Planning For Access

Melissa Davis
Introduction: The Why
I work at an international school in Chengdu, China. The majority
of my students are Chinese, and my students have been with the same
16 students for the past three years. Our school is very small, and
very competitive. When thinking about my students, one of the
biggest things that holds them back is their over competitiveness
and their isolation on campus. After researching several different
resource available her in China, I chose to create my own resource!
I am in the process of planning a field day for students that is
inclusive to the other international schools here in Chengdu. This
will allow students an opportunity to practice the Habit of Mind
“Thinking Interdependently”, as well as introduce them to other
children in Chengdu.
What If? Potential Roadblocks
Some potential roadblocks with this resource is finding the
funding to purchase equipment, as well as finding a time
that works for the 5 other international schools in the
area. In order to combat these potential roadblocks I have
contacted the head of the Chengdu International Schools
Association. The potential field day was added to our
monthly meeting agenda. Luckily, we found a day available
for all schools, as well as money in the budget to purchase
supplies.
The “What”: What will we do to get there?
First I began planning the logistics of the event. Where
will it be? How many kids will be there? How many activities
will we need?

I then made a plan for introducing “Thinking

Interdependently” to my students, and created a plan for
H.O.M. goal setting to be used throughout the school year

Last, I created an action plan with deadlines to ensure

everything was ready to go for the main event.
The “How?”: Action Plan
November 6th -12th
This week I met with the Chengdu International Schools Association (CISA). Together we found a date that works for all schools and add the
Field Day to the official CISA calendar. At the meeting it was decided that it would be best to have three different field days (Grades 4&5, Grades
2&3, and Grades 1& below). We also decided on a budget of 3,000 RMB (about $450 USD) per field day.

November 13th-19th
This week I will introduce “Thinking Interdependently” to my students. I will also order the necessary items for the Field Day.

November 20th -26th

This week my students will continue to learn about and practice “Thinking Interdependently” and “Taking Responsible Risks”. I will finalize
all plans for Field Day and create instructions for each station.

November 27th-Dec. 3rd

Field Day! This week students will attend the Field Day. After the Field Day I will have students reflect on their whether they met their field day
goals.
Annotated Bibliography
http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-16-habits-mind

This resource is a great tool for providing an introduction for introducing the Habits of Mind. It provides rationale for
why each strategy in important and other resources for incorporating them into your instruction.
http://www.teachhub.com/6-awesome-cooperative-classroom-games

This resource was shared by a colleague in the resource exchange. It provides six different game that specifically work on
building teamwork and cooperation in the classroom. I used several of the resources presented in the article when planning
my field day.
 Works Cited
Farr, S. (2010). Teaching as leadership: The highly effective teacher's guide to closing the achievement gap. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Cooper, A., & Jenson, G. (2009). Practical processes for teaching Habits of Mind. In A. L. Costa & B. Kallick (Eds.), Habits of Mind across the curriculum:
Practical and creative strategies for teacher (pp. 17–35). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Romano, L., Papa, L., & Saulle, E. (n.d.). 6 Awesome Cooperative Classroom Games. Retrieved November 01, 2017, from
http://www.teachhub.com/6-awesome-cooperative-classroom-games

Costa A. & Kallick B. (2009). Sustaining a focus on the habits of mind. In Costa & B. Kallick (Eds.), Habits of mind across the curriculum: Practical and creative
strategies for teachers (pp. 213–218). Retrieved from https://smartjaguar.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/habits-of-mind-across-the-curriculum.pdf.

Murray, J. (n.d.). Teaching Strategies: The 16 Habits of Mind. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from
http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-16-habits-mind