So, What Exactly Is My Job?

I have enjoyed reading all of the posts about favorite classroom things and classroom structures...so that made me think: what is the "structure" of my job?  Next year, I will have a new job partner, a new head principal, and our district has completely restructured the upper echelon, so I thought it would be wise to pinpoint a few things, just in case anyone else asked about my job. ;)

My job title is "Instructional Specialist," and my job description in one sentence is that I spend my time supporting teachers and students as we work to fulfill school and district goals.  (Oh, I also teach two math classes.)  I have no administrative power, but I'm involved in a lot of school stuff, so I do have quite a bit of influence in campus decisions.  The IS job looks different on each campus, based on each school's priorities.

Last year, my IS partner and I decided we needed more focus for our jobs, so we posted a list of our priorities.  When people started asking about this or that, we asked, "Is that on our yellow sheet?" and it made it a bit easier to say "NO, I don't think we can do that." (I admit we often stretched a lot of our job responsibilities to fit categories on the yellow sheet!)

My schedule is very erratic each week.  I attend PLC (common planning) meetings for math and social studies.  I work with new teachers, I support our mentor teachers, and I pretty much am "on call" for any teacher who needs help...with lessons, tutoring plans, technology, classroom management, group work, intervention plans, testing...  We plan our site-based staff development, and we plan all meetings and professional development for our new teachers. I write and monitor our Campus Improvement Plan, plan all of our Instructional Leadership Team meetings, and visit as many classrooms as possible.  After reading Simon Sinek, we created a WHY for the Instructional Specialists, which is "Every day, make someone's life better," so bottom line, we look for ways we can help others.  (For a second WHY, we also borrowed Home Depot's motto: "You can do it, we can help!")

When I started my job as IS, the best information I received was "Your time is not your own," and that is absolutely true, although I usually have free time between 7:00 - 7:25 AM. ;) Our office is very centrally located in the building, and we have one of our test scan machines in our office, so our office door is always open, and I'm glad we have cultivated the feeling of trust and belonging in our office.  We host planning meetings and informal meetings in our office.  Teachers seem to love being in here (but that could also be because we have a few super comfy chairs and a coffee pot!)

Because I float and do not have a classroom, I frequently have tutoring in my office.  I have seating for about 12 in the office, and my students seem to enjoy hanging out in here as much as the teachers do.

Last year, I followed the trend on Pinterest, and created the door signs for our office door.  These signs made me happy every time I entered.  

My other office favorite is my collection of college pennants, donated by some of my former graduates.

Fun times on my job: last year for our new teacher in-service on campus, we had the cutest set-up, complete with a decorated classroom, personalized magnets, and breakfast.  At 8:00 AM, we decided the air-conditioning was definitely not working (and we're talking about August in Texas) so we ran around the building to find another suitable room for our supplies and 25 new teachers (but missing the cute set-up!) :(

A "real" fun part of the job: we're told, "Make certain that you do something to honor your mentor teachers!" so in some cases, we get to be party planners. :)

My creative talents were also put to the test when the district wanted schools to create technology-themed centerpieces for their Summer Leadership Meetings...and guess who was assigned to create that centerpiece?  Of course, the ISs will enjoy doing that!   (We did win 3rd place, which got us the new coffee pot, one of the office favorites, though!)

Oh yes, we need a two-minute video of what your school is doing to implement differentiated instruction.  Show what you've done and your plan for the future, and it must be in iMovie format, and it's due in three days... who does this on our campus?   (I loved learning how to use iMovie, though.)  

During my first year as an IS, one of the most challenging aspects of my job was that I allowed my instructional specialist responsibilities to creep into my classroom.  Teachers would stop by during class and ask questions, I would check email during class and learn that someone needed something now, and I tried to address all issues at all times.  The last few years, I promised my students that during our class period, I would be completely devoted to them.   I try to warn them when my IS job schedule interferes with the week (and limits tutoring, for example) but I communicate with my students via my website or email, and my math colleagues jump in to help with tutoring and make-ups.

At times, I really miss my own classroom and a schedule full of math classes; however, I love my job supporting teachers and students.   I enjoy working with and learning about other content areas, and I love the professional development side of my job. Side note: according to my FitBit, I average about 7,000 steps a day while at school, but in May during testing season (EOC tests and I proctored a bunch of AP tests) I got about 11,000 steps per day.  As with all teachers, I love that my job changes daily. Flexibility is always the key, right? I have learned so much on this job, and I have appreciated all of the new learning and growing opportunities.

Are there instructional coaches on your campus?  What are their job descriptions?

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Classroom Tour 2

At the beginning of the past two years, we have had room decorating contests, so I compiled a lot of pictures of classrooms.  (Our principal provided prizes for the best rooms, by the way.)  I shared some of the best pictures on this post, but this presentation (created for our new teachers) includes even more pictures, so I thought I would share here, too.  Enjoy!

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Made4Math - Digital Word Walls

I've really missed blogging and participating in #Made4Math, so after reading so many wonderful ideas over the past few months, I'm happy to be able to contribute to this week's collection.

Several years ago, we jumped on the "Word Wall" bandwagon, and teachers in all content areas learned the importance of vocabulary building, displaying vocabulary, and actively using their word walls.

Had to throw in an English teacher's example, too! 

Fast forward several years, and we're now in the digital age.  One of our junior high teachers, Omar P., who teaches at a technology magnet school and who has created this fantastic informational site, led us into the 21st century with his idea of digital word walls.  (His site includes informational videos, app reviews, and presentations, and his work is helping our entire district!)

At a recent staff development, Omar shared his ideas and how he used his digital word walls, so I created one for my class and wanted to share this great strategy.

Instead of posting words/pictures/diagrams on a bulletin board, the same types of images are stored in folders on your iPad or computer.  Using the slideshow option, you can project the pictures as students are entering the classroom, while they're working on an activity, or during tutoring time.

I created my pictures using screen shots of handwritten notes, of Keynote slides, and of slides using a presentation app called Haiku deck.  I also plan to take pictures of the students' work and add those slides to the folder.  Omar has more iPads in his classroom, so he has had students create word walls using Keynote.  You could also find free images online for additional pictures or backgrounds.

Made using the Haiku deck app

I also included a few slides that were quotes or reminders about strategies for working these problems.

Our test is this week, so for the next few days, I plan to have these slides showing as the students enter the room.  (If you want to see the other slides, my trig identity folder is here.  I just noticed that the Haiku deck app provided a background that misspelled "adjacent," so I'm not too happy about that, but other than that, the slides were pretty and the app was easy to use.)  

I love the fact that these folders of pictures can be saved, changed, and shared.  Teachers and students could collaborate on unit folders, share photos, and update the words/images each year.  As we're reviewing for finals and preparing for other tests, we'll have these folders of pictures easily available and ready to go.  If you would like more information, Omar has a video explanation here about how he has used the digital word wall in his classroom.

Do you have a word wall in your classroom?  How do you use your word wall?  How do you reinforce vocabulary in your classroom?

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Seating Charts are Now a Breeze!

This post probably should be a "My Favorite Friday" post, but since I'm not starting it until Sunday night, I'll add it to "Made4Math!"  (I finally had a chance to catch up on great blogs from so many people!  What a fabulous way to spend a few hours this afternoon.)

I used the same (ancient) computerized seating chart program for many years, but alas, it no longer worked on Windows 7.  Thanks to one of our math teachers, many of us are now using Smart Seat, and we are all loving this app!  (We agree that it was well worth $3.99.)

Smart Seat is strictly a seating chart/attendance app, but you may also make notes on each student.  

The app allows you to easily change room layouts, and here's a screen shot of my class grouped by "tables."  For the display, I can choose to include first names, first and last names, or first names and pictures.  

Here's a sample class of rows, and I included a couple of pictures for demo purposes only.  (My cat didn't mind posing for a picture!)

You may also add icons to each name to help create an instructional seating chart.  Another cool features is the "Random" button, which provides an in-app random name generator.  The students you have called on are highlighted until you click "Done," so you know who has participated.

I imported all of my students' names using a .txt file, and it was a very simple process.  There are a few other options to change the text size, orientation, and exporting features.  You may save and print each chart as a PDF.

My friend Laura contacted the app developer a couple times, and they were very helpful and immediately responded to her questions, so that's another plus for me. 

To change seats, just hold and drag a student's name to a new location!  There is also an option to scramble all seats to quickly create a new, random seating chart.

I practiced with the Teacherkit app this summer, which also includes a grade book feature, but as of now, I still prefer Smart Seat.  (Teacherkit is free, though!)  

Which teacher productivity apps do you love?  

Have a great week!

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Cool Classrooms!

Last year, we hosted our first annual "Tour of Classrooms," and since it's time to do some serious thinking about bulletin boards, calendars, sub crates, and absence binders, I thought it would be fun to revisit and share the coolest things we saw in our teachers' classrooms.  (Since I am a floater teacher, I did not get to decorate, but I went on the tour.)   I think some high school teachers get accused of bland classrooms, but not the one below!

The tour served multiple purposes:

• Teachers were able to "show off" their classrooms.  (And our principal donated office supply gift cards to the winners.)
• Administrators were able to visit rooms in a completely non-threatening way and recognize teachers in their departments.
• At the beginning of the week, we gave teachers the rubric for how prizes would be awarded (based on supplies, organization, etc.) so some teachers created new "spaces" in their room for those items, calendars, schedules, word walls...
• We conducted the tour on the Friday after lunch (school started on Monday) so some teachers said the contest motivated them to be more organized and ready to go on Friday, rather than spending the weekend at school.
• Our school is large-ish, and I think some teachers rarely leave their own spaces to visit other classrooms.  We sent different administrators to tour different hallways and everyone took pictures, and we compiled all photos into a slide show.  We sent the link to the entire faculty, so everyone had the opportunity to see all of the cool things in all of the classrooms.

The grand prize winning room belonged to an ELA teacher, who is also our girls' basketball coach (thus all of the sports stuff on her board above.)  Find more pictures of her room below.

On the tour, we found...

The math teachers (and a few others) were all about board calendars, and they used duct tape and fun borders to create their agendas.

Loved, loved, loved this make-up work folder, and the teacher left it propped by her "Information" bulletin board.

A science teacher made wordles for each unit of study.

Great classroom and writing rules:

The zebra print belonged to Coach Holly and her winning room!

 

 Great door signs, especially if you are frequently out of your classroom:

The tennis coach never has trouble with his desks squealing across the floor!

To change the look of your teacher desk, try these tricks:

Need to borrow a pencil?  Please return it to its velcro holder when you leave!

A few creative word walls/vocabulary displays:

And a shoe holder for the calculators!

Japanese class, obviously

For those fortunate enough to have windows...

 And finally, a few other creative walls and bulletin boards:

In an AVID classroom

ELA projects from recent years

Social studies collages

It is so much fun to peek into other classrooms.  Hope you were inspired!  Did you see any ideas that you can duplicate or use for your room?  Happy decorating and organizing!

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