Sylvan Lake and Poplar Ridge elementary school teachers worked together and collaborated on Friday, May 2, to focus on writing.
The Chinook's Edge School Division held the professional learning day at Ecole Steffie Woima Elementary School.
While the group has collaborated before, this was the first time writing was the sole focus of the gathering.
“When teachers work collaboratively, it is incredibly valuable for them, and the experience and knowledge they gain benefits students,” Associate Superintendent of Learning Services Jason Drent said.
“When teachers work together, they share knowledge and ideas and they build on that, resulting in stronger support for individual student needs.”
At the event, teachers in attendance explored a particular writing assessment tool used in elementary and middle school classrooms throughout the division.
All the teachers also looked at samples of student writing at each grade level from each school.
A tool developed by Edmonton Public Schools, the Highest Level Achievement Test (HLAT) has been phased into use in Chinook's Edge over a few years. With this year being the second school year, the HLAT has been used consistently across Grades 1 to 8.
Each year, students write the HLAT test in April.
Results from the test then help teachers in the following year understand where students are strong and areas where they could grow.
The idea behind the gathering came from the Sylvan Lake principals observing that when teachers worked together to mark provincial achievement tests, the teachers benefited from the collaboration.
“Evaluating writing can be challenging and subjective,” Principal of Ecole Steffie Woima Elementary School Angela Eadie-Gyori said.
“Collaborative work within a grade team, where teachers work together to understand what a standard looks like, gives increased clarity about the standard, and it builds consistency.”
“Teachers are experts,” Principal of C.P. Blakely Elementary School Anne Frey said.
“Being together builds on that expertise and gives a strengthened capacity to respond to the diversity of student needs in our schools. Also, being together builds community and creates opportunities for teachers to help each other, to share ideas, and refine their skills.”
Teachers and administrators from all four schools that participated are eager to take what they've learned back to their schools.
“It's been great to see what students from other schools are doing,” Beacon Hill Elementary School teacher Darren Pickering said.
“It helps me to understand how my students’ work measures against the grade standard.”
