I try to challenge myself each week to do something a little different or something maybe a little more exciting or personalized.
—Jessica Mendoza
Make It Personal
My friend Jenny broke her ankle the day before I broke mine. She had surgery the day before I had mine. It’s been interesting to share our experiences and to find out what is the same and what is different.
Just because Jenny and I both broke our ankles and needed surgery, it doesn’t mean we have the same needs throughout the healing process. As X-rays are imaged, swelling is checked, blood pressure is measured, and pain levels are indicated, our data is collected.
This experience made me think about the way we collect data and use it in school. It is easy to look at the numbers and respond mechanically with the next steps for learning. However, the thing Jenny and I appreciate the most is that our medical teams are personal. My team knows I can’t wait to go for a run one afternoon. Jenny’s team knows she wants to quickly return to an active job with children.
The personalization of data is what allows the best next steps to be determined. The same is true when it comes to the data we collect about student learning. When we take the time to make it personal, the best next steps are determined.
In a world that is increasingly bombarded by data, we can be quick to toss it into the one-more-thing-that-I-don’t-have-time-to-deal-with-today pile. That’s why this week’s collections of articles gave me pause. They are about using data in powerful ways by first making it personal.
One of my all-time favorite quotes is by middle grade author Avi: “If you want to teach me to write, first you must love me.” It holds true for writing and for almost anything else we want to teach. Using data to plan the best next steps comes down to care and personalization. This week we look at using data—plus more, as always.
Shine on!
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills are longtime contributors to Choice Literacy. They met while co-teaching a fourth-grade class, and experienced the powerful effects of professional collaboration on both themselves and the students in the classroom. Tara is now a middle school literacy teacher, and Kate is a K-5 literacy coach. Though they’re no longer in the classroom together, they still depend on each other for professional reflection and growth, and meet up for weekly runs. You can find them on Twitter, @taraandkate.
Listen in on the podcast as Ruth Ayres and Cathy Mere discuss this week’s theme.
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan discuss ways teachers can get the most out of any assessment data, moving beyond numbers for insights into how to structure and target instruction. (This article was first published in 2012.)
Don’t miss Kate and Tara’s book talk about The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad, S.K. Ali, and Hatem Aly. Join the Choice Literacy Book Club and read along with us this month. (PS—This is hands down the most low-pressure book club to join!)
Candice Bocala and Kathryn Parker Boudett encourage educator teams to take a more inquiry-based approach to data analysis to address inequitable norms and patterns.
NOW AVAILABLE! Don’t miss Better Student Feedback: Giving, Receiving, and Using Student Feedback with Ruth Ayres. This course is free to Literacy Leader members and available to purchase.
Ruth Ayres shares a wealth of resources from Choice Literacy contributors focused on the power of giving and receiving student feedback. This course is divided into four short sections, each tackling a different aspect of giving, receiving, and using student feedback.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Heather Fisher shares how to rebrand data meetings as mining meetings to turn anxiety and frustration into actionable and meaningful responses to data.
In this video, Christy Rush-Levine circulates for quick conferences as students complete their literary analysis essays.
In this encore video, “data cards” are ingeniously designed to allow an entire grade-level team to look at the reading levels of all students in the grade. In this four-minute video, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser explain how they work.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Gwen Blumberg describes a five-step filtering process of student assessment data designed to help make true data-driven decisions in an efficient amount of time. Download a visual guide of the data-filtering process.
Matt Renwick offers three contexts in which a coaching culture is deliberately built and supported in school.
In this encore article, David Pittman humorously conveys the dread he experiences when he is assigned to lead an inservice session focused on data. He then finds creative ways to reframe the discussion.
Stella Villalba teaches us how to discover, honor, and share student stories throughout the school year. With special attention to English learners, Stella walks educators through a process to intentionally honor the past and present of all students.
Quote It:
Things get done only if the data we gather can inform and inspire those in a position to make a difference.
—Mike Schmoker
That’s all for this week!
