POINTS OF PRIDE: BGM School District

Colin Gisel, Business Teacher at BGM and my former student

As a teacher, it is a joy to spend time with former students especially those who have chosen to enter the teaching profession.  Colin Gisel was in my 6th grade class where he always stood out as a responsible person willing to put in the extra effort to do his best.  He continues in that same way as a business teacher with the BGM School District in Brookyn, Iowa.  The BGM Community School District, located in east central Iowa, encompasses the communities of Brooklyn, Guernsey, and Malcom.  I had the pleasure of touring his building and presenting to the staff about "Learning- A Shared Journey of Discovery" during one of their early outs which occur every Wednesday at 2:15.

BGM DEMOGRAPHICS

Enrollment:  Approximately 550

Free and Reduced Lunch:  37%

Grades: K-12

ELL students:  40+

Superintendent Brad Hohensee provided a tour of the facilities known as BGM - Bear Country. One feature of BGM is a  swimming pool, available for competitive swimming and training students in the art of life guarding. BGM has a strong partnership wtih Iowa Valley Community College, located in Marshalltown, IA.  This district has three (soon to be four) Cromebook carts with the potential of providing a 1:1 option.  A Community Wellness Center is used by the school district as well as in partnership with the community.  Besides the Wellness Center, they have two little league fields on their grounds.

BGM elementary goals include:

• Increase literacy skills through quality core instruction and targeted interventions.
• Increase math skills through quality core instruction and targeted interventions
• Encourage positive student behavior using the six pillars of Character Counts.

This district has taken on Rachel's Challenge which encourages a chain reaction of kindness and compassion with the following rules:

1. Look for the best in others.
2. Dream big.
3. Choose positive influences.
4. Speak with kindness.
5. Start your own chain reaction.

The Citizen Scholarship Fund is one of the largest in the state, awarding over $120,000 in scholarships for students graduating from BGM as well as those in the first, second, or third years in college.  This is a strong Point of Pride in the BGM district.

As we entered Colin's classroom, he was busy working with a student at the board.  As teachers, we pass on a legacy of care that continues through our students creating a chain reaction of care.   As Leo Buscaglia said, "Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind work, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

POINTS of PROUD: Dubuque's Table Mound Elementary

Sarah Weber, Principal Brenda Mitchell, Jennifer Hoffman

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

I had the opportunity to work with Sarah Weber, Brenda Mitchel, and Jennifer Hoffman this summer as we served on an Iowa Core team that traveled to Orlando, Florida, to attend a conference on "Re-Imagining Education."  Table Mound is one place in Iowa that has been re-imagining how it delivers instruction.  This school is very appreciative of the community in its support of late arrival times every Friday to accommodate professional learning communities and staff development as this school strives towards continuous improvement.  Table Mound Elementary has been undergoing a major transformation by providing meaningful leadership roles in the form of instructional strategists, resident mentors, partnerships with Clarke College, and the establishment of a building leadership team.   Staff has been studying "Unleashing the Power of Collaborative Inquiry" by Nancy Love.  Their professional development focuses on the power of the data team which looks at the right things when it comes to assessing what is learned.  Significant questions they are asking include:

• Where are we now?
• Where do we want to be?
• How did we get to where we are?
• How are we going to get to where we want to be?
• Is what we are doing making a difference?

 
TABLE MOUND DEMOGRAPHICS
Enrollment:  450 grades EC through 5
Free and Reduced Lunch:   26%
Certified Staff:  38

DUBUQUE'S DEMOGRAPHICS
13 elementary schools
3 middle schools
2 high schools
Enrollment:  10,000
 

This building strives toward improvement in all areas.  Table Mound has changed their process in math instruction through the implementation of CGI - cognitively guided instruction.  This process moves students through developmental stages in the area of math instruction.  It provides a process that lays a foundation upon which students build math concepts. 

Non-negotiables within each classroom include:  differentiated instruction, 90 minutes of literacy instruction, and clearly articulated behavior expectations.  One major initiative this year is the development of common formative assessments in literacy and social studies. 

Amy Herber and Nicole Posiask

Table Mound has a partnership with Clarke College - a very impressive professional development program.  A certified teacher teaches in a classroom with an established teacher for one year while working on his/her Master's Degree.  The established teacher writes an action plan to implement for 50% of the time during this partnership.  It is a very special way for a new teacher to be inducted into the teaching profession while another teacher provides an action plan to improve a specified area in the school. No value can be placed upon the collaboration that occurs when two committed professionals work closely together.  It's a win for everyone involved especially the students.

 "The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." Leadership opportunities, additional studies, collaboration, coaching, and action plans all lead to make Table Mound being a very special place to learn.

Points of Pride: Fort Dodge's Duncombe Elementary & Middle School

Fort Dodge School Mission:  To provide quality learning experiences and build relationships that develop productive citizens ready for the future.

One of the district-wide initiatives in the Fort Dodge School District is Rachel's Challenge.  According to rachelchallenge.org:  "Rachel's Challenge is a national non-profit organization dedicated to creating safe, connected school environments where learning and teaching are maximized. Based on the life and writing of Rachel Scott, the first victim of the Columbine tragedy in 1999, Rachel's Challenge provides a continual improvement process for schools designed to awaken the learner in every child. This organization motivates and equips students to start and sustain a chain reaction of kindness and compassion that transforms schools and communities." They believe this can be attained by one act of kindness.

District Demographics:
Enrollment:  3500
Free and Reduced Lunch:  60-65%
1 Early Learning Center
4 Elementary Schools (K-4)
1 Middle School (grades 5-8)
1 High School with an Alternative High School onsite
1 Career and Pride Center at the Central Administration Office

My first stop was at Duncombe School (enrollment 320 with grades K-4).  Many of the staff were wearing PBIS shirts with the motto of:  Be Kind, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe - BE A DODGER!  

Jen Lane and Jeri Ayala

Next stop was a visit with the Kindergarten teacher Jeri Ayala who enthusiastically explained about the shift to CGI - Cognitively Guided Instruction in Math.  CGI is a philosophy NOT a curriculum.  It focuses on problem-solving where students must explain their thinking and how to prove their answers.  Instead of memorization the students take the process with them to transfer learning and conceptually understand math.  CGI provides a whole tool box for students to use to solve problems.  Instructional practices are enhanced through staff development time focused on collaboration between teachers and through instructional coaching by a trained coach.  The K-3 Innovation Grant provides coaches to give "just in time feedback" as they move instruction forward to enhance student achievement.

"Piggy Opera" performed by Grade 1

My final activity at Duncombe was a stop in the gym for a preview of the Piggy Opera performed by first grade.  Parents were invited to attend later in the afternoon.  In Duncombe, family engagement is emphasized with activities that include sharing reading strategies followed by families returning to classrooms to read with their child. 

Next was a visit to Fort Dodge Middle School with just under 1100 students grades 5-8.  It is a new building which opened for business in 2013 and united buildings that were originally organized in

grades 5-6 and grades 7-8.  The Fort Dodge community is growing as evidenced by new restaurants and ag businesses along with new shopping ares on 5th Avenue South.  With their spectacular new middle school, they are poised to grow even more.  The MS is organized into color-coded pods creating a strong team environment.  The lower level has Grades 5-6 and the upper level Grades 7-8.  A visit to Daven Provin's classroom reminds visitors that: "The most important tool for success is the belief that you can succeed."  Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are defining power standards for instruction.  As Ms. Provin explained, the tech coach is helping her rethink her sequence of curriculum with an emphasis on using leading questions that lead students to apply what they are learning from the past to today.

 Some of the classrooms have varied tables and chair heights to best meet the learning styles of students.  White board tables enhance student engagement and the LMC has as many computers as books.  The MS auditorium seats 650 with movable areas to seat an orchestra.

Advancements are also taking place at the Fort Dodge High School (just under 1200) which is working on Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) in the PLCs with a focus on providing rigorous and relevant instruction to their students.

The Fort Dodge School District has much in which to take pride.  A focus on acts of kindness is evidenced in Fort Dodge's tradition of taking their chain links with each link identifying an act of kindness from all schools and proudly displaying them at the football stadium. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is quoted as saying: “Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” True education is taking place in the Fort Dodge School District.  

Points of Pride: Muscatine's Grant School

Sometimes one simply has to pull up to a school and see what it loudly proclaims to the public to know when you enter you will experience something very special.  This is true of Grant School in the Muscatine Community School District.  When driving up to the building, a banner proclaims – Leader in Me School: Great Happens Here. Principal Becky Wichers is proud of her school and the work they have done to create a community of learners. 

District Demographics:

8 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 1 high school

School Demographics:

Enrollment - 320  PreK-grade 5

Free and reduced lunch - 52%

Staff – 40

The Leader in Me is not a program but a process and a framework for developing leaders.  It provides an avenue to deliver skills to students in goal-setting (academic and behavioral), leadership, and public speaking.  A major part of the Leader in Me process is to create opportunities to lead.  The focus is to build a strong culture that examines behavior in a positive way, and the learning community is taught to be a “bucket filler not a bucket dipper.” 

 The process is clearly outlined:

• Year 1 – Training
• Year 2 – Focusing on culture and climate;  organizing student-led conferences
• Years 3 & 4 – Embedding school-wide leadership roles

Student Tour Guides and Principal Wichers

Embedding the Seven Habits of Success within the curriculum is key to a successful Leader in Me school.  As part of student leadership roles, the building tour was led by Landon, William, and Emilio.  Adrian came into the office to share his learning portfolio including goals and progress.  He proudly explained that his leadership role is to escort two younger students to make sure they get on the correct bus at the end of the day.  In each class, I was greeted by a class representative who shook my hand, welcomed me into the room and asked how s/he could help me.

Each class creates a motto and proudly displays it along with a class picture to emphasize their commitment to the motto they have written.  This helps build a community of learning and a culture of achievement.

There are other initiatives alive at Grant Elementary including the implementation of Iowa Core with the development of common formative assessments and using Engage NY model for grades 4-12 in math.  Rocco is a therapy dog that calls Grant home. 
  What are the non-negotiables found in classrooms school-wide? 

• A common vision and mission shared by all
• WIGS – Wildly Important Goals with the identification of priority standards and posting of “I can…”  statements for students to understand expectations
• Weekly reflections valued
• Celebrating victories

Principal Withers wisely shared, “If you put kids in a culture of love and acceptance, they will thrive.”  This can be seen in action at Grant Elementary School.

Thank you, Jon Quam & STOYS

2014 State Teachers of the Year at Next Steps in NJ

Our life's landscape is

Molded

Shaped

Formed

As people enter and leave.

If we look with a special lens

We see God's hand at work

in the landscape of our life

In the entry that fills

 And departure that empties.

 We only need to

Open our eyes

Ears

Hearts

And see miracles

That we did not know existed

Brought forth by

Those we meet

Not content to leave us as we are

But beckoning us to fall forward

To move ahead

Nudging us to go 

Stronger

With purpose

Into our next steps

To another part of life's landscape

Those

Who inspire

Who shape our paths

Who when they leave

Make us more than what we were...

Points of Pride: Council Bluffs - Patron Tour

Education is an adventure in human relationships.  -Gerald W. Kirn

Council Bluffs Superintendent Dr. Martha Buckner and Bloomer Principal Mr. Casey Moran

The mission of the Council Bluffs Community School District is to guarantee that every student graduates with the knowledge, skills and character to become a responsible citizen and to succeed in a changing world by creating a leading-edge, inclusive educational system which provides challenging expectations, diverse experiences, engaging curriculum and innovative teaching within a collaborative, caring community.

District Demographics:  

Enrollment - About 9000  

Free and Reduced Lunch - slightly under 70%

127 teachers in leadership positions

Bloomer Elementary School Demographics:

Free and Reduced Lunch - 88% with a growing ELL population

Kirn Middle School Demographics:
Approximately 1000 students in grades 6-8
Principal Dr. Melissa Byington

Patron Tour - a concept I was unfamiliar with until visiting  Council Bluffs District.  What a great way to engage the community and inform them of classroom instruction!  Those who attended observed classroom instruction followed by reflection in the hallway by Principal Moran and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Corey Vorthmann.  This reflection allowed for the public to understand the seamless infusion of the Iowa Core standards within classroom instruction which the community overwhelmingly supports.  What a great professional learning opportunity for all stakeholders!  It is one thing to read the standards but entirely another to see it put into action.  The rigor and relevance in the classroom is evident as students are led to be critical thinkers.  Metacognition is key as students discuss the "how" about what they are learning while  developing problem-solving strategies that best meet their learning styles.   

The purpose of instruction in the Council Bluffs School District is to engage students in rich and meaningful ways focused around the Iowa Core which is evident to all who observe classroom instruction found at Bloomer and Kirn schools in this district.  In order to meet the learning needs of all students, small group instruction and individual assistance is provided.  Reading Recovery provides a 12- 20 week program for students to receive reading assistance and successfully transition back into the classroom.  All teaching is adjusted around standards and expectations with strong communication between the general education classroom and those providing assistance to the struggling student.  Instructional coaches and teaching teams use a data wall to track progress, stay student focused, and assure no one is lost in the learning process.

    A visit to Kirn Middle School was a lesson in differentiation as we visited two math classes teaching the same lesson but in two different ways based on the instructional needs of its students.



A visit to an ELA class showed the role technology plays in student engagement.  Using Google Docs, a new world of technology response work is opened for collaboration and reflections on learning.  The world becomes a classroom through instant access via the internet.  Intervention time is provided at the middle school where comprehensive literacy by Linda Dorn is used.  The staff is focused on what works best for adolescent learners and works collaboratively to identify what signifies proficiency on assessments. 

The Patron Tour concluded with a panel discussion consisting of two instructional coaches and myself.  The audience was teacher leaders from across the district.  The welcoming atmosphere and culture of collaboration has been made strong in Council Bluffs through their Teacher Leadership and Compensation grant. 

Thank you, Council Bluffs, for your willingness to open your doors and allow the community to view the quality education your students are receiving at Bloomer Elementary and Kirn Middle School.  Patron Tour is a format I hope many communities adopt as we move forward in sharing our stories about education today in Iowa schools.