Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Timberline Elementary

Today, I had the pleasure of spending the day with the Timberline Tigers. This special group of teachers and students made quite an impression on us as we were greeted professionally by 1-2 students in each and every classroom with a handshake and an explanation of what we'd be seeing them working on during our stay. There was an earnestness to their work and clear purpose to classroom activities that was great to experience.

As I toured TES, I saw teachers implementing our new curriculum and working to transition to the instructional framework it expects. Perhaps the most prevalent thing we noticed was the amount of writing students were doing. We saw writing workshop examples from kindergarten through the upper grades (along with a great guided writing lesson taking place with a kindergarten small group) and writing in every subject area. The amount of writing and the focus on the "skills to secure" expectations were consistent with our curriculum along with the multiple examples of Thinking Maps which hung on many walls. It seemed clear that teachers were using the Maps in all subject areas as ways to help train students to organize their thinking. I also loved seeing the parallels between English and Spanish instruction - it kept me on my toes trying to translate between the two types of anchor charts! :)

We overheard some sophisticated discussions of social studies (branches of government, types of elected officials) and saw many examples of recently completed Cornerstone Tasks. There were some word walls that were clearly getting lots of use as evidenced by words that we could tell were being added weekly along with different units and items being discussed. I also loved seeing the reflective frames that were common across many classrooms such as "Today I learned_____. ______ was fun or interesting because______. _______was difficult because_______. I used to think_____, but now I think_______.

As with some of our other campuses with a particular focus or theme, Timberline has demonstrated how their Leader in Me work can weave together many of the aspects of LEAD 2021 that GCISD has been implementing.  They share a common language around the 7 Habits and their students are clearly coming to understand much about leadership.  

Click here to see a few examples of some of the great things we saw at Timberline today!

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Dove Elementary

My most recent Humanities classroom visits took place this week at Dove Elementary. I was especially curious to see how Dove was implementing the new K-5 curriculum in light of their efforts to become an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. I knew that some very special things had been taking place at DES of late, but I was not sure how their teachers were going to be able to weave IB into our new ELA/SS curriculum model. Wow! They blew me away. It was amazing to see how seamlessly they are weaving the pieces together. This happens through TONS of collaboration and support by their leadership as well as determination on the part of teachers. Kudos!

During my visit, I got to see a brilliant example of how a new 3rd grade Humanities unit was introduced through "unpacking." This is the same language/process for unit introduction we use in grades 6-12, so these kiddos will be way ahead of the curve! I saw beautiful examples of self-contained 5th grade instruction with students working very intently in R/W workshop, meeting with teachers in small groups or 1:1, and owning their independent learning. I saw upper grade teachers taking running records with students and using this to help find "just right" texts, and I saw several classrooms in which students were engaged in the act of reading self-selected books. I got to experience the 2nd grade student presentations of the historic Grapevine landmarks they'd researched, and I learned many things about my new neighborhood (we just moved to downtown Grapevine last month!). Students took pride in their work, had done lots of research, had worked to edit their writing, and could speak articulately about their learning. I saw several examples of good word work - Words Their Way in action, interactive word walls, handwriting practice, and individual spelling dictionaries. And while I didn't get to spend lots of time in K-1 while kids were present, I did see some great classroom artifacts that showed me that workshop, technology, and cornerstone tasks are vibrant parts of the work they are doing.

Perhaps one of the most affirming aspects of these campus visits has been the way schools with such a wide variety of "personalities" are using the structure of our newly designed curriculum, adapting it to their contexts, and staying true to the key sequence and instructional elements. This was the vision of our curriculum steering committee last year, and it's a huge celebration that this vision is bearing fruit.  Our students are now being educated in a more cohesive system of curriculum sequences and instructional frameworks, and as years go by, the cumulative benefits of this will pay dividends!

For a peek into a few of the classrooms I got to see at Dove last week, click here. Also see this awesome video they shared with me about a recent IB unit they completed. So cool! Enjoy!

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Silver Lake Elementary

In my recent visit to Silver Lake Elementary, I saw a wide variety of activities that were definitely consistent with their focus of Experience Design. This campus offers students a wide array of opportunities from their outstanding Pre-K program, to a two-way dual language program, to the benefit of a school focused on ensuring that students experience many great learning opportunities first hand. I must say that it was humbling to see so many young children who were clearly fluent in both English and Spanish working on their Humanities tasks very effectively in two languages. 

While visiting Humanities classrooms yesterday, I saw several great examples of cornerstone tasks either currently under construction or recently completed. I loved seeing evidence of these and talking with students who clearly had an interest in history and what they were learning in social studies. I was pleasantly surprised that I was even able to read some of the Spanish versions of the cornerstone task work that was on the walls. :) I enjoyed seeing reader's theater presentations, and it was also neat to see how Ms. Flanagan was having students create their own reader's theaters based on a piece of fiction they were planning to read over the Thanksgiving break. I walked into rooms with soothing music playing while students were reading and writing, and I saw students who were clearly motivated to write and write and write. I loved getting to see the special day unfold in 4th grade with the various aspects of Heritage Day and taste some of the yummy butter being churned in Mrs. Thompson's room. I believe I even overheard a teacher say that they'd recently walked to a museum in downtown Grapevine in order to further their learning. I saw examples of student voice being utilized to guide learning experiences - in rooms of teachers new to SLES and experienced teachers! It was neat to see evidence of this on the walls and talk with students about how their teacher was using the information to make changes in the classroom. I saw several great anchor charts, a word wall where each student had their own hanging word wall cards on a metal ring, and some very appealing classroom libraries/reading corners.

As I've said in previous blog posts, my classroom visits this fall have been one of the highlights of my tenure in this position. Teachers are doing amazing work, and students are learning in ways that surpass even our highest expectations.

Photos of today's visit may be found at this link.

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Cannon Elementary

Cannon Elementary hosted me for a visit this week, and I enjoyed seeing how they are coordinating Humanities curriculum within the context of their STEM schoolwide emphasis. I know this has been a balancing act for them in the past, but on my visit, I saw lots of examples of how they are merging things beautifully. I've heard it said before that without the Humanities, there would be no STEM. Social Studies issues drive the need for STEM solutions, and STEM solutions must be effectively communicated using the skills learned in ELA. There is great interdependence here, and I enjoyed seeing how Cannon is building these skills in their students.

During my visit, I saw students who clearly understood the routines of reading workshop - reading independently from their "just right" books, conferring with the teacher, working with their teacher in a guided reading group, and reflecting on what they'd applied in their reading that connected to the day's mini-lesson. I saw examples of this from kindergarten up to 5th grade, and it was neat to see how the same classroom culture existed during the workshop at both ends of that developmental scale. I also saw students working very earnestly in writing workshop. I saw students in kindergarten classes who clearly knew how to run the show - independently getting more of their choice of paper type, working around the room, and spelling words independently based on either the word wall and/or their knowledge of sounds. I especially loved the interactive nature of a kindergarten word wall where students could come to the wall, pull off the word they needed, take it to their seat, and return it to the correct spot when finished.

I saw lots of great anchor charts throughout all the grade levels, and I saw an amazing model of organizing/combining anchor charts and "I can" statements in 2nd grade (see picture below)! What an awesome way to organize your teaching and keep resources handy for students! In addition to anchor charts, I enjoyed seeing the wide variety of reading areas/classroom libraries and whole group areas on the floor (some with risers and other creative boundaries). I saw evidence of cornerstone task work and was able to use this as a gauge to see where folks are in comparison to the curriculum calendars. I know this year is tricky as we learn to gauge the timing of units. (Hats off to 5th grade for managing to stay on time thus far!) Technology usage in classrooms appeared to be seamless. Students could easily have taught a class to many grownups in the district on how to navigate both their Chromebooks and iPads. :) Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed the debate being conducted by 5th graders to determine whether the colonists should go to war against England. Students demonstrated a depth of understanding (that was aligned to the expectations in the TEKS) and their classroom walls showed evidence of what they'd been learning.

During my visit, I snapped several pictures that captured aspects of the Common Instructional Expectations and/or the curriculum. These photos may be viewed here by GCISD employees.

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Heritage Elementary

Last week, I had the great pleasure of visiting Humanities classrooms at Heritage Elementary. This was such a treat! I knew many teachers at this school had been working diligently to grow their reading and writing workshop practices over the past 3 years, and during my visit I saw the fruits of this labor.

During my time in classrooms, I saw some great examples of "I can" statement boards (which included corresponding academic vocabulary for the skills), students engrossed in a poetry unit (from Units of Study) with many creative pieces to share, writer's notebooks, and portable "word walls" used as resources on students' desks. I saw several examples of thinking maps being used - clearly being used to help students understand concepts within social studies and also posted as anchor charts in the room. I saw guided reading while students were reading in workshop very intently and purposefully around classrooms. I saw several good reading corners with classroom libraries - I was tempted to curl up and stay for longer than would have been appropriate! :) I saw a classroom where parts of speech songs were being sung during students' transition between activities. This, followed by a micro lesson on the earlier discussion they'd had about the role of those parts of speech, flowed seamlessly into the next lesson. Every second of the day was being maximized for learning. I saw students becoming essayists and learning the difference between essays and other forms of writing. It was also impressive to see experienced teachers extending their array of practices by using the Units of Study as an "on the lap" resources to guide with a mini-lesson. This shows me that teachers are learning, and this is the most important thing we can model!

Heritage teachers have jumped into the new curriculum with both feet, and it's been neat to see students responding with writing and reading of unprecedented quality. For a peek into some of the things I got to see at HES, please click here.

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Glenhope Elementary

Last week, I got to spend parts of two days visiting classrooms at Glenhope Elementary, home of the Gators. This school is unique in that it houses both Glenhope Elementary students and Aspire Academy students (our GCISD elementary academy for highly gifted students). This blend of classrooms and unique students' needs made for a great couple of days of interesting observations.

At GHES, I saw...

• Good examples of reading and writing workshop including teachers conferring, students writing for wider audiences, and small group reading and writing instruction 
• Students conferring with teachers and peers about revising and editing using some really cool checklists (love the idea of creating a checklist on the iPad and the idea of laminating the checklists, writing with erasable markers, and reusing!) 
• Teachers reading aloud and stopping to discuss connections to recent vocabulary and lessons taught in reading workshop 
• Walls filled with anchor charts that served as a clear "trail of breadcrumbs" of recent classroom lessons (Carrie Lee's anchor chart "clothes line" concept was especially neat!) 
• Word work, word walls, handwriting instruction, and first graders clearly owning the purposeful writing they were doing 
• Students preparing for goal conferences using technology for goal setting and to view archives of the work they've done earlier this year 
• Students using technology as a tool for extending/demonstrating learning (Thinglink) and writing "campfire" stories both individually and collaboratively using Google docs 
• Students reading from their "just right" box of books and students preparing with groups for upcoming literature circles/book clubs (love the pizza box idea, Donna Waters) 
• Students who could speak very knowledgeably about the Cornerstone Tasks they had recently completed and stored in their drive 
• Teachers who have posted the GCISD scope and sequence TEKS organizers to help keep themselves on track and to make the standards very transparent for students to see. 

As I travel from campus to campus to see the various examples of new curriculum implementation, I'm struck by how teachers are putting their own spin on the scope and sequence yet staying within the framework built by last year's curriculum designers. This is exactly what we had hoped to see, and I am confident that students are going to benefit greatly from the common (and uncommon) experiences I'm seeing unfold across our district's classrooms.

GCISD teachers who'd like to see a sampling of the great things I saw at GHES can click on this link. I wish I could take everyone with me to all of these classrooms, but this folder of photos is the next best thing!

E is for Election Day

Election Day is just around the corner and with this comes with great excitement in America.  Understanding our election process is an important part of our Humanities curriculum in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD.

To help students in grades 2-5 deepen their understanding about this process, Dr. Newell has purchased copies of this book to be read to our students.  Teachers will have access to a suggested lesson plan (complete with grade level TEKS correlated to the lesson) to use with this book.  We are confident that this book will help teach the students in GCISD more about this important American process and the importance of voting!

For more information about the book and author, visit this link: 
 E is for Election Day

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Grapevine Elementary

This week, I had the pleasure of continuing my campus visits with a day spent at Grapevine Elementary.  What a great day I had meeting students and seeing the great things going on with the GES Stars!

There were many noteworthy things to share that I'll spotlight below, but I also wanted to celebrate a couple of unique opportunities I had at the school.

Breakout EDU is a new movement across the district that was initiated by Suzanne Barker, one of our instructional coaches.  At GES yesterday, fourth graders got to participate in this exercise which tested their problem solving skills, teamwork, and determination.  While I was in the Learning Commons snapping pictures of this experience, I truly don't think a single student noticed my presence. So focused were they on the task at hand! I love it when kids are working so hard and having so much fun that they have no idea they're actually learning lots as well!

Another unique aspect of my visit was that yesterday was one of the VALOR visit days in GCISD.  While I was visiting Ms. Hickerson's room, she was also being observed by her VALOR colleagues from some of GCISD's middle schools.  If I was accurately reading the minds of the observers, I think it'd be safe to say they were impressed by how rigorous conversations could be at the elementary level and the kind of skill it takes to manage a classrooom of eager 3rd graders with lots of energy! It's exciting to see how VALOR continues to transform GCISD's educational practices and build in vertical alignment in ways to help to strengthen our system.

In addition to these unexpected opportunities, I saw many, many examples of teachers implementing our new GCISD Humanities curriculum.  A few of these were:

• Writer's notebooks that have become an integral part of student's workshop experiences.  These were decorated with personal artifacts, organized according to topic, and contained lots of examples of written drafts and skill lessons that will certainly strengthen students' writing.
• Teachers conducting mini-lessons on key reading skills AND students clearly applying these skills in the independent reading they subsequently did.  I saw many students with "eyes on text" as Lucy Calkins refers to it.  
• During one of these mini-lessons in 2nd grade, I loved hearing students spontaneously discuss the traits they liked most in books written by Kevin Henkes.  One student also declared that "When Mr. Henkes wrote ____, he was most definitely writing to entertain us!"  Clearly, author's purpose has been a recent part of this classroom's dialog. 
• Thinking Maps were alive and well at GES.  The maps were displayed in many of the rooms, and one student declared during a lesson that when "we do a double bubble map to compare two books, we're also making a text to text connection." Well, yes, young lady, we ARE doing that! :)
• Yoga mats! In one second grade classroom, the teacher not only invited students to read around the room in a comfortable location, but she also kept a collection of yoga mats in the corner that students could use to designate their own comfy reading space during their work.  
• Anchor charts galore! It was very clear by looking at the walls that students had participated in creating anchor charts with their teachers and they were still being used. This was evident because either the anchor charts were hanging low enough for students to see and refer to and/or they were well organized in an area of the room used for frequent reference.
• Small group work was clearly an integral part of many teachers' classrooms.  It was exciting to see students receiving their "just right" level of skill instruction at tables with their teachers.

For a glimpse into the pictures I snapped during this week's visit, GCISD teachers can click on this link and see the pics from a variety of GES classrooms. Again, I'm so grateful that teachers have been so inviting as these visits have been taking place.  Getting to see our new curriculum in action has been a treat like no other!

Suzanne

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Bear Creek

In my second campus visit this week, I got to meet many Bear Creek students and see the great things going on in their classrooms.  What a treat!

A few of the highlights of my visit were:

• The creative, thoughtful examples of various word walls in classrooms
• Students writing with confidence and adding details to their stories in their writer's notebooks
• Captivating read alouds that masterfully wove together a focus on the social studies concepts along with reminders about text features that had recently been discussed
• Small group reading instruction in intermediate grade classrooms that was focused on "just right" books and students working to identify non-fiction text features while wearing their "scary" pointer finger 
• Teachers teaching their students about the Cornerstone Task rubrics that would be used to help score the completion of the task for the upcoming unit
• Students completing Google forms with adjectives from the sensory exploration they had just completed
• Students in conferences to help each other apply the editing and/or revision mini-lessons they recently experienced
• The "Book Talk" sign-up sheet on the wall in a 3rd grade classroom where students can volunteer to give their peers a book talk on something they want to share

Several great photos of these and other highlights can be found at the following link (viewing is only accessible by GCISD teachers). 

Enjoy!

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Bransford

Now that our launch of the newly written GCISD K-5 Humanities Curriculum is underway, I'm having a great time visiting classrooms looking for evidence of some of the great features teachers are implementing.  During a series of half-day visits to campuses, I'm trying to visit every Humanities classroom and snap a few pictures of things that colleagues around the district might enjoy seeing.

My first visit took place this week at Bransford Elementary.  I saw some outstanding examples of teachers following the new curriculum, working on Cornerstone Tasks, transitioning to a reading/writing workshop model, and spreading a love of literacy. A few highlights of my visit were:

• Seeing teachers make brave transitions into a workshop model of instruction - I got to see mini-lessons, examples of Units of Study usage, mid-workshop interruptions by teachers, small groups working on writing skills, anchor charts galore, and students using sticky notes to capture thinking and apply learning from their day's lesson. 
• Watching students learning about historical figures using their iPads and Blendspace resources on a variety of people
• Listening to students in a read-aloud discussion using vocabulary and schema that made it evident that social studies instruction has been a rich part of their classroom experience
• Noticing the variety of creative furniture configurations in each grade - tables with no legs, picnic benches, comfy reading corners, rocking chairs, bean bag chairs, wall-mounted desks - there really was a unique learning space for every type of learner in many classrooms

There were so many good practices to celebrate! I tried to snap pictures of things I thought other teachers might like to see.  I've saved them in a Google Folder that is accessible to other GCISD teachers who click on this link. Enjoy!

GCISD Humanities Curriculum - The launch!

Eighteen months ago, K-5 teachers in GCISD began the massive undertaking of crafting a new and improved, integrated Humanities curriculum.  Sixty-six teachers worked together during the 2015-16 school year to dissect the TEKS, craft cohesive ELA and SS units around Cornerstone Tasks, and establish some non-negotiable instructional structures for reading and writing instruction (workshop model). As anyone who has worked in a school system knows, change is not an easy, overnight process.  During this first year of implementation, teachers are having to reconsider the timing of skill instruction, place emphasis on different social studies concepts and assess them differently, and in many cases, learn a new model for how reading/writing instruction takes place.

During September, the team of GCISD Humanities instructional coaches and I spent time with every grade level team at every elementary campus to discuss implementation of the new curriculum.  In these PLCs we fielded many questions about planning structures, resources, and general navigation of the curriculum housed in Google Drive.  Overall, around 90% of the feedback on and reaction to the curriculum was positive.  As we work with teachers during this year, there will be things that need to be adjusted and professional learning to be offered in support of what the curriculum expects teachers to do.  In general, I am now beginning to believe that our goal of having a more aligned horizontal and vertical system of Language Arts and Social Studies instruction is within reach.

During the next several blog posts, I'll be spotlighting the campus visits I'll be making between October and December.  I'll be spending a half day at each of our eleven campuses over the next few weeks and can't wait to share some of the creative ways teachers are personalizing and utilizing the new curriculum.

Suzanne

GCISD Reads Promotes a Love for Reading!

Getting the year started off right .... teachers and librarians across GCISD are encouraging a love for reading by challenging their students to read throughout the year!  Get all of the details from this GCISD Reads Smore!  It's going to be a year of great reading accomplishments!

As more of our secondary classrooms are moving toward 1:1 technology access, more of our instructional practices need to be adjusted to capitalize on this new model. While English and Social Studies classrooms can obviously use devices to have students writing and collaborating via Google electronically, merely substituting a device for pencil/paper does not fully maximize the transformative power of 1:1 device access.  In this series of Youtube clips by Catlin Tucker, teachers can begin to envision how device access can and should begin to fundamentally change the way we design instruction.  Obviously, she is implementing a fairly sophisticated blended learning model, but starting out with baby steps next year will lead us closer to being able to maximize student engagement as a result of tools.  We must remember that students are native device users.  (Teachers are immigrants.) :)

Check out her videos (or book) and consider how your classroom could adopt some of these practices.

Blended Learning - 4 video episodes with Catlin Tucker

Episode 1: Introduction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op2JGVgwXXw

Episode 2: Station Rotation (part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY5iXxqe_WU

Episode 3: Station Rotation (part 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J80MQd60UZc

Episode 4: Flipped Classroom 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjjx-FjKUus

She also has a book:

http://www.amazon.com/Blended-Learning-Grades-4-12-Student-Centered/dp/1452240868

Guest Speaker Comes to GCISD Humanities Institute

The GCISD Humanities department is thrilled to be hosting Jeff Anderson in our district to share ideas on teaching writing and grammar through the workshop model. He will present two sessions on Monday, and teachers can come to one or the other.

Our four day Humanities Institute (June 6-9) allows our teachers to attend either morning or afternoon sessions. We encourage you to register in Eduphoria soon before the sessions fill up. 

Hope to see you there!

Register Here:  Eduphoria Morning Session    OR   Eduphoria Afternoon Session 

Visit Jeff Anderson's website to discover more about his books and what we will learn from him!

Follow Jeff Anderson on Twitter:  @WriteGuyJeff

New SMORE on Summer Reading Information.  We are excited about this new reading plan for encouraging our students to read through the summer!

Professional Learning Tailored for GCISD Humanities Teachers

Important SMORE that outlines the many learning opportunities for Humanities teachers in GCISD.  Don't miss out ... and bring a friend when you come! See you there!

Summer Learning for GCISD Teachers

 The curriculum and Instruction team in the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District is proud to present the many opportunities to learn this summer.  All contents are represented on this SMORE.  Find a topic of interest, sign-up before the session fills up, and get ready to grow your craft!

Guest Speaker Comes to GCISD Humanities Institute

The GCISD Humanities department is thrilled to be hosting Jeff Anderson in our district to share ideas on teaching writing and grammar through the workshop model. He will present two sessions on Monday, and teachers can come to one or the other.

Our four day Humanities Institute (June 6-9) allows our teachers to attend either morning or afternoon sessions. We encourage you to register in Eduphoria soon before the sessions fill up.

Hope to see you there!

Register Here:  Eduphoria Morning Session    OR   Eduphoria Afternoon Session 

Visit Jeff Anderson's website to discover more about his books and what we will learn from him!

Follow Jeff Anderson on Twitter:  @WriteGuyJeff

In the last Humanities blog post (which took place toooo long ago), we discussed the need for and the content of the Humanities Common Instructional Expectations (CIEs).  This set of documents was built by teachers and was designed to provide guidance in making important, baseline decisions about GCISD ELA and SS instruction. These needs have not changed. However, as our system continues to grow towards the goals of LEAD 2021, a few adjustments are needed.  These updates will be made and shared with teachers before the current school year ends.  Next year, instructional coaches and teachers will have the opportunity to visit campuses to to see how the CIEs are being implemented and visit with PLCs about necessary support. 

The Humanities Vertical Team, which met during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years and was initially charged with drafting the CIE documents, has not met in the same way this year. The focus this year took a different twist, but the vertical goals of this team remain the same.  This year, our Humanities focus has been on:

• Redesigining the K-5 Humanities Curriculum into an aligned document reflecting teachers' needs and preferences
• Learning to access and integrate our new Social Studies instructional materials (K-12)
• Restructuring the district's Literacy Intervention Team and raising awareness about dyslexia
• Casting a new vision for the role of librarians and Learning Commons spaces across the district

We expect to reconvene the Vertical Team during the 2016-17 school year to view the progress towards alignment and determine next steps. 

There is no shortage of work to be done in our department, but together strides are being made toward our mission:

The mission of GCISD Humanities is to instill a capacity for communication, empathy, and citizenship through critical thinking, reflection, and appreciation of diverse viewpoints.