PHASE 2: MONITOR & ADJUST GOALS - DECEMBER/JANUARY
CF-TESS provides an opportunity for teachers to reflect on their goals. As an appraiser, you will want to support the teachers you appraise as they engage in this reflective process.
Before the end of January, each teacher has the opportunity to do the following:
- Revisit their personal professional goal (PPG) and goal for student growth (GSG) that was set at the beginning of the school year for reflection and assessment of progress made toward the goal;
- Monitor and adjust the goal for student growth
To document the Mid-Year Goal Reflection process in CFPGS, the teacher will complete the Monitor and Adjust Goals activity located in the Phase 2: Monitor and Adjust Goals container.
DATE: February 8 (9 - 11 AM)
SECTION: 60594
DESCRIPTION: The emotional control center in the brain, also known as the amygdala, can hijack the prefrontal cortex of our students’ brains, negatively impacting their learning. In this two-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will calm the amygdala to facilitate higher-order thinking and start the process of encoding our content into long-term memory.
DATE: February 22 (9 - 11 AM)
SECTION: 60595
DESCRIPTION: Do you find yourself telling your students over and over to “Pay attention!”? Guess what? They ARE paying attention ALL THE TIME…to the most exciting thing in the room at any given moment. Is it you? Your lessons? Your activities? If not, have no fear! In this 2-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will capture and hold the working memory of our students, so that their attention is focused on our content.
*Be ready with a lesson that could use an “upgrade”.
DATE: February 22 (1 - 3 PM)
SECTION: 60596
DESCRIPTION: How often do you ask students to recall something that you taught a day or two earlier, only to hear them say, “I have no idea what you are talking about!”? The part of the brain called the hippocampus plays a critical role in short- and long-term memory retention. In this 2-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will help our students’ brains keep our content and remember it longer. In Quantum Learning, we call these strategies “feeding the hippo”.
*Be ready with a lesson that could use an “upgrade.”
DATE: April 12 (9 - 11 AM)
SECTION: 60597
DESCRIPTION: Let’s explore how to create a more positive and engaging classroom atmosphere by creating a “home court advantage” and incorporating meaningful traditions. Traditions foster a sense of community, promote student participation, and help students feel valued and connected. Participants will leave with actionable ideas to introduce or refresh traditions in their own classrooms, ultimately strengthening the culture and deepening student relationships.
DATE: April 26 (9 - 11 AM)
SECTION: 60598
DESCRIPTION: Have you ever had students respond to a situation with “It’s not my fault,” “I didn’t do that,” or some other statement that shows they may lack ownership of their actions? In this session, we’ll focus on a meaningful tool called “The Line” that can help students take responsibility for their choices and, therefore, inspire accountability. We’ll explore ways to teach “The Line” to students by establishing clear expectations and how to keep it an integral part of our classroom culture. Doing this will equip students with essential life skills for the future and create an atmosphere of increased trust and empowerment.
DATE: April 26 (1 - 3 PM)
SECTION: 60599
DESCRIPTION: Are you interested in strategies that reduce behavior problems in the classroom, while also enhancing cognition? Then this is the session for you! Join us to experience effective strategies for capturing and maintaining student attention. Attendees will leave with a toolkit of practical approaches for not only getting students’ attention but keeping them focused, and actively participating. Whether you teach young learners or high school students, this session will provide you with ways to instantly transform classroom engagement – both behavioral and cognitive.
If you’ve ever had the experience of preparing for a party based on the number of guests who respond that they will attend, and then on the day of the party, only a fraction of the guest list attends, you know how frustrating (and expensive) that experience can be. It isn’t that different from a professional development session. Last-minute meetings, sick kids, your best friend calls with concert tickets - whatever the case, things come up. However, because instructors use the enrollee count to order materials and food, it is important to take a moment to cancel your registration in Professional Learning via the Cypress-Fairbanks Professional Growth System (CFPGS). This not only prevents the waste of unused materials and time -- it is also the professional thing to do.
