I'm linking up with Farley again for her August Currently. I still have a week before I have to go back.

This coming year, my new mate is split between two schools half time. Question: How do you share RTI information with team members who spend half of their day in another building? Answer: With a Google Site.
As I have shared earlier, I want my team to have there own chart with just the identified students and maybe the tiered students within those groups to track growth. Just like our general education teachers have for all their students.

It's hard to believe that school will be starting soon. I spent my morning unpacking my room. I'll share pictures of my new way to store my iPads later this week.  Have a great week. If your traveling--safe travels.

Last year, my building moved to Backwards Planning all units. This takes time. Lots of time. So I decided to get ahead start. Maybe save myself a day or two of planning down the road. If you're not familiar with backwards planning, it comes from Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins about ten years ago.

I have started by getting Step 1 complete: Desired Results. This is where I get my learning targets and essential questions. The key What should students know, understand, and be able to do? What is the ultimate transfer we seek as a result of this unit? What enduring understandings are desired? What essential questions will be explored in-depth and provide focus to all learning?

Step 2 is Determine Assessment Evidence. This changes unit to unit because I may need for assessment data or I may not. The key here is How will I know if students have achieved the desired results? What will we accept as evidence of student understanding and their ability to use (transfer) their learning in new situations? How will we evaluate student performance in fair and consistent ways?

Step 3 is daily planning. The key being How will I support learners as they come to understand important ideas and processes? How will I prepare them to autonomously transfer their learning? What enabling knowledge and skills will students need to perform effectively and achieve desired results? What activities, sequence, and resources are best suited to accomplish our goals?

The pros to planning this way--I hit all the standards by the end of the unit. I know that students are getting it because of either the progress monitoring or student self-assessment. What I dislike-is this takes time. Time is not something I have tons of in special education. But by spending the time I know that students will have the skills and knowledge to be stronger in class.

Freebie time--this is one unit for intermediate reading with Step 1 completed and a template you can print to complete Steps 2 and 3 based on your students and need. This will be the first unit that I will teach next month. It was planned using backwards planning. Have a great weekend! If you're traveling-safe travels.

When I started reading this chapter, I was struck by how much this was like how I teach reading comprehension strategies. Laney Sammons, opens the chapter with a quote by Keene and Zimmerman, that they "describe proficient readers, these mathematicians "listen to inner voices, make ongoing connections, and adjustments, are are aware of how meaning evolves." Like so many students and more so those with exceptional needs need to have those strategies taught with precise precision and then retaught again and again. (Kenne and Zimmerman are the authors of Mosaic of Thought.)

She continues to layout in the chapter a sequence of teaching  the strategies to students. Her layout is a lot like "The Comprehension Toolkit." Starting with monitoring  thinking through metacognition. This is where students need to ask themselves "Does this make sense? Students who get math do this without thinking. Students that struggle in math-I think this is the hardest thing to get them to come to terms with. I think of my own students and if they aren't getting it-they just throw out answers and hope the right one comes out. (Any one else have students who do this?)

The first step in monitoring comprehension is monitoring conceptual understanding. Back when I learned math (which really wasn't that long ago) the focus was on the procedure needed to get the right answer not the understanding behind it. Now fast forward to Common Core and its ALL about the understanding and explaining your thinking. Its getting students to take responsibility for their own monitoring and know when they don't get it. Teachers can help by asking explicit questions like "How do you know whether or not you understand? What do you do if your confused?" Get them to identify where they stop getting it! One thing I do when I'm teaching math and a student tells me they don't get any of it is ask "Where are you not getting it? Which step don't you get?" I don't let them get away with telling me "all of it" any more. They HAVE to be specific.

Another way to help students monitor their comprehension in math is to draw pictures of the problem. If you can't visualizing the problem then you have a problem. I know from work my building has done to raise our standardized math scores, that being able to explain thinking two different ways--drawing a picture counts. And even better if students use numbers and a couple key words. Sammons's lays out several other strategies that include: identify unfamiliar vocabulary, rereading the problem, making connections to other math concepts, using manipulatives, and trying a different problem-solving approach.

Those in my mind are student actions. Strategies that I can teach  for my students to use. But what about teacher actions once these have been taught? Both in Guided Math and in the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model-you do modeled lessons and think-alouds. These are the perfect places to teach or reteach strategies on your thinking. Most of my math lessons start with a think-aloud and a modeled lesson. I get students to do think-alouds when I'm wondering if they are ready to do it on their own. One teacher I work with has his high students do think-alouds to the whole class. I think that the more students hear and see someone's thinking other than that of the teacher can only help. They may have a way of explaining it that helps the student get it.

I have created a set of Math Comprehension Strategy Posters with examples. Be sure to pick up your copy by clicking on the picture. Brenda's at Primary Inspired for more on Chapter 9.
I can't wait to use them with my students in the fall. I think that they will help students make the connection of the strategies I use in reading I can use to understand math. Stop by





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The school year is fast approaching. This is a good time to review some great information to help parents and provides with the little guys. Catching these guys before they get the elementary helps them get off to the right start. I have some tips of choosing apps for early childhood.

Examining apps for accessibility prior to using them in the classroom and developmental appropriate learning experiences is a must. For example: an app may require extensive fine motor manipulation to gain any educational benefit or may only work on a device that doesn't provide tactile feedback. Such an app might not be a good choice for most young children, and may not especially difficult for a child who has cerebral palsy. This chart has several questions that are designed to help you think about what a great early childhood app should have and look like. (Click on the picture to get your copy.)
The other piece I wanted to share was a Receptive and Expressive Language Milestones from birth to five. It has guidelines of what children show be doing as they grow up. Its just a guide. Have a great weekend.

It's hard to believe that the new school year is just around the corner for many of us. I'm linking up with Fabulously First to bring new teachers words of wisdom. Its hard being a new teacher. New building, new staff, new families--its hard work. The world of education has changed so much since I graduated from University of Colorado in Colorado Springs that each year I'm  also learning something new.

I want to welcome all of you as new teachers and say that as you enter this profession for the first time this year just be prepared.  You will learn quickly who will and will not help you and those that will help without asking.  It's tough work being a teacher. This year my state has moved towards pay of performance. This is no joke even for those who have taught for several years. You have to really love teaching to take that on everyday. But I wouldn't trade that work for anything-I love the students I work with and the challenges they bring. Each day is something different and no matter how prepared I think I am some days just get away from you.

 Data is a way of life in special education. It tells a unique story. It can be one of glows or one of grows. Several years ago, my building moved to using the three colored pocket charts (below) so classroom teachers could visual see where their class was using specific data points.

The data used varies depending on the grade. For primary (1-3): DIBELS, End of the Year DRA, BEAR (reading comprehension); Kindergarten: DIBELS; Intermediate (4-6): End of the Year DRA and Acuity Form C. These data points change around mid-year 3-6: for 3rd CSAP Reading/Writing and Form A Acuity; 4-6: Previous years CSAP Reading/Writing and Form A Acuity. As the year progresses, teachers up date the cards with progress monitoring data and Acuity data as it becomes available. The intervention team meets with teachers every 6 weeks and students are moved based on the progress monitoring. Up or Down--the point and hope is that classroom teachers are responsibility of the vast majority of this not the intervention team. This has helped move students through RTI and out of RTI.

The Special Education team doesn't have one for just the identified students and those within their groups. We have created informal ones to help with making sure that the most intensive students (i.e., that spend 3 plus hours out of the classroom a day) are making progress but not formal. One of my hopes for the coming year (with a new team mate) is to have 3 charts. Why 3? I think the team needs to directly monitor reading, writing, and math. Students create date for all three why not use it. Many identified students have goals in more than reading. The team can also see who is not making progress before meeting and make changes to IEPs so the student gets back on track.

The colors would stay the same but have additional meaning. Red would be our most intensive students. Those that are more than 3 years behind, made no progress the year before, and spend most of their day outside of the classroom. Yellow: made 6 months of growth the year before, between two and three years behind and seen for only one subject. Green: made a year or more growth the year before, less than two years behind, and seen for only one subject or at grade level (think artic only kidoos). This could be used to track all students in that group--the RTI students as well.

This move would hold the team accountable plus classroom teachers can see is students are making more specific gains. They have the big picture on their own charts but really have no clue if they are really making gains at the end of the day. I think with the addition of SMART goals on ours, we can hold the team to progress monitoring and student growth. Since, as a building we are not great at getting together every 6 weeks to make changes this would at least provide a conversation starter with classroom teachers about what they are seeing and move students out of intervention groups faster (instead of having them for the whole year).

Students are moved on the classroom charts twice a year. Once at mid-year and after Spring Break. We don't move them offend enough. In creating one for intervention groups, the intervention team can move students at the end of each SMART goal. I have created cards (editable) that allow me to change the color of the card depending on the outcome of the SMART Goal. Having this data visible makes it easy for anyone to walk in and see what is going on during interventions and if its working or not.

My students love, love knowing where they are at and set many of their on goals. They would love this as they could see where they are--the cards would have to be turned around to show just names and not the data. My know that their data belongs to only them and no one else. (They know I share with teachers and parents but no other students.)

I'm sure there are many other ways to track students in the RTI process to ensure that they are making gains, I'd love to hear about them. I have attached freebies to help you to use this thinking. Have a great weekend and if your traveling "Safe Travels."

Summer is half over. My piles still abound. All I want is for them is to go away. Is that asking to much? I didn't realize that I brought that MUCH home with me.



I have decided that I need a list. This will help me focus as I'm short on focus and long on enjoying my summer. Here it goes-
1. Guided math lesson plan format using Math Comprehension
2. Data/RTI forms for reading, writing, and math-These need to include WADE, WRS Charting, Acuity, DRA, DIBELS, and Building/Class writing samples; plus anything else
3. Create a working format to use RTI Colored Charts for identified students (maybe with their unidentified group peers). The cards need to be of different colors too. My building uses the three colored pocket charts to identify students across the tiers in reading. I want something for this but for reading, writing, and math.
4. As part of Building Leadership: reread Guided Math and finish Lesson Plan (pink book from Scholastic) This I have to do before our retreat next month.
5. Investigations Math “I Can” Statements and Common Core Checklists for first and third (high needs grades first--then everyone else)
6. Writing “I Can” Statements and Common Core Checklists for second and third (high needs grades first--then everyone else first)
7. Finish CBB plans for reading and math journals to use as examples

Anyone else have a list going of things that need to be done before going back? I hope to get this all done before I have to report but if I spend a little time each day I should be able to get to all of it. Have a great week. Safe travels.

I'm linking up with iTeach 1:1 to share what apps my students use during math. In many cases they have a wide selection to chose from. The ones I have decided to highlight here are the ones that they used the most and ones that they will be using in the fall.

Others like iMovie are part of a group of choices that also include PuppetPals, StoryMaker, and Toontastic. They all give students creative license while illustrating a story problem that will later be shared with the whole group. These apps fall into what you could call "Surprisingly Educational Apps."

Towards the end of the year, I started playing with a portfolio type setup for their work but didn't have a way to 1) email it off the iPad and 2) some place to put it. In May, I solved one problem by creating a classroom email account in which students just send me work. They don't have access to it. I have just recently solved my second problem. I needed a place to collect student work that I could easily share with classroom teachers and parents without it being a process or nightmare. All work will either go to Evernote or 3 Ring in the fall. I love that students can email me their work.

Also new for them in the fall, will be CBB or Creative Book Builder. I talk in a previous post how I will get rid of notebooks and students will do that work in CBB instead.

Have a great day blog hoppin'. Happy 4th of July.

It's hard to believe the I have to report in 6 weeks. Summer is half over here in Colorado. I'm linking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for this months currently. It's raining this afternoon here. That's a first in awhile. Plus no thunder and lightening--even better. We need so much more with the wildfire but its a start. I'm loving the idea of going paperless next year. I've been working through reading and need to tackle math but the students will love this. Not to mention, less to travel will as I move from room to room. I've been reading "Teach Like a Pirate" and wondering how to use this mindset when I teach math. Many of my students HATE math. But I think with this spin, I can breathe new life into math and help them find a new love for it. I want my piles to go away. They are getting smaller but its so hard when your distracted by summertime. Well, yes-getting the oil changed in my car needs to happen at some point this month. One can hope sooner rather than later. As I'm reviewing and reflecting on the past school year, I've decided that focusing on structures and processes got me more bang for my buck-so that's what I'm looking at as prepare for the fall. Have a great July and safe travels.

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My district moved to an evaluation process that is similar to Charlotte Danielson's "Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching." Danielson's rubric is broken down into four domain:

• Planning and Preparation
• The Classroom Environment
• Instruction
• Professional Responsibilities

For more information on this book-check out my previous post here. This framework doesn't directly tackle the my role as a special education teacher but my coach hooked me up with another district exception's who had.One thing that has helped me focus on specific areas of the Framework has been this checklist.  This checklist is created so I can check off items that I can do with each lesson to score as high as possible. Each list focuses on a specific domain, this allows me to pick which one or one(s) I want to work on. This means that I don't have to deal with 20 some old things (like I don't already:)) With all the feedback that comes flying at me, I can pick and choose based on what they see I'm missing or need to work on to make something stronger. More to come. Have a great weekend.

Two years ago my district moved to an evaluation process that is similar to Charlotte Danielson's "Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching." Danielson's rubric is broken down into four domain:

In an earlier post, I mentioned that this past year I started reading Robert Marzano's The Art and Science of Teaching. This book whispered to me. Many of his topics overlap with my districts new teacher rubric. One important idea being students knowing "how they know when they got it." I love the idea of having students using rubrics to assess themselves before, during and after their learning of a specific standard. This past year I use a Gradual Release Rubric but I found this year that it worked best for my older students.

I am not data obsessed, (well only sort of). But this year, I feel like I need to take a step back from my environment and instead focus on my instruction and my student's learning a bit more.

In many of my posts, I emphasize the importance of "learning targets" and how to use them as a formative assessment. Learning targets are important for ALL of your students because it tells them where they are headed during the lesson and where you want them to land. It tells our students what they are to learn, how to deeply learn it, and how to demonstrate their new learning. (Think of it like a treasure map--it tells students where to find the treasure.)

Learning goals are really pretty easy to make-I make mine from our district curriculum or extended evidence outcomes from Colorado's state standards (EEOs). EEOs I use for student who are functioning significantly below grade level standards.

With my instruction I first communicate the lesson learning goals to your students, plan a guided learning activity that takes place in the classroom, and then plan for assignments that are engaged learning experiences.

I use Backwards Planning to plan all my lessons, so formative assessments get planned while I'm writing outcomes and learning targets. With these formative assessments comes Marzano's rubrics. By using a scale the teacher and the students have a clear direction about instructional targets as well as descriptions of levels of understanding and performance for those targets.

I plan to start my year off slowly and remind my students how they will use these rubrics. I plan to align each rubric with each lesson and students will score themselves at the end of the each lesson. I will also rate them at the end of each lesson and justify why they rated themselves at that level. This will allow me to track their levels of understanding through the unit and help them to see why they are or are not at that level. This should help limit wildly inaccurate scores in a short time. I hope to see them internalize the rubric over the year and become are accurate with their own placement and justification.

It is most definitely a gradual release of responsibility! With these posters, as well as more student directed data tracking, I feel like my students will be more in control of their own learning and growth. I also think that this is something that my kindergarten students will be able to take on for the first time EVER. These will soon be posted in my TpT store as part of my new data binder. I'll have more to share. Have a great week.

Last week I shared that I was going to use Creative Book Builder to replace my students Guided Reading Notebooks. Over the last week I've had a chance to play with CBB and I love how simple it is to use. I have been able to add pictures and link the text to "proof" options like Talking Tom or Haiku Deck. Students can add audio and files from Google Docs.  This is the beginning of what I'm thinking. I need to figure out how I want my primary kiddos to create theirs. This one is for my older kiddos.


I use the Comprehension Toolkit when I teach comprehension strategies-so my example include how I would want students to add those notes. At the top of the page is the learning target and why students need to know the strategy. I want students to have a place to return to find examples and sentence frames.  Plus, how students will show they understand the target. This many end up being too time consuming when I take this back in the fall but I think as these are things that would go in their notebook students will be able to do on an iPad -- more time is going to be planned into each lesson.

I think when I set up a primary example, I wonder if it can be done in mostly pictures. or something where they don't have as much text to type or refer back to. Back to playing. I hope your summer is off to a restful and fun start.

iPad technology has changed the way my students and I interact with knowledge and information. I am all about the verbs in my classroom -- what thinking skill am I requiring of my students when I assign this task? How can I create authentic learning using technology that targets critical thinking and bravely and boldly  moves use hovering in the highers levels of SAMR. Just as the iPad changes what the physical classroom looks like, the iPad changes the physical construction and layout of what instruction looks like.




So what's on the plate for the fall. Creative Book Builder. What's Creative Book Builder-it's an app.(Creative Book Builder allows students to create books in epub format, which can then be exported to iBooks and shared with others. There are a variety of instructional uses for this app, from using it as a publishing tool for project-based learning to a summative assessment at the end of a unit.  Students can embed images, audio files, video files, and write text.  The advantage of an epub document over a PDF document is that all of the media will be preserved and available for readers to interact with when the final product is published.)


I'm going to have students use it this fall to replace their reading notebooks. Instead of having notebooks for reading comprehension with learning targets, essential questions, GRR scores, proof and reflections--student will build a book over the year. Over the summer as I play--I'll share the ins and outs of this app plus my examples. I think students will be able to do tons of things that they would not have been able to do in a notebook like add videos, work examples from other apps, and embed their proof. This will be something that I could bring to IEP meetings and conferences without having to tote several notebooks or binders with me. (YEAH!!!) It's also something I can share with teachers through iBooks. Since, sharing anything with them is always difficult.

I think reflecting is a huge part of what teachers great. I'm always reflecting on what happened during x lesson or at y staffing. But reflecting back on the whole year is tough. I came across this on Edutopia and it got me thinking about what changes I was thinking about for next year. So much has changed since I walked in this past fall--I got iPads, new principle, and a new team mate. (Well next year I have a new principle and a new team mate.) Dr. Richard Curwin, points out somethings but I really liked the  idea of thinking about changes as:
           A. Major things you will definitely do
           B. Minor changes you will make
           C. Major things you will never do
           D. Minor things you will never do

I think when I break down things this way it helps to clarify what I'm wanting to take on next year and not take on.

So what things will I definitely do: I'm going to move to being paperless. I'm sure how but with 1 to 1 iPads in small groups-I'll find a way. I think that the benefits for my students would include motivation,  immediate feedback through our class email, and more timely communication with their classroom teachers. I'll share as I work out kinks. I think by moving to being paperless, will also help me to tighten up how I work the "science of teaching" but give me room for the "art of teaching." I"m also going to push for a four day seeing students schedule with one day being meet with classroom teachers, paperwork, testing, and all those "other" things that I have to get done during the week. I NEED to strength students knowledge of "how" and "why" they are using an iPad to complete instruction-so they can understand and explain to someone else why they are doing the assignment on the iPad and not on paper or explain why they chose to use a particular app over another.

My minor changes increase how my students use iPads. Now that I have my feet wet, I'm ready to dig in and make some big moves with how I use them in my daily instruction. I think being part of iPUG will help with new ideas and ways to use them. I'm hoping that maybe I can get more of my building teachers on board. Maybe-we're still worried ALOT about PARCC.  I need to create a better way to assign iPads to students if they are going to have more than one student on them. I'm also going to do more anchor charts and force students to use them as resources. We do them together but I don't always force them to use them-I give in and give them the answers but why should I when they were created as a group and have the information on them that students needs to be using in class. It might help the careless mistakes.

I don't have any major things I not doing. A minor thing that has gotten to me since Spring Break is the way students walk in and out of the room. I think I'm done letting them bring themselves as nice as it is it has started to drive me crazy-maybe I should have been more on top of it when it first started to fall apart after state testing. I'm not going back to interactive notebooks. I love the idea of the foldables and have encouraged other teachers to use them but if I'm going to move to a paperless classroom than they I think they are on the way out the door. My students loved them and used them during math since Spring Break but I'm not sure I see how they are work at there best if they aren't being used in the classrooms. I'm thinking on the iPads that I'm going to strip them down to only what we used this year, instead of having over 100 apps on them because I think we only used maybe 30 (if that) on a regular basis. I think would make it easier for me to maintain them--so they are look more alike.

This is something you could also do with students. It would interesting to see what they would have to say/ Anyone have changes they plan on making for next year? Have a great weekend.

A quick post to share a website, I stumbled across TextProject over the weekend. It's designed for beginning and struggling readers to high levels of literacy through a variety of strategies and tools, particularly the texts used for reading instruction. They have a variety of different reading resources. I love the vocabulary. This month is transportation-it has several current colored pictures that you can print off and use in a classroom. The vocabulary was created with QuickReads in mind to support ELL and Exceptional Learners. Which is great! The beginning readers are only a couple of pages with great real colored pictures to support the text---perfect to build vocab. I wish that there was some comprehension work like there is with QuickReads but a great way to build vocabulary.

I'm busy packing up for the end of the year. Have a great week.

Thank you to everyone who stopped and entered for a chance to win a copy of ETA's new Common Core Fractions. Congrats go out to Wezie Morgan-keep an eye out for an email from me.

Here at the end of the week, I'm off to present a 1 to 1 iPad presentation to an elementary school who will be using iPads in small groups next year. (Part of my new iPUG role.)  Pulling this presentation together was quite fun-I was able to pull in many of the apps and ideas that I came across this year. I was surprised at all I've been able to do with my iPads with students this year. I hope I don't send anyone running for the hills. This will give you tons of ideas to think about over the summer and play some :) Have a great weekend as the year winds down.

This program is a hands-on fraction lessons created with differentiated instruction in mind. Each lesson clearly defines for the teacher the steps needed to give every student the tools for success. Each lesson demonstrates a hands-on exploration using manipulatives to help students get a physical sense of a concept and “see” the meaning. The students begin by using manipulatives, move on to creating visual representations, and then complete the cycle by working with abstract mathematical symbols.

From ETA Hands2Mind I received a copy 5th grade Hands on Standards Common Core Fractions. With this copy, I also had online access to the digital tools. Also they recommend the VersaTiles for Fractions, VersaMate, and a variety of fractions manipulatives. I had pervious purchased VerseMate for my iPad. With the exception of the manipulatives the other pieces are used as enrichment. I was able to down load students from ETA.

I used this program to reteach fractions to a small group of 6th grade exceptional needs students. This program reminded me of Scholastic’s Do the Math: Fractions. This book covers only adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. It doesn't provide any remediation to early fractions skills.

The program lesson plan laid out in a user-friendly why that builds on the gradual release of instruction model. Each lesson begins with building background knowledge through a whole class or focus lesson. The concept introduction builds upon the focus lesson of a quick whole class activity. Guided practice follows with reinforcement of the concept as a whole class. The closure asks for students to share out.  There is an assessment after each chapter but no pre-assessment for the book like there is in “Do the Math.” I’m able to complete a lesson in a 30 minute period with extra time built in for vocabulary work.

I liked how each lesson starts off by telling how to support my diverse learners with the vocabulary. I had to take extra time to build their background before beginning each lesson. Because of the time frame that I had these guys, I didn't use the warm-ups but can see the benefit in that they do help to activate prior knowledge. The directions both teacher and student are clear and easy to understand.

I used the guided practice and reinforcement activities together to provide enough practice for my students so they could explain their thinking and answer “how” and “why” questions.

I love using manipulatives in math. I think it’s a great way to help students understand concepts but in some lessons it was just too much. Needs three or four different ones to get through one lesson just plan confused them.

Overall, my students had nothing they didn't like. They liked the lessons. The lessons where broken down into small enough pieces that in many cases by the end of the lesson they were demonstrating mastery. But there was nothing built-in to each lesson to stretch their thinking to apply what they had learned. We had to wait to Fractions Explore Action. These were great but I needed to build this in to meet the rigor of my district teaching evaluation rubric in regards to asking higher order thinking questions of my students throughout the lesson.  This would be a solid addition to any grade level fractions unit where students need extra practice on adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions.

I wish to thank ETA Hand2mind to this wonderful opportunity to review their 5th grade Hands on Standards Common Core Fractions. They will generously send one Teacher's Guide of either the 3rd, 4th or 5th grade Hands on Standards Common Core Fractions to one lucky winner. Be sure to enter the giveaway will close Wednesday at 6:00 pm mountain time. I'll let the winner know by email within 72 hours of the contest ending. Have a great weekend!