Saturday, August 20, 2016

Leading by Reading

I'm not sure where I first heard this term, but this summer I have worked to embody it.

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!



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