Connected Learning

Monday, October 12, 2015

Connecting with Other Educators

The last year has included many firsts for me as a professional. The most exciting and impactful have been the opportunities given to me to share my learning in and outside of the district as a part of Iowa's Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) grant.

This spring I participated in a Teacher Leadership Panel with Iowa School Librarians at #iasl15 with one of my teachers who was a Teacher Librarian in our district. We spoke about Teacher Leadership in our district and how we make it fit best into how we learn and grow as educators. Our panel was moderated by Sarah Brown-Wessling, so that was exciting in itself!

I have also gotten the opportunity to share our journey several times with our Benton Community Teacher Leadership team. One of these times was at Iowa ASCD this spring at the Standards-Based Grading conference. The Keynote speaker was Mr. Ken O'Connor. We shared our SBG journey so far and gained some powerful take-aways to bring back to our district.

Another great opportunity we have had this fall is the chance to speak with Maddie Fennell with the United States Department of Education about our Teacher Leadership program in place at Benton Community Schools. We shared all aspects of our Teacher Leadership journey including struggles and successes. We were empowered by the encouragement we received after her visit to continue with our district vision of teacher leadership!

We also had a great opportunity to share our TLC journey with other educators in Iowa and learn from others at the same time. We fashioned our own #BCedCamp experience for Teacher Leaders in our school district, and then a few weeks later, we shared again at Mt. Mercy University's Teacher Leadership Symposium. The great thing about opportunities like this is that we share our journey, but at the same time, we are getting great ideas from other districts who are just as willing to share tips and tricks of what works for them in their districts. This allows us to work smarter, not harder, and it gives us more time to focus on making impactful decisions in our district to move students forward.

This summer and this fall were by far my most favorite sharing opportunities. A few co-workers continued to push me outside of my comfort zone. We presented at two technology conferences! At #iPadU and #ITECia, I was blessed with the opportunity to share about our social media story at Benton Community. By far most exciting, however, was when we brought students to share in their digital learning with us. We had students travel to both Cedar Rapids and Des Moines to come and teach other teachers how to use iPad apps they are fluently using every day in their primary classrooms!

These powerful learning opportunities could not have been possible without my amazing coworkers who I am blessed to work with every day. They push me to be better, work harder, and learn more than I ever have before. I am grateful for these experiences, and I'm eager to continue learning with these inspirational coworkers at my side!

Friday, September 25, 2015

Connected with Families and our PTO

The support teachers receive from parents at Benton Community is second to none. Our parents have a great connection with helping out at our school through active Parent/Teacher Organizations, or PTOs. This year our three PTOs in the district combined into one amazing PTO. We decided that with the great deal of restructuring that took place in our district it would be a great idea for all of us to work together toward a common goal of student support as one stronger team. We joined together the Atkins PTA, Keystone/Van Horne PTO, and the Norway PTO and are now joined forces as Benton Community PTO.

Each year our PTO at Keystone Elementary has put on a Bobcat Dash. This is an event promoting fitness and family fun! This is always our primary fundraising activity for the year. This fundraiser is put on solely due to generous donations and support of local businesses, our school parents, teachers, and our hard working students.

This fundraiser is comprised of several obstacles, in which families will complete together. **Think WIPEOUT without the commentating and concussions!** They will do this all while getting dirty, laughing, and having fun!

We're so excited for the 228 participants and the 45 teams we have signed up! Visit this links below to see some of our previous years of fun!

2013 Bobcat Dash Highlights

2014 Bobcat Dash Highlights

This year's obstacles!

Our AWESOME Platinum sponsors!

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Connecting Results With Goals

Benton Community Schools has done a lot of compiling of data the last few years to ensure we are making data-driven decisions for our students. When compiling all of the district assessments, we found that this visual puts it into perspective just how much data we are collecting, the variety of assessments, and the timeframes of each testing period.

We make it a point to never make decisions by looking at just one piece of data. We gather many assessments over time and piece them together to look for patterns and then problem solve as a team. These come together to form a big picture to help us make decisions in the best interest of our students.

Benton Community Assessment Responsibilities
Grade Level	Assess-ment	Data Assessment Title	# Times Given	Testing Window
K	FAST	FALL -- Concepts of Print, Letter Names, Onset Sounds, Letter Sounds	1	Fall: September 7th- October 2nd
		WINTER - Word Segmenting, Nonsense Words, Onset Sounds, Letter Sounds	1	Winter: January 18th through February 12th
		SPRING - Word Segmenting, Nonsense Words, Site Words (50), Letter Sounds	1	Spring: April 18th through May 13th (next year's students)
1	FAST	FALL -- Sight Words-150, Word Segmenting, Nonsense Words, Sentence Reading, aReading	1	Fall: September 7th- October 2nd
		WINTER - Sight Words-150, Word Segmenting, Nonsense Words, CBM Reading, aReading	1	Winter: January 18th through February 12th
		SPRING - Word Segmenting, Nonsense Words, Site Words (50), Letter Sounds	1	Spring: April 18th through May 13th (next year's students)
2 - 6	FAST	FALL -- CBMReading, aReading	1	Fall: September 7th- October 2nd
		WINTER - CBMReading, aReading	1	Winter: January 18th through February 12th
		SPRING - CBMReading, aReading	1	Spring: April 18th through May 13th (next year's students)

K-6	Fountas- Pinnell	Comprehension, Accuracy Rate, Self Corrections, Fluency Score, Reading Rate	1	Spring - Assess students who are below proficiency on spring FAST aReading assessment within classroom time





K-6	Guided reading level	Provide Fountas-Pinnell guided reading level	1	Using running records or guided reading data

K-6	Math Priority Assessments	Beginning of the year diagnostic / standards assessments	1	Use data for classroom groupings
		Standards Assessments	1	Use data for classroom groupings
		End the of year diagnostic	1	Use data for classroom groupings

K-6	Benchmark Literacy	Beginning of Year Skills Assessment	1	Enter Online
		Mid Year Skills Assessment	1	Enter Online
		End of Year Skills Assessment	1	Enter Online

K-8	Student Profiles	Fall - Meet with all students to fill out goal sheet	1	Enter Online
		Winter - Meet with all students to fill out goal sheet	1	Enter Online
		Spring - Meet with all students to summarize goals	1	Enter Online & Pass along to next year

3-11	Iowa Assessment	Math, Science & Reading	1	November 1-21

7-12	STAR Reader	Fall	1	Enter Online
		Winter	1	Enter Online
		Spring	1	Enter Online

4-12	Accelerated Reader	Within ELA classrooms during entire school year		Assessed Online

10	Plan/Aspire	Spring	1	5/1/2015

10-12	ACT	Optional Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer

7-12	Math Computation Test	Fall	1	Enter Online
		Winter	1	Enter Online
		Spring	1	Enter Online

8 & 11	District Designed Science Assessment	Spring	1	Enter Online

7-12	Skills Iowa	Fall	1	Enter Online
		Winter	1	Enter Online
		Spring	1	Enter Online

When the assessment data is compiled, our teachers meet with each of their students independently to set goals three times per year. These conversations allow students to take a closer look at where they scored, what the expectation is for grade-level, and then also allows them to set goals to work toward before the next goal setting meeting. A conversation also takes place to have students problem-solve with the teacher to figure out how students will reach these goals. This lets the students take charge of their learning and it also lets them see the assessments they've taken in a new light. These goal setting meetings brings the data alive and allows students to really see themselves progressing throughout the year. If you'd like to know more about our student goal setting, let me know, as we'd be happy to share!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Connected at Keystone Elementary

Keystone Elementary is a place to connect. Connecting with teachers, parents, community members, colleagues, and students is our main goal. Below please find a link to an updated document with educator blogs and other ways to connect in and outside of the classroom! Connected Educators at Keystone Elementary is a link to a document we shared at our annual Parent Partnership Night this week. We were excited with how this night turned out and we got great feedback on our new format! Check out our schedule of events here.

Teachers Connecting at Keystone

Mrs. Benton - dabenton.blogspot.com

Mrs. Fisher - kfkinderland.blogspot.com

#KFkinders and @Mrs_KFisher (twitter)

Mrs. Kimm - kimmskinders.blogspot.com

Mrs. Happel - crayoneskeyboards.blogspot.com

@SamanthaHappel and #happelfirsties (twitter)

Ms. Upah - teachinginthe21st-anna.blogspot.com

@AnnaUpah (twitter) and @BCFirst (instagram)

Mrs. Bridgewater - 2b2nd.blogspot.com

Mrs. Embray - ginaembrayblog.blogspot.com

Mrs. Bonewitz and Mrs. Kimm - keystone3rd.blogspot.com