Blogging isn't just for students and teachers

Blogging can assist students to practice the CCSS on a regular basis, teachers to connect with parents and/or colleagues, directors of curriculum and assessment to connect with principals and teachers............but now there are principals and superintendents blogging too.  Check out some of these............

Principal blogger  http://www.bullis.org/middle-school/blog/index.aspx 
http://josephlmccourtmiddleschool.blogspot.com/

http://principalj.blogspot.com/
http://weprincipal.blogspot.com/

Superintendent blogger  http://www.millis.k12.ma.us/administration/blog  http://fairfieldschools.org/blog/

Lovin' my Acer Chromebook ........

I can't say enough good things about my Acer Chromebook.  I have been able to do so many personal and professional tasks with ease with my lightweight tool..............working in the cloud has never made my life easier.

TED Ed - A Source for Educational Videos

Have you heard of TED Ed?  It is a free resource of educational animated videos for teaching and learning.  The site has many tools for teachers including how to assign the videos, include a quiz to determine if students learned the information, and find out which students have watched the video....plus a lot more!

Let your students return to personalized "Welcome Back Notes"

Enjoying some Pinterest time over the holiday vacation and found this great site.  Pinterest is free so feel free to get a membership.  Click here to see how a teachers welcomes her students back to school after holidays.

Top Five iPad Apps for Teaching Across All Content Areas

"I’m going to share five applications for the iPad that will take the place of student supply lists, provide savings and replace dread with anticipation."

Although this blog post dates back to February, these educational technology apps are the most popular when it comes to teaching across all grade levels and content areas. These apps will engage student learning and make your students want to come back for more. But as the author, Andrew Marcinek reminds you, "teachers are and always will be the content experts in the classroom regardless of the technology or tools integrated. Adding the iPad only enhances the learning opportunities for teachers and students alike."

See the full article "Top Five iPad Apps for Teaching Across All Content Areas" by Andrew Marcinek (@andycinek) on Edutopia.

Google Slides .................Updates

Changing......As always, Google is continuing to improve their products.  That is one of the things I really love about the Google Apps suite.  They are looking for ways to make their tools more user-friendly all the time.

Google Slides, which is their version of presentations, is adding more features all the time.  Some of the most recent changes are being able to more easily see the name of the person who is editing a slide, being able to add content to a custom theme by just right-clicking and saying "Add to Theme", and being able to reuse custom themes by clicking "from another presentation" on the themes pop up window.  For details on how to use these new features, check out the Google Blog article, "Real time text cursors and other enhancements in Slides".

Another newer feature is how you access your various Google Tools from the home page.  When you log into Google, you now get the Google search bar, your frequently used web sites AND access to your various tools all on the same page.  I find this very convenient.

One feature I would like them to add is that I can customize order of the tools.  I would like to be able to either select the tools that appear at the top OR have the ones I use the most automatically appear there based on my usage statistics.  For any Google product, you can submit suggestions through their Feedback link.  This is located by going to the gear button in any tool. It is either directly listed on the gear options OR you click on Help and then you see the link on the next popup window.  You type in what your suggestion is and then you are able to send them a screenshot showing them exactly what you mean.  This is so easy!  I just submitted my feedback, so we will see if they can engineer that feature.

Be on the lookout for more changes in the Google products.  Just as I enjoy seeing the seasons change, it is fun to see the Google products change and improve.

Next Generation Science Standards Update.............

NGSS Second Public Draft will be Released January 2013

The release of the second and final public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is set for the first week in January.  In recognition of the hectic schedules in December and the approaching holidays, the NGSS staff wanted to ensure all educators, stakeholders. and the public had appropriate access to the draft.  We fully encourage all interested parties to review the draft as individuals or in groups and provide feedback to the Lead States and writers.
The NGSS will be completed in March of 2013.  Since the May draft release, the Lead States and the writers evaluated all feedback and worked on revising the standards.  As a result, over 90% of the standards have been revised.  In addition, the lead states charged the NGSS team with finalizing the definition for college and career readiness in science.  The NGSS then went through a second round of revision to ensure the standards supported this definition.
Thank you for your interest in the Next Generation Science Standards.

Educator Licensing Goes Online in January

In 2014, Wisconsin educators will begin to apply for or renew their licenses online through the DPI’s new Educator Licensing Online (ELO) system.

The DPI’s Teacher Education, Professional Development and Licensing (TEPDL) team has been working on the ELO project for the past two years in order to improve the licensing process for all educators.

The new system will make the application process more efficient and is anticipated to significantly decrease the processing time for educator applications.

The department has already stopped accepting paper applications.

On January 15, ELO will open for applicants seeking an initial educator license, emergency license, or substitute license. Educators looking to renew their licenses can apply in ELO beginning in March 2014. 

Wonderopolis.............what do you wonder about winter?

What do you wonder about winter?  Check out the website Wonderopolis….. It is home to many wonders.  Great for all ages because text can be read or listened to.  It is an excellent resource to spark creative and critical thinking as well as expose kids to cool informational text on interest topics we all wonder about. 

Check this site out!  What wonder sparked your interest?

PS:  There's an app for this!

Thanks Sara Schoepke for sharing this with me!!!!

4c: Communicating with Families with an Open House Video (NEW VIDEO

4c: Communicating with Families with an Open House Video (NEW VIDEO

I have updated my Open House video!

I like using an Open House Video for 3 reasons:
1) Parents can get a better idea about what happens in our classroom if they can see it.
2) I only have 8 minutes with each set of parents and I don't want to forget to tell them anything.
3) Parents that are unable to attend Open House can watch the video on my website from home.

You can read about and watch my old Open House Video here: Open House Video 2012.

What a clever use of technology!  I am subscribing to this blog that I just found.

Setting Instructional Outcomes with Augmented Reality in the Classroom

WOW - this is quite cool.  Check it out. Kids would love this teaching tool!

Jane E Pollock helps us reflect on our Interactive Notebooks

Here is a visual reminder of the format for the Interactive Notebook.

Planning for critical thinking and the 9 high-yield strategies is key for the teacher. Using an Interactive Notebook then insures that the students are engaged at a high level too.

Here is a visual you can use.

Writing --- Grade level examples from the CCSS

Here are some good student writing samples from the CCSS. These are helpful for teachers to review as grade level teams to determine the proficiency the CCSS is looking for as well as to share with students and use in your mini-lessons as examples. Kathy

Samples of Student Writing (Appendix C) These student writing samples have been annotated to illustrate the criteria required  to meet the CCSS for particular types of writing - argument, informative/explanatory text, and narrative - in a given grade.  Some of the samples were written in class or as homework; others were  written for on-demand assessments; still others were the result of  sustained research projects.  Where possible, each sample includes information  about circumstances under which it was produced. Samples/Teaching Points - Achieve the Core Scroll all the way down for all the goodies - samples, teaching helpers CCSS Opinion/Argumentative CCSS Informative/Explanatory  CCSS Narrative

Feedback is Valuable...........New Blog Look

Thanks to several people's comments that they are enjoying the blog but find the background neat but making it hard to read the blog.  Here you go with a new look.  Kathy

ELA in Science, Social Studies and Technical Subjects

Just found this cool ELA website that makes looking at the ELA for Disciplinary Literacy a bit easier to do.  Thanks to North Carolina!      ELA-Science, Social Studies and Technical Subjects

Working with Kindergarten and First Grade Teachers - What a Great Day!

Here are some quick resources related to the many topics we discussed today!  I sure had fun hearing about all of your work, your reflection today was inspiring and your care for your students rang strong.

Not all of you were able to see these, so I am sharing all of them with everyone!

Blogging with your students is really key.  Trying todaysmeet.com  might be your first step!  Way to go Teri for trying this.  It will be exciting to see what your student will write. Here are some more ideas too.

NCTM's virtual manipulatives library  was a quick share on the way out.  There are so many great ways to use these in math center work or with your instruction!

Don't forget the website with the cool ELA tool - the tool that helps you differentiate your ELA instruction easier (I won't say easily!)  I am looking for one for math right now.

Shirley talked about the Marzano graphic organizer templates for text structure.  Here they are.

Here is the video that I shared with Grade 1 on close reading with "The Hungry Catepillar".

What a day of sharing!  It sure made my day!

Making Virtual Posters to Demonstrate Knowledge

I use Smore or Thinglink for making Curriculum and Instruction newsletters and Professional Development/New Program flyers.  I am thinking it would be a great tool for students to create to demonstrate their understanding on a concept in social studies or science.

I have heard of this one but have not used it yet.

http://create.visual.ly/

Here are my examples: Dylan Williams Professional Development    C&I Newsletter

Students Blogging Right Straight to the CCSS Level.............need some ideas

A couple of ideas to share:

From Sara Schoepke:  I have been promoting blogging with students in my district as a means for teachers to get students writing (Common Core) as well as give students a way to use higher level thinking in all content areas.  Here are some of the resources I have created to help my teachers implement blogging in their classrooms.

http://techpd.weebly.com/blogs.html

---

Kidblog.org is perfect for blogging/discussions. I see many teachers use it for literature discussion groups - setting up a page for each book with a small group of students collaborating and chatting.

With Kidblog you can enroll in classes with a Google Apps for Education account, too, which makes it simple for teacher set up.

Are You Flipping Over Gains in Student Learning

I am sure you have heard about the FLIPPED CLASSROOM, Those teachers that are able to truly implement procedures so that students can watch videos at home and then use class time for collaborative work time and teacher coaching versus teacher presenting are seeing the student gains.  Give it a try -- but remember what Harry Wong would say, "You have to establish the procedures and put in an accountability system."  But then again, anything effective a teacher does takes thoughtful procedures and consistent routines.

Getting Your Students Feedback.....................

 CAPSpace  .

It is a website where you can post your own projects and invite others to connect and collaborate with your class, or you can browse collaborations or video conference opportunities that other educators have posted.

Make Creating a Research Bibliography a SNAP

EasyBib is great…so is BibMe, which includes APA, Chicago, and Turabian, in addition to MLA

Now there are some tools that can save instructional time.  

Can transitions be so exciting kids move quickly to see what is happening.............

Can you transitions students and promote books at the same time --- check this out ----- "Bookloose" reading promotional video done by some Texas middle school students!

Need to calm them down ....try this Magnificent Library video.

21st Century Learning.................Teacher Teamwork is Rockin'

Sara Schoepke shares out: “As you may know, or not know, each elementary building has a 21C committee that is meeting to discuss how the 21st Century Skills and technology integrate into the classroom and instruction.  Great conversation around those topics occur there and I feel the need to share them out some highlights to everyone who is interested...... so periodically, I will be gathering my notes and sharing out the great stuff being shared at that venue.  It is a little lengthy because there is soooo much :)” 

Here is the latest:

http://techpdblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/21st-century-teachers-meet-our-november.html

Sound............Creating..............Making Music

Can this video inspire your students to:

• create sounds with household items,
• make background music for reading their writing,
• video take a poetry or prose with background music,
• discover how sound is made through vibration,
• create music to demonstrate their knowledge of music theory,
• to celebrate?

I thought this would be inspiring for kids.....even if only shown for a transitional tool. I found it for a 6th grade student I met who learns best through music.    Kathy

Excellence is about reflection not an endpoint you get to.................

As we close out on October and move into November today, parent-teacher conferences are done and we look at what has been accomplished thus far.  It is at this time that we must remind ourselves that, teaching is challenging.  It is continuous progress not perfection, because things are changing at such a rapid pace, that matters. It is not teachers who get feedback and look back and regret, but those who look forward, reflect and continuously refine that are the excellent ones.  I would love to hear what has caught your attention and has caused you to refine your practice thus far this year --- someone, something you heard, something you read, something modeled...................share your journey with me!

I was inspired to write this because of an awesome teacher who shared some things she reflected on and changed after a walk-thru and conversation  AND the impact on student learning. Kudos to her!!!

Hoppe@waterford.k12.wi.us

.

Why Marzano's Thinking Skills are LIFE CHANGER skills

Higher order thinking skills is an important aspect in teaching and learning especially at higher education institutions. Thinking skills practices are part of the generic skills that should be infused in all technical subjects. Students with higher order thinking skills are able to learn, improve their performance and reduce their weaknesses. Hence, the purpose of this research was to identify the level of Marzano Higher Order Thinking Skills among technical education

students in the Faculty of Technical Education (FPTek), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. A total of 158 students of FPTek were randomly selected as sample. A set of questionnaires adapted from Marzano Rubrics for Specific Task or Situations (1993) was used as research instrument. This is a quantitative research and the gathered data was

analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. The findings indicated that students perceived they have moderate level for investigation, experimental inquiry,

comparing, deducing, constructing support, inducing and invention. However, decision making, problem solving, error analyzing, abstracting, analyzing perspectives and classifying

are at low level. The Eta analysis indicated that there is a very low positive relationship between the level of Marzano Higher Order Thinking Skills and gender, academic achievement as well

as socio economic status. Besides that, the findings also showed

that there is no statistically significant difference in gender, academic achievement and socio economic status on the level of Marzano Higher Order Thinking Skills. However, there is

significant difference in socio economic status on the level of decision making.

Read to find out more about this ---

Contest for Grades 4-8th ...............Let's have a winner from WGSD

“Letters about Literature” Contest is Open

For the Letters about Literature contest, students tell authors about the life-changing impact of their books:

Dear Madeline L’Engle,

Your book, A Wrinkle in Time, made me really connect with myself. You may not realize what effect your character Meg had on me, and probably others as well....

Some people think they’re trash because of the unkind treatment they have received. I used to cry myself to sleep at night when I really didn’t have to, it wasn’t my fault, just like Meg. I realized that, so what if kids weren’t nice to me, I could still be nice to them. I made friends with kids that felt the same way I did. Now the bullying isn’t so hard to take for them anymore. Bullying has to stop so the next generation doesn’t have to go through what Meg, me, and millions of other kids go through....

Olivia Van Hammond
Barry Elementary School, Appleton

Dear J.K. Rowling:

... After I had finished reading Harry Potter’s epic tale, I realized that not only my reading level had changed but also something within me. I could now go about life with a brighter perspective of the things happening around me. I knew that another world was always waiting for me if I felt like the one I was living in wasn’t agreeing with me very well. Your books inspired me to believe that life wasn’t as complex as I thought it was. Everyone needs a little unreal to make the real more fun....

Katie Stremcha
North High School, Eau Claire

Submissions to the contest, which is sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Wisconsin Center for the Book, must be postmarked by December 10, 2013, for grades 9-12 and January 10, 2014 for grades 4-8.

Contact Mary Lou Santovec, coordinator, 920-674-5280, for more information. 

Just what is close reading? Ask 4th and 5th grade teachers about their poetry activity!

Defining Close Reading 

Timothy Shanahan, University of Illinois, Chicago

Close reading by anyone's definition (including probably mine) could exclude critical reading because such reading requires the imposition of some kind of external standards of quality or value. (In other words, true close reading allows explanation, but not evaluation). However, that means a reader would not be allowed to notice logical inconsistencies or factual errors within a text during a close reading (since logic and knowledge of the world are clearly external to the texts themselves). However, when one examines famous "close reads" such as those published by Wayne Booth (his analysis of Turn of the Screw is marvelous; 1961) or William Empson (1930), it is evident that they don't reject the idea of considering value or ambiguity or inconsistency in their close readings. E. D. Hirsch (1967), when he was still somewhat entangled with the New Criticism, explicitly took the position that it was essential for the reader to understand what a text said and how it worked prior to engaging in critical analysis but, ultimately, critical analysis is part of the package, even if it comes late to the party.

The version of close reading that I like best is that espoused by Mortimer Adler and Carl Van Doren (1940). They take a similar position to Hirsch. You first have to understand what a text says and how it works, but ultimately it is legitimate to turn your attention to issues of quality and value (personal or societal) when reading. In fact, I believe that view is built into the Common Core State Standards. Look at the organization of the reading standards (Key Ideas and Details—which are clearly about summarizing what texts say; Craft and Structure—which are clearly about determining how a text works and what the author's prospective is; and Integration of knowledge and meaning—which gets into evaluative judgments and text comparisons (Adler and Van Doren's syntoptic reading).

There are important inconsistencies and problems in close reading. That, in part, is what the New Criticism eventually collapsed. The rules got too strenuous and prohibitive for good readers to trust in them, so the world moved on. CCSS is bringing back a great concept, and yet it is one that should not be policed too carefully or it will likely collapse again. 

References

Adler, M.J., & Van Doren, C. (1940).  How to read a book:  The classic guide to intelligent reading.  Touchstone Publishers.

Booth, W.C. (1961). The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago, IL:  Univ. of Chicago Press.

Empson, W. (1930).  Seven types of ambiguity.  London:  Chatto and Windus. 

Hirsch, E.D. (1967).  Validity in interpretation.  New Haven, CT:  Yale University Press.

Do you know what a COGNATE is?

What are cognates?

In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common origin. Since English has its roots in the Germanic language family, there are many English words that are similar in sound and orthography to German words such as heart/Herz, house/Haus, and bear/Bär. Few native German speakers are currently entering U.S. schools so these connections are of less interest than the Romance-based words that make up another important chunk of English vocabulary.

Educator Effectiveness Update..........from Brian and Brad

Not to far back you were graced with the presence of myself and Brian Shew to help shed some light on the Educator Effectiveness Program and Student Learning Outcomes.  After looking through the exit cards that were submitted a lot of people asked for the two presentations to be emailed to you for your own resources.


Below are the two links to the presentations we conducted at your school.  If you have any questions at any time on the content we presented on, please do not hesitate to email us.


Thank you and have a great day.


Educator Effectiveness Presentation (First Presentation)


Student Learning Outcomes Presentation (Second Presentation) 

Brad Singer

Bullying - Bystanders.........Upstanders Check this out!

Thanks to all of the facilitators, coordinators and support for the Bullying Training last week.  Here is a cool video created by Amy Gee of the Upstander Training last week.

The Power of a Word Wall...............are you using one today?

I thought this was a powerful piece on the work of a word wall, how it needs to stay fresh and interactive, and how it can be used in any K-8 classroom.  Yes, I have seen some powerful word walls in the arts, elective classrooms, mathematics, science, social studies, health, etc.  Remember the 6 steps for best practice vocabulary instruction -- if the word is key then give it the time to teach it using these practices.  Most teachers attempt to teach so many vocabulary words that the students are overwhelmed and cannot effectively generalize the terms to their daily use and thus long term memory.  Vocabulary is social so allow time for conversing and using key vocabulary.  AND most importantly, don't have them copying words and definitions from the teacher verbatim which is the least effective strategy of all - yikes.

Interesting Article ..........we will keep working on our learning targets

This is an interesting article about the CCSS.  However, we will continue to study learning and implement best practices with our District Curriculum which is derived from Common Core State Standards, essential skills and knowledge for students in our district and 21st century skills.

IN9 - Learning Means Processing the Knowledge

Interactive Notebooks - “Learning Means Processing the Knowledge”

• notebooks, folders for younger students
• students interacting with the content and other resources
• students direct companion to GANAG
• the students “learning space”
• record objectives, personalize information to insure understanding, work on thinking skills,
• not for recording information but for making the content “their own”
• helps teachers get to know how their students think through seeing how they create or re-create the content to have meaning
• copying teacher notes or taking verbatim notes on what the teacher is saying are the least effective ways for students to learn new knowledge --- they must make sense of it themselves through words and pictures  EX. drawing an ecosystem can really tell you what the student knows about ecosystems versus copying a definition tells you nothing about what they are thinking
• walking around during a lesson and observing what students are putting in their notebook is a form of formative assessment because it tells you what they are thinking

Tips for preparing the notebook:

• allowing kids to personalize the notebook is key - front and unit tabs
• page numbering system
• table of contents
• a way to organize objective scoring sheets
• how to use visual representations of vocabulary words
• some teachers use the left for the “teacher/input” and the right for “student work/output” -- the teacher content and the application by the student is separated in this way

Writing Samples from CCSS......to assist with your INSTRUCTION

Some of the samples were written in class or as homework; others were written for

on-demand assessments; still others were the result of sustained research projects.

Where possible, each sample includes information about the circumstances under

which it was produced the circumstances under which it was produced.

These student writing samples have been annotated to illustrate the criteria required to meet the Common Core State Standards for particular types of writing—argument, informative/explanatory text, and narrative—in a given grade.

Some of the samples were written in class or as homework; others were written for on-demand assessments; still others were the result of sustained research projects. Where possible, each sample includes information about the circumstances under which it was produced.

Language Arts - WKCE

·  Writing Test - In the writing portion of the WKCE, students plan, write, and edit a composition on a specific topic (prompt) within a specified time frame.

o    Writing Rubrics

o    Sample Prompts can be found in the Writing Assessment Released Item Book.

- See more at: http://oea.dpi.wi.gov/oea_wkce#sthash.Ju3PyhAn.dpuf

Thanks to Evergreen New Teachers for inspiring me to pull this post together for the good of the group.  

PD Opportunity --- Reading Foundations: Decoding

Hello Elementary Teachers -

 

Would you like to know more about the Common Core State Standards - Reading Foundation Skills? Do you want to learn specifically about what the state's expectations for student's knowledge and skills in the area of decoding?

 

Consider joining me in a voluntary,  interactive session on the 6 types of syllables and why learners need to know them to decode unknown words as well as gain some tips on how to begin talking about this with students in your classroom through a discovery process.

 

I am offering a 45 minute overview at Woodfield on Tuesday, September 17th from 3:45-4:30.  E-mail me if you would like one of the 20 slots available.  I will bring the materials..............just bring your learning smile and a treat/drink in case you need one for the after school time.

 

I look forward to learning with those who are interested.  If you are interested but cannot attend also let me know.  I will over time offer sessions for those interested as I see trends and/or topics of interest or need.

 

Your partner in learning, Kathy

Creativity Fun - Join in

I know that some of you may have seen information on International Dot Day from Facebook or Twitter posts, but I wanted to pass this website along. It falls on September 15th, which is a Sunday, but many of us will be celebrating over the next couple of weeks. Consider sharing the book “The Dot” with your students and you get creative with dots in all sorts of ways! Let’s see how many classrooms around the world use this as a beginning of the year activity to encourage student 21^st century creativity skills.

http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/

Back-To-School Video From Wisconsin's Tony Evers

Tony Evers salutes teachers and staff as we head into the new school year - 2013-14.  Click here.

Apps to Help Students With Dysgraphia and Writing Difficulties

Technology can be a great tool for students (and adults!) who have learning disabilities like dysgraphia or dyslexia that affect their written expression. We’ve personally reviewed these mobile apps and we know they’re LD-friendly. They can make the writing process a bit easier and even fun! Not every app will be a “perfect fit” for everyone who has LD, but with a little testing, you can figure out which one works best for your child or teen’s individual needs.

Read more here. 

Motivation is Inseparable from Culture

Motivation Is Inseparable from Culture

Engagement is the visible outcome of motivation, the natural capacity to direct energy in the pursuit of a goal. Our emotions influence our motivation. In turn, our emotions are socialized through culture—the deeply learned confluence of language, beliefs, values, and behaviors that pervades every aspect of our lives. For example, one person working at a task feels frustrated and stops, while another person working at the task feels joy and continues. Yet another person, with an even different set of cultural beliefs, feels frustrated at the task but continues with increased determination. What may elicit that frustration, joy, or determination may differ across cultures, because cultures differ in their definitions of novelty, hazard, opportunity, and gratification, and in their definitions of appropriate responses. Thus, the response a student has to a learning activity reflects his or her culture.

While the internal logic as to why a student does something may not coincide with that of the teacher, it is, nonetheless, present. And, to be effective, the teacher must understand that perspective. Rather than trying to know what to do to students, we must work with students to interpret and deepen their existing knowledge and enthusiasm for learning. From this viewpoint, effective teaching is culturally responsive teaching.

Thought-provoking article ------- Textbook's Role in Today's Learning

I read this and thought - that is very interesting.  I thought I would share with you to see what you thought.

The Textbook is Dead, Long Live the Textbook! What 1:1 is doing to Traditional Classroom Resources.

Yep I said it. The days of the traditional textbook are over.  The moment I brought devices into a classroom the textbook fell from its revered place as a THE respectable source of information and was revealed for what it is, a simplified and incomplete narrative of the past.

Click here to read more.  Let me know what you think.

Creativity vs Innovation...........How can you tell them apart

Creativity vs Innovation

Creativity can be considered as the process of thinking up new things and concepts while innovation is the process of converting those thoughts into tangible things. Another way of looking at it is to consider creativity as the dreaming up of new things and innovation as the process of making those dreams come true.

Read more: Difference Between Creativity and Innovation | Difference Between | Creativity vs Innovation http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-creativity-and-innovation/#ixzz2d64xCyTZ

ISTE 2013: New Report Details Latest Trends in Online Learning

ISTE 2013: New Report Details Latest Trends in Online Learning

Speak Up 2012 data highlights how virtual, blended and flipped classrooms are contributing to districts’ digital conversion efforts.

Read more here at Ed Teach K-12.

Welcome New Teachers........thanks for the caring hearts of the mentors

Check out our developing website for mentor and new teacher resources too -- http://educatorchat.weebly.com/

It has been updated with a Fall theme.  It is exciting to start the year with all of you in the Waterford Graded School District...............and friends following this blog around the world.

Key Nuggets from Dylan Wiliam's Presentation..............I would love to hear from you WGSD

As I walk away from the Dylan Wiliam, author of Embedded Formative Assessment, I am reminded of the following (click here to continue the dialogue http://todaysmeet.com/formativeassessment):

• The great profession that I am a part of the and the life-changing ability of a teacher to impact students in many ways not only during the years they have them in the classroom but their future success in the world of work.
• It takes commitment and dedication for a teacher to work on getting better every year - teaching is very complicated.
• We need to help students find their passions and learn how to learn. Creativity is key.
• I love when he said, "Mistakes are evidence that I gave you work that was hard enough.  If it is easy work, I am sorry as you are not learning."
• Teachers who have students raise hands are using an ineffective practice.  All students should be accountable and know you may call on them at any time.  Don't let them off the hook -- let them phone a friend, poll the audience, but don't move on when they say they don't know.  Randomly picking students is key to engagement.
• Feedback/comments increase learning if they point to the learning to advise or challenge the student only if the student is required to respond.  It is the quality of the student's response that determines the quality of the feedback.  Critic the behavior of the learner not the learner themselves.
• Mindset - smart is something you get when you work hard at something to refine, rethink, etc.
• It is harder to change habits than learn new or additional practices. However, we have to let go of some good but not great practices to learning and grow to having great instructional practices.
• Peer Observation is great if the observed teacher directs the observer on what they would liek to be observed on and owns any of the evidence used in the peer observation.

CCSS - Myths and Facts about the Common Core State Standards

Here are some updated resources on the CCSS.

Myths and Facts about the Common Core State Standards

WI Brief on the Common Core State Standards

DPI Common Core Communication Toolkit

Wong & Wong: How to Successful Engage Students in Correcting His/Her Behavior

Practicing the Smile-Feedback-Name-Please-Thank You can really assist in student management:

Step 1 - SMILE.  Smile as you approach the student, even if your first impulse is to behave harshly toward the student.

Step 2. FEEDBACK. Observe the reaction to your smile.  Are you receiving a smile in return or at least a signal that the student is relaxing and receptive to your approach?

Step 3. PAUSE.

Step 4. NAME State the student name with a slight smile.

Step 5. PAUSE.

Step 6. PLEASE. Add please, followed by your request.  Do this in a calm, firm voice, accompanied by a slight, non-threatening smile.

Step 7. PAUSE

Step 8. THANK YOU.  End with "Thank you, Nathan" and a slight smile.

SMART Goals.....Made EZ

Here is my "SMART Goals....Made EZ" - okay, well perhaps easier at least.  Click for examples.

Basic Pattern:

We, _____________, will increase/improve student achievement/learning in (1)____________ so that (2) _____of students will show gains by  (3)  on ( 4) ________ by (5) _______________  (6) through (begin to identify your action plan overview).

1. improvement you will measure (math, reading, art knowledge or skill, etc)
2. who (all the students some gains, an identified population,,,,,,,,,,could have subgoals for different areas/types of students --- GT, spec ed, etc)
3. how much (based on your baseline data, what is the improvement you would like to see, realistic for the given time…………….subgoal of mid-year possible also)
4. what tool will you use to measure (MAPS, Fountas and Pinnell, rubrics, WKCE, math text assessment? )
5. by when will the measurement be available (end of the year, mid-year, by March?)
6. additional information to refer to major action focus your team will target

Pedagogy First, Tech Second

........ from 21centuryacademy by Sharon Ellner

I was reading a blog article by Darren Coxon about his travels through an iPad deployment.  The intent of the article was to save others from having the same frustrations as his school had, which is great sharing. What hit me, however, as a key point was in this passage:


"There are some schools that went all out, investing in one iPad per student from day one, but I have been to some of these schools and they are not using the iPad in a way that can be truly transformative. For me, it is about more than just the device; it is about getting the infrastructure in place. And this does not only mean things like wireless: it includes the intellectual, pedagogical infrastructure that brings with it an understanding of both the benefits and pitfalls of bringing these devices into the classroom. They have the powers to be truly game changing, but only if they are handled correctly. Remember the interactive whiteboard when it was first brought in? We thought it would change things completely. The reason it did not was that no one really thought through the pedagogy behind it. It became a glorified, expensive projector, little more. The iPad has the capacity to become nothing more than a glorified iPhone without the phone, or a nice way to look online."


Darren, you hit the nail on the head.  Don't get me wrong....I think technology rocks....but only when it fundamentally changes the thinking and learning of the students.  If we are going to have students taking lecture notes on an iPad or netbook, does that really change the learning?  Perhaps, as the students can collaboratively share the notes and hopefully build some knowledget together, but is that really a game changer?  If we have students taking quizzes with clickers rather than paper, does that change their learning?  Perhaps, as the teacher can get quicker results, but is it a major game changer?  If we have students playing an iPad app for Everyday Math instead of the same game with cards and paper, are we really changing what they are learning?


What I really see as the value of technology is when it allows students to think and learn in ways they could not otherwise do. For example, if we have students in the United States collaboratively trying to solve a water pollution problem in a third world country with students in that country, now THAT is a game changer!  How else could they get first hand knowledge of the problem?  How else could they see how their ideas would be feasible in another country?  Without the technology, they could not complete this task at the same level.


I would love to hear more examples of how technology is being used to really raise the level of thinking and learning of students.  What are you all doing out there to accomplish this?  What are the students doing differently?  Could they do that same thinking and learning without the technology?  

Posted by Sharon Ellner at 1:08 PM 

Darren, you hit the nail on the head.  Don't get me wrong....I think technology rocks....but only when it fundamentally changes the thinking and learning of the students.  If we are going to have students taking lecture notes on an iPad or netbook, does that really change the learning?  Perhaps, as the students can collaboratively share the notes and hopefully build some knowledge together, but is that really a game changer?  If we have students taking quizzes with clickers rather than paper, does that change their learning?  Perhaps, as the teacher can get quicker results, but is it a major game changer?  If we have students playing an iPad app for Everyday Math instead of the same game with cards and paper, are we really changing what they are learning?


What I really see as the value of technology is when it allows students to think and learn in ways they could not otherwise do. For example, if we have students in the United States collaboratively trying to solve a water pollution problem in a third world country with students in that country, now THAT is a game changer!  How else could they get first-hand knowledge of the problem?  How else could they see how their ideas would be feasible in another country?  Without the technology, they could not complete this task at the same level.


I would love to hear more examples of how technology is being used to really raise the level of thinking and learning of students.  What are you all doing out there to accomplish this?  What are the students doing differently?  Could they do that same thinking and learning without the technology?