The goal of the work with my Focus Teacher was to help her develop as an educator who would be able to improve her pedagogy and improve student performance,

Over time this goal transitioned into specifically helpling her to improve student writing and to also assist her with classroom management strategies. The reason for the changes stemmed from her specifically asking for assistance in these areas during our discussions as well as the observations I made during my classroom vists with her.

The class sessions and the work at my school site often did not intersect because I am an out of the classroom teacher, However, I did try to impart the knowledge I gained, through professional development sessions as well as during Teacher Team meetings.

I found the knowledge gained in class sessions quite timely and relevant to the work at my school site. However, implementing the practices and strategies proved to be somewhat challenging, due to the overwhelming activities already expected from the teachers.

The effort to transfer knowledge acquired, in classroom sessions, proved to require collaboration on all levels, from administration to students. If this plan of improvement in pedagogy and ultimately student improvement was going to be successful, we would all have to be accountable.

The most surprising aspect of the interactions that occured with my Focus Teacher stemmed from the introduction of the lesson plan template. She was very reluctant to try it. She felt it was overwhelming and did not want to implement it at all.

However, after carefully disecting the template and extracting the most beneficial aspects relevant to her lessons, she was more receptive to using it,

The most challenging aspect of our interactions, was trying to schedule time to visit her classroom and meet with her to provide feedback. The maximum capacity and professional demands of both our schedules left very little time to communicate during school hours. It was also very difficult to meet after school, because she has family obligations that required her to leave promptly at the end of the day,

Although it was hard at times, I carefully found ways to create opportunities to have conversations with my focus teacher. I would visit her at times when she did not expect, I would reschedule my lunch to coincide with hers and I would call her after work as well.

As the months progressed, my focus teacher appreciated my deligence and perseverance, to a level where she expected me to somehow "find her". Eventually, on occasion she would try to find me during her prep periods, just to discuss anything new that I had to share with her.

Increased levels of student achievement, displayed in higher benchmark scores and selected portfolio pieces reflect the students improvements in writing and ELA overall.

The lens from which instruction is viewed by my focus teacher, has now encompassed new and innovative practices, more rigorous tasks and more creatively designed engaging activities.

As time progressed, a new atmosphere of collaboration and innovative vision was developed. My focus teacher had a renewed understanding of how to better design and create engaging lessons, and how to movitate and reach her students on different levels.

The efforts imparted on my focus teacher were so well received that she has requested to transition to the next grade level with this particular group of students in an effort to continue to build on the successes she has achieved with them thus far. The new and innovative strategies and skills she has acquired will be sustained with contined refinement and development in order to advance and increase student achievement.