2. Teach the Xtreme Reading Program

Year #1, I was so excited to teach XR to two sections of 9th graders.  Teaching reading is difficult for a number of reasons, but mainly because we have never had a curriculum to follow.  This year we have the XR curriculum.  The year took off pretty smoothly.  My groups were challenging, but they quickly learned that they need to use these strategies to become better readers.  I believe they were all on board.  The students especially liked using their progress monitoring charts throughout each strategy.  Then in March of 2020, we all went virtual because of Covid.  It was difficult, but I really feel that a large percentage of my students were going to pass or show great gain on their FSA ELA.  I was bummed that they didn't get to test.
Year #2, I have three sections of XR this year and they are mixed 9th and 10th graders.  We started the year off virtually, then we had a mixed face to face group and some still working virtually.  It was very challenging.  I created loom videos of my instruction to share with the virtual students.  Then I taught our 90 minute block schedule to the face to face students.  If the virtual students had questions, I answered them as the class went along.  I could see that my face to face students were doing better than most virtual students.  I think reviewing the strategies at the beginning and the end of class, plus the working one on one with me and with partners really made a difference with my face to face students.  Conducting assessments, like our diagnostic on Study Island and the San Diego was another challenge virtually, but we got it done.  One difference from last year, we had more input from teachers, both middle school, and our 9th grade reading teachers, when creating my classes.  It helped to select students that would be ideal candidates and make it through the entire year, not being dismissed because of behavior, etc.  Some students may have been on a reading level a little too high for XR.  Still, I am excited to see their FSA scores/gains in the Spring.  I say that they may have been too high because some of their pre and posttest data shows that they had high scores from the start of the strategy.  Hopefully, we can adjust the groups for next year.  One change that I hope to keep from year to year, is the mixed 9th and 10th graders.  I loved the difference that made.  The 9th graders were much better behaved having the 10th graders mixed in.  Having all the digital resources was so important this school year, but I look forward to getting back to the binders next school year. 
There are not a lot of changes that I would suggest for implementing XR next year.  I would keep the mixed 9th and 10th graders.  I would go back to using the awesome Student Binders.  I would suggest one or two teachers teaching all the sections of XR, as we did this year.  It makes it easy to bounce ideas off each other and offer support.
My coach, Janet, has been a great support.  She is always encouraging me.  If I struggle with even the smallest item, she has suggestions of ways to improve and fix it.  I love all the resources that she is constantly sharing to help my year go smoothly.  I don't think I could get through all the strategies without the support from my coach!