Kelly Seward

by Vicki Seeger

Session Time: 02/11/2026 10:30 am | Phase: Commit to Change | Session Length: 0:30

Notes

Coachee Note 1:

Coaching Session #2 – Commit to Change

Coachee: Kelly Seward

Date/Time: February 11, 2026 10:30 a.m.

Next Coaching Date/Time: February 26, 2026 8:30 a.m.

Initial goal or survey: I will survey my 3rd grade students to find out what they would like to learn about words in order to expand knowledge and use of vocabulary.

  1. This or That

Teaching reading or teaching writing?

New school or different grade level?

  1. Reflecting on Teaching

Instead of a survey, Kelly taught a lesson on root word and affixes with her 3rd grade students. She was being observed and evaluated by her principal during the lesson.

What she noticed in the video of her teaching is that she needs to work on wait time because gifted students are so quickly responding; students who are not as fast to respond are not given opportunities. This is a classroom management challenge she will work on with her students.

What she noticed about her students was how engaged they were with the lesson because she presented the lesson in such interesting ways.

Kelly began the lesson by showing her students the word: “antidisestablishmentarianism.” The students were then asked to find the root word and figure out meaning of the prefixes and suffixes. Initially, the students resisted with one student saying that he hated phonics and the other students echoing this opinion. She asked the students to stick with her and said they were going to be “Frankensteining” words. The students were very engaged from that point on and discovered that when phonics skills are taught in interesting ways, they enjoy the work.

How can we use what was learned from this video to set a longer-term goal for your teaching and student learning?

  1. Setting a DREAM Goal

Work together to draft a DREAM goal:

  • Data-responsive
  • Relevant
  • Environment or Context Specific
  • Attainable
  • Measurable

GOAL:  The 3rd grade students in gifted education will be able to identify root words with 90% accuracy by April 3; identify prefixes including using words with prefixes correctly (grammatically) with 90% accuracy by April 30; identify and use suffixes with 90% accuracy by the end of the year. The success of the students will be assessed using a pre-test and post-test through SeeSaw. The strategy to be used will be a graphic organizer that asks students to correctly dissect a word but also use an illustration, drawing, and sentence to demonstrate understanding (possibly an adapted Frayer Model).

  1. Potential Strategic Questions for the DREAM Goal:

WHO: Who does this change/goal impact?  The goal will impact all 3rd grade gifted students.

Identify any students who may need extra support for implementation of this change?  The students will receive the support of Ms. Seward; they do not need extra support for these skills.

Who can you turn to for support and help when need regarding this goal? APLM Coach

WHAT: What does attainment of goal regarding change look like and feel like for you and for your students?  It looks like all students successfully dissecting a word, identifying the root word, prefix(es), and suffix(es) using a graphic organizer. It also looks like all students discovering that phonics can apply to advanced skills.

WHEN: What is a reasonable amount of time to spend on this goal? A reasonable amount of time for each component of the goal 3-4 weeks. Students will be spending 10 minutes a day working on these skills three days a week (30 minutes/week).

WHERE: Besides this classroom, is there any other setting the students will be working on goal attainment? No, these students do not receive this instruction elsewhere.

WHY: Why are students impacted by this change? Why are you (the teacher) impacted by this change?    They are not exposed to morphology in 3rd grade, so this is definitely expanding their thinking since all of my Quest students are fluent readers and comprehenders. It challenges my thinking in that this isn’t typical of what we do in Quest but does help to expand and enrich their abilities.

HOW: How does this goal support your classroom aspirations? How can I support you in attaining this goal?  My goal is always to provide students with enrichment opportunities beyond what they would get in the classroom, so this does meet that goal.

  1. Working on Next Steps

Complete steps working on goal

Create video for this goal of your teaching and student learning