Action Plan – Creating 21st Century Learners

CREATING AN ACTION PLAN

 

Creating 21st Century Learners
DATE: June 2011 – June 2012
GOAL: Establish short-term goals that support the long-term goal of creating 21st century learners in literacy for a teacher, school, and family of schools in a collaborative model (specific to needs of learners, school, and community)
MOTIVATION:  Teachers: To work in collaboration with motivated teachers to improve student achievement in reading defined by relevant collaborative goals Generate goals based on needs of individual students and student population Share resources and ideas that relate to the 21st century learner Feeling of increased confidence and knowledge Experiment with strategies and “tricks” deemed successful by other teachers with similar student needs Watch student engagement increase (relevant 21st century learning tasks) and confidence increase Monitor student improvement on electronic data wall (team site) and reflect on short-term goals Use of technology Students: Use of technology in relevant reading activities Variety of texts to choose (relevant reading level and interesting content) Differentiation Motivated and enthusiastic teachers Use of technology Use of detailed descriptive feedback Family Literacy Nights – share and celebrate learning with family and community
ACTION STEPS		TIMING
A. On Year End PD day  – have principal and motivated school program leader share vision with staff to consider for next year (for interested and motivated educators to plan, team-teach, moderate, and reflect in family of schools who wish to work toward creating 21st century learners in literacy as one of their annual learning plan goals)		June 2011 PD day
Have principals send out e-mail to all educators in family of school outlining basic premise of educational change – interested educators will be asked to attend after school meeting outlining premise of goal and collaborate on what the big picture will look like Begin to prepare for short-term goals i.    Decide on web-based multiple intelligences or learning style assessment to administer to students and share at first meeting (decide on format to share results) ii.    Decide on reading assessment to administer (PM Benchmarks/Casi/Flint Cooter etc) iii.    Be prepared to share a couple of areas of development for your students by the first meeting you wish to possibly pursue  Ask admin for shared planning and same duty free day to facilitate planning sessions and sharing sessions for dedicated educators Decide on program leader for logistics planning (set up “ 21st Century Literacy Learner TeamSite” – webbased tool to share information and ideas, organize and establish meeting schedules etc.)		Early September
First Meeting (For all educators involved in project across family of schools) Share “teamsite” –  where all members have access to share ideas and resources online Share results of multiple intelligences/or learning style results  – show how to share this information on team-site Share reading assessment results Facilitate collaborative discussion on reading goals based on results of assessment Decide on 6 or 8 week cycle for pathway i.    Break into focus groups after a couple of goals determined ii.    Decide how to measure student success iii.    Create framework for success criteria		End of September / Early October
Determine plan with team (breaking down goal) and create differentiated tasks to meet goal		October/November – during shared planning and duty free day
Plan lesson to teach based on focus group goal with school team during shared planning and duty free day Things to consider Student engagement – use of technology Resources needed Questions to ask Differentiated tasks Relevance to 21st century learner		October/ November – Team Teaching and Reflection(1/2 day release day) – two per pathway
Sharing Day (Family of Schools) and Planning For Next Pathway MORNING Meet with focus group and share findings from each school – collaborate and reflect i.    Share student samples of work ii.    Moderate as a team one sample that reflect criteria established at beginning of pathway iii.    Reflect – any adjustments needed for assessment and success criteria if used again Share strategies used and differentiated tasks that relate to 21st century learner (these may have been posted on teamsite already) Provide a brief overview period (2 focus groups come together) for all to learn from and ask questions or share AFTERNOON Begin planning for next pathway Facilitate collaborative discussion on reading goals based on results of assessment Decide on 6 or 8 week cycle for pathway  i.    Break into focus groups after a couple of goals determined  ii.    Decide how to measure student success iii.    Create framework for success criteria		(November) Full day release – end of pathway and beginning of new pathway
Process Continues For Remainder of School Year		2011-2012 School Year
Ultimate Goal – Have entire staff motivated to commit for 2012-2013 school year
OBSTACLES: Scheduling times to meet (individual schools and family of schools) Establishing Meeting Location Budget – Occasional Teacher Coverage, resources Having technology available to promote 21st century learning	RESPONSES: Duty free day (team planning) Shared Planning Make use of Board Resource Centre whenever possible (borrow SmartBoard for a month) Parent Council and fundraisers – fund technology within the school
RESOURCES: Technology (desktops, laptops, smartboards, ELMOs, i-pods, i-pads) Web based tools – build a bank (post on “teamsite” A few teachers with comfort around technology Parent Council	ACTION STARTERS: Collaborate and involve staff in decisions as much as possible Share and celebrate success in Family Literacy Night Hold staff meetings in different classrooms showcasing relevant literacy learning opportunities of 21st century learners and have a short sharing  Make use of practical purposes for reading and literacy within the community