IMPROVING THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM

MONITORING PROGRESS AND PROVIDING INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

EQAO data is consulted to determine Holy Cross school trends and students' possible areas of weakness based on previous results. This information assists in planning, topic emphasis and extra practice.
Teacher candidates' previous experiences are revealed through an "About Me" question sheet. This informs learning foci, where areas of inexperience are addressed in the teacher preparation course.

Teacher candidates are encouraged to use backward design for program, unit and lesson planning. I use this in my own practice.
Developing imagination in planning and teaching is required to envision and create. Work in divergent thinking and idea generation as the teacher and for the students, needs to increase. Convergent thinking (analysis and evaluation) is already more widely recognized and applied.
The following questions will help to prompt imagining the "perfect" classroom and practice:

What are students saying and doing?

What terms and techniques are students applying?

What does the classroom physically look like?

What is the teacher saying and doing?

...or a student in your school?

Encourage students and/or teaching colleagues to be part of the process in developing learning goals and assessment criteria.
By encouraging digital document creation and google folder sharing, ongoing and paperless feedback can be shared quickly.

Brainstorming, interpretations and reflections that result in an artifact. VRNs allow for multiple ways of knowing and responding to address diverse learners.

While leaders are invaluable to a school community, activist, Stephen Gaskin (The Farm Report, 1974), ex-U.S. Marine, ex-english teacher, reminds us that the value of a teacher cannot be underestimated. Good school leaders develop many of their leadership skills from first being good teachers. They also recognize the value of excellent practitioners and protect teachers so they can do their jobs.