Continuous Improvement

I want to focus on my craft to be inspired and to inspire excellence in educators in order to cultivate and motivate inquisitive students through collaboration and positive conversations. 

I like to begin my posts with my purpose, my why.

I consider myself a life-long learner!  I thoroughly enjoy learning new things, specifically strategies that will benefit my students.   One such strategy, or in this case a process, is continuous improvement using the framework Plan, Do, Study, Act.  What made this a game changer?  My students became part of the process. 

How does this process work?

First, as a class we use data to choose a goal to work on.  This becomes our plan.  Our class goal is usually a standard the students struggle with.  At this point in time, our goal is the standard NBT.7 (Division).

Do Next, as a class we have conversation regarding my responsibilities as the teacher and the responsibilities of my students.  For example, after discussing how, as a class, we are struggling with division, I ask my students, "what do you need from me?"  I record their needs on our learning board. ie; pull more small groups; create more interactive Google Slide practices; more partner work; etc.  I then ask students "what can you do to master this standard?" I also record their suggestions on our learning board.  Some examples include, ask for help, complete the Google Slide practices, etc.  

Study After implementation of Plan and Do, I assess my students then analyze the data. I present this data to my students. As a class, my students set a goal of 100% will score an 80% or better on assessments. We set 80% as proficient. 

Act After analyzing the data we discuss what worked and what did not work (plus and deltas). If we are not even close to our 100% we will start the cycle over again until we get close to 100%.

NOTE: As with any strategy or process, I "tweak" it to fit the needs of my classroom! I would love to hear from other educators as to what works for you!