-Formative Assessment

Fun times at Moody Jr. High with 7th and 8th grade teachers.  Great  professional conversations happening in St. Clair County about how to provide effective feedback to students while assessing their learning.  How are you giving feedback to deepen your students' learning?

Coaching Communities

The Randolph County instructional coaches met at Wedowee Elementary School for their monthly coaching community.  WES has implemented a monthly "formative focus" as they support the teachers with professional development through coaching opportunities through the data collected during the formative focus.

 Their focus on literacy in ALL content areas is supported by the building instructional coach through planning, data analysis, and learning look fors.  We visited a 3rd grade math class and observed a daily "math meeting" where students discussed DATA, Time, Place Value and Perimeter.  

The students completed the problem and number of the day during the "before" part of the lesson, then met their teacher for their daily "math meeting."  Math Meeting is a routine found in Pearson's Investigations. 

Students discussed various ways to find the perimeter of classroom objects beginning with the "Ant's Path" while finding the perimeter of a sheet of paper.  They discussed other objects in the room and how to find the perimeter of those using both metric and standard units of measurement.  It was a wonderful day of learning at Wedowee Elementary School!

New ARI Coaches Orientation

The ARI Regional Team hosted an orientation training session for new coaches held September 16 and 17 at the JSU In-Service Center.  Nine new coaches from the region shared their experiences, studied research, and discussed helpful applications to coaching instruction in both elementary and secondary school settings.

Topics discussed included:  

                               

Partnership Principles

Identifying Coaching Opportunities

Joyce and Showers Coaching Research

The Gradual Release of the Coaching Cycle

The Coach’s Role in the Alabama’s Action Plan for Literacy

 Identifying Resistance while Coaching

Effective Communication

The Five Components of a Strategic Lesson

Purposeful Planning

Participants applied their learning in the “real world” on the third day while observing authentic coaching cycles with elementary and middle/high school teachers.  The ARI Regional Staff modeled coaching cycles for the participants with teachers in the Calhoun County Schools and Cleburne County Schools systems.

Our new ARI coaches are eager to begin coaching in their schools.  We are excited and looking forward to supporting them in their efforts.