On Solid Rock We Stand

"On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"....this song came into my head this week because it reminds me of ROCK-esha! As a Christian, I will celebrate this upcoming Easter as a remembrance and a renewal of daily hope that those who believe in Him shall have eternal life.

And as we take pause and reflect on our teaching and learning from our homes over the past few weeks, I am so proud that we have such a solid foundation to stand on in Waukesha.
Our equitable access to learning for ALL students is strong.
Our commitment to making decisions on what is best for students is unwavering.
Our dedicated teachers and administrators have strong communication, collaborative teams, and structures that allow us to not have to overreact and change so many things, like a lot of other districts have.
This has been an example of thoughtful and intentional systems and structures that are able to withstand the ever changing and fluid situation that we have been tested with.

You display hope daily in your words, thoughts and deeds.
You are courageous in the outrageous love you show not just your own family but your school families.
May each of you take pause this weekend and allow yourself to be proud of all you have accomplished! This work we do with humans is so complex and yet there is no better profession, in a time when the world needs us more than ever, on solid rock we stand!

Leading with Empathy

This sentiment got some great legs on Twitter this weekend and I wanted to reiterate its importance as we start back up with digital teaching and learning this week.

Relationships before Rigor.

How are you connecting with your students outside of office hours?

How are you setting up opportunities for students to connect with other students?

Relationships win above all else. Every. Single. Time.

Grace before Grades.

Our standards based grading system should allow teachers to make a fair and accurate judgement of learning based on the student's body of evidence through the first 8-9 weeks of face to face instruction. How can you practice grace and use the final 7-8 weeks to augment their already existing learning evidence?

What really is the purpose of "same day deadlines" right now? Grace. Live it.

Patience before Programs.

Thank you for being patient and helpful to students and their parents with the technology end of learning as well as the actual rate of work completion. Be patient during these first few weeks both of yourself and of your expectations.

Love before Lessons.

Are you able to offer afternoon office hours as well? We talked about 9-11 being the minimum expectation but with everyone on a new learning curve, are you checking back with students in the later afternoons of each day?

Thank you for leading with empathy!

2020 Summer School Information!

Please see our Summer School website for more information!

Great Schools Partnership

I am happy to let you know that Great Schools Partnership has just published their National Guide to Grading and Reporting for Educational Equity.

The School District of Waukesha, is featured as a model of thoughtful practice in the sections on:
Communicate Information About Learning,
Report Grades Consistently and Clearly, and
Provide Low Stakes Practice and Feedback,
and is mentioned as a contributor in the acknowledgements.

They were so grateful for our generosity in sharing Waukesha's approach to educational equity and allowing us to share it with others. 

I want to personally thank each of you for all the great work that you do and your dedication to sharing your journey, collaborating with one another and living out our mission to develop in ALL students the capacity and skills to be community, college, and career ready! 

#KnowThyImpact

10 Features of the PCL Model

PCL? Another acronym? Now what can Mrs. Torzala from North add to that acronym sheet?
PCL is Partnership in Comprehensive Literacy Model or CLM.
I had an invigorating day of learning a few weeks ago when our partner school districts got together to collaborate around our implementation of Literacy for students K-8.
I was reminded of the 10 features of the PCL Model that maybe some of you are not familiar with. The PCL model is theorized as 10 individual features that are integrated to give solidarity to the whole design; thus, real change occurs through system wide coordination and shared knowledge.

Feature 1: Framework for Literacy- Differentiated workshop approach for meeting the needs of all students, including a balance of whole group, small group and individual conferences within an integrated, inquiry based curriculum.

Feature 2: Coaching and Mentoring- Uses coaching cycles and a gradual release model for increasing teacher efficacy.

Feature 3: Model Classrooms- Provide classrooms where mentor teachers implement the literacy framework and peer teachers can observe the teaching and learning in real time.

Feature 4: High Standards- Benchmark goals for all students.

Feature 5: Accountability- Includes a school wide system with multiple measures for evaluating progress including formative and summative assessments, and ESAIL walkthroughs.

Feature 6: System Interventions- Layered approach. The first wave is K-3 including Reading Recovery and small group interventions. The second wave is 4-12 including classroom interventions and supplemental group interventions.

Feature 7: Professional Learning Communities- Are embedded into the school climate.

Feature 8: Literacy Plan- Short and long term goals with specific benchmarks for progress monitoring.

Feature 9: Technology- Naturally embedded into teaching and learning contexts.

Feature 10: Spotlighting- Techniques for collaborating including school visits, PCL network meetings, and other advocacy ideas.

In order to truly transform schools, entire systems and student achievement...individuals MUST develop a view beyond their own performance. Unless every teacher is an excellent teacher, the school is not excellent...yet! As Vince Lombardi once said, "The challenge for every organization is to build a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another..because the question is usually not how well each person works, but how well they work TOGETHER."

RTI-MTSS-MLSS-EMLSS

Wow, have the acronyms changed over the past 10 years, but at the core of this work is a commitment to a strong, equitable universal system with a continuum of supports for ALL learners. I am happy that we have entered into a recent partnership with the Wisconsin RTI center to help us re-center this work in our district.

Our district team is made up of the following members; District T&L team, District Student Services team, Title and Interventionists, Andrea Taylor-Heyer, Brandy Hart-Whittier, Carly Solberg-Prairie, Christina Kralik-North, Caroline Gosling-Hadfield, Jenna Harer-Les Paul, Jeff Ludowissi-Horning, Lisa Lawrenz-Bethesda, Nicole Gosser-Hawthorne, Travis Gardner-South, Kelli Weiss-Golatke-Lowell.

This team has developed a Vision Statement that will help guide our priorities moving forward.
Data-based processes will ensure equitable access to universal instruction and additional levels of support to positively impact learner outcomes in academics and social-emotional development. 
We will commit to:
* Continuously building trust and collaboration between students, families, and educators
* Using valid and reliable sources of data in a well-defined process of inquiry about student outcomes and experiences
* Ensuring a system where highly trained educators utilize evidence-based resources, materials and supports
* Planning with a proactive approach, acknowledging that variability is universal and anticipated

Expect to see more updates as we build more clarity in our system around this continuous improvement process.

TDP it up!

I wanted to share with everyone the link to our Professional Learning Guide so you are reminded of the great learning opportunities we offer in our district. 

Considering some of the recent conversations we have been having around grading, I wanted to highlight an upcoming TDP that might be of interest to some of you, especially at the secondary level.

"Declaring Grades in a Standards-Based System". It runs on February 4, 11, 18 and 25 from 4-6pm. 

Description: Danielson 1c, 1e, 1f, 2b, 3a, 4c

As teachers continue to implement best practices in standards-based grading, such as providing high quality developmental feedback and using formative assessment to drive instruction, they continue to face the challenges of declaring and reporting final student grades. In this TDP course, participants will learn why declaring grades based on a body of evidence is a research based best practice. Then using course assessment rubrics, participants will learn how to make fair and accurate judgments about student work in order to report grades that are accurate, fair, and reliable for all students.