#CScope State Conference in San Antonio

A couple of weeks ago I attended the CScope state conference in San Antonio.  BISD is rolling out CScope this year and I went into the conference wondering where I fit into this puzzle as an Instructional Technologist.  Luckily, I left the conference understanding my role in this implementation and armed with some great information, strategies and tools to help my teachers feel success with this new curriculum system.  Here are some of the high points of the conference for me...

Pre-Conference Notes


Teachers: do NOT confuse CURRICULUM with INSTRUCTION!  CScope is telling you what to teach and when.  It is NOT telling you HOW to teach!  You can retain your creativity with this curriculum system.


A breakdown of some of the acronyms and what these documents offer:

• VAD - Vertical Alignment Document
  
  • three columns
  • presents aligned standards
  • PULL OUT THE VERBS to get the "cognitive rigor"
  TCD - TEKS Clarification Document
  
  • basic structure is same as VAD, but is one big column
  • most of high school courses will look like this
  YAG - Year at a Glance
  
  • one page broken down by 6 weeks
  • about how long you should take to teach
  • great for pacing
  • "Yagomatic" reconciles your school calendar with the CScope YAG - helps you PROTECT instructional time
  TVD - TEKS Vertification Document
  
  • ensure that all standards are fully accounted for
  • consult this to see how often an SE might be taught
  • shows where opportunities for reteach might occur - spiraling
  IFD - Instructional Focus Document
• will tell you in RATIONALE why CScope bundles certain skills
• covers prior instruction
• identifies misconceptions or underdeveloped concepts

Don't forget to ASK your teachers what help/training they need.  Maybe create a Google form that they can fill out - a CScope training or follow-up form.  Also, remind teachers that they do not have to do EVERY SINGLE ACTIVITY in CScope - there's not enough time!  Put the big rocks in first!

Getting Parents on Board / Community Buy-In

Getting your parents and community is crucial to the success of your CScope implementation.  Here are some ideas to make sure they are on board!

• Hold beginning of year meeting with parents to showcase materials.  You could even offer a PBL night where the parents are the students - show them how you craft a driving question from the VAD and then have them complete an activity.
• Bring in back up!  Have you heard the saying you can't be a prophet in your own land?  Contact your local ESC and have them send in an "expert" to talk to your community about CScope.  Invite teachers from other districts who are already successfully using CScope.  Even better - have student guest speakers talk about their positive experiences!
• Meet with naysayers individually.  Don't let a few bad apples ruin your roll-out.  Many times these people are speaking out because of fear or misunderstanding.  Meet with these people individually to reconcile misconceptions and plant positive seeds!

High-Tech Differentiation with CScope

This was the most valuable session I attended.  Sherry McElhannon from Region 12 shared strategies on pulling the verbs out of the performance indicators and using a wiki she created to find web 2.0 tools to support that PI.  Here's what we discussed:

• You have to have pre-assessment to have differentiated instruction.  There are multiple approaches to this and it must be student-centered.  Look here for ideas.
• We also discussed that the content and the process cannot be changed for your students, however, the product CAN!  Check out this differentiation grid.
• When you're ready to get started, look at a performance indicator and circle the verbs.  Match those verbs to this wiki and browse what tools you can use to support that verb.  There are even student examples!!