Branching Minds seeks to provide top-notch service to all our partner educators. And that includes bringing the skills and talents of our amazing Branching Minds employees, AKA “Branchers,” to the table! Whitley Dozier, Customer Success Manager, has extensive experience and knowledge as a former Multi-Tiered System of Supports Coordinator. In her former role, she acted as a liaison between the district, schools, and community members, and learned about state policy and MTSS best practices to help her district continually improve in meeting the needs of all students.
As a former elementary teacher and recently retired elementary principal, I considered my students’ families to be vital partners. As such, the families were kept updated and given a voice regarding their child’s education. Gaining parent support is always crucial, especially when introducing a new initiative. However, it is what happens in the days, weeks, and months following that initial outreach that has an even greater impact on building home-school partnerships.
In education, I know what keeps me awake at night.
I would imagine that each professional in their chosen career, when asked, could identify the thing that keeps them up at night. For the day trader, it might be an unexpected stock market crash. The comedian could lie awake in fear of an empty auditorium. Restless nights may come to the dentist who lays awake thinking of drilling the wrong tooth, or the professional athlete who misses the field goal to miss the playoffs.
Teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic brought about all kinds of challenges. My colleagues and I were relieved when we could go back to in-person learning, but it quickly became apparent that our students seemed to be missing a lot of important social-emotional skills. Unfortunately, the lack of socialization opportunities over the past two years and trying to re-learn how to engage in school left them falling behind in this area.
Coaching is essential for the success of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports. Coaching is not about giving directives or forcing others to invest, but is rather about recognizing strengths and challenges in MTSS implementation and helping staff grow in their professional practice, apply professional learning, and overcome challenges to meet personal and collective goals.
Educators are painfully familiar with having their work and priorities shifted at the will of new legislation and policies. State board educations establish state standards, federal and state policies guide requirements, and local district leadership establishes procedures for what and how teachers are required to teach. It's up to principals and campus instructional leaders to be a bridge for the teachers in understanding the purpose and rationale behind these policies and how they align with or influence your school goals.
Early in the 19th century, a British teacher named Joseph Lancaster created a school model that would have students of all ages sitting in ability groups by mastery of a subject matter. He named these groups the Bluebird, Robin, and Buzzard groups. (Although this part of the story isn't true, it sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)
Author: Emily-Rose Barry, Director of Product at Branching Minds
Looking Back
What a year it has been! In many ways, we started 2022 still shaking off the worn coat of COVID restrictions, re-claiming our educational spaces, and making sense of the past few years' experiences. Many words have already been expended lamenting all the ways we may have “fallen behind,” but to me, this year was an opportunity to experiment with new ways of thinking about the intersections of learning, technology, and student engagement. Human beings are nothing if not resilient, and the greatest sparks of creativity are born of necessity and confinement.