CUYAHOGA FALLS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
431 Stow Avenue, P.O. Box 396
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44224
(330) 926-3800
EARLY RELEASE WEDNESDAY
First Wednesday of Each Month
Professional Learning Community (PLC) time:
· Educational research suggests the most promising strategy for meeting the challenge of helping all student learn at high levels is to develop the faculty’s capacity to function as a professional learning community (PLC). A PLC is a community of learners in which the teachers in a school and its administrators continuously seek and share learning and then act on wht they learn. The goal of their actions is to enhance their effectiveness as professionals for the benefit of students. The PLC is seen as a powerful staff development approach and potent strategy for school change and improvement. At their best, PLCs help schools create a self-reflective, self-renewing capacity as learning organizations. Structured time is provided for teachers to work together in planning, instruction, and sharing feedback. These and other attributes characterize professional learning communities.
· Formative Instructional Practices: FIP Your School – Modules 1- 5: Review & discuss Foundations of Formative Instructional Practices modules which serve as an introduction to the application modules. Each of these modules in this learning path has associated teacher-based team facilitation materials to create a blended learning approach.
Ø Module 1: Introduction to Formative Instructional Practices
Ø Module 2: Clear Learning Targets
Ø Module 3: Collecting and Documenting Evidence of Student Learning
Ø Module 4: Analyzing Evidence and Providing Effective Feedback
Ø Module 5: Student Ownership of Learning: Peer Feedback, Self-Assessment, etc.
Second Wednesday of Each Month
Teacher Based Team (TBT) time: In order to ensure that every student makes one year of growth for each academic year, we need to meet every child where they are, cognitively, and provide programming that facilitates growth along the cognitive, not chronological continuum. Thus, teachers and administrators must review every student’s assessment information and, when appropriate, design specialized and sometimes individualized programming.
· Response to Intervention (RtI): Using assessment and behavioral data, teachers will identify students who need intervention (enrichment or remediation) and review the student’s response to the interventions provided in a three-leveled tier system of progressive individualization and intensity.
· Common Core Standards work:
Ø Curriculum Mapping
Ø Vertical and Horizontal Alignment
Ø Common Assessment Development
Third Wednesday of Each Month
Technology Time: In 2013-2014, the PARCC assessments will be web-based and students will be expected to navigate between sites and back to the assessment to provide a response. Thus, teachers will be required to teach differently. Our staff, like others, is at various stages of understanding and development with regard to technology; thus, they need time to become exposed, experiment with, and collaborate on the uses of educational sites.
· Progress Book
· Interactive whiteboard training
· Digital Academy:
Ø Kidspiration
Ø Inspiration
Ø Webspiration
Ø Kidpix
Ø Virtual Manipulatives
Ø Geogebra
Ø Teacher Tube
Ø Google Docs
Ø Wikis
Ø Blogs
Ø Glogster
Ø Prezi
Ø Weebly
Ø Skype
Ø Moodle
Ø Student Response Systems
Ø Poll Everywhere
· On-line Assessment Prep:
Ø iReady Assessments
Ø PARCC
· Flipped Classroom:
Ø Khan Academy
Ø iTunes U
Ø Schoology
Ø APEX on-line
Ø K-12 on-line
Ø Think Central
Ø E-Suite
Ø Learning 360
Ø RAZ Kids
Fourth Wednesday of Each Month
Assessment Time: In 2013-2014, assessments will be used for Local Report Card and Ohio Teacher/Principal Evaluation Systems; thus, teachers, principals, and central office administrators must become proficient in the use of assessments used district wide.
· Data Review and Analysis:
Ø Benchmark Assessments
Ø Common Assessments
Ø Diagnostic Assessments
Ø State Assessments
Ø National Assessments
Ø Classroom Assessments
· Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC): PARCC Assessment System will be designed to measure knowledge, skills and understandings essential to achieving college and career readiness.
· Standards-Based Grading and Assessing
· Development of Standards-Based Report Cards
Additional Professional Development
Human Resources:
· Applitrack Training
· Legislative Changes/Legal Updates
· Licensure: Master Teacher/Teacher Leader
· Local Professional Development/Individual Professional Development Plan
· Ohio Teacher/Principal Evaluation Systems
· Public School Works
· Mentor/Resident Educator Training
Pupil Services:
· Career Ready Framework K-12
· Blended Learning Environments: Cub Academy, PAWS Academy, Tiger Academy
· Credit Flex
· Dual Enrollment/PSEOP
· IEP Training and Legal Updates
· Public School Works
· PBIS
· RtI/Collaborative Assistance Teams (CAT)
Principals will decide, with district input, the specific area of focus under each category based on their building needs. Unfortunately, one hour a week will simply touch the tip of the iceberg in terms of our professional development needs. We are asking so much of our teachers and principals now that has never been asked in the past and when we look at everything that needs to be done together as a team, it’s impossible to do it in even one hour a week. That said, one hour each week will help to provide the very best instruction for our students.