Teaching "thinking routines" - now that makes sense.

This weekend at class, I heard about using thinking routines.  Click here for a video overview. The instructional procedure of teaching specific thinking routines just make sense.  Project Zero from Harvard School of Education has an awesome website.  Click here.

Resource Summary

• Connect Extend Challenge A routine for connecting new ideas to prior knowledge
• Explanation Game A routine for exploring causal understanding
• Headlines A routine for capturing essence 
• Question Starts A routine for creating thought-provoking questions 
• Think Pair Share A routine for active reasoning and explanation 
• Think Puzzle Explore A routine that sets the stage for deeper inquiry 
• What makes you say that? Interpretation with justification routine 
• 3-2-1 Bridge A routine for activating prior knowledge and making connections
• Colour, Symbol, Image A routine for distilling the essence of ideas non-verbally
• Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate A routine for organizing one's understanding of a topic through concept mapping
• Peel the Fruit A map for tracking and guiding understanding

- See more at: http://www.pz.harvard.edu/resources/thinking-routines-understanding-routines#sthash.Agl0hRJG.dpuf

there is NOTHING wrong with failure

“If I persist, if I continue to try, if I continue to charge forward, I will succeed.” — Og Mandino     “And even if you don’t succeed… there is NOTHING wrong with failure (just get back and try again – and again – and again…).” – Frank Korb  Painting and…

Just what would the kids say after watching this - GRIT

Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.  This makes me wonder how many students out there think that they don't have what it takes -- when they do.

Thinking about the questions teachers are asking about GRAMMAR -

Separating grammar from the writing process seems to be like separating the bread from peanut butter and jelly when making a sandwich.

Let's go to a wonderful set of articles from top ELA educators in the professional magazine for ELA teachers.  Click here to read so much information to help you formulate your instructional plans.

Only time for one quick article - in my opinion this is the one to read -A Path to Better Writing.

Chatting with Jane E Pollock this morning.........

It is always fun to strike up a chat with Jane E Pollock.  This morning Jane Aegerter and I had the opportunity to catch up with Jane E.  In addition, we had some time to talk thru some more thoughts on formative assessment. The key reminders from the discussion included:

• unit and term assessments that check students knowledge are summative
• most assessment can be formative
• not all assessments are formative
• assessment in which the feedback is timely to the students to change their instructional knowledge and skill is formative
• assessment in which the feedback is used to alter the teacher's instruction is formative
• setting the G's in GANAG to the standards - part or whole - allows you to assess the standard
• whether the assessment of the standard is formative depends on if it alters student learning and/or teacher instruction
• two types of formative instruction are possible: task and informal
• a formative assessment that is a task - students demonstrates learning and receives feedback as they task unfolds in one period or several class periods
• a formative assessment that is informal - students receive feedback as they are explaining or talking thru a task or as the teacher is observing their prototype, etc.

A few further thoughts that Jane and I discussed after the phone conference included:

• unless the student justifies the reasons for their own self-scoring score to a standard accuracy and reliability in self-scoring is typically of low value
• using rubrics or setting expectations for self-scoring versus general thumbs up/thumbs down provides the teacher with more detailed formative assessment data that can  be acted upon

The only way to know how powerful your formative assessment practices are is to see how impactful they are to your lesson planning, differentiation throughout learning and student achievement over the course of time.

It is a journey for all of us...................another opportunity to learn and grow together.  What questions are you pondering about formative assessment?  Please let us know as we are studying ways to assist in meeting your needs in this area.  Time is probably the biggest factor.

By the way, Jane E is updating her book, One Teacher at a Time and finishing up her using technology to impact instruction book.  I hope to have Jane E back at WGSD in the upcoming years.  She is always just a call, Skype or e-mail away from anyone of you.  She loves to hear from WGSD staff.  Kathy

                                                  

Co-Teaching at Its Best - resources

A new Department of Public Instruction webpage and video explore best ways of implementing the practice of co-teaching, in order to help all children, including those with disabilities, succeed.

The DPI invites comments about co-teaching from Wisconsin educators through a simple form at the Co-Teaching in Wisconsin webpage, which is still evolving.

Co-Teaching at Its Best is a new animated explainer video from the DPI.

Co-teaching, when implemented effectively, means that two or more professionals with equivalent licensure collaborate to help a single group of students succeed. The educators share instructional responsibility and accountability for these kids.

As the video points out, "each educator brings expertise to the co-teaching relationship," each learns from the other, and each brings ideas to the table for creating effective instruction in a given content area for all students.

New Year - What do you need to know?

Here is a list of top topics and resources that Education Week has noted for 2016:

1. ESEA Reauthorization: The Every Student Succeeds Act Explained 2. 16 Books Educators Should Consider Reading in 2016 3. The Teaching Profession in 2015 (in Charts) 4. 2016 Education Rankings Put States, Nation to the Test 5. Why Is Classroom Management Such a Problem for New Teachers? 6. The Future of Big Data and Analytics in K-12 Education 7. ESSA Loosens Reins on Teacher Evaluations, Qualifications 8. 9 Strategies Teachers and Leaders Should Add in 2016 9. Ed. Dept. Sketches Out Transition to ESSA From NCLB, Previews Regulation 10. Will States Swap Standards-Based Tests for SAT, ACT? 11. How to Teach Multiplication by Teaching Art 12. Four Steps to Implement RTI Correctly I found the topics quite diverse and interesting for my own reflection, kathy