I started reading back in May and became a book vortex. When I would finish one book, I would start the next. At a few points, throughout the summer, I was even reading multiple books simultaneously (one non-fiction for education and one fiction for fun). It was like I had a voracious appetite to learn and didn't want to take a break for fear that I would realize I was full!
It started of with the book Pyramid Response to Intervention.
Which was followed by Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work
Next came: Uniting Academic and Behavior Interventions
Then was: Instructional Coaching
And then: Simplifying Response to Intervention
In the reading queue (already on my Kindle App or my desk): Best Practices at Tier 1 and Yes We Can!
So you might notice a theme here. Almost all of the books revolve around RtI. This is my mission this year.
There is no way in this blogpost that I can write or describe everything I learned. I am not even sure how to give a good top "takeaways" list. But, I can share some of the things I am excited that we are implementing this year:
- We wrote a school creed.
- We created behavior rubrics: one for social behaviors, one for academic behaviors.
- Learners and parents will receive feedback based on those rubrics.
- We will be able to use the rubrics to systematically run reports and intervene more easily.
- We charted out what our interventions are. They are no longer things we think are happening but are systems that are in place.
- We will get Common Formative Assessments off of the ground this year. (It won't be perfect!)
- We will start to become "data-driven" instead of just talking about being "data-driven".
- As a school, we are becoming more aligned in our beliefs, practices, and expectations.
It's going to be a great year. I have a feeling that I will work harder this year than I have in a while. But I will learn the whole time and love it!
