CP Blog Entry #14: Reflect on what worked and what did not work during the process of completing your Change Project.

I think the most successful outcome for my Change Project was the number of teachers who not only participated in the Power Team this school year, but were also actively involved in brainstorming ways to make the Power Team even better. I had 19 teachers and 6 other staff members who were involved. My principal was very supportive in allowing me the opportunity to hold the Power Team meetings and she was instrumental in providing necessary funding for the materials for the parents. The team members were enthusiastic about the parent meetings and came up with some great ideas to increase parent attendance in the future. Several other teachers hope to participate next school year.

My biggest disappointment was the parent involvement. We had 28% of the parents attend the first Power Team meeting and only 11 % for the second meeting. Six of the teachers decided to cancel their meetings because only one or two parents responded to attend. The third meeting will be held in May.


What would you use differently and what would you use again?

Use Again: I will continue to use the PowerPoints for training and for the Power Team parent meetings, as well as the new parent invitation letter created by the Power Team members.

Use differently: I will create a new PowerPoint to be used by the participating teachers during Open House. I believe if we can entice the parents to attend the meetings early on, more will attend.

Additional thoughts: I am grateful to the CAPE committee for allowing us the opportunity to fulfill our Change Project ideas and for their continued support throughout the process. The technology presented and the regular meetings really gave us an advantage in helping us to be successful.

Thank you!

CP Blog Entry #13: What part of your Tier III training met your needs and what part did not meet your needs?

I have been very pleased with the training I have received for all three Tier III courses thus far.

Module 1 Part A: The facilitators offered assistance and support as I was introduced to the Change Project requirements and timelines. They gave instruction as to each section of the Change Project Template and reviewed the information at length. The meetings with the other participants were helpful as we often bounced ideas off one another and came up with solutions to dilemmas we were facing.

Module 1 Part B: I learned a wealth of technological knowledge by participating in the Digital Portfolio Course. Chris was attentive to my questions and offered assistance anytime it was needed. She was patient and even spent extra time re-teaching certain tasks that were more difficult. I am especially pleased that she decided to continue as a facilitator for the third course.

Module 2 Part C: The facilitators continue to provide answers to questions and technological support as I work towards completing the requirements for my Change Project. They seem genuinely concerned about any trials faced by the participants and interested in learning about the process we have undergone.

CP Blog Entry #12: Has there been "buy-in" for the continuation of your Change Project and at what level?

There is definite buy-in for the continuation of my Change Project into the 2016-2017 school year. I have spoken with several teachers at various grade levels who want to continue the Power Team meetings next year. I have also had contact with about five teachers at various grade levels who would like to participate for the first time next school year. Although our PTO has been approving funds for our materials, I will be working on additional outside funding (grants, Shoparoo, etc.) to assist with the cost of materials for next school year. I have a meeting with my principal on Monday and I am confident she will support the Power Team and its continuance.


What steps have you taken to insure success of implementation?

I have already had discussions with the other Power Team members about continuing the meetings next year. We have brainstormed ideas for next year's dates and the teachers are already looking forward to preparing for the 2016-2017 Power Team meetings. We have worked together to come up with an informative invitation flyer for the parents and have discussed ways to present more data at our Power Team parent meetings. I also suggested that we present the Power Team information during our Open House meetings to entice parents to attend.

CP Blog Entry #11: What ideas have you formulated to "Pay Forward" your Change Project?

When I began this Change Project, I knew that I wanted to continue the Power Team into future school years. I find that it takes me three times to make something successful. Even if the Power Team parent attendance remains low this year, I want to "soldier-on" for at least the next three years.

List any ideas you brainstormed and then focus one that is most promising. Include members of the school community that have shown support for your plan.

 The members of my powerful team have already been discussing plans for next year's Power Team parent nights. One of the biggest changes will be to have our first parent night before the first mid-term reports go home. We are hoping this will decrease the apprehension from parents about their child's grades. Many of the intermediate teachers had to hold phone conferences with parents about concerns for the first mid-term report.

We have also worked together to create parent flyers, provide childcare for parents in need, and our PTO has graciously donated funds for all materials, including refreshments for the parents and the children who have to use the childcare. Therefore, we will already have plans in place for these items.

Several teachers have declared their intentions to begin participation in next year's Power Team conferences, and I am confident that this year's participates will continue into next year.

CP Blog Entry #10: Did your projected plan on your Proposal Template (M1.4) develop naturally or was the process in need of rearranging?

Honestly, I expected to make changes to my plan as the project progressed, but I feel they have developed naturally as I learn and grow along with the other Power Team members.

 My Change Project has three goals. The first is to decrease time spent conferencing. The second is to increase parent involvement in attending conferences. The third is to raise our student standardized test scores (FCAT or PACE).

To verify the success of the first goal, I have asked the participating teachers to complete a form to keep track of how much time they spend per conference during this school year. This information is still being collected as we have our second Power Team meeting in January and the last meeting in early May. As for my own data, I spent less time conferencing with the seven parents who attended the Power Team meeting in September (an average of 17 minutes/conference) than I have with the other 13 parents (an average of 37 minutes/conference). in the past, I have spent from 45-60 minutes or more for conferences. *The results for Kindergarten conferences will be slightly skewed this year because we also have to take the time to discuss the Standards-Based Report Cards to our parents. **I will suggest we add that to our first Power Team meeting agenda for next school year.


To verify the success of the second goal, I have asked the participating teachers to provide a sign-in sheet for each Power Team meeting. I was very disappointed in the attendance rate for the first meeting. Only 28% of the parents attended. However, I am determined to entice more parents to attend the second Power Team meeting in January by changing the parent invitation letter. The first letter did not convey the importance of attending. I think a lot of parents just considered it another "activity" at our school. Even though the Power Team meetings are voluntary, I want the parents to look forward to attending and understand the importance of learning how to assist their children at home. *I will also provide a Google Forms survey as the sign-in sheet for each classroom. This will serve two purposes. First, I will be able to keep track of all parents who attend and second I will save myself some time in sending surveys to the parents to acquire their comments and input. (Thank you, Chris!)

One major change to the third goal is to use i-Ready scores for all grades K-5 rather than just the FCAT or PACE scores. To verify the success of the third goal, I will be making an Excel spreadsheet for each participating teacher. I will record all students in the class and group the students whose parents attended any Power Team meetings together. *We are just beginning the middle-of-year i-Ready assessments. Therefore, I can not verify any data at this time. **The final data will be based on end-of-year i-Ready scores.

CP Blog Entry #9: Is your current data supporting or not supporting your Change Project goal?

I am using i-Ready data for my Change Project. We have only taken the BOY assessment, therefore I do not have any data to compare at this time. However, I can attest to the fact that 6/7 of my students whose families did attend the first Power Team parent night in September are progressing at a higher level than those who did not attend. Those students know an average of 30 of the 100 Fry words and the rest of the class knows an average of 13 Fry Words. When I completed the assessments, we had studied 50 words, with the last ten being more difficult.

i-Ready is a formative assessment diagnostic that tracks student growth. It is intended as a progress monitoring assessment for teachers to use in developing instruction

CP Blog Entry #8.5: Do you feel the communication provided is meeting your project's needs?

Yes, I definitely feel the communication provided is meeting my projects' needs. The Power Team members and I are working together to brainstorm changes for our mid-January parent meeting and for next year. We have discussed a new invitation for the parents to promote more participation, ways to get the materials earlier than a week before, and ways we can make the Power Team parent meetings even better for next year.