Education changes frequently through ever-evolving variables such as students, class composition, standards, curriculum, methods, technology, and resources. These changes make teaching exciting and thought-provoking. To continue to be effective teachers, we must continue to learn. Many schools have identified the need for their staff to participate in a community of teachers who share their experiences, ideas, and knowledge for the benefit of the students they serve. Participating in data chats provides us with opportunities to review the decisions we made and the influence those decisions had on student learning. It allows us to discuss changing variables and develop a plan to become more effective in the classroom. Part of working in these groups is reflection on your own instruction and bringing relevant data to the table when participating in curricular discussions.Imagine it is the beginning of your second year of teaching at a school and the teachers in your content team/professional learning community (PLC) are getting together to look at what revisions need to be made to this year’s calendar and curriculum. They have asked you to bring ideas to the team, but you have found that over the summer you have forgotten what was done the year before and whether students were successful. After speaking to your mentor, you decide to create an action plan for the upcoming year to track the success of your instruction and possible changes to the curriculum.Ensure the following is included in your plan:
How you will collect data from students regarding academic success and student enjoyment. Discuss how you will use the data to inform future planning and instruction.
How you will track and analyze the success of individual lessons, including strategies, tools, technology, resources, units of learning, and the curriculum as a whole.
How you will track the time it took for students to complete individual lessons and demonstrate mastery of learning, including necessary remediation, reteaching, and enrichment. Discuss how you will use the data to inform future planning and instruction.
How you will continue to improve your practice through this process by engaging in ongoing learning opportunities. Include ideas for improving both content knowledge and processes in the classroom that allow you to provide all learners with engaging curriculum and standards-based learning experiences.
How you will reflect on the success of your plan, including how often you will reflect, how you will reflect/determine if the plan is providing appropriate data, and at least one resource you can use to gather additional information should your plan fail to provide appropriate and sufficient data.
Discuss how data chats can provide an opportunity to take on leadership roles to advocate for meeting the needs of students, strengthening the learning environment, and enacting a system of change.
Support the plan with 3-5 scholarly resources.