I spent the last two weeks sitting in on some of the most powerful professional teacher dialogue I’m privileged to experience. It involved a Pebble Creek Labs structure called Academic Conferences where teachers study and analyze data, reflect on teaching impact, and articulate goals. I was at Burbank High School in Sacramento, facilitating English Grade 9 and 10 Academic Conferences as well as those conducted with Geography teachers.

It sounds corny but it is a little goose-bump producing. Sitting in on such dialogue made me proud of our profession, and obviously the Burbank teachers themselves. We know reflection, goal setting, the study of data is desired and important professional practice; it just doesn’t happen that often, people get too busy. Oft times we simply need structures in our lives that create the discipline and the conditions for good practices to occur. Academic Conferences do just that.

A brief summary… We collect data on students in Pebble Creek projects at the start, middle and end of year. The assessments vary by discipline, and with practice become more sophisticated over time. The conferences occur at the quarters, with teachers analyzing a bevy of data while also being asked to write first, then speak to “learning’s from instruction last quarter” and “goals/an instructional ‘push’” for the coming quarter. Teachers then come together in teams for a structured conversation. It is quite powerful.

Below is a sampling of some comments written for the conference, and later expanded upon within the conference:

Analysis/Impressions from Data

• I’m really pleased with the progress made by my students. The students who have been here since the beginning of the year really have dramatically grown. Honestly, I have stopped counting the books they read (over 225 at last official count). They count for themselves and reflect, and that is good enough for me. We now have a book recommendation poster in the room because I wanted another way for them to own and document their reading.

• The academic class culture I pushed early took hold and, though it gets a bit frayed as new students enter the class, it’s still relatively solid. I’m using this data with students—far more that I ever did before.

• I am overwhelmed and thrilled with the data (which honestly I haven’t paid much attention to). I am playing closer attention to Cloze growth because comprehension was so depressing in the beginning, and it is what keeps us from moving along in the unit work. Most students have double-digit gains! I am excited to talk to the students about their growth in academic stamina. I think they “get” it.

• I am noticing increased critical thinking application when we study a data set—I’m ready to ramp that up. I am requiring them to process the Cloze texts through questioning and summary statements.

Learning from Last Quarter Teaching

• I am much better at keeping the word splash “fluid” throughout the unit. We add to our definitions and add words to the splash and identify words in context as often as possible. Students own the words more now.

• The students are no longer fighting longer pieces of writing. They like length limits/expectations and perform better when giving these guidelines.

• My expanded repertoire of “moves” regarding data sets has made a big difference. The variation is necessary in activity and interaction. I want to continue this development.

• I am better at making cloze do double-duty (which I think has been the point, all along…) I always make sure they identify the “topic” of the cloze passage and write summary statements of new learning’s. I am also working on using cloze passages to model the understanding of new words and language forms. There really is no better, contextualized way to teacher grammar and rules and usage.

Instructional “Push” Goals for Next Quarter

• Highlighting and annotation goals. I want to make sure I emphasize why we are highlighting and to show many more models, particularly student models using the document camera.

• More one-on-one conferencing with our goal sheets and compiled data to show growth and spark conversations about skills. I want them keeping it in the front of their portfolios to look at.

• My goal for the second semester is to really tap into Practice Reading (Independent) time and harness all its potent powers! For those who are intrinsically motivated I’d like to improve my classroom library. They’ve read most everything I have. For those who are doing it for points, I plan to spend more 1:1 time with them to help them find books that will draw them into the pleasure of reading. I also plan to do more book talks. For my one hold out student, I want to buy him a book and I need more suggestions!

• I want to do more partner activity. I’ve been saying this for twenty years! When I partner them carefully and give just enough time, they can really do some things that a few of them would not do on their own. I want to practice my skills of partner/small group activity with time limits and specific outcomes (which Kelly always models). Data set work is perfect for shared/partner work.