Articulation Time! Let's learn together!

"Write On!"

“What can we do together, that we cannot do so well alone?” Our Articulation time invites us into the struggle of learning, learning from a process and from one another. I have invited two teachers to share the “Write On!” experience at each of their schools:

Kathleen Fogarty, St. Philomena School
“Having the opportunity to teach a lesson using similar directions, prompt, and rubric is something our staff has never done. This activity provided teachers an opportunity to discuss, "what," and "how" we teach and assess writing. Participating in this activity has opened the door to future discussions about how we teach writing and assess it.”

Gwen Geivett, St. Joseph School
“This past week teachers, specialists, and administrators gathered together in a professional learning community at St. Joseph School as they scored the Archdiocesan “Write On!” assessment. The time was filled with rich conversations and thoughtful discussion as teams grappled with this Common Core aligned assessment, and what it revealed about student achievement at each grade level. As the teams worked, they were able to call upon colleagues to insure calibrated scoring. Teachers, in all content areas, will be asked to use the data to inform writing instruction throughout the year. Setting this time aside to score as a community was a fruitful experience that supported the idea that advancing student literacy is the responsibility of every teacher, in every content area.”

When you reflect on the process of looking at student work

• Was the rubric effective in providing clear expectations for student work?
• What did your students find especially challenging?
• What are the strengths of the student work samples?
• What are the patterns of challenge in the student work samples?
• What did you see in the student work that was interesting or surprising?
• Did you identify any patterns in the evidence that provide clues to how and what students were thinking?
• What about the patterns of my thinking? What new perspectives do your colleagues provide?
• What did you learn about how the students think and learn?
• What about the process helped you see and learn these things?
• How will this work sample help guide your instruction?

-The National School Reform Faculty from the Harmony Education Center-

Even if you haven’t completed the activity, please plan to participate in a rich discussion as we learn together, from one another!