Today was our first day of work for the week. Due to the snow that arrived yesterday, we were blessed with a delayed opening of two hours. The kiddos arrived at 11 only to go to library at 11:05, it left me lots of time to get our celebration board up and nearly running.
Our district is using the Marzano Teacher Evaluation Model. This year we are focusing primarily on Domain 1, which encompasses classroom strategies and behaviors. Design question 1 involves communicating learning goals and feedback, 1. Providing Clear Learning Goals and Scales (Rubrics), 2. Tracking Student Progress, and 3. Celebrating Success. As a grade level we have worked very hard to improve our practice in these areas. When two of my grade level partners established an "I" Can board to celebrate student success, I was at a loss. I do not have many bulletin boards in my room. I have already taken the white board at the back of the room and made it into our math board. I was not sure what to do.
Last week my student teacher formally started and she and I sat and problem-solved. We included the students and finally came up with, what we thought, was a good solution. We moved our "Helping Hand" board to the closet door and took the narrow bulletin board directly next to the door and created:
It worked out really well. We used "capturing" as the theme because I found die-cut cameras in my bulletin board storage and they had already been laminated. I also found the great little thought bubbles. Behind each camera I secured a plastic sandwich bag.
The thought is that the students can fill in an "I"-Can statement when they accomplish a goal. The statement will be placed on the thought bubble until they achieve their next goal. The "I"-Can statements will be placed in the plastic bags until the end of the year. At that time I will hole-punch each statement and the students will have a ring of accomplishments from 2nd grade. Sounds cool, doesn't it?
Reflection is a relatively new process to our second graders. We began the routine of having each student set their learning goals for the week back in October. The learning goals they select are based on the learning goals the teachers' have posted for the week based on the common core standards and our district curriculum. At this point in the year they are becoming more adept at assessing themselves against the learning scales that are posted in the classroom.
I am hoping that this is just another way to foster self-esteem and to celebrate individual success based on student needs and strengths.
