Tori Thompson's Triumph
Kuvakäsikirjoitus Kuvaus
Our hero, a dedicated third grade teacher has a problem. Sally has performed poorly on a test, and Ms. Thompson faces her biggest challenge yet: dealing with a difficult parent!
Kuvakäsikirjoitus Teksti
- Tori Thompson's Triumph
- Superhappyactionfuntime Comics Presents. . .
- Written, Produced and Illustrated by: Ghina El Charif & Joshua Joyce
- Our story begins on a sunny afternoon in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. It is a typical day at Happy Valley Elementary School. The end-of-day bell has rung, students have left campus, and our overworked and underpaid hero discovers something is amiss . . .
- This is Ms. Tori Thompson, a recent graduate of the Teach-Now Graduate School of Education and a new third-grade teacher. Ms. Thompson is about to endure a challenge that only Unit 3 in Module 5 could prepare her for . . .
- OH NO!!! Sally Smith has failed her math test!
- The next day in class. . .
- Sally, I'd like to chat with you.
- Ok Ms. Thompson.
- Ms. Thompson intends to schedule a conference with Sally's parents. Before she sits down with them, she knows it is important to be prepared. She has a chat with Sally to try to understand what went wrong so she can make a plan for reteaching and incorporate differentiated instruction strategies that will address Sally's learning needs. She also reviews her formative assessment data and reviews Sally's recent math work. She locates the contact sheet that she had all parents fill out on Meet-the-Teacher Night, and she sees that Sally's parents prefer to be contacted via e-mail. She composes an e-mail requesting a conference to discuss Sally's current math grade.
- A reply is received, and a conference is scheduled with Sally's parents . . .
- It's going well, thanks. How is Sally doing?
- Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It's great to see you again. How is the new job Mrs. Smith?
- Sally is making great progress in many areas. Let's go over some samples of her work.
- I wonder what the problem is.
- When communicating negative information to parents, Ms. Thompson likes to first focus on positives. In fact, she has a personal goal of communicating five positive items to every one negative item with parents. She has previously given Mr. and Mrs. Smith positive feedback about Sally on multiple occasions, and she provides additional positive feedback as an introduction to this conference. She then intends to discuss the results of the recent math summative assessment before presenting Sally's parents with an outline of a plan for moving forward.
- All of the work samples we just went over show that Sally is very bright and capable. Unfortunately she is having some difficulty with our recent math lessons, and she received a poor grade on her test earlier this week.
- OH NO!!! OH, THE HORROR OF IT ALL! This is terrible news!
- UGH! I knew something was wrong. What is she going to do about this?!
- Sally's parents are understandably upset. Mrs. Smith had a dramatic and loud reaction to the news. Mr. Smith has not said a word, but Ms. Thompson is a skilled reader of body language and senses negativity from him. Our hero has to act fast. Luckily, she has outlined a plan for supporting Sally. Her plan is flexible and allows for modifications based on feedback from Sally's parents. Our superhero teacher springs into action.
- Sally had some difficulty with our introduction to fractions, and her mistakes are not uncommon for a student who is first exposed to this material. I am going to devote a few hours each week to Reteaching and Enrichment for my students. I will use some different resources to help explain the key concepts. I have noticed that Sally really enjoys our "Tech Time," so I think a successful strategy might involve some math computer games and activities.
- You are right, she really enjoys working on her computer. What can we do to help?
- Hmm, this sounds promising.
- Our hero, Ms. Thompson has broken through! She was prepared with a plan that caters to Sally's learning style, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith have begun to calm down and are and impressed with Ms. Thompson's preparation and thoughtfulness. Ms. Thompson clearly communicates additional details and provides a list of websites and activities that Sally's parents can use at home to help Sally learn the material.
- The conference continues with Ms.Thompson using her active listening superpower to further put Sally's parents at ease. . .
- Thank you, we really appreciate your efforts.
- Your ideas to help out at home are fantastic! I am thrilled that Sally has such a wonderful support system in place!
- Now let's chat about a communication plan moving forward so we are all on the same page.
- Yes! Thank you so much!
- In addition to preparing reteaching and differentiated instruction strategies before the conference, Ms. Thompson has also prepared a plan to keep Mr. and Mrs. Smith informed about Sally's progress. Everyone agrees that they will communicate via e-mail each Friday and discuss the week's progress. Ms. Thompson invites the Smiths to contact her at any time and makes sure they have her contact information. They also agree to get together in person for another conference next month, and Ms. Thompson adds it to her calendar immediately. Our hero has turned these emotional and frustrated parents around in a very short time by making clear that she will use all of her teaching superpowers to support Sally and emphasizing that they are all partners in Sally's development and education.
- And so ends the day of Ms. Tori Thompson. But don't worry dear reader,every day this ordinary teacher has a chance to display her superhero powers. We will see you at the next adventure . . .
- Thank you for your time!
- Remember, as Henry Ford once said, "Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."
- CREDITS
- Concept Developed through Collaborative Effort by: Ghina El Charif & Joshua Joyce Sketches and initial script draft written by Ghina El Charif Illustrations, Script Editing and Transition Panel Drafting completed by Joshua Joyce
- BUT WAIT, DEAR READER, THERE IS MORE! Please enjoy this special sneak preview of next month's edition when our hero, Ms. Tori Thompson faces her biggest challenge yet . . .
- Ms. Thompson must do battle against her greatest foe. Mild-mannered Professor Joseph Pearson has a secret. He hides in plain site, but when he puts on his mask he reveals himself to be the world-renowned super-villain known as, "THE ASSESSOR!!!!"
- My formative assessments reveal Ms. Tori Thompson to be a formidable foe, indeed, but wait until she gets a load of my SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT! BWAH HAHAHA!!!
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