My journey to becoming a SIM LS PDer, has been an amazing ride. (Insert roller coaster picture here.) Approximately two years ago I decided I wanted to join this elite group of people to be able to offer a valuable service to the teachers, and by extension students, I work with.
I immediately began working with a colleague and my mentor on the Word Mapping Strategy. I will tell you; this kicked my butt! It required a lot more time, preparation, and strategy instruction than I anticipated. But, oh it was so worth it! Learning this strategy and receiving my specialist badge was definitely worth the work. Since completing this badge, I have been able to work with and train multiple groups of teachers, who have then taken the information back to their students. If I only trained 50 teachers on this strategy and each only worked with 8 students, that means we have reached and helped over 400 students. Of course, there is no way to know if those numbers are accurate, but oh my! 400 students! I was also able to coach a local teacher on this strategy. Watching her students grow and progress from the skills they learned was amazing to see. The Word Mapping Strategy is one of my favorite sessions to do, because of the numerous benefits for our students with disabilities and the progress they are able to make in daily living and their general education classes.
I, then, moved to the Fundamentals of Sentence Writing. I decided to work with my great-niece. She was in the process of being tested for eligibility for special education. Her reading and writing skills were behind her grade-level peers. Plus, as I said, she is my niece and a total brat. Initially, things were moving very smoothly. I could see her putting in the needed effort and making progress. Partway through our sessions, her parents split up. It then became harder to get her to work on her writing. She would be with her dad one week and her mom another week. Her attitude changed. Progress was slowing greatly. I could see how the changes in her home life affected her emotional state and her concern for academics. After a lot of work and time, we were able to bounce back and begin making progress again. I truly believe spending the extra time with her that I did help her through a very traumatic experience as well as make much-needed progress in her writing.
Upon being accepted into the CLLI, I was concerned. Would I be able to complete the assignments? Would my job and other work and family areas cause problems with the institute? I am pleased to say the way the CLLI was laid out allowed me to meet all of my obligations. Having the assignments set up on Canvas allowed me to look ahead and get assignments completed by working with my very hectic schedule. I would suggest for future groups schedule all meetings in advance. This was probably the only true area that needs to be changed. With my job, we schedule trainings for the entire school year, so it did make adding dates difficult.
The CLLI offered the much-needed instruction and understanding in the area of being a trainer and offering effective PD sessions. I have grown in not only my ability as a trainer but in my confidence as well. I was able to put together a presentation that includes both a reading and writing initiative for my region. The presentation displays data showing how this is needed. My Change Agent plan has been a great resource and talking point. It allows the directors in my region to get a better understanding of what is available. The CLLI and completion of my micro-credentials have been an amazing driving force to show me where specific needs are and how to address those needs.
The work completed in the CLLI laid the foundation to move on to my next learning strategy. The Paraphrasing strategy. After looking through the data, this was something that we needed to offer to teachers within our multiple regions. I worked with another CLLI participant and my mentor on this training. We were able to train teachers throughout the state in a big group collaboration.
So what are some of my big takeaways throughout the process? My training has been more reflective on how each LS might support students and buildings based on data. My confidence has increased. My presentation skills have grown. I have developed a better understanding of thinking about training from the point of the participants. So many things! What a wonderful time of learning and growing!
I immediately began working with a colleague and my mentor on the Word Mapping Strategy. I will tell you; this kicked my butt! It required a lot more time, preparation, and strategy instruction than I anticipated. But, oh it was so worth it! Learning this strategy and receiving my specialist badge was definitely worth the work. Since completing this badge, I have been able to work with and train multiple groups of teachers, who have then taken the information back to their students. If I only trained 50 teachers on this strategy and each only worked with 8 students, that means we have reached and helped over 400 students. Of course, there is no way to know if those numbers are accurate, but oh my! 400 students! I was also able to coach a local teacher on this strategy. Watching her students grow and progress from the skills they learned was amazing to see. The Word Mapping Strategy is one of my favorite sessions to do, because of the numerous benefits for our students with disabilities and the progress they are able to make in daily living and their general education classes.
I, then, moved to the Fundamentals of Sentence Writing. I decided to work with my great-niece. She was in the process of being tested for eligibility for special education. Her reading and writing skills were behind her grade-level peers. Plus, as I said, she is my niece and a total brat. Initially, things were moving very smoothly. I could see her putting in the needed effort and making progress. Partway through our sessions, her parents split up. It then became harder to get her to work on her writing. She would be with her dad one week and her mom another week. Her attitude changed. Progress was slowing greatly. I could see how the changes in her home life affected her emotional state and her concern for academics. After a lot of work and time, we were able to bounce back and begin making progress again. I truly believe spending the extra time with her that I did help her through a very traumatic experience as well as make much-needed progress in her writing.
Upon being accepted into the CLLI, I was concerned. Would I be able to complete the assignments? Would my job and other work and family areas cause problems with the institute? I am pleased to say the way the CLLI was laid out allowed me to meet all of my obligations. Having the assignments set up on Canvas allowed me to look ahead and get assignments completed by working with my very hectic schedule. I would suggest for future groups schedule all meetings in advance. This was probably the only true area that needs to be changed. With my job, we schedule trainings for the entire school year, so it did make adding dates difficult.
The CLLI offered the much-needed instruction and understanding in the area of being a trainer and offering effective PD sessions. I have grown in not only my ability as a trainer but in my confidence as well. I was able to put together a presentation that includes both a reading and writing initiative for my region. The presentation displays data showing how this is needed. My Change Agent plan has been a great resource and talking point. It allows the directors in my region to get a better understanding of what is available. The CLLI and completion of my micro-credentials have been an amazing driving force to show me where specific needs are and how to address those needs.
The work completed in the CLLI laid the foundation to move on to my next learning strategy. The Paraphrasing strategy. After looking through the data, this was something that we needed to offer to teachers within our multiple regions. I worked with another CLLI participant and my mentor on this training. We were able to train teachers throughout the state in a big group collaboration.
So what are some of my big takeaways throughout the process? My training has been more reflective on how each LS might support students and buildings based on data. My confidence has increased. My presentation skills have grown. I have developed a better understanding of thinking about training from the point of the participants. So many things! What a wonderful time of learning and growing!