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Judi Devlin - Principal, Church Lane Elementary
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While working as a speech and language pathologist in Baltimore County Elementary schools Ms. Devlin began to work in classrooms with students on their language, reading and spelling skills. It was through these experiences that Judi realized her passion for the classroom and making curriculum come alive for students. In 2000 she was made principal of Church Lane Elementary Technology School. Since then each day has been filled with many opportunities to collaborate with staff to engage students and ensure their futures!
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April
As a principal of a Lighthouse School I know that March brings testing to students in Grades 3, 4 & 5. The PARCC assessment includes both Reading and Math and requires students to work independently for an extended period of time. My concern as I considered the approaching testing was that the setting for the testing was the very antithesis of the student environment that our teachers, staff and students had worked so hard to create for our students.
I couldn’t stop thinking how will they not collaborate? How will they not look to their peers for support and ideas that broaden their thinking like they do all day long as they work in their classrooms? How will they not use resources to interpret text, answer questions and work through multi-step word problems? How will they actually stay in one place to complete work during the testing when all day long they change their settings to suit their learning and grouping needs? How will our students not seek their teachers’ attention when they are relegated to work independently in an increasingly unfamiliar manner for an extended time?
What I witnessed as our students at every grade level completed their reading and math testing quieted all my trepidations. My uncertainties were erased by our students’ actions in the classroom. What I actually observed was students’ intent and focused on their work. Each student was engaged and they did not look to each other for collaboration or support. In fact the classroom environment seemed to configure itself around student independence. It also appeared to me that our students had learned to interact with others in ways that moved them farther away from teacher dependence. There was almost no expectation from students that teachers would have any role other than monitor and their comfort level with that was far greater than I had ever seen in previous years. I was amazed by our students’ engagement, task commitment and pride in their efforts.
My experience as a principal of a school where teachers focus on personalizing instruction for each student in 1:1 digital classrooms continues to be one that is full of benefits for students and teachers that go far beyond my initial expectations. My reflections throughout our testing pointed out the secondary benefits of the learning environment that has been created and continues to evolve in our classrooms. Those include greater student independence, diminishing dependence on the teacher, greater task commitment, the ability to shift their learning behaviors to suit the demands of the task at hand and to believe in themselves as students in charge of their own learning.
As a principal of a Lighthouse School I know that March brings testing to students in Grades 3, 4 & 5. The PARCC assessment includes both Reading and Math and requires students to work independently for an extended period of time. My concern as I considered the approaching testing was that the setting for the testing was the very antithesis of the student environment that our teachers, staff and students had worked so hard to create for our students.
I couldn’t stop thinking how will they not collaborate? How will they not look to their peers for support and ideas that broaden their thinking like they do all day long as they work in their classrooms? How will they not use resources to interpret text, answer questions and work through multi-step word problems? How will they actually stay in one place to complete work during the testing when all day long they change their settings to suit their learning and grouping needs? How will our students not seek their teachers’ attention when they are relegated to work independently in an increasingly unfamiliar manner for an extended time?
What I witnessed as our students at every grade level completed their reading and math testing quieted all my trepidations. My uncertainties were erased by our students’ actions in the classroom. What I actually observed was students’ intent and focused on their work. Each student was engaged and they did not look to each other for collaboration or support. In fact the classroom environment seemed to configure itself around student independence. It also appeared to me that our students had learned to interact with others in ways that moved them farther away from teacher dependence. There was almost no expectation from students that teachers would have any role other than monitor and their comfort level with that was far greater than I had ever seen in previous years. I was amazed by our students’ engagement, task commitment and pride in their efforts.
My experience as a principal of a school where teachers focus on personalizing instruction for each student in 1:1 digital classrooms continues to be one that is full of benefits for students and teachers that go far beyond my initial expectations. My reflections throughout our testing pointed out the secondary benefits of the learning environment that has been created and continues to evolve in our classrooms. Those include greater student independence, diminishing dependence on the teacher, greater task commitment, the ability to shift their learning behaviors to suit the demands of the task at hand and to believe in themselves as students in charge of their own learning.
December
......so the resounding question as you enter the classroom is "Where is the teacher?" Understand that at one point in my life as a principal I would have found those words frightening and the query would probably have meant a classroom out of control! Now it means many things. It means that your attention is immediately drawn to children and to the action in the classroom. It means that the teacher's presence does not dominate. It means that no longer is it only the teacher's voice that we hear. It means, in fact, that most of the time, the noise of the classroom is an ever changing hum of student voices rising and falling with the activities that they are beginning, digging into and/or completing. These voices and the action in the room are welcome outgrowths of student-centered learning where students make noise as they discover, manipulate, question, conduct, discuss and construct enduring understanding.
Within this transformed context of the classroom thoughtful, committed teachers have opened worlds of discovery learning to students. Children, using their devices and all other tools at their disposal, are able to work in new and inspiring ways to move from the concrete to the abstract concepts that are so vital to the higher level learning we want for each of our children each day. Discussion in classrooms had solid pedagogical roots in teaching and learning. With technology it is possible to move the boundaries of discussion increase its impact exponentially through padlet, kidblog, linoit, answer garden and so on and so on. These interactions are not confined by time, paper or teacher selection. Rather, they ensure that all voices, opinions and reactions are voiced. Beyond that, however, these outlets impact everyone's interpretation and continue each student's deepening understanding of the text or task at hand.
......so the resounding question as you enter the classroom is "Where is the teacher?" Understand that at one point in my life as a principal I would have found those words frightening and the query would probably have meant a classroom out of control! Now it means many things. It means that your attention is immediately drawn to children and to the action in the classroom. It means that the teacher's presence does not dominate. It means that no longer is it only the teacher's voice that we hear. It means, in fact, that most of the time, the noise of the classroom is an ever changing hum of student voices rising and falling with the activities that they are beginning, digging into and/or completing. These voices and the action in the room are welcome outgrowths of student-centered learning where students make noise as they discover, manipulate, question, conduct, discuss and construct enduring understanding.
Within this transformed context of the classroom thoughtful, committed teachers have opened worlds of discovery learning to students. Children, using their devices and all other tools at their disposal, are able to work in new and inspiring ways to move from the concrete to the abstract concepts that are so vital to the higher level learning we want for each of our children each day. Discussion in classrooms had solid pedagogical roots in teaching and learning. With technology it is possible to move the boundaries of discussion increase its impact exponentially through padlet, kidblog, linoit, answer garden and so on and so on. These interactions are not confined by time, paper or teacher selection. Rather, they ensure that all voices, opinions and reactions are voiced. Beyond that, however, these outlets impact everyone's interpretation and continue each student's deepening understanding of the text or task at hand.
October
Who would ever have thought that in October of the present school year that when I shared my day at home with my family or at work with colleagues and parents I would be showing videos, bringing up pictures, and talking about QR codes, Linoit, Padlet, Discovery Education, KidBlog, Calendars on Wonders , To Do list on BCPSOne, and the list goes on and on? Who would have thought that we could move in so short a time to primary students completing so many higher level tasks independently and participating in learning environments (their classrooms) that were designed for them?
From the furniture to the instruction to the continuous hum of conversation, questioning, and excited discovery each classroom every day is designed to serve the children who work there. It struck me recently that I no longer know where I am going to find the important players in the room. I can't know this until I go in and survey the instructional landscape each day that is driven by the students' learning and their work. In each pod of learning, each singular student endeavor, each small group, or each partnership student experts emerge as the lesson progresses. On one day this week students recording, charting and developing their oral fluency in reading can be seen immersed in their efforts with productive oblivion among them. As I listen in their fluency improvement is noticeable. When I shift my attention and scan the room I see the research group, the small group with the teacher, and students searching the room and discussing whether the words and actions of the character really did support their contention regarding the character trait they had chosen. Their rigorous quest took them through a variety of resources that were suited to their reading level and required both collaboration and independence with core knowledge.
....and that's just one classroom, on one day for 20 minutes!!!
Who would ever have thought that in October of the present school year that when I shared my day at home with my family or at work with colleagues and parents I would be showing videos, bringing up pictures, and talking about QR codes, Linoit, Padlet, Discovery Education, KidBlog, Calendars on Wonders , To Do list on BCPSOne, and the list goes on and on? Who would have thought that we could move in so short a time to primary students completing so many higher level tasks independently and participating in learning environments (their classrooms) that were designed for them?
From the furniture to the instruction to the continuous hum of conversation, questioning, and excited discovery each classroom every day is designed to serve the children who work there. It struck me recently that I no longer know where I am going to find the important players in the room. I can't know this until I go in and survey the instructional landscape each day that is driven by the students' learning and their work. In each pod of learning, each singular student endeavor, each small group, or each partnership student experts emerge as the lesson progresses. On one day this week students recording, charting and developing their oral fluency in reading can be seen immersed in their efforts with productive oblivion among them. As I listen in their fluency improvement is noticeable. When I shift my attention and scan the room I see the research group, the small group with the teacher, and students searching the room and discussing whether the words and actions of the character really did support their contention regarding the character trait they had chosen. Their rigorous quest took them through a variety of resources that were suited to their reading level and required both collaboration and independence with core knowledge.
....and that's just one classroom, on one day for 20 minutes!!!
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