Commitment 1: Believe in Those With Whom You Work
Commitment 2: Provide Ample Time to Think and Innovate
Commitment 3: Co-Design Learning With Students and Teachers
Commitment 4: Use Feedback to Increase Confidence and Achievement
Strategies and Tools
Strategy 1: Create a Common Definition and Rationale
Strategy 2: Assess Your Current Reality
Strategy 3: Develop Common Protocols and Processes
Strategy 4: Differentiate Professional Learning
Conclusion
Pause and Ponder
Appendix: Instructional Agility Manifesto
| ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Cassandra Erkens is a presenter, facilitator, coach, trainer of trainers, keynote speaker, author, and above all, a teacher. She presents nationally and internationally on assessment, instruction, school improvement, and professional learning communities.
Cassandra has served as an adjunct faculty member at Hamline and Cardinal Stritch universities, where she took teachers through graduate education courses. She has authored and coauthored a wide array of published trainings, and she has designed and delivered the training of trainers programs for two major education-based companies.
As an educator and recognized leader, Cassandra has served as a senior high school English teacher, a director of staff development at the district level, a regional school improvement facilitator, and a director of staff and organization development in the private sector.
To learn more about Cassandra’s work, visit http://allthingsassessment.info or follow @cerkens on Twitter.
Tom Schimmer is an author and a speaker with expertise in assessment, grading, leadership, and behavioral support. Tom is a former district-level leader, school administrator, and teacher. As a district-level leader, he was a member of the senior management team responsible for overseeing the efforts to support and build the instructional and assessment capacities of teachers and administrators.
Tom is a sought-after speaker who presents internationally for schools and districts. He has worked extensively throughout North America, as well as in Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Japan, India, Qatar, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. He earned a teaching degree from Boise State University and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of British Columbia.
To learn more about Tom’s work, visit http://allthingsassessment.info or follow @TomSchimmer on Twitter.
Nicole Dimich Vagle has a passion for education and lifelong learning, which has led her to extensively explore, facilitate, and implement innovative practices in school transformation. She works with elementary and secondary educators in presentations, trainings, and consultations that address today’s most critical issues, all in the spirit of facilitating increased student learning and confidence.
Nicole was a school transformation specialist, where she coached individual teachers and teams of teachers in assessment, literacy, and high expectations for all students. Nicole was also a program evaluator and trainer at the Center for Supportive Schools in New Jersey. A former middle and high school English teacher, she is committed to making schools into places where all students feel invested and successful.
A featured presenter at conferences internationally, Nicole empowers educators to build their capacity for and implement engaging assessment design, formative assessment practices, common assessment design and analysis, response to intervention systems, data-driven decisions, student work protocols, and motivational strategies.
Nicole earned a master of arts degree in human development from Saint Mary’s University and a bachelor of arts degree in English and psychology from Concordia College.
To learn more about Nicole’s work, visit http://allthingsassessment.info or follow @NicoleVagle on Twitter.
To book Cassandra Erkens, Tom Schimmer, or Nicole Dimich Vagle for professional development, contact [email protected].
| INTRODUCTION
I was going to put my move to the test, to see if it was real. It had to be real if it worked on the greatest player to ever play the game.
—Allen Iverson
On March 12, 1997, as future Hall of Fame basketball player Allen Iverson’s rookie season in Philadelphia was drawing to a close, his 76ers were at home facing the reigning National Basketball Association champion Chicago Bulls. The Bulls were led by Michael Jordan, not just the best player in the league in 1997, but the player whom many considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Chicago would end the 1996–1997 season with sixty-nine wins and only thirteen losses, while Philadelphia would manage just twenty-two wins against sixty losses. The Bulls would go on to win not only the March 12 matchup 108–104 but also the 1996–1997 NBA championship.
However, for Iverson, the March 12 game was all about a moment, not who won or lost. During the second half of this closely fought game, Iverson would take a handoff on the left side of the court and dribble to the top of the three-point line; it was here he found himself one on one with none other than Michael Jordan. This was not the first time they had faced each other (this was their third meeting of the year), but this night was going to be different. Iverson would do something that few had ever done and that would cement his reputation as one of the most lethal offensive players in the NBA.
For those with little to no basketball acumen, here is some background on that moment, starting with a crossover dribble. The crossover dribble is effective because the offensive player makes no advanced decision to attack but simply reacts to what the defender does. In essence, the art of the crossover dribble is for the offensive player to make the defensive player think he or she is going in one direction, only to have him or her attack in the other. If the defensive player overcommits in one direction, the offensive player reacts, dribbles the ball to the opposite hand (crossover), and attacks the basket, trying to score or at least pass to another open teammate. The offensive player must, with some nimbleness, read the situation and immediately respond with quickness and agility; without the agility to adjust, the initial move (having the defender overcommit) is wasted since there will be time for the defender to recover.
The key is not just the ability to dribble the ball from one hand to the other—all NBA players can do that—but the ability to dribble with athletic agility and the ability to read the situation and make a real-time decision about when to pause, when to fake, and when to attack at maximum speed and intensity.
This