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Student learning is no accident!

New Year’s Resolutions & Goal Setting Success

By on August 24th, 2013 in 21st Century Skills, Assessment, Teacher Evaluation tags: , , , | Leave a Comment

As a student, I always saw September as an opportunity to rewrite my story. I could make a good impression on my new teachers. I would keep better track of my materials and assignments and maybe even be one of those kids that seemed to “have it all together.” These days, I still find myself resolving to do better every September, and… I’ve gotten much better at actually making progress toward the goals I set!

One goal at a time. I am more likely to make progress toward my goal if I focus on one at a time. This is really hard for me, but I remind myself that it worked the year I vowed to “use a classroom website in a meaningful way” as well as the year I hoped to “involve families in academics.” The years I pledged to significantly change my assessment methods, overhaul reading conferences and exercise every day, I did not feel nearly as successful.

Share with a supportive colleague. This makes all the difference in the world for me! Having the opportunity to share my goal and talk through it with someone is valuable, especially if we schedule time to reflect on it regularly, and check in on each other. Having a partner prevents me from getting stuck and giving up because we can trouble shoot together and provide support and encouragement. Feeling responsible to someone else keeps me focused and decreases the likelihood that I will get so busy I completely forget that I set a goal!

Know Success. I am much more likely to be successful if I decide in advance what achieving my goal will look like. The year I set a goal to “be more organized” (always a much needed goal for me) I never felt like I had achieved it. I definitely made positive changes in planning and tried out a binder system an amazingly organized colleague showed me… but, I wasn’t clear with myself from the start. Now, I like to brainstorm what success might look like and revisit it and revise it as I work to make progress. (Here are my ideas about what this year’s goal might look like in action.) This way, once I’ve achieved my goal I can think clearly about moving on to another or expanding my work in the same are.

Self-assessing followed by goal setting is a process that supports me in developing or changing my practices. What goal are you working toward this year?

image from doblelol.com

image from doblelol.com

 

 

How do your students self-asses?

By on April 1st, 2013 in 21st Century Skills, Assessment, Using Questioning/ Prompts and Discussion Techniques tags: , , , , | Leave a Comment

Lately, I’ve found myself having conversations with many educators who think self-assessment is a good idea… but just aren’t sure about putting it into practice. Consequences of thoughtful self-assessment:

1. Students reflect on their process, performance, actions.

2. Students become more aware of their learning and/ or actions- in the moment!! “Johnny, don’t you ever think before you speak?!?” (which never has any impact, BTW) —-> “Johnny, I noticed you stopped yourself  before responding to Maria (how responsible of you)… tell me a little about your thinking.

3.  Students begin using on the language of the self-assessment in their classroom dialogue. (And I wasn’t even trying to teach content specific vocabulary!!)

Here’s a Scientist’s Self Assessment I plan to use this week in a third grade science class. You’ll notice I’ve embedded a home-school communication component as well!

Here’s a Self and Group Assessment Tool I created and have used successfully with grades 4-8 to encourage academic discussions.

Here’s part of a Behavior Chart Self Monitor program my teammate and I have used for a few years now. We tweak it regularly… The weekly self-assessment and twice quarterly goal setting have really strengthened student- family conversations around progress at school. We use the data (student-collected) as the basis of our Student-Led Family Conferences.

 

Before Open House, we complete this Personal Responsibility Self Assessment on our team. Then, at Open House, we weave in some of the elements of Personal Responsibility that we plan to encourage during the school year in our talks with families. We revisit this list often throughout the year, students add new ideas to it and we track our progress.

Here’s another self-assessment that supports student reflection and analysis around Quality of Work. I like to use it on days that we add work to our portfolios.

I hope you’ll consider trying these out! Modify them to meet your needs and please let me know how they impact your students’ learning.

How are you encouraging reflection, goal-setting and self-assessment?

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Week 4 Challenge: Assessment in Instruction

By on March 24th, 2013 in Assessment, edchat, Educational Issues, educoach, Teacher Evaluation tags: , , , | Leave a Comment

Dear Teachers,

Thanks for wanting to jump back in with us as we dig into Assessment in Instruction! This is the last of the 4 challenges- and I know you’ll finish strong! To get started, think about which level you feel most accurately describes your daily teaching experiences…

Level 1: There is little or no assessment or monitoring of student earning; feedback is absent, or of poor quality. Students do not appear to be aware of the assessment criteria and do not engage in self-assessment. There is no attempt to adjust the lesson as a result of assessment. -> Level 2: Assessment is sporadically used to support instruction through some teacher and/ or student monitoring of progress of learning. Feedback to students is general, and students appear to be only partially aware of the assessment criteria; few assess their own work. Questions/ prompts/ assessments are rarely used to diagnose evidence of learning. Adjustment to the lesson in response to the assessment is minimal or ineffective. -> Level 3: Assessment is regularly used during instruction through teacher and/ or student monitoring of progress of learning, resulting in accurate, specific feedback that advances learning. Students appear to be aware of the assessment criteria; some of them engage in self- assessment. Questions/ prompts/ assessments are used to diagnose learning, and adjustment to instruction is made to address student misunderstandings.   -> Level 4: Assessment is fully integrated into instruction through extensive use of formative assessment. Students appear to be aware of, and there is some evidence that they have contributed to, the assessment criteria. Students self-assess and monitor their progress. A variety of feedback, from both teachers and peers, is accurate, specific, and advances learning. Questions/ prompts/ assessments are used regularly to diagnose evidence of learning, and instruction is adjusted and differentiated to address individual student misunderstandings.

There are Four Key Elements in this Component:

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Which one do you consider your strength? Is there one you will focus on most this week? Set a goal for yourself for this 1 week challenge. To increase your chances of success, make it public by sharing it in the comments. Check out my Assessment Learnist Board and my Assessment Pinterest Board to get the ideas flowing!

Let’s make it a meaningful week of growth for your students and for your practice!

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PS~ You may want to connect your thinking to the related RIDE_assessment_Rubric or I3_Assessment_rubric

 

Respect & Rapport… starts with us!

By on March 18th, 2013 in 21st Century Skills, Classroom Environment, Communicating with Students, Differentiating Instruction, educoach, Establishing a Culture for Learning, Respect and Rapport, Teacher Evaluation tags: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

What better way to develop an Environment of Respect and Rapport than by developing a 1:1 relationship with each student??Watch Rick connect with students about their reading during conferences. What does he do/ say that develops an environment of respect and rapport? What does Rick communicate to his students with his verbal and non-verbal language? I’ve seen similar successes with Experimental Design Conferences in a middle school science class as well as Think Tank conferences in a high school math class. In each instance, teachers demonstrated great respect for their students’ thinking by honoring scheduled time with everyone. How could you make something like this work in your context? What do you & your students stand to gain?

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Week 3 Challenge: Creating an Environment of Respect & Rapport

By on March 10th, 2013 in 21st Century Skills, Assessment, Classroom Environment, edchat, educoach, Establishing a Culture for Learning, Issues Beginning Teachers Face, Respect and Rapport, Teacher Evaluation tags: , , | 3 Comments

‘An Environment of Respect & Rapport’… This is an area I find myself discussing quite often with teachers. At least once a week, I have conversations with teachers about how tricky they find this particular domain/ standard to assess. Recently, I attended a presentation about how some teachers and mentors are tackling this very topic. Before we think about how to improve our practice, let’s think about where we are beginning…

Level 1: Patterns of classroom interactions, both between the teacher and students and among students, are mostly negative, inappropriate, or insensitive to students’ ages, cultural backgrounds, and developmental levels. Interactions are characterized by sarcasm, put-downs, or conflict. Teacher does not respond to disrespectful behavior. -> Level 2: Patterns of classroom interactions, both between the teacher and students and among students, are generally appropriate but may reflect occasional inconsistencies, favoritism, and disregard for students’ ages, cultures, and developmental levels. Students rarely demonstrate disrespect for one another. Teacher attempts to respond to disrespectful behavior, with uneven results. The net result of the interactions is neutral: conveying neither warmth nor conflict. -> Level 3: Teacher-student interactions are friendly and demonstrate general caring and respect. Such interactions are appropriate to the ages, of the students. Students exhibit respect for the teacher. Interactions among students are generally polite and respectful. Teacher responds successfully to disrespectful behavior among students. The net result of the interactions is polite and respectful, but impersonal. -> Level 4: Classroom interactions among the teacher and individual students are highly respectful, reflecting genuine warmth and caring and sensitivity to students as individuals. Students exhibit respect for the teacher and contribute to high levels of civility among all members of the class. The net result of interactions is that of connections with students as individuals.

Level 1-> Level 2

Moving from level 1 to 2 on this rubric means that interactions in the classroom become generally appropriate. In level 2 the teachers attempts to respond to disrespectful behavior.

Level 2-> Level 3

Moving from level 2 to 3 on this rubric means that interactions in the classroom become generally friendly, caring and respectful. In level 3 the teacher’s response to disrespectful behavior is successful.

Level 3–> Level 4

Moving from level 3 to 4 on this rubric means that interactions in the classroom become highly respectful, genuinely warm and caring. Students contribute to the high levels of civility among members of the class. (Notice that the level 4 refers to student contribution to civility as opposed to teacher’s response to disrespectful behavior. I read: classroom runs like a well-oiled machine or a mini-city between the lines here)

How would you rate your typical daily classroom experiences?

I attended an excellent session at the New Teacher Center’s Symposium last month called, Using Student Perspectives to Enhance Mentoring Conversations. As part of the presentation, teachers of a variety of grades shared how they administered surveys to their students, what they learned from the surveys, and what types of adjustments they made to their teaching as a result. It was incredibly inspiring to hear teachers share the impact of their willingness to be so vulnerable with their students! I can’t wait to use a student perspectives survey in my classroom!

How might you use this survey to guide your work? Do you think it would support your work in this particular domain of the Professional Teaching Standards?

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Dittos & Worksheets & Packets, Oh my!!

By on March 5th, 2013 in 21st Century Skills, Differentiating Instruction, edchat, educoach, Engaging Students in Learning, Establishing a Culture for Learning, Instructional Strategies, Issues Beginning Teachers Face, Teacher Evaluation, Using Questioning/ Prompts and Discussion Techniques tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

So, your school department actually has a manual for you and it’s full of printables… They were designed by educators and statisticians… and people that must know more about teaching this content than you do… so why aren’t you students engaged? Well, I am writing this post to make sure you don’t “throw out the baby with the bath water!” Before you throw away every workbook and ditto in your classroom… let’s put our heads together.

You are right, experts did design these materials, so there’s probably something that works in here…

 Don’t reinvent the wheel- Re-purpose it instead!

Here’s a template for a cube (as well as other amazing ideas- amazing wiki). Why not put the best questions from your packet on the 6 sides of the cube and let students roll and discuss in pairs? Your goal (with the packet) was for students to think about the questions, right? Imagine all the ideas they’ll get from their partner when rolling the cube??!! Two heads are always better than one.

You could listen in on student conversations and assess their Speaking & Listening Skills or their content knowledge. Another idea is to assess student learning with an exit slip at the end of class. When you encourage students to have conversations, arm them with sentence stems and accountable talk to make it as productive as possible.

What will you re-purpose this week? Let us know in the comments & you may inspire someone else to take a similar risk!

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PS… I’m looking to give away a TpT gift certificate to a lucky blog commenter this week! Spread the word- bring a friend!

Student Engagement… Buzz Words Demystified

By on March 2nd, 2013 in 21st Century Skills, Differentiating Instruction, edchat, educoach, Engaging Students in Learning, Issues Beginning Teachers Face tags: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), the 4Cs: Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and Innovation are infused in learning.

Watch and listen to how ASCD describes 21st Century Skills. 21st_Buzz_word

In the video P21’s video library, the section titled “In Practice,” features sample lessons incorporating 21st Century Skills for any grade level/ content area. This is a video jackpot! I’d love to know what videos you found most valuable and to which you made connections. Please share your thoughts in the comments!

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Carol Ann Tomlinson writes, “The idea of differentiating instruction to accommodate the different ways that students learn involves a hefty dose of common sense, as well as sturdy support in the theory and research of education (Tomlinson & Allan, 2000). It is an approach to teaching that advocates active planning for student differences in classrooms.”

The teacher in this video creates an opportunity for all students to be successful with a very challenging written assignment. Watch this 5 minutes video to see what he does to support all students. Any ideas or questions come to mind for your own teaching? Share in the comments!

In my upcoming posts, look for go-to strategies to ramp up already planned lessons and ways to re-purpose assignments, lessons and resources that need a 21st Century kick! Also during this challenge, a lucky teacher who supports readers by sharing his/her experience in the comments will receive a TpT gift certificate!!

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Student Engagement- Week 2 Educator Challenge

By on February 28th, 2013 in Educational Issues, educoach, Engaging Students in Learning, Instructional Strategies, Issues Beginning Teachers Face, Teacher Evaluation tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

If you are back for round two… congratulations on your successes during week one! If you’re just joining us, welcome~ we’re thrilled to have you here and hope you join the conversation! Let’s think about where we are starting!

Level 1: Projects, activities and assignments lack challenge, are inappropriate, or do not cognitively engage students. -> Level 2: Projects, activities and assignments inconsistently challenge all students appropriately and only cognitively engage some students. -> Level 3: Projects, activities and assignments are appropriately challenging for all students, require 21st century skills, and cognitively engage almost all students in complex learning. -> Level 4: Projects, activities, and assignments are appropriately challenging for all students, require 21st century skills, and cognitively engage student in complex learning.

With these descriptors in mind, which level would you say best describes your daily teaching experiences? Read More

My Favorite Questioning Resource

By on February 26th, 2013 in Communicating with Students, educoach, Engaging Students in Learning, Teacher Evaluation, Using Questioning/ Prompts and Discussion Techniques tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

As I look at many of the available web resources out there on questioning, I just can’t find one clearer or more to the point than this one from the Tulare County Office of Education. The best part is about halfway down the page, and is titled, “ELA CCSS Bookmarks.” The tittle is fitting I think, because just like when you bookmark a page- what you need is right there. All you need to do is click on your grade level and an amazing pdf opens with a Cliffs Notes style version (my favorite) of the English Language Arts Common Core Standards. Among other helpful pieces of information, for each standard two very important things are listed: Read More

5 Tips to Kickoff this week’s Questioning & Discussion -Apalooza

By on February 23rd, 2013 in educoach, Teacher Evaluation, Using Questioning/ Prompts and Discussion Techniques tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments

1. What will you ask? Plan your questions in advance. Know your objective and plan questions that will support students’ deep understanding around that objective.

2. When will you ask? If you plan to ask two questions during a read aloud, sticky note them in the text. Maybe you are interested in students discussing their opinion about a topic you will dig deeply into during class. You may want to ask once in the beginning of class, and again toward the end of class.

3. Encourage thinking. One sure fire way to avoid critical thinking is to ask a question, and immediately begin accepting rapid fire answers from a sea of waving fingertips you’re pretty sure are attached to students in your class. How will you ensure students think before they speak? Will you give them 30 seconds of silent think time? Will you ask them to stop and jot on a sticky?

4. Honor their ideas. So, you’ve created a situation where all 25 of your students have stopped and really thought about how a pink square of chewing gum would change after 10 minutes of saliva rich, horse-like chomping. They thought!! There was smoke coming out of their ears, their sticky-notes are full and their sitting at the edge of their seats! Now what? Which two students will share in the 3 minutes you have? How will your choice impact student motivation the next time you ask a question? Consider a participation structure from the New Teacher Center’s Oral Language Development Website like a Turn and Talk or a Write-Pair-Share, with the idea that those who are doing the talking are doing the learning. (No pressure!!)

5. Encourage Listening. One of the reasons discussion is such an important skill, is because as life-long learners, we seize the opportunity to learn from someone each time we engage in a discussion. If we truly want our students to learn to do the same, we must teach them to listen. (I laugh every the teacher in the the Turn & Talk video describes what turn & talk looked like in September~ she is SO right!!) One way, is to encourage students to share out after they discuss in partnerships or small groups. Here’s the secret, “Boys & Girls, I’d like you to think about what interesting, new ideas your partner shared with you during the conversation you just had. Who heard something they hadn’t yet considered and would like to share with the class?”

I can’t wait to hear how your Monday goes! Remember, we’re thinking about one domain each week. All of this deep thinking around questioning & discussion will take about 5- minutes of actual instructional time… Play with it all week- make it your own- adapt it for your students… I wonder how different if will look by Friday!

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