Department Meetings: For today’s department meeting, please discuss the following and feel free to add in any additional topics as needed. There are a lot of discussion questions below and some may be more urgent than others depending on the department. Please do your best to discuss at least some of the questions from each section.
Reflect on Semester One – languge development. As you discuss, document your team’s actions, either on the unit planners or on another document. This information and pre-thinking will be valuable to our work as we move into the PLDs.
- Where did you have regular formative writing in English (or in the target language in language classes)?
- What strategies do you use to hold students accountable for using and practicing key vocabulary words?
- How did you create access to key information and skills for students at different language levels?
- Looking forward, what kinds of writing and reading will the students need to do in the upcoming units? Where can you build in additional formative practice or scaffold the language skills that will be needed?
Reflect on student progress and learning behaviors. Note minutes on this so that the actions can be revisited in a later meeting.
- What successes stand out from the semester? Who made great growth or exceeded expectations? What lessons, strategies or feedback worked really well for you this semester?
- Who in your classes is not yet succeeding/ who hasn’t demonstrating a proficient level of skills/knowledge? Or, in the DP, who is performing below their CEM or has had a dip?
- Discuss strategies and craft timebound interventions for key students to respond to their needs. Who long will it run? How will it be delivered? From whom would you like support – LSS, ELL, Scott, Angela, Jade, me, etc. How will you know if they have learned or grown?
- During this reports process, we found work and assessments still missing at the end of the semester. Discuss strategies for holding kids accountable to submitting everything, including formatives. Consider what assessments can be done during class time to cut down on the need for chasing students.
Have a great day! Sara
