Erin Siedschlag is in her third year as Director of Teaching and Learning in Lake Mills Area School District in Lake Mills, WI. Lake Mills serves students in early childhood through grade 12, with 600 of those students in elementary grades. The district believes in the importance of surrounding educators with a strong system of support for all education programs they use.
A new layer of support they added in 2024 was the Collaborative Leadership Community to specifically help organization administrators and leaders with implementation of Collaborative Classroom programs.
Tell us a little about yourself, your school and district, and the students that you serve.
This is my 19th year in education. I have served as a secondary education classroom teacher, high school administrator, the elementary principal for one year in Lake Mills, and I am now the Director of Teaching and Learning for the district.
It has been interesting to have a background working in all grade levels. I can share experiences from elementary teachers with secondary teachers and offer perspective and advice on things they might not otherwise try.
I can share experiences from elementary teachers with secondary teachers and offer perspective and advice on things they might not otherwise try.
What do you love about being an educator? What do you appreciate most about being in your current role?
I love seeing kids discover the magic of learning and find their passion. For example, watching a student who professes to hate reading suddenly find a book they can’t put down.
Even though my position locks me in the office at times, I make a point of getting into classrooms at least once a week.
I get to enjoy the entire K–12 experience in my current role, from supporting new staff to watching the evolution of a child as they progress throughout their years in school.
What first brought Lake Mills to Collaborative Classroom? What Collaborative Classroom programs are you currently implementing? Tell us about that work.
We’ve been really focused these past four years on the idea that we will ensure that every kid is learning and that they’re learning at high levels.
And so we’ve been having some conversations around the idea that if kids are not reading on grade level by the end of third grade, here is what is predicted for them, based on data.
Can you tell us more about how those conversations impacted your educators?
I think for some of our elementary school teachers, that was really eye opening. They never knew what happens when a student is held back, what happens when they are not reading on grade level, and how that impacts them outside of that subject area. So we did some education around those pieces. And I think that that’s lit a fire under some staff to say, no, it’s not acceptable.
I started looking into Collaborative Classroom after a neighboring curriculum director mentioned it to me. Coincidentally, a colleague in Beaver Dam was hosting a SIPPS Observation Day. I sent one of our interventionists to see it and they returned excited to try it.
At the time, we were working through a math curriculum adoption. My preference was to give our educators time to focus on that implementation, but they said, “We need a new literacy curriculum and we need it now.”
How did you respond?
Given that sense of urgency, we piloted two literacy resources and they had strong negative reactions to them both. Right at that time Collaborative Classroom released Being a Writer, Third Edition, and I noticed how much more explicit it is in the instruction.
I got in touch with Kari Steck, our local Collaborative Classroom Manager of Educational Partnerships. She was so easy to work with and was able to get us samples for teachers to look over right away. Teachers met to review it and said “We want to try this.”
And, although we all know what May is like in schools, we initiated a pilot in May of 2024. Our educators were positive and excited so it was an easy decision to make. Now we are in the first year of implementing SIPPS, Being a Reader, Second Edition, and Being a Writer, Third Edition. The SIPPS connection to Being a Reader supports the instruction.
You serve as the Director of Teaching and Learning and are an active member engaging with content from the Leadership Community. What do you find most helpful with the Collaborative Leadership Community? Why is this system of support worth your time?
The tips and tricks on the Collaborative Leadership Community are so helpful and the best spot to find timely resources. If I am looking for something I can easily find it on the Collaborative Leadership Community and share it with teachers to make their jobs easier and their planning more efficient.
The tips and tricks on the Collaborative Leadership Community are so helpful and the best spot to find timely resources.
If I think the information from the Collaborative Leadership Community is timely and valuable but may need a little more context, instead of just forwarding the email I’ll share it with our Reading Specialist and building principal so they can bring it to their grade level team meetings.
For example, a recent post about time management and fitting it all in was well-timed and what our teachers needed to hear to know they aren’t alone, as many others work on this as well.
As a leader, I don’t have all the resources and I’m not using the tools every day so the Collaborative Leadership Community is valuable to help me think about what is most important and where to find necessary information that I can share.
What specific benefits have you observed from interacting with the online community?
One benefit from interacting with the online community is learning from what other districts are doing as well as validating where we are in the work. It helps me realize that we aren’t alone in what we are experiencing as things come up in this first year of implementation.
One benefit from interacting with the online community is learning from what other districts are doing as well as validating where we are in the work.
How do you engage in the Collaborative Leadership Community?
For one thing, I read the daily emails and comment if I think what I have to offer would be beneficial to the group. As this is the initial year of implementation I read all the posts and find them helpful.
As we move past year one I look forward to being able to help others more with their experiences.
Let’s talk a bit about leading change. What do you need as a leader to support and lead an implementation?
As a leader, I find I need help to answer questions. I normally go to the chat option on the Support Center. I’m also aware that if I need more assistance I can go to the Collaborative Leadership Community and post a question there.
Throughout this implementation, I have found it beneficial to reach out either to our Manager of Educational Partnerships (MEP), our Professional Learning consultant, or I can go online to the Collaborative Leadership Community.
I find the Collaborative Leadership Community provides support and quick answers for time-sensitive questions as well as encouragement from other leaders.
At Collaborative Classroom, we’re always eager to learn from our school and district partners. What is something you hope to get from the Collaborative Leadership Community in the future?
As a leader, I don’t have my hands on all of the resources teachers are using every day throughout the year.
Continuing to have timely reminders from the Collaborative Leadership Community with specific direction on where to find resources in the manuals or Implementation Handbooks so I can point my teachers to them would be helpful in the future.
Related:
Learn more about the Collaborative Leadership Community.
Professional Learning as a System of Nested Supports
Lincoln Elementary: Collaboration, Community Building, Coaching
Learn More About the CLC
Take a closer look at how the Collaborative Leadership Community platform works.