PPG: Professional Practice Goal Around Danielson's Framework

Does anyone use the Danielson Framework for evaluations?  We've been using it here in our district for a few years and have been becoming more familiar with what it takes to be a "distinguished teacher" (the highest level on the evaluation rubric.

Honestly, I am not proud to say, I usually wait until the middle or the end of the year to think about the goals I need to achieve. The beginning of the school year is wicked busy and I am usually running around, like a chicken with my head chopped off, thinking about everything BUT the end of the school year reflection. This year we were sad to see our beloved Reading Specialist go to a new position, but were lucky to get a super smart replacement who is very knowledgeable in the Danielson Framework.  

At our first few PLC meetings, we worked on establishing a goal for our PLC. We also thought that since we were working hard to achieve the PLC goal, it might as well be our individual PPG. This will make everything we do throughout the year more meaningful and serve multiple purposes.

One idea we discussed, to achieve this goal, would be to have the students create a class check list for assignments. This gives the students ownership over what the criteria should be, who participated in the discussion, and clearly states the expectations for the assignment. We implemented this idea right away in the classroom and actually loved the results. 

Another idea we've put to use was having writing goals, clearly visible in the classroom, and set for each individual student. We created a "Goal" bulletin board. Last year, we had these hanging, but never really implemented them. This year, we LOVE what we came up with.

As you can see every student has or will get a clothes pin with their name on it. It gets attached to their current writing goal. The students receive their goal during their writing conference with the teacher (after completing a peer editing checklist). It is here they will receive meaningful feedback from the teacher, a goal, and some specific revisions to work on before publishing their work. Yes, it is a lot of work, but meaningful? Absolutely! I love that my students know exactly what they should be doing and how they should be doing it.  

We will be changing goals based on the child's needs throughout the year and keeping track of them in our teacher data binders and on the student folders with this simple cover sheet. 

This sheet will be a great reminder for the students to see what they are working towards while writing in class. It is also another way to place ownership and responsibility on the student. They keep track of their goals, when they reach them, and their progress throughout the year.

Overall, I feel better prepared for a successful year having already planed one of my goals and understanding some ideas of what I can do to achieve distinguished. I'd love to hear anyone's feedback that uses Danielson as well. Do you have a PPGs in your school?