Rethink Thinking: Think Tank

School:: Tommie Barfield Elementary
Subject:: Professional Learning for Teachers
Teacher:: Molly Skudnig
: Dody Bennett, Georgina Dolan, Sheli Lowrie, Megan Guidish, Dana Vogel, Mabel Pena, Audra Moriarty
Students Impacted:: 580
Grade:: K-5
Date:: September 2, 2017

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

License For Learning Plate Fund - $2,000.00

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 580

This Kagan training opportunity, which this grant provided, opened our minds as educators to different techniques for reaching our students academically. The training provided bonding time for our instructional staff as well as a fun hands on experience for allowing our student's thinking skills to be challenged in a research based ways. Cooperative structures were shared. With an enthusiastic start to the 2018 school year, teachers were excited to put their learning to work in the classroom. Following the training, teachers were given the opportunity to both share and observe structures within the classroom setting. The peer to peer learning was instrumental and on point for our school's vision and mission. We thank SunCoast Credit Union for fulfilling this grant request.

grant photo

Tommie Barfield's Instructional Staff is Fully Eng

Original Grant Overview

Goal

In alignment of our School Improvement Plan, we aim to improve our instruction as it relates to our student’s cognitive levels, behaviors and emotions. By providing a research based training on thinking skills, by Kagan, our teachers will learn structures and strategies for instructing students toward their best thinking using knowledge of the brain’s functions.

What will be done with my students

As a result of this potential training, students will be engrossed in Kagan’s researched cooperative structures for instructional teaching. Dr. Kagan has spent years defining instructional approaches that allow for optimal engagement from students. His methods allow students to stand up, move around, collaborate, build friendships and much more all while learning content. His strategies have proven to help students retain information in a deeper and more meaningful way. Given this training, our teachers will be able to walk in our student’s shoes as Kagan students. The Kagan training allows teachers to be the students in a Kagan classroom. It allows them to experience the structures as well as learn the positive instructional objectives from the research completed. Between the modeling of instruction and the information shared, this training proves to be valuable to teachers in attendance as well as students who will receive what has been learned.

Benefits to my students

Teachers will benefit by deepening their pedagogical strength. Learning from a research based, engaging instruction model, all of our teachers will be given tools to use in the classroom for deepening understanding for students every day. Students will be provided with engaging methods for digesting information in an appealing and motivating way. The school will benefit from this professional learning by allowing all instructional staff to attend the training, during our full Teacher Professional Learning Day. The goals of this training connect directly to our School Improvement Plan. The value of this training will be evaluated by the improvement of proficiency scores across all grade levels K-5.

Budget Narrative

Kagan Training: Thinking Skills Workshop will actually cost $4,799. This requested $2,000 in company with requested SAC funds, would allow our school to offer teachers this opportunity at no cost to them.

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	Kagan Training: Thinking Skills	$2,000.00
	Total:	$2,000.00

Please share this page to help in fulfilling this grant.