curricular attics,” emphasized holistic achievement through which all forms of intelligence are developed and recognized, and nurtured professional relationships that focused on teaching and learning, particularly on the design of classroom work experiences for students.
It was easy to imagine the superintendent using this simple diagram in one-on-one conversations or in small group meetings to explain and remind teachers, principals, parents, school board trustees, and other community members of the district’s priorities and the means by which they would be achieved. It was also easy to imagine the incredible focus that district and school leaders could achieve as educators continuously deepen their understanding of these concepts and seek to apply them in their classrooms.
That conversation prompted me to reflect on what I’ve learned about strategic planning from NSDC’s previous efforts extending back to 1986 and from planning I’ve observed in countless schools and school systems. From my experience some of the key attributes of a powerful strategic plan are:
• A stretch goal that appeals to both leaders’ heads and hearts. A strong plan, I believe, motivates organizations and their staff members to stop doing some things that are hard to give up and to initiate at least a few activities that feel scary because they require deep changes in beliefs, understandings, and actions.
My assumption: If nothing of significance changes in professional learning and relationships, leadership, teaching (including the curriculum), and assessment, nothing of significance will change in student learning. Or to put it a bit differently, if we do what we’ve always done we’ll get what we’ve always gotten.
• A coherent theory of action related to a small number of clearly defined and powerful strategies. Because the theory of action explains in simple, direct language—preferably in the form of stories—exactly how a plan’s strategies will lead to the desired result, everyone in the organization (school board trustees, district leaders, school leaders, teachers, etc.) understands them and can describe how the strategies affect their work.
My assumption: Clear, logical thinking demonstrated in clear, logical writing and speaking regarding both ends and means is essential to avoid entering the “zone of wishful thinking” and dissipating energy in minimally effective, fragmented efforts.
• Indicators of progress that truly inform the actions of teachers and school and system leaders. Such data produces meaningful and actionable knowledge (not “true but useless” information, to borrow Jerry Sternin’s phrase). Data will be simple enough to collect and interpret that educators can provide both individualized and immediately useful forms of “just-in-time” assessment and aggregated information across a team, school faculty, school system, and state or province.
My assumption: Data that is easily understood and actionable is a key component in improving individual and organizational performance.
For me, those are the essential elements of a powerful strategic plan—an intellectually and emotionally compelling goal, a clear explanation of how the goal will be achieved through simple declarative statements and stories to illustrate the organization’s theory of action, and understandable and easy to apply “metrics” that guide mid-course corrections and motivate continuous improvement in professional learning, leadership, teaching, and student achievement. I welcome your thoughts on this important subject.
It was easy to imagine the superintendent using this simple diagram in one-on-one conversations or in small group meetings to explain and remind teachers, principals, parents, school board trustees, and other community members of the district’s priorities and the means by which they would be achieved. It was also easy to imagine the incredible focus that district and school leaders could achieve as educators continuously deepen their understanding of these concepts and seek to apply them in their classrooms.
That conversation prompted me to reflect on what I’ve learned about strategic planning from NSDC’s previous efforts extending back to 1986 and from planning I’ve observed in countless schools and school systems. From my experience some of the key attributes of a powerful strategic plan are:
• A stretch goal that appeals to both leaders’ heads and hearts. A strong plan, I believe, motivates organizations and their staff members to stop doing some things that are hard to give up and to initiate at least a few activities that feel scary because they require deep changes in beliefs, understandings, and actions.
My assumption: If nothing of significance changes in professional learning and relationships, leadership, teaching (including the curriculum), and assessment, nothing of significance will change in student learning. Or to put it a bit differently, if we do what we’ve always done we’ll get what we’ve always gotten.
• A coherent theory of action related to a small number of clearly defined and powerful strategies. Because the theory of action explains in simple, direct language—preferably in the form of stories—exactly how a plan’s strategies will lead to the desired result, everyone in the organization (school board trustees, district leaders, school leaders, teachers, etc.) understands them and can describe how the strategies affect their work.
My assumption: Clear, logical thinking demonstrated in clear, logical writing and speaking regarding both ends and means is essential to avoid entering the “zone of wishful thinking” and dissipating energy in minimally effective, fragmented efforts.
• Indicators of progress that truly inform the actions of teachers and school and system leaders. Such data produces meaningful and actionable knowledge (not “true but useless” information, to borrow Jerry Sternin’s phrase). Data will be simple enough to collect and interpret that educators can provide both individualized and immediately useful forms of “just-in-time” assessment and aggregated information across a team, school faculty, school system, and state or province.
My assumption: Data that is easily understood and actionable is a key component in improving individual and organizational performance.
For me, those are the essential elements of a powerful strategic plan—an intellectually and emotionally compelling goal, a clear explanation of how the goal will be achieved through simple declarative statements and stories to illustrate the organization’s theory of action, and understandable and easy to apply “metrics” that guide mid-course corrections and motivate continuous improvement in professional learning, leadership, teaching, and student achievement. I welcome your thoughts on this important subject.
posted by Dennis Sparks at 1:33 PM
44 Comments:
I enjoyed reading "Plans That Make a Difference" by Jordan Sparks because it reminded me of some plans that have been made at my school. My school is part of a county-wide initiative to integrate technology into the curriculum. New equipment has been purchased and set up, however, no training has been provided. Teachers are either expected to somehow just know how to use the new equipment or need to take their own time to learn it. It would have been much wiser to establish a specific goal and specific strategies for meeting those goals, instead of entering the "wishful thinking zone." Thank you for the words of wisdom in this matter. I can relate to your appreciation of a well-thought out plan. My school definitely needs to revisit the technology goals and the strategies needed to achieve them.
The posting "Plans That Make a Difference" really hit home for me. Like Melissa Krajick, it reminded me of a plan that has taken place over the past year at our school. Our school received a grant right at a year ago to be a model school for a new program in Mississippi called REACH. I was initially a member of the committee that was chosen to get the program started. Three other teachers, our principal, and myself were sent to Jackson, MS for a conference where we were to be informed on what the REACH program was all about. When we got there, the presenters didn't even seem to know what was going on. We left there even more confused than we had been when we arrived. Because of another committee that I was serving on, I was allowed to remove myself from the committee. I think they finally understood what was going on in about April of this year. To make a long story a little shorter, the plan is just now beginning to take shape, and as a result, this school year got off to a really rocky start! I can appreciate your thoughts and advice on creating and implementing plans.
Samuel Meador said...
The posting "Plans That Make a Difference" went along with a math workshop that I attended last week. I have always agreed that we need a stretch goal. As a teacher, we must leave our comfort zone. Our students are not "cookie cutted" out and what works with one group may not work with another. The background our students come from has changed drastically in the last twenty years. I believe past history will also say that our future backgrounds will change just as drastically in years to come.
I have a goal of using "Indicators of progress" daily in math. I am going to try daily penalty free quizes with my students. If I have students that are struggling with a lesson, I am going to try a small group reteach the next day. In order for the other students to not be bored, they will keep going with the next lesson. I am exited about trying this approach with students who need extra help.
I am hoping that this will especially work for lessons that build on one another.
"Plans That Make a Difference" is a very meaningful article given the contex of today's educational landscape. With legislation and educational initiatives constantly evolving, it is critical that these plans be genuinely devleoped and "bought into" by all those involved. My school has been presented with several initiatives and new agendas over the past two years only to see most of them fall away due to lack of administrative support, structure, or by a general feeling of apathy. It is not enough just to develop a plan- as the writer said, if we continue to operate as we have in the past, what do we expect to change?
"Plans that Make a Difference" made me think of an article I just read on nueroscience and education. There is research being conducted to look at the brains role in learning. Much like this article, the way in which a lesson is planned and executed makes the difference in student learning. Not all students' learn the same way, making planning essentail to reach all students needs.
I am new to blogging so bear with me. I found this article to be practical and realistic, something we don't always see in our field. So many administrators like to come up with huge plans for their districts, using ridiculous language and terms that nobody understands. Being a speech therapist, I understand how important it is to make things readable or they just aren't relevant. I also believe that current educators need to be involved in making such plans. It is so easy to stand on the sidelines (administrators, board members, etc) and tell the classroom teachers what they should be doing. You can create an amazing plan and have it fail once it reaches the students. Practicality is key, and the educators need to be involved. I also agree that data collection is key in measuring the success or lack there of. However, I am also aware of how difficult it can be to collect this data (from a therapists' standpoint). You may be dealing with a variety of disorders or behaviors in the classroom, which would make it difficult to take traditional forms of data. You must be creative in finding your own way to measure data, even if its writing little observations you've made at the end of every day. This is a tool I've used and it can be very helpful to look back and see how your students have progressed.
I also feel that planning is essential to the success of our students. I teach with three other teachers on my floor that have each had 30+ years of experience. What I notice is that each one is pulling out their lesson plans from the previous school year and repeating the same thing! In order for us the deliver the best and most up-to-date information, we need to always be one step ahead and ready to take on the challenges. Due to the internet, there is an endless source of resources available.
I found Dennis Sparks idea of "reflective practice" quite refreshing. It sounds like "systems thinking" where the changes are made to the system to produce better outcomes for the stakeholder, rather than forcing the stakeholder into the system mold. Interesting concept for public education.
His comments about effective strategic planning was right on. My urban HS introduced Kansas Univ.'s Content Enhancement Routines two and a half years ago following a strategic plan similar to what he described. We now have collegial coaches doing part of the PD. and helping other teachers. It is working for the teachers and the students love it. They are learning. Social Studies state test scores climbed!
Planning is key to a teachers succes within that classroom. There is a wide variety of learners that we have to deal with now. So i do feel that planning is key to success for all. Tour pallning has to cater to all within that classroom. We as teachers have to be willing to incorporate chnage within our plans so that we can be successful. This topic is a very interesting one but i do feel thta it is beneficial and really is needed for educators for classroom success.
As I read this article, I wondered to myself, if this was my Superintendent from my county. We even have the visual organizer. I agree with Jordan Sparks in the article that if we change nothing then, we will continue to get the same results. We have had to give up some individuality in our own classroom, to gain a more authentic whole school working together to achieve the same goal. It has been difficult for teachers to become adjusted to new concepts and new ideas but when it is implemented, many teachers are surprised with the impact that it makes on themselves and their students.
I just attended an professional development today which coincides with this article, “Plans That Make A Difference.” The purpose of this staff development was reflect and prepare an action plans for our grade level, class, and target students. As I reviewed assessment data for the school, our grade levels, and my class, I reflected on the effective strategies which I have use over the past year and the action plan needed to develop student learning. During the planning, we dialogued about using the evidence or “indicators of progress” to direct our instruction. This article helped me to espouse the ideas of strategic planning and provided me verification that it is effective.
I found "Plans that Make a Difference" to be a very informative article. I teach at an elementary school and we have professional development days atleast once per quarter. For the most part they are interesting subjects that I find useful for daily classroom use. I completely agree that if we as teachers do not change as this world, students and teaching in general changes, we and the students will most certainly be left behind. Making a few changed to our instruction every once in a while and even more is great for boosting moral in teachers and students.
For me, "Plans That Make A Difference", inspired a connection between "the key attributes of a powerful strategic plan" and my daily lesson planning for class. First of all, our goals for our students must be able to connect with both their "heads and hearts" in order to capture their interest to learn. Secondly, a clear, effective, simple action plan for daily objectives will help students focus on the short term and long term goals for learning. Finally, creating "indicators of progress" that inform students of not only of their final mark, but also the progress they are making mid assignment will help students "see the light at the end of the tunnel" and be motivated to bring more assignments to completion.
I enjoyed reading this article. I believe that everyone should have a plan to be as effective as possible. I love what was said about it being simple and not overloaded with data dessegregation. Sometimes, we as teachers, do feel like we analyze data to death. Data can be very useful but like the article and other mentioned, it needs to be relevant and useable not just numbers.
I also enjoyed this article because my district is implementing a new math program this year. Our district gave us a year long plan but with the flexibility to alter this year. The plan sure helped us know where we were going and not have to do the extra work. The support is there for everything we need.
I hope I can always be flexible as a teacher and focus on what is best for kids and not just pulling out lesson plans for 10+ years that may not be effective anymore.
I also really enjoyed reading the article. As a graduate student I am trying to increase my use of blogging. I have been doing a lot of reading about risk taking. I feel as educators we need to get out of the habit of doing to same thing over and over through out the years. Who is that really helping? Not all students learn the same, there for, the same teaching strategies and lessons are not going to work. We need to be creative and pull out that creativity with the students.
I think it could be very interesting to see how many people you could get to agree to your stretch goal approach. I think the underlying motive is awesome, but sometimes in a large building, as I work in, it is extremely difficult to get teachers to leave their comfort zone unless there is an act of Congress.
Thoughts on how to make this happen easier and without as much complaining?
I truly enjoyed your BLOG. It sounds so inspiring. I wish others could see things the way you do. I especially enjoyed this section:
My assumption: If nothing of significance changes in professional learning and relationships, leadership, teaching (including the curriculum), and assessment, nothing of significance will change in student learning. Or to put it a bit differently, if we do what we’ve always done we’ll get what we’ve always gotten.
It would be so nice if everyone could embrace this way of thinking.
I found this insightful and informative. I beleive that students are entitled to learn in a way that best suits each individual themself.
Effective teachers reflect upon their lessons and change when needed. It is important for teachers to make learning creative and exciting for their students; and teachers that constantly pull old lessons from their filing cabinets are failing their students. These students are not being pushed to their limits, they are merely doing the work they have to do to satisfy the teacher. Lesson plans should contain attainable goals, strategies to help meet the goals, and appropriate assessments. Effective teachers are flexible, and can therefore, modify the lesson to meet the students' needs.
I have not had a lot of experience with teaching, but with the little experience I do have, I know the importance of creating good lessons and being able to steer away from the lessons when it is in the best interest of the students. I have seen many teachers, some from college, who tend to use the same lessons over and over, year after year. I say, be creative and step outside your comfort zone! New technology and new strategies in the education field call for new lesson plans!!
I enjoyed reading this article and hope it is insightful to many teachers. Sadly, I don't believe the teachers who are stuck in a rut use internet sites such as this one to gain new insights.
I agree with the thoughts of this author. When reading it I immediateley had a vision of the meetings that we have each new school year. The superintendent stands in front of the staff and reads a long list of district goals for the upcoming year. Never are we given a plan of action and the staff members become overwhelmed at the task before them. It is not the best way to begin the year. I believe that the response of the the staff would be much more optimistic if we were given an attainable plan.
I love the "Cleaning your curricular attics" in the above article. So often administrations keep putting more and more on our plates (technology...) witout taking anything off. We need to concentrate on reading, writing, and math in the lower grades and get rid of all of thethe "fluff".
I also like the concept of cleaning your curricular attics! I have wonderful material but by simplifying my teaching, and maybe by sharing some of these things with others who might be able to use them on a more frequent basis, I feel I can actually become more effective. In terms of gertting rid of the "Fluff", I am not so sure that that is always the way out. I think that by simplyfing globally at a building and district level, we can include new ideas, curriculum, and information, as long as we are on the same page of sharing, learning, and if we recieve administrative support!
I agree with Dennis Sparks in his posting "Plans that Make a Difference". At times our district seems fragmented with no clear direction. Like Melissa Krajick, our district has new technology in which teachers are training one another through trial and error. AT the same time, we are instituting new strategies to increase scores on the state tests. In addition, teachers should increase differential instruction because of the number of inclusion students in classrooms. Teachers are often left wondering in which direction to turn with little time to do it. "Empowered teachers" and "a coherent theory of action" places everyone on the same page--the well-being of our students.
I can agree with this posting. I think many times Strategic plans can be planned by those at the top or by a few people and it means nothing to those that it immediately affects. I hope my school has learned its lesson and it will continue to create meaningful changes and data that we can do something about. However, my school has been guilty on several occasions of creating "workshops" to make us want to change things or initiate a new plan, and all they did was make us want to pick our eyes out with toothpicks out of boredom and meaningless change.
Plans That Make a Difference was an article that makes sense. I feel for Melissa and Amanda in reading their stories about how "plans" have been put into place, with no direction. That drives me crazy. I like to be involved in what is going on in my school, because I care, and because I sometimes feel that people do things that aren't necessary. Here is an example. I signed up for the technology committee 3 years ago at school. I figured we would talk about the lastest and greatest programs, how to implement them in class, and how to help the children in school. However, when I showed up, it was all the women talking about their grandkids, and gardening tips. Uggh! What a waste. Luckily, like Amanda, I had signed up for 2 committees, and this was dropped. One of the biggest culprits was the principle herself. Other example is a schoolwide example. We have been asked to use DIBELS data the past 3 years (doing them 3x a year) in our reading program (on top of doing running records 4 times a year). Now, dibels seems like an okay program, but we still have yet to know how this is used in class-what is being done with the results? At the end of each year, we throw out the previous groups' data, and get ready for the new students. So, our whole county is doing this, and yet, we still are waiting to hear why.
Plans are great, but having a purpose is greater.
I quite agree that making clear and realistic plans through appropriate objectives will make learning more meangingful to the individual and productive for all concerned, espercially the community at large. As teachers, reflecting on our teaching styles or strategies is key to improved success both for our students and outselves.
This is a powerful article. Often times teachers don't want to change; as the author of the article said if there is no professional growth/change there is no change in student learning. Many teacher still want the quiet classroom and many lectures. I know this does not cut it in the elementary. There's a time for quiet classroom of course; however, many children learn by talking about it to their peers.
When having a plan make sure to check back on the original plan..check and make sure what's working and what's not working.Then make the necessary changes.
The idea of "reflective practice" is a concept that I am seeing more and more. I have to agree that if teachers are more reflective on their own practices as opposed to placing all of the responsiblity for learning on the students, then we can all make some serious gains in becoming more effective teachers. This is no easy task: meeting the needs of all students takes a lot of differentiation. This is something that is coming more to the forefront in my district, and although it can be very time consuming, the benefits to the students are remarkable.
Another point made in "Leading and Learning" that I agree wholeheartedly with is the idea of "cleaning the curricular attic". What a liberating concept! Many educators are just now being encouraged to define what is essential for student learning. It is wonderful to be able to give adequate time and attention to those areas with students.
In response to Casey's question about how to get teachers to leave their comfort zone more easily and without as much complaining-
One thing that has worked well in my district is creating a professional development committee made up of teachers and overseen by administrators. During our inservices, we do model lessons with the teachers so that they can really see the ideas in action. Everyone has really enjoyed it, and many teachers come up to me to tell me how they have incorporated the new instructional strategies in their classrooms.
As I was reading comments on this article I noticed that several referred to the author as Jordan Sparks. I believe the author was Dennis Sparks. Jordan Sparks was on American Idol, right? I just thought that was a little funny:) I agree with Christie about how difficult it is to have teachers leave their comfort zones. As many other commented it is also difficult to engage in honest, reflective practice. I beleive teachers need more guidance and practice on how to do both. It is easy to say we should do it, but quite a different thing to actually practice it effectively. There needs to be a powerful strategic plan for teacher development in this area. Many professional development opportunities for experienced educators do not focus on these areas.
Dennis Sparks article spoke volumes to me! It made me reflect back on my first year teaching when my principal pulled the entire staff into our professional learning room and told us to "GET BUSY!" As a first year Kindergarten teacher all the data talk meant was difficult for me to understand, but I was willing to jump in and get my feet wet. Over the past four years we have implemented RTI, Self Guided Professional Development, Team RBES Goals, Monthly Collaborative Planning, Weekly (Speech/Resource) Inclusion Planning and Peer Observations. It has taken time, but we went from ranking 60th in the county to ranking 4th based on CRCT and 5th grade Writing Test data. It was a transformation that I am proud to be part of!
The "Plan to make a difference" article spoke to me. I am an eager teacher, anxious to have her own classroom. Some teachers may look at me and say I have unrealistic goals as an educator. As an educator, I try and set goals that are high in order to achieve the high expectations I have for myself. One goal would be to include appropriate use of a variety of methods, materials and resources throughout my classroom. Another goal I would have for myself would be to make sure I have individualized goals for each and every student in my classroom. Not every child will learn at the same rate/pace, so why would I expect them to have the same goals? I would also make sure that as an effective educator, I will remain open to new forms of teaching. Meaning, not all children learn the same way and I want to make sure I don’t get stuck teaching routinely year by year. Switching up and being open to new methods of teaching will force me to remember that students are diverse learners and not all teaching strategies will work for each child. We need to teach to the needs of each child!
I feel like my goals and beliefs as a teacher coincide with beliefs Sparks' expresses in the article. If we are not willing to be open minded and willing to change and better our ways of educating than "we’ll get what we’ve always gotten".
I am all about stretching myself and trying new things in my third grade classroom, but I also want to be sure that my students don't become "guinea pigs" for every new educational theory. While it isn't always easy, I feel that I am a flexible teacher who is willing to change and adapt to meet my students' needs. However, I have seen cases where students don't benefit because as educators, we don't stick with one thing long enough to see if it will benefit student learning. While it is good to have a goal and to stretch ourselves out of our comfort zones, let's be sure that we are implementing "best practices" into our classrooms.
The article was absolutely correct by saying that the system needs to change not the students. I believe the first thing that needs to change are these tests. I believe it handicaps teachers ability to really teach. I did my student teaching in a 3rd grade class. While I taught I did not think about tests. I knew what they had to learn and I taught it in ways were the students did not think they were learning. They were having fun. They enjoyed coming to school. Those thing are important. How many of us stay at our jobs if we do not like them? If we can we find a new job do we not leave to go where we are happy? Kids are leaving school because they do not like it. I believe that the tests that we "teach to" is the culprit. What happened to grades? Should this not be enough? Those children who are driven to succeed will. They should be given advanced classes. Let them go on. They do it in Japan. (I was stationed there for 3 years in the Air Force.) Those who need extra work should be with other students who need the same help. We have become to sensitive to whether it will hurt a child to be in a lower class. No! It will not as long as you have teachers teaching them who do not let the students think they are less smart and act that way. Those students need to be pushed harder. They may need to be taught with different strategies. Put your best and motivated teachers in those classrooms. Think of the satisfaction those teachers would feel when those students finally got it! I mean really understood and enjoyed learning. That is the classroom I want to be in. How about you?
I completely agree with the idea that we must teach to the students' needs, not that the students should always understand what we are trying to teach. It is up to the teachers to figure out ways to get the students to learn. Teachers need to be constantly trying new things in order to grasp student's attention, keep their attention, and have them truly understand the content that you are teaching. I like the idea that someone posted about "daily penalty free quizzes." I think that is a great way to assess student learning without giving them the pressure of a test. Informal assessments are a nice way to figure out where your students are at and where you need to go with them. I feel that assessments should shape the way you teach. Assessments tell you what your students have learned and what they still need to learn in order to succeed.
I enjoy the practical and idealistic implications of this blog. Having a goal that appeals to minds and hearts will be much more effective than simply appealing to only one aspect. It seems much more holistic, practical, and even cost effective to take a goal, and theorize and outline the results as it relates to not only teachers, but the school board, administration, and leadership as well. I agree with another comment that when districts introduce initiatives one after the other, it doesn't give an initiative the space and importance to make a real difference in the lives of students.
I enjoyed reading the article entitled "Plans that Make a Difference" by Sparks. In the article it talked about how the school system must adjust to the students instead of the other way around. This is so very true. Students change with society and you have to change to keep their attention and to meet their ever changing needs. For example the use of technology. What if we refused to change as teachers and schools and expected the students of today to use a type writer. They would laugh and most would not not what it was. Technology is just one aspect of the ever changing student we must adapt to.
The article “Plans that make a difference” has some very important messages that educators need to address. A plan that was implemented and worked famously one year may become a complete failure the very next year. There are many plans and teaching practices that we can adapt, many are wonderful in theory. I believe to achieve success it is more the teacher’s ability to assess the students learning, reflect on the practices and adjust and modify constantly. As stated by one respondent, all students are different learners and there is no one right way to teach. The more diverse we can become the better the teaching practices that we implement.
I feel that all schools should have detailed strategic plans ready to implement. I can relate to the post about the new technology being introduced into the school without any training. I work in a new school with state of the art technology, lab equipment, and just about anything you would expect to find in a new school. I have had very little training, if any, on the new technology. Administration was so ready to get into the new school, I feel they overlooked the training that everyone needed to run the new equipment in the classrooms. Over time, we have figured it out on our own. Schools are constantly changing curriculum, bell schedules, calendars, and many other important aspects of a school. It would be nice to be trained before any changes take place, this way teachers would look and feel more confidant in front of their students.
"Plans that Make a Difference" reminds me of many "plans" that have been started in my school and my plans for my own classroom. In my building, there have been mamy ideas for change and plans that will "change our school for the better". They are great ideas, but there is hardly ever a theory of action. For example, a few years ago we started using green slips to send students to ISS. They were suppose to be used to support RT/CT (Responsibility Training/Choice Theory), however there was no follow through on the action plan or indicators of progress used. We still use green slips, but RT/CT is hardly ever used. In my classroom, I follow these ideas. I set a goal, create an action plan and check progress often. A lot of teachers have forgotten the progress aspect and wait until the end to test students. By that point, the information recieved is pointless and will only show what they have learned and not let teachers help students where they struggle. This is a great read, it's 100% correct. Great change can only come after setting a plan, having a plan of action and checking on progress.
I think you all have some great ideas. There are so many ways we can get higher student achievment. I think we also need to remember that children's development has been studied many times. All children do not learn at the same pace. We must remember this when we raise the bar for their acheivement levels. If they do all process at the same speed, how can give them all the same lesson and the same tests? Why is there just one curriculum for a large group of children. There are lots of questions and no answers. It is going to take a whole lot more educators working together to solve some of these problems instead of others making the decisions who are not in a classroom setting everyday.
Dennis Sparks'article "Plans That Make a Difference" really grabbed me . I am a full-time Math Coach for my elementary school. We are trained through a program called "Cognitive Coaching" that strongly deals with reflective thinking. Through reflection
individual teachers discover strengths and weaknesses in their teaching. As a whole, reflection on current practices in the school may lead to totally new initiatives that are extrememly hard for some teachers to accept. In the end, however, reflective thinking must lead to the conclusion that the practices we keep are only the ones that are in students' best interest. Moving away from previous teacher-driven practices to new best practices that are student driven is critical in moving our school into the ever-changing world in which we live. Sparks is so correct in stating that data is the unit that ties it all together and presents information in a way that is indisputable to the resistant faction.
Along with many of you, I also agree with Dennis Spark's thoughts in "Plans That Make a Difference." I really enjoyed his thoughts on a stretch goal. He says it best by stating " if we do what we’ve always done we’ll get what we’ve always gotten." This statement just serves as a reminder to me that as an educator it is my job to continuously strive to do my best.
I also found Dennis's thoughts on the indicators of progress very inspirational. I read this part of the article and viewed it as something I can do in my own classroom. As a teacher I can collect and interpret data from my students. I can use this information to shape my own instruction to ensure that I'm reaching the needs of all my students.
Overall I found that Dennis Sparks had some very inspirational and motivational thoughts in this article. He stressed the importance of a strategic plan. As educators we must all strive toward our goals and continue to do so to increase student achievement.
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