Revealing true teacher priorities with one simple tool
Sarah Timmer, K–12 Curriculum Director for Mitchell School District in South Dakota, stepped into her role mid–ELA review with a clear goal: build a stronger foundation in reading. Facing a divided faculty and a missing piece in their instruction, she used one simple exercise to open the door to change.
Timmer knew that bringing everyone together on a new reading curriculum wouldn’t be easy. Standing in the meeting room surrounded by large posters, each labeled with a different aspect of structured literacy, she watched as small groups of teachers moved quietly around the space, sticky notes in hand.
“It was really interesting to see how the nature of the questions changed with each topic,” Timmer recalled, carefully unfolding the collection of sticky notes she had preserved from that pivotal meeting two years ago. “I couldn’t throw them away!”
Gallery walk: A timeless tool
When teachers approached the Scope and Sequence poster, their questions immediately revealed concerns about alignment between different tiers of instruction. Questions like:
- Should the scope and sequence in Tier 1 be in sync with Tier 2?
- Is Tier 2 about double dipping or giving students what they need?
- Does Tier 2 follow progress monitoring results over fixed scope and sequence?
These questions showed a sophisticated understanding of curriculum structure and a concern for how different levels of instruction would work together. But when teachers moved to the Shift to Explicit Phonics Instruction poster, the tone changed. Here, their notes revealed vulnerability and practical implementation concerns with questions like:
- Changing to a new style teaching phonics is challenging.
- Can we continue training from the company throughout the year?
- Ongoing training is critical.
- How many weeks do we spend on each skill?
- Will there be coaches or reading specialists?
Timmer noticed how these questions reflected teachers’ personal anxieties about changing their practice. Unlike the theoretical questions about curriculum structure, these sticky notes contained requests for support, time, and guidance.
Then at the Tiered System poster, teachers’ comments became more declarative, showing strong convictions about consistency:
- All tiers should be connected.
- Having the same language and routines is key.
- Must be consistent materials, procedures, and language across all the tiers.
“What struck me most,” Timmer explained, “was that I could see exactly where our teachers felt confident and where they needed support, just by the way they phrased their sticky notes. Some topics got questions, others got requests, and others got thoughtful reflections.”
The new roadmap
Those sticky notes became Timmer’s compass as she navigated the curriculum review process. When her superintendent asked about the timeline, Timmer did something unexpected. “I went to my superintendent and asked, ‘Can we slow down this process?’” The sticky notes had shown her that teachers needed time to process the shift to structured literacy in order to feel confident and successful in their classrooms.
What began as a simple activity revealed the nuanced reality of teacher readiness, concerns, and priorities—all through the questions they chose to ask about each topic, permanently captured on simple sticky notes that Timmer has kept ever since.
Deep dive: Turning teacher priorities into statewide action
Uncover how South Dakota education leaders used teacher feedback as the foundation for a statewide shift to structured literacy. This in-depth success story highlights how listening first led to sustainable change and student growth.
