- Houston Independent School District
- Literacy Routines
- Get to Know Me
Professional Development
Page Navigation
- PD Operations / HELC
- Design, Media, and Online Learning (DMOL)
-
Effective Practices
- PL Toolkit
- PL-1 Develops Student Learning Goals
- PL-2 Data-driven instruction
- PL-3 Design Effective Lesson Plans, Units & Assessments
- I-1 Objective Driven Lessons
-
I-2 Check for Understanding
- Assess Mastery
- Begin with the End
- Checkpoints
- Chunking Text
- Closure
- Cold Call
- Exit Ticket
- Graphic Organizer
- Guided Practice
- Non-Verbal Signals
- Open-Ended Responses
- Post It
- Randomizing Responses
- Right is Right
- Running Roster
- Stretch It
- Structured Peer Conversation
- Student Conferences
- Student-Generated Questions
- Teach Back
-
I-3 Differentiation
- Chunking Text
- Double Plan
- Exit Ticket
- Flexible Grouping
- Graphic Organizer
- Grappling
- HOT Question
- Independent Practice
- Leveled Text
- Multimedia
- Open-Ended Responses
- Post It
- Product Menus
- Right is Right
- Running Roster
- Stretch It
- Structured Peer Conversation
- Student-Generated Questions
- Take a Stand
- Tiered Assignments
- Workstations
- I-4 Higher Level Thinking
-
I-5 Maximizing Instructional Time
- 100 Percent
- Academic Posture
- Call and Response
- Cold Call
- Do Now
- Entry Routine
- Exit Routine
- Job Assignments
- Material Organization
- Non-Verbal Interventions
- Non-Verbal Signals
- Open-Ended Responses
- Pacing Tools
- Right is Right
- Stretch It
- Strong Voice
- Student Conference
- Teach Back
- Tight Transitions
- Work the Clock
- Workstations
- I-6 Communicating Content/Concepts
- I-7 High Academic Expectations
-
I-8 Student Engagement
- Academic Posture
- Call and Response
- Closure
- Cold Call
- Do Now
- Engage and Connect
- Graphic Organizer
- HOT Question
- Independent Practice
- J-Factor
- Job Assignments
- Leveled Text
- Non-Verbal Signals
- Open-Ended Responses
- Product Menus
- Randomizing Responses
- Real-World Connections
- Reinforcers
- Structured Peer Conversation
- Student-Generated Questions
- Workstations
- Work Hard, Get Smart
- I-9 Classroom Management
- I-10 Classroom Climate
- Literacy Routines
- Academics
- Swivl Pilot Program
- eLearning
Questions Addressed
-
- How can I get to know students' personal stories?
- How can I discover information about each student's literacy?
- How can I monitor my students' progress?
Why It Works
-
- There is great diversity in students’ literacy skills. Get to Know Me tools include surveys, quick writes, and creative assignments.
- Knowing the students as individual learners helps teachers plan more meaningful lessons.
- Researchers confirm that students learn more when teachers give specific, timely feedback and an opportunity to improve based on that feedback.
Suggested Strategies
-
- Surveys
- Quick Write
- Proficiency ratings
- Portfolios
- Quick Sort Protocol
- Student Conferences*
- Circulate
* = PSD effective practices
How to Implement This Routine
-
Get to know students' personal stories, learning histories, and preferences.
Talking with and listening to students reveal much about who they are and what they care about. Use surveys and quick writes to collect information. Your colleagues may have additional insights. Avoid making assumptions about students’ histories and situations.
-
Discover and document information about literacy status.
Consult the Student Information System and A4E Teacher Dashboard to gather data from past assessments, including proficiency ratings. These data are beginning points; expect students to grow and change as a result of your efforts. Spend time with colleagues early in the year comparing notes on each student’s literacy strengths and needs, looking together at writing samples and the results of fluency and comprehension assessments.
-
Assess students' prior knowledge for each unit.
It is helpful to assess students’ prior knowledge for each unit of instruction. Though these formative assessments should not be graded, it is important to analyze students’ readiness – try a Quick Sort Protocol to reflect on student work alone or with a colleague.
-
Plan extra support or extension.
When planning instruction, check to make sure that your plans include enough scaffolding or extension to ensure each student’s success. You might find it useful to check your roster as you plan.
-
Monitor progress.
In brief student conferences, share the progress that the student has made and goals for their improvement. Ask questions and listen in one-on-one exchanges. When you circulate as students write or converse, take a few seconds to connect and give feedback.