Creating the Continuous Improvement Classroom Developing Ground Rules and Mission Statements

Discuss Expectations What do students expect of: –the school? –the class? –themselves? –the teacher It is important for students to know what to expect so they know what they should / could be improving on Expectations lay the foundation for: ground rules, mission statements and goal setting

Establish Ground Rules Ground rules should be established at the beginning of the school year and before any group effort All ground rules should be established together with all students participating –This allows for ownership of the process –Use the following tools when establishing ground rules: Brainstorm, Affinity Diagram, NGT Ground rules are designed to help the class meet classroom goals and follow the agreed upon mission statement

Steps For Creating Ground Rules With Students… 1.) Discuss what ground rules will be necessary in order to accomplish the goals and expectations for the year 2.) Brainstorm: Each student brainstorms ideas of ground rules 3.) Affinity Diagram: Each student shares his/her idea and a classroom affinity diagram is made which combines like ideas

4.) Nominal Group Technique: Once the Affinity Diagram has been constructed, the NGT tool is used to narrow down the ideas to the critical few 5.) Consensus: All students need to be able to support the ground rules. Consensus is obtained through discussion 6.) Discuss the ground rules and have each student sign them. Post them publicly in the classroom and refer to them each morning 7.) Continue to discuss how the ground rules will help the class achieve the agreed upon goals and mission statement

Using Ground Rules Try establishing ground rules before: field trips working in cooperative groups walking in the halls eating in the lunch room attending an assembly What other situations would it be helpful to establish ground rules?

Examples

Discuss Expectations What do students expect of: –the school? –the class? –themselves? –the teacher It is important for students to know what to expect so they know what they should / could be improving on Expectations lay the foundation for: ground rules, mission statements and goal setting

Quality Student Poster

Students set goals to be successful in the classroom.

Quality Teacher

Students set goals for the teacher !!!

Mission Statements

Process For Developing Mission Statements 1.) Define mission with students 2.) Students brainstorm ideas about: WHO, WHAT, HOW, FOR WHOM and WHY… 3.) Categorize ideas into an Affinity Diagram 4.) Get consensus on the critical few ideas and rank order them using NGT 5.) Finally, students and the teacher compile all of the ideas into statements that form the Classroom Mission Statement 6.) All stakeholders sign the posted classroom mission statement (Individual students can also write these!) 7.) Refer to it daily!

Mission Statements define a purpose for the teacher, students, parents, and other key stakeholders of the learning environment.

8th Grade English/Lit Class

8TH GRADE ENGLISH/LIT CLASS

7TH GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASS

The same tools are used independently by students to create Personal Mission Statements. The classroom teacher will continue to provide support and guidance as needed during this process.

The Goal Setting Process Based on the mission statement, the class chooses one challenge area they would like to work on- this turns into a goal statement Students and the teacher develop an Action Plan to help accomplish the goal The class will decide on measures- how the data will be collected (tally, bar graph, run chart) There should be weekly evaluation of the data being gathered- data is publicly displayed Goals and Action Plans should be revised based on the data collected

Students must be able to understand and define appropriate expectations: State/District Standards IEP Goals Classroom Standards

Individual Conferences are held with each student (At this point Individual Student Mission statements have been finalized) Student have identified two or three challenge areas Students select one challenge area to develop for an academic goal and another challenge area for the development of a socialization goal ( e.g. developing a students work ethic, homework completion, or may be more specific behavioral goals)

The Process: Collaboratively: The student and teacher develop an action plan Decisions regarding how data will be gathered and recorded are determined at this point (tally, bar graph, run chart) Weekly evaluation of the data being gathered is reviewed and shared Goals and action plans are revised based on data collected

My Goals Name:_____________ Date:___________ Academic/Socialization Goal _________________________________ Action Plan: Evaluation:

DEFINITIONS G oal – what you are seeking to improve I ndicator – observable evidence that the goal is being achieved M easure – the instrument or tool for assessing progress toward the goal T arget – the amount of improvement youre seeking

SMART GOALS S pecific, strategic M easurable A ttainable R esults-oriented T ime-bound

SMART GOALS Examples Within the next 2 years, reduce by 50% the number of students needing remedial reading assistance after 9th grade Reduce from 30% to 5% the percent of students receiving failure grades in algebra in the school year At the end of the year, all students will receive a score of 70% or better on the district administered writing assessment

Pulling It All Together! Classroom Data Centers

Classroom Data Center Class Mission Statement Who are we? What do we propose to do? Why? Who are the members of our team? (Signatures/Photo) Measures of Mission Fulfillment What does success look like? Who will do what? To what level of performance? In what time frame? Graphs With Performance Projection What are our near and long term work goals and timelines? Do we have graphs illustrating performance levels and showing if the long term class average is rising, falling, or remains unchanged? Does each member of the team have an individual data folder illustrating the individuals projected and actual performance levels relative to the Measures of Mission Fulfillment?

The Mission of Mr. Smiths Class is to promote a well- educated group of peers who respect others and their property as well as themselves while maintaining a high standard of attendance and grades. The class will be set in a comfortable, positive, and interesting atmosphere. The combination of these key points ensure the best combination for outstanding learning. We will know were successful when by the end of the school-year all students have: all As perfect Attendance enjoy this class

Creating the Continuous Improvement Classroom Developing Mission Statements, Ground Rules and Goal Setting