Hs_investment_plan

INVESTMENT PLAN
Grade Level/Content Area
Achievement Goal(s)
Reading Goal:
• Growth of two or more years in reading (based on the Gates-MacGinitie) Writing Goal:
• Growth of two or more points on the Regents writing rubric/National Writing Reading/Writing Goal:
• 100% of students will pass the ELA “Mock Regents” exam in June with at Student Messaging
• I plan on messaging everything in the classroom around the idea of “2 STEPS TOWARDS GRADUATION.” I will tell students that we will spend the year getting them to where they need to be so that by the time they enter 11th grade they will be at the stage they need to be at for Regents preparation. • I will share their diagnostic data with them so that they know where they are and it will be clear where they need to go. • At the end of each unit, I will give two assessments (content skills and writing) and will share their results with them so that we can, as a team, track their progress towards the big goal. I will translate class averages into bar charts on the wall. Students will be able to see where they are and will know where they need to be. • I will tell the students that just because they take the Regents exam in 11th grade, it doesn’t mean that 10th grade is a year off. If anything, 10th grade is
even more important because we build the skills that are crucial for success
on the Regents.
• I will make it very clear that passing the Regents exam as soon as possible is important because it will allow students to move on to AP curriculum which is crucial for the college application process. Strategies for Building Students’ Value for Achievement and for Summer
Achievement Goals (“I want”)
How will you market achievement and your content to your students? Strategies to consider
class mottos/chants/pledges, class name, teacher/student check-ins, student interest surveys, get to know you activities, team building lessons/activities, parent investment letters/calls, explicit lessons on goals, references in each lesson to relevance of content, references in each lesson to the intrigue of content, class visitors, class themes, cooperative groups Developing Students’ Rational Understanding
• I will get to know my students through their diagnostic data that Achievement is Valuable
and through personal interest surveys that will be given as • How specifically will you get to know your • I plan to link every book/play/short story/poem to some aspect of the students’ lives. Through my essential questions and • What connections can you make between enduring understandings I will show the students that the most fun thing about literature is how we can relate it to our lives and to our experience. Everything we do will be based on the • How will you use statistics to build value questions: Why should I read? Why should I write? What can • I plan to use the statistics concerning the number of inner city students that pass high school and the number that get a four or higher on the Regents. I will then tell the students that we will be proving these statistics wrong. Using Role Models
• I hope to find some local authors/poets/playwrights who can come into the classroom to talk to the students about what • What people and/or characters can you literature has done for their lives. I am already looking into reference in your classroom to represent inviting some local slam poets into the classroom. • I will also use a variety of real-world role models to promote • Across the top of my chalkboard will be the quotation: “The full use of your powers along the lines of excellence.” – JFK’s definition of ‘happiness.’ I will use this quotation as the pillar of my course and will always push students to the full use of their powers along the lines of excellence. Reinforcement
• As was previously stated, I will track students’ progress throughout the year and will provide them with both their • How will you reinforce achievement in progress and the class as a “team.” I will set each section in your classroom (e.g., extrinsic rewards, competition with the others (i.e. homework tracking and quiz mastery bar graphs to compare different sections’ progress). • I will encourage peer tutoring and offer extra credit to those Strategies for Building Students’ Expectancy (“I can”)
How will you market achievement and your content to your students? Strategies to consider
class mottos/chants/pledges, class name/themes, teacher/student check-ins, student interest surveys, get to know you activities, team building lessons/activities, parent investment letters/calls, explicit lessons on goals, references in each lesson to relevance of content, class visitors, cooperative groups Malleable Intelligence
• I will market Einstein’s definition of genius (“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”) and show • How will you explain the ideas of malleable students that with hard work, anything can happen. • I will use tracking to show students their progress • How will you market the ideas of malleable and to show them that with hard work, they can • I will use my own personal story of hard work and • I will ask my 12th grade students if they would like to come and talk to the 10th graders telling them that hard work can pay off. • I will use malleable intelligence articles for reading comprehension activities and listening comprehension activities and have discussions to follow up. Tracking Student Progress
• There will be weekly quizzes (Fridays) that test the content of the week. The results will be posted on • How will you make progress and growth evident to Monday and students will see their progress. • At the end of each unit, there will be a content exam • How will you respond if individual students don’t (standards mastery) and a writing project (writing rubric improvement). These will also be tracked and discussed in class so that students can see their improvement. • If a student is not improving, I will spend time working at lunch or after school and will focus on those skills that he/she has not mastered. Role Models
• I like to use athletes as representatives of persistence. Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, • What people and/or characters can you reference in Michael Johnson etc. are all good role models for
Reinforcing Hard Work
• Homework tracking!! Completion of homework will • How will you reinforce effort as well as • In light of Einstein’s quote, I will tell students that I know results don’t always come immediately and • How will you reinforce hard work if individual that if I see hard work from a student, I will work hard to make sure results eventually happen. • Again, it will be useful to use role models who show Strategies for Creating a Welcoming Environment
How will you create a place where students feel comfortable and supported enough to take risks Strategies to consider
read-alouds that support key values, student collaboration, explicit discussions of cultural diversity, class mottos/chants/pledges, class name/themes, treating failures/mistakes as opportunities to learn, teacher/student check-ins, student interest surveys, get to know you activities, team building lessons/activities, parent investment letters/calls, explicit lessons on goals, references in each lesson to relevance of content Engage and Involve All Students
• As a part of my management plan, participation can earn students back points that may have been lost because of • How will you ensure that all students • I will reinforce the idea that there are no bad theories/ideas. • I will cold-call students at random, asking the students that hesitate to participate questions that I know they can answer. • I will make participating FUN! English class should be about talking about issues and ideas in books and I will show students how engaging this can be. Teach Tolerance
• Above all, my classroom is a safe space and any abuse or disrespect of the space will not be tolerated. “If there’s one place • One of my class rules will be to respect each other and the • How will you teach and model respect classroom community. I will not tolerate any deviation from this rule and will take disrespect seriously. • At the beginning of the year, I will spend some time discussing with the class what respect is and what it isn’t. and I will set high expectations for my students’ behavior. • We will read a lot of multicultural texts/stories that all deal with issues of diversity and will discuss issues of race, gender, sexuality etc. as the year progresses. • We will approach diversity with the mindset that we are all different and we can learn so much from others’ differences. Respond Effectively to Insensitivity
• Depending on the severity of the incident, I will firmly tell the student that whatever he/she said is not tolerated in this classroom • I will remind him/her of the class rules and will tell him/her that they have lost X points for the day. I will also ask him/her to stay after class briefly so that I can go over rationale for my reaction and my feeling that what he/she said was inappropriate. • If I perceive the problem to be pervasive through the class, I will use one class period to talk about the issue and as a class come up with some kind of solution/action plan/

Source: http://www.teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Tools/INV/I-2/Tools/HS_INVESTMENT_PLAN.pdf