Nov. 16, 2015

I heard this quote and it has really resonated with me.  Many days we do the same routine and follow our same habits because it is comfortable. Our students do not come to school for comfort, they show up to molded and prepared for the future.  

Good is simply not good enough anymore if we want to prepare today's students to be productive

citizens in our ever changing society.  I am heavy hearted about Paris and the responsibility that we as educators have to teach not only content but personal responsibility. It does not matter what a scholar's situation is outside of school, we have 7 hours a day to impact them. If you are still reading this- I hope you feel this same passion to move onto better & best because our scholars deserve it!

Nov. 9, 2015

The November 2015 issue of Science & Children focuses on writing in science.  There are two articles that we will look at in PLCs. One is called MAP IT-THEN WRITE IT which focuses on primary grades.  The 3rd-5th grade article called SCIENCE FOR TWO VOICES shows how to use poetry to reinforce students' understanding by comparing two related concepts.  These cross-curricular connections allow students the opportunity to strengthen their skills when we embed grade level writing expectations with our content.

Nov. 2, 2015

At U-CAN this past week, this great resource was given out to one of your team members.  We spent time going over the well formatted one-page reading strategy ideas.  One thing that I LOVE about this book is that it shows you an example.  Each strategy is cross referenced by levels, skills and genre.  That makes this a great resource for Social Studies and Science as well!  Take a look at the example for younger students but keep in mind there are over 300 strategies in this book. This is a perfect resource so go to when you are trying to differentiate for all levels.  Please take time to examine this resource in your next team meeting.  If you would like time to look through it together, please email me and let's set up a time.

Oct. 26, 2015

WE CAN…IF…

As our first round of Achievement Data meetings ends, I feel teachers battle with two things:

1. How do I help my students academically?

2. How do I address the factors I can’t change?

Let’s look at the first one. “The Why Behind RTI” states that: “Targeted Instruction + Time = Learning

Because learning styles and instructional needs vary from student to student, we must provide each student with targeted instruction—that is, teaching practices designed to meet his or her individual learning needs. We also know that students don't all learn at the same speed. Some will need more time to learn. That is the purpose of RTI—to systematically provide every student with the additional time and support needed to learn at high levels.”

Secondly, I know in my heart that you desire to meet the needs of your students. That becomes overwhelming when you literally think of the INDIVIDUAL needs of the scholars that you cannot change. Eric Jensen states that economically disadvantaged students’ deal with 4 issues:

· Emotional and social challenges.

· Acute and chronic stressors.

· Cognitive lags. (RTI & sound helps address this!)

· Health and safety issues.

Overwhelming not only because of the needs that you cannot address but also because of time constraints. “Kids raised in poverty are more likely to lack—and need—a caring, dependable adult in their lives, and often it's teachers to whom children look for that support.” Students need consistency and dependable relationships in which to succeed.

WE CAN be successful with any student IF we provide these 2 things to our scholars. Please discuss the needs of your students with your team so every scholar feels this dependable, consistent support.

References:

The Why Behind RTI http://goo.gl/YC23

Teaching with Poverty in Mind, by Eric Jensen http://goo.gl/nh0nOY

Oct. 19, 2015

Have you heard of this costume wearing-tech savvy-engaging teacher from Seattle? Mr. Heath really stretches me to think outside of the box to reach students. I've shared a video of one of his math lessons below - I hope he inspires you too!

Follow him on Twitter @teachheath

Check out his website!

Oct. 12, 2015

Learning time loss: Why bell-to-bell learning matters 

by Dr. Justin Tarte @justintarte

Imagine this scenario: You teach at least 5 classes or 5 hours a day (this accounts for both elementary and secondary teachers). Each 1 hour block takes about 5 minutes to get started and ends about 5 minutes early.

This means that roughly 10 minutes out of every 60 minutes are underutilized. Over the course of the day, this means that roughly 50 minutes out of every 300 minutes are not focused on learning. Over the course of a typical 5-day week there will be 250 minutes not spent on learning out of a total 1,500 potential learning minutes. Over the course of a typical school year of 174 school days there will be 8,700 minutes not utilized for learning.

Now, let's be realistic and cut that number in half because we all know there are assemblies and other events that cut into learning time throughout the school year. That leaves us with 4,350 minutes of time not spent learning. 4,350 total underutilized minutes divided by a typical 300 min. school day = 14.5 days per school year are slipping through our fingers.

Does every minute needs to focused on learning, of course not. Are there times when kids and educators need a few moments to simply 'breathe,' of course there are.

It's unrealistic to think every minute can be focused on learning.

However, even with conservative numbers, almost three weeks of school each year are being lost. In other words, 8.3% of a student's year in a 36-week school year. And, there's one thing all educators can agree with... time is precious and we always need more of it.

This article by Dr. Justin Tarte really made me think! You will be amazed when you learn what great things are happening @canSTEM. Come to PLC prepared (with photos or examples) to share what you do in your classroom. Let's really focus on making sure we are maximizing the time we have! 

Oct. 5, 2015

As I was reading Twitter, I ran across this graphic.  It was a great
reminder of our district's student-centered platform goal.
"Student-centered learning platform will include multiple approaches
to the content, process and product and include a classroom
environment that fosters differentiated instruction and engagement."
How do you learn best?