Detention Center Visit 10/28/2016

Carolyn Curley, curleyca@wauwatosa.k12.wi.us

Amy Duchac, duchacam@wauwatosa.k12.wi.us
What
trends did
you see?

Strengths:
Learning goals
posted in 2 rooms
Students created
their own definitions
of vocabulary terms
Students were
provided with a list
of vocabulary words
pertinent to the
book, to be used as
a resource
Students led review
of previous learning
Some rich
discussions with
visual aides
Some topics that
were of high interest
to the students

Areas for Improvement:

Lots of teacher-student talk vs.
student-student talk.
Can the students work in partnerships?
Small collaborative groups?
In the rooms with two teachers maybe
one teacher could measure (with a
stopwatch) the amount of teacher talk
vs student talk and try to progress from
there
Lots of distractions to the learning
environment (what is within your control and
what is not?)
Guards are necessary but could they talk
quietly in the hall? Whats the
accountability protocol if they dont?
Both sides need to agree to this.
Popcorn reading- get rid of it! Read this
article to see why and to find some
alternatives.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/alternat
ives-to-round-robin-reading-todd-finley

What
should our
next steps
be?

Staff and administration should work together to determine the most

important learning these students need during their long or short time at
the facility (how are you going to protect this time?). This should guide
all your decisions. Consider the following components.
Collaboration- the most demanded skill upon entering a career
Rigorous Thinking
Doug Buehl: Reading in the Content Areas
Questioning the author
Interactive strategies (some are collaborative)
Engagement
Posted learning goals (not activities) to help with the transition of
students in and out of the classroom on a regular basis. Targets should
reflect what you want the students to learn and be able to do
Example: I can use authors bias to evaluate the text for validity.
Non- example: I can read two articles about opposing
candidates for the presidential election.

What
could be
done
differently
in MCAP?

Upon a students entrance into MCAP a personalized learning plan

should be created
pre/post testing
Progress monitoring
Co-planning to co-serve should occur with the teachers who are
working with these students
MCAP should be using more rigorous instructional materials (i.e. for
writing use Lucy Calkins Units of Study for Middle School or Step Up to

Writing)
Use NWEA MAP Learning Continuum and Lexile Levels to plan for next
rigorous instructional steps
How
could we
best use
our newly
hired
reading
specialist?

Things to
consider

Collaborate with staff to create a process to determine what is taught.

Could they use the CCSS to guide their thinking and determine lesson
goals that would cover a range of grades?
Staff will need some support to write learning goals that focus
on student learning rather than on activities. Once teachers
know the target then they can start to think about the success
criteria to help students get there.
Create a system for determining students who have special needs or
struggle with reading
Teachers of these students will need to know how to modify
instructional lessons to help these students learn how to read
Model high quality lessons for staff (use gradual release of responsibility
for teaching staff to be effective practitioners)
http://dpi.wi.gov/ela/instruction/framework
Incorporate individual reading or writing for the students so they are
doing work at their level (for general population and MCAP).
Readtheory.com (Levels students for you)
Tweentribune.com- high interest, current articles
Kidblog.org to respond to a question or prompt
NWEA should be used for Title I reasons and for MCAP. The results of
MAP will not be accurate if the student is under emotional duress. We
would not recommend using Lexile levels or the learning continuum
for the general population.
Staff should work together to consider changing the name of the
school to reflect a more positive mindset (Seeds of Health, Wrap
Around, Turning Point, etc) The term Detention Center has a
negative connotation.
Consider having the students call the teacher by their first name (i.e.,
Ms. Wendy or Mr. Anderson, or having a stage name if they dont want
to use their real name). Calling a teacher by Ms. Z or Mr. H is informal
and does nothing to build relationships.
The students artwork is phenomenalcan you incorporate more visual
notetaking into the learning?
Take down the store-bought posters. Theyre not engaging and the
students see them as part of the wall of the environment, not as tools
for learning. Anchor charts could be made with the students to show
the learning journey and could be used to show new students what
has been learned prior to their arrival.
Its a sterile environment. Can students use vibrant markers
and/or Mr. Sketch smelly markers (positive sensory experience)
to create anchor charts?
Students should feel some ownership of their learning
environment. Having the students create the posters will help
with this.