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5 Ways to Stop Thinking for Your Students

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5 Ways to Stop Thinking for Your Students

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Who is doing the thinking in your classroom? If you asked me that question a few years ago, I would have replied, “My kids are doing the thinking, of course!” But I was wrong. As I reflect back to my teaching style before I read Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl (an era in my career I like to call “pre-thinking classroom”), I now see that I was encouraging my students to mimic rather than think.

My lessons followed a formula that I knew from my own school experience as a student and what I had learned in college as a pre-service teacher. It looked like this: Students faced me stationed at the board; I demonstrated a few problems while students copied what I wrote in their notes. I would throw out a few questions to the class to assess understanding. If a few kids answered correctly, I felt confident that the lesson had gone well. Some educators might call this “I do, we do, you do.” https://www.edutopia.org/article/independent-critical-thinking-math?utm_content=linkpos&utm_campaign=weekly-2024-07-24&utm_medium=email&utm_source=edu-newsletter

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3 Schools, 3 Principals, 3 Cell Phone Bans 

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3 Schools, 3 Principals, 3 Cell Phone Bans 

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A very interesting read regarding cellphones and the impact that they have on classroom instruction and how three different schools approached the situation. As they each established their own policies and talked to the kids, they were surprised to find out that the phone wasn’t just stressful for the teacher but also to the kids!  Read about how the climate changed within the schools and other results seen almost immediately! https://www.edutopia.org/article/cell-phone-bans-schools-principals-weigh-in

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Did you miss NCII's webinar?

Planning for Success: Building Readiness to Implement Data-Based Individualization? In this webinar, Dr. Zachary Weingarten and Dr. Steve Goodman highlighted key recommendations to build readiness to implement DBI, and Amy McConnell shared examples and lessons learned from efforts to implement DBI in Hood River County School District in Oregon.

You can watch the archived version of this webinar and find related resources on the NCII website.      https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/dbi-readiness-webinar

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Dates: October 3 & 4, 2024

Location:  The "Old Port" Holiday Inn by the Bay , Portland, Maine

Lodging: Hotel reservation link & discount code provided when attendee registration opens

​Registration Fees:
MADSEC member rate: $299/person
Non-MADSEC member rate: $349/person​

Conference Materials
All conference material will be provided to participants through an online conference site
Certificate of attendance will be provided at the conclusion of the conference. Dates: October 3 & 4, 2024

Location:  The "Old Port" Holiday Inn by the Bay , Portland, Maine

Lodging: Hotel reservation link & discount code provided when attendee registration opens

​Registration Fees:
MADSEC member rate: $299/person
Non-MADSEC member rate: $349/person​

Conference Materials
All conference material will be provided to participants through an online conference site
Certificate of attendance will be provided at the conclusion of the conference. Registration Opening Soon!

Dates: October 3 & 4, 2024

Location:  The "Old Port" Holiday Inn by the Bay , Portland, Maine

Lodging: Hotel reservation link & discount code provided when attendee registration opens

​Registration Fees:
MADSEC member rate: $299/person
Non-MADSEC member rate: $349/person​

Conference Materials
All conference material will be provided to participants through an online conference site
Certificate of attendance will be provided at the conclusion of the conference.

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 Things all Teachers Should Do Over Break

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 Things all Teachers Should Do Over Break

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Read a book not written for kids.

Make something crafty that isn't for your classroom.

Go an entire day without staring at a device.

Find a different way to give back to the world.

Move your body to something that isn't a GoNoodle song.

Catch up with people that you have been meaning to call.

Take care of yourself!

Have a great summer!

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Registration is now open for the 2024 Maine DOE Annual Summit being held August 6-8th at the Augusta Civic Center. Sessions take place from 7am to 5pm each day. Breakfast and lunch are included in the registration fee for all three days! Register here: https://biz.maine.gov/annualsummit

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High Leverage Practices Leadership Guide

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High Leverage Practices Leadership Guide

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These guides are intended for school leaders (Administrators, Teacher Coaches, Mentors, etc.) to support their teams in effectively implementing the High Leverage Practices in the classroom.

The resources found in each of the 22 guides were developed to help leaders incorporate the HLPs into professional development, teacher evaluations, observation feedback and critical support resources for their teams.

The guides include:

Tips for school leaders to support teachers

Questions to prompt discussion, self-reflection and observer feedback

Observable behaviors for teachers implementing the HLPs

References and additional resources on each HLP. https://highleveragepractices.org/hlp-leadership-guides

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The High-Leverage Practice guidance document was collaboratively developed by the CEEDAR Center and the Council for Exceptional Children. Along with the document itself, these supplemental resources have been created to help assist the spread and implementation of the HLPs.

As the HLPs are refreshed to reflect emerging research, evolving cultures and context, and student diversity, we have reorganized the structure to focus on HLPs that are foundational to designing and implementing high-quality instruction, while still recognizing the need for and importance of all 22 HLPs. The HLPs are now organized under the following four domains: Collaboration, Data-driven Planning, Instruction in Behavior & Academics, and Intensify & Intervene as Needed. Seven HLPs have been designated as pillar practices needed to produce strong outcomes for the broadest range of students. To reflect how HLPs work together and are used concurrently, the remaining HLPs are embedded in these pillars. The HLP refresh also includes the following: emphasis that HLPs are for all teachers, alignment with multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), emphasis on culturally inclusive pedagogies and practices, elementary and secondary examples, and writing specific to practitioners.

https://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/high-leverage-practices/

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Jeff Borland, a 20+ year computer science and math teacher in Portland, Maine, identified a need for a more effective communication system to reach his students and their families. Aidan, a student proficient in coding and game development, saw this as an opportunity for a senior year project. Together they created ReachMyTeach. Parents were now able to communicate in their preferred language: teachers were able to provide timely updates to all families: and schools were able to support family engagement. To learn more about this amazing communication for families and teachers go to: https://info.reachmyteach.com/learn-more/overview#

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Why Students Forget- and What You Can Do About It

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Why Students Forget- and What You Can Do About It

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Some studies show that without reinforcement or connections to prior knowledge, information is quickly forgotten – roughly 56 percent in one hour, 66 percent after a day, and 75 percent after 6 days.  So what can be done to preserve the hard work of teaching?  Access more information and tips here:   https://www.edutopia.org/article/why-students-forget-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

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3 Strategies to Increase Student Participation

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3 Strategies to Increase Student Participation

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Many teachers report lower levels of participation in the past couple of years. These verbal and nonverbal strategies may get students to contribute in class.We may not yet know the root cause, but many students seem more inclined to exhibit passive learning behavior since returning to in-person school after the pandemic. To help kids become more comfortable making contributions to class again, the three strategies in this article elevate participation without requiring a significant shift in lesson planning.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/student-participation-strategies

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5 Review Activities That Kids Actually Like

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5 Review Activities That Kids Actually Like

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In classrooms, pre-test review isn’t an especially popular activity. “Do you ever dread when it’s time to review for an assessment? More importantly, do your students?” Dread or not, it needs to be done: To make learning stick, students require repeated opportunities to engage with content. Meaningful review activities start with a solid understanding of “where students are weak and where there is already good understanding,” To make reviews more engaging, or even fun, you need to find the right balance between effectiveness and motivation, mixing evidence-backed tactics that improve retention with gamification, group work, or movement.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-review-activities-kids-actually

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4 Brain Breaks for Different Classroom Needs

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4 Brain Breaks for Different Classroom Needs

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The science behind brain breaks is clear. We know that incorporating brain breaks into academic routines yields benefits for students of all ages. CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, includes brain breaks in their three signature practices. Throughout my career, I have used brain breaks with great success with my second- and third-grade students as well as with college students and adults in professional development workshops.

As I reflect deeply about the brain breaks I use, I categorize them based on the result I hope to achieve with them. Brain breaks can energize students or help them to relax. They can also spark creativity and connection.

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Creating a welcoming environment for linguistically diverse families of students in special education

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Creating a welcoming environment for linguistically diverse families of students in special education

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An interesting article focusing on:

*overcoming language barriers during the IEP process

*Communicating effectively with families

*Translation resources and multilingual services for families

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/63148/creating-a-welcoming-environment-for-linguistically-diverse-families-of-students-in-special-education

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Most schools operate within a larger community, and the better we are at building relationships between our schools and our communities, the better we can serve our students. As our student population grows more divers, many school haven't been quite as successful as they would like to be. Efforts to draw families in such as open houses, special theme night, parent teacher conference, newsletter and apps that keep families in the loop still do not give teachers the results they would like. So, we need to try a different approach. Nawal Qarooni will share some very interesting strategies.

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/school-family-collaboration/

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Using Discussion as a Summative Assessment

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Using Discussion as a Summative Assessment

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Verbal participation in discussions is a tried-and-true formative assessment, but it can also be rubric-based and summative. Throughout my two decades in education, I have experimented with a variety of approaches to assessment, including projects, models, debates, and traditional assessments. In the past two years I’ve been teaching high school online, and I’ve abandoned traditional tests in favor of more compassionate forms of assessment. My new favorite is the discussion assessment, and I hope I can inspire you to add it to your assessment toolbox whether you’re teaching online like me or in a classroom.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/classroom-discussion-summative-assessment

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How to Get the Most Out of a Focus Wall in Your Classroom

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How to Get the Most Out of a Focus Wall in Your Classroom

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Helping students stay on track or explore more challenging work, a focus wall offers up-to-date information and necessary scaffolds. This teacher uses the focus wall to put the actual work I want to see them do. Expectations become clear and transparent for what I want, hope and in some cases wish kids could do. The wall save time, raises expectations and helps kids learn.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-focus-walls-middle-school

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Harnessing Technology for Engaging Learning Experiences

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Harnessing Technology for Engaging Learning Experiences

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Having students try podcasting or storytelling with virtual reality is an effective way to increase engagement and reinforce critical content. When we create learning experiences that shift students from consumers of content to creators, it helps to increase their engagement in and, hopefully, excitement for learning. So, how can we keep students engaged? We have to spark curiosity and perhaps take some risks in our classroom with new ideas.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-technology-enhance-learning-experiences/

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Deep thinking and focus are dispositions that need to be cultivated and then sustained over the course of academic careers. And while students should also experience plenty of confidence-building activities in class, there is a growing body of research that suggests that when kids are given the latitude and the time to grapple with challenging tasks, they encode conceptual understanding more deeply and tend to perform better when asked to transfer knowledge. How do we provide these tools to elementary children? This interesting and informative article will enlighten you! https://www.edutopia.org/article/helping-young-kids-manage-productive-struggle

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CEC: How Educators Can Help Students with Intellectual Disability to Think College 

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CEC: How Educators Can Help Students with Intellectual Disability to Think College 

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Students with intellectual disability want to go to college - and they can! But they can't get there alone! They need educators who understand what skills are necessary to make it happen and will support them to achieve their goals. Join us for this free webinar to learn about the current picture of inclusive higher education in the US, hear from college students with intellectual disability from around the country, and learn from a panel of experienced educators how we can “Think Higher. Think College.” together.  View this video at: https://exceptionalchildren.org/events/how-educators-can-help-students-intellectual-disability-think-college

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3 WAYS TO BE A THERMOSTAT, NOT A THERMOMETER

Through their actions, students and teachers can help regulate the temperature at their schools, improving the climate for everyone! ·       https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-ways-improve-school-climate

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New Resources!  Director Brianne Lolar (Panawahpskek)   

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Links to 7 Wabanaki Studies MOOSE (Maine Online Open-Source Education platform) modules with accompanying resources

Additional Wabanaki Studies curriculum, units, lessons, and resources

Traditional Knowledge Keepers Directory

Wabanaki Studies Specialist office hours sign up

Resource database

Monthly spotlight with new resources

This work is deliberately designed to be taught year-round. As with all great, meaningful teaching, it is interdisciplinary, connecting with topics that are already being taught, and strengthens learning. Spend some time with all of the resources and find ways to teach this in a deliberate way throughout the entire year. Reach out to the Wabanaki Studies Specialist, Brianne Lolar to share the great things you are already doing, things you have learned along the way, and ways you and your students have grown!

https://www.maine.gov/doe/innovation/wabanakistudies

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Strategies for Supporting Students’ Speaking and Listening Skills

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Strategies for Supporting Students’ Speaking and Listening Skills

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Many students struggle with these skills, which are tied to academic success. Here are a few ways to teach them explicitly!

https://www.edutopia.org/article/strategies-for-supporting-students-speaking-and-listening-skills

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Do you need help accessing services and resources after a brain injury?

This incredible association provides resources and information about support groups. Along with brain injury info is other resources relative to current events such as the Lewiston Tragedy. This is a monthly newsletter and includes upcoming events and a list of where you can find a brain injury support group near you. www.biausa.org/maine

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The Mistake Imperative-Why We Must Get Over Our Fear of Student Error

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The Mistake Imperative-Why We Must Get Over Our Fear of Student Error

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Did you know even before a conscious mind is aware of a mistake, “error neurons” begin to fire. Fifty milliseconds later, a phalanx of “conflict neurons” respond, signaling the effort to resolve inconsistent pieces of information.  No on likes to make mistakes, but they set off a chain reaction of productive brain activity and should be welcomed in all classrooms!

The fear of making mistakes is often paralyzing, but cognitive science suggests that errors are part of the fundamental machinery of learning!

To read the complete article go to:
https://www.edutopia.org/article/mistake-imperative-why-we-must-get-over-our-fear-student-error/

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The Mistake Imperative—Why We Must Get Over Our Fear of Student Error

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The fear of making mistakes is often paralyzing, but cognitive science suggests that errors are part of the fundamental machinery of learning.

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4 Strategies for Building Content Knowledge

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4 Strategies for Building Content Knowledge

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Elementary school teachers pave the way for their students to be able to take part in rigorous project-based learning (PBL) down the line by ensuring that students develop foundational reading skills. This comes through phonics and vocabulary work, which helps students build content knowledge across disciplines. https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-strategies-building-content-knowledge-elementary

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The Neuroscience Behind Productive Science – Brain Based Learning (Edutopia)

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The Neuroscience Behind Productive Science – Brain Based Learning (Edutopia)

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When students engage in productive struggle—persevering through problems while thinking  flexibly—they move from surface learning to deep learning. In the brain, this move is aided by the formation of myelin, a fatty substance that speeds up and strengthens brain signals by wrapping around the axons that connect neurons. "A well-myelinated brain signal travels over 100 times faster than an unmyelinated brain signal," writes Rishi Sriram.⁠

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Our popular series of short videos that break down effective classroom practices for every grade level in literally one minute—all in one place. How’s that for a quick win? https://www.edutopia.org/60-second-strategies-for-educators?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=BTS23&utm_id=BTS23&utm_term=back+to+school&utm_content=60-second+strategies

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What is Teacher Self Care and How to Practice It

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What is Teacher Self Care and How to Practice It

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Self -care can keep you at the top of your game and ready to handle challenges that come up during your teaching career. Read more to discover what self-care is, why it’s important for educators, and how to bring it into your daily life as well as into your school!
https://www.waterford.org/education/teacher-self-care-activities/

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What is Teacher Self-Care and How to Practice It

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Discover what self-care is, why it’s important for teachers, and how to bring self-care activities in your daily life and in the classroom.

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17 Brain Breaks Tailored for High Schoolers 

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17 Brain Breaks Tailored for High Schoolers 

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As high school students navigate more rigorous academic tasks and denser curricular material, the occasional 3-to-5-minute break delivers a wide range of benefits.  Read more about the benefits of brain breaks and how they are a crucial part of learning!
https://www.edutopia.org/article/17-brain-breaks-tailored-for-high-schoolers

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Back to School with NLP Education and Checkology
A presentation by the News Literacy Project recorded on August 23, 2023.  Access the recording, resource list and back to school page here:
https://get.checkology.org/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=back-to-school-2023&utm_source=ainl-pe-aug28-reg-noncvc&emci=8e9481e1-4643-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&emdi=d130bed8-bd45-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&ceid=12081796

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ACHEIVEMENT TEAMS Instructional Flip Book- 25 instructional strategies to enhance and assist with Achievement Teams implementation.

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Instructional strategies are teacher actions that are designed to raise students’ levels of thinking and learning around specific learning intentions. They are purposeful methods of instruction that help create vibrant, independent students who can assess their learning. Each strategy            contained in this flip book has been selected based on its effect on achievement and progress. This means that the instructional strategies listed have a very high probability of increasing students’ achievement. https://www.steveventura.com//files/flip-book-web-012223.pdf

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2023/2024 Community of Practice for New Special Educators

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2023/2024 Community of Practice for New Special Educators

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Are you a new special education teacher in your first year or two of teaching? Beginning in September 2023, the Office of Special Services & Inclusive Education’s Special Educator Engagement, Development & Supports (SEEDS) project will host a community of practice for you!
https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?e=4bb1694fe4&u=a582edd6473e477ef6307c769&id=44e2851a1c

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Easy-to-Read Novels with Positive Life Lessons for Teens

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At Finding Forward Books, we publish easy-to-read novels with positive life lessons that show teens overcoming challenges in their lives. Our mission is to help students improve their reading skills, increase their success in school, and gain hope. They are printed in Open Dyslexic, a font to accommodate students with dyslexia. The books are low in cost and may be purchased from Amazon for $4.99 or ordered from Barnes and Noble, independent bookstores and through suppliers such as Follet and Mackin. Quantity discounts are available from Express Booksellers.
https://www.findingforwardbooks.com/?CID=mvbrief_cec

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Integrating peer review systems into teacher evaluations can lead to improved teacher effectiveness, academic achievement, and collaboration among colleagues.

By Andrew Boryga

July 14, 2023
https://www.edutopia.org/article/who-should-evaluate-teachers?utm_content=linkpos1&utm_source=research-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website

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Discovery Education has unveiled a new integration of Minecraft: Education Edition (M:EE) 

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Discovery Education has unveiled a new integration of Minecraft: Education Edition (M:EE) 

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The popular educational game is now assessible from within Discovery Education's platform without requiring any other download or installation. Educators on the platform can easily access related lesson plans and ready to assign student activities to use alongside the hundreds of available Minecraft games in subjects such as math, SEL, coding, language arts, history and science!
https://education.minecraft.net/en-us; https://www.discoveryeducation.com/

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This tip sheet includes a summary of federal regulations, tips for implementation, and additional resources. https://promotingprogress.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/Transition_IEP_Tips.pdf

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ED is launching Free to Learn, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to support states and territories, school districts, tribal nations, and public health agencies to prevent, address, and respond to incidents of bullying, violence, and hate by supporting school safety, school-based mental health, and positive school climate so all students are free to learn. We invite our partners to take the pledge.

https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/free-learn?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

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Understanding and supporting girls with ADHD 

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Understanding and supporting girls with ADHD 

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Hinshaw’s work highlights the importance of early identification and intervention for girls with ADHD. “There may be a hidden pattern marked by coping and compensation that over the years can become quite serious,” he said. Girls who go undiagnosed are more likely to “suffer in silence,” which may include a higher risk of self-harm and suicidal ideation, according to Hinshaw. ·       https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61615/understanding-and-supporting-girls-with-adhd?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=20230528_MindShift&mc_key=93669084

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4 Ways to Teach Students Backward Planning 

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4 Ways to Teach Students Backward Planning 

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Students can learn to use their time wisely and strengthen their executive functioning skills by starting with the end in mind. Imagine planning a project starting with the due date and working backwards? According to research this method develops executive function skills empowering them for success in school and in life! https://www.edutopia.org/article/boosting-executive-functioning-with-backward-planning/

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The Social-Emotional Learning Coalition sparks vital connections between core instructional content and pivotal moments happening in students’ lives and world:

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TOPIC AREAS

Body Image

Human Rights

Identity

Decision Making

Navigating Peer Relationships

Setting and Accomplishing Goals

Critical Consciousness

https://selcoalition.org/classroom-resources/

:

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This map show the connections between Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
https://tools.achievethecore.org/coherence-map/

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A family team, including the cats, have written and illustrated a series of books that help children and families connect and recover after stressful or traumatic events by using story, clinical psychology and cute characters!
https://piploproductions.com/

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Professional Learning for Education Technicians

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Professional Learning for Education Technicians

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a)   Recorded sessions in many areas including and not limited to: reading, math, classroom tools, classroom management, practical strategies for Ed Techs and much more!     https://www.maine.gov/doe/doe/covid-19/contentmeetings/edtech

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Communicate with families in their home languages to build strong partnerships all year long. Join the millions of teachers and parents who already use TalkingPoints.

TEACHERS: SIGN UP FOR FREE

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Bringing Student Choice to Assessment in Science Classes 

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Bringing Student Choice to Assessment in Science Classes 

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What happens when students can opt to skip tests and instead give oral presentations or create art to show what they know?  Amazing results! A must read to an approach that is bringing learning to another level!

https://www.edutopia.org/article/bringing-student-choice-assessment-science-classes

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What happens when students can opt to skip tests and instead give oral presentations or create art to show what they know?

Art Directors & TRIP / Alamy Stock Photo

One day while I was giving a lecture on the life cycle of ferns in a Biology I class, I noticed several students doodling rather than taking notes. Having learned to pick my battles, I ignored this rather than making a big deal about it.

When class was over, I asked one of the doodlers if I could see his notebook. I was flabbergasted to see that he'd made a series of spot-on sketches on the life cycle of ferns.

He explained that he was experimenting with a new note-taking technique using art. He'd been sketching his way through several other classes and was fairly certain that he was understanding and remembering the content better. I told him to continue doing whatever helped and to keep me posted.

Throughout the semester I noticed ways that other students excelled. One enjoyed giving oral reports that incorporated video clips and digital pieces of supporting evidence. Another crafted beautifully written essays, and another was an encourager in her small group, leading her group through some rather sophisticated problem-solving.

How Students Show What They Know

I made a list of all of the ways in which I evaluated my students throughout the semester. There were seven: journaling, lab work, oral reports, a writing cluster (drama, fiction, poetry, and essays), small group work, artwork, and written tests.

When the spring semester began, I told my students that I would be evaluating them using a new approach what would bring student choice to assessment.

Here's the system I set up: Each student would choose at least three modes from the list above for the nine-week grading period. If they didn't want to take tests, they wouldn't have to-they would use other modes to demonstrate the learning that I would previously have tested. Once they made their choices, they had to stick with them for the whole grading period.

It's important to note that students were evaluated only with the modes that they selected. Let's say that a student didn't chose lab work. When we went into the lab, that student went with us-and could participate-but would not receive a grade. I never left any students unattended, and they always had the option to participate.

To evaluate their art and writing-not a common practice in science-I developed Fact Sheets, one for art and one for writing, that were a relatively easy way to do this objectively. If a student created a poster to show their learning, they had to attach an Art Fact Sheet that included 10 facts from the content for that objective that were evident in the poster. On a poster of a typical animal cell, for example, they might write, "Animal cells have mitochondria that are involved in energy production." They would prepare a legend that allowed me to easily identify their facts.

I used the same approach for writing. If a student wrote a short play based on bioengineering principles, for example, they would attach a Writing Fact Sheet and underline the facts from the content for that objective, numbering each one for easy identification.

Writing in science journals can be very subjective: How would I assign a grade to a student's thoughts? Sometimes I used specific questions that had to be addressed. If the student did address the questions, credit was given. At other times I asked that they write a half-page on a given topic. If they did, I gave them full credit.

To make sure their parents and guardians understood this system, I held three open houses and invited several of our local business partners to participate by bringing snacks and a few cool door prizes-I really wanted to encourage participation because it was important that parents understand how my system would work. About 75 percent of my students' homes were represented.

What Students Chose

It was no surprise that very few students signed up to take tests. For the two or three students in each class who chose traditional testing as one of their modes, I made sure they had a comfortable space in the breezeway between the classroom and the lab. Other students worked on their projects while test-takers were busy. It worked out quite well.

Although the student choices were all over the board, the overall percentages that first semester looked like this:

lab work: 95 percent of students

small group work: 93 percent

journaling: 90 percent

oral reports: 40 percent

writing cluster: 15 percent

artwork: 12 percent

written tests: 6 percent

The most common choice combination was lab work, small group work, and journaling-a combination that seems naturally tailored for an active science classroom and lab. Students did not have to participate in the activities of the modes they didn't choose, so 5 percent of my students didn't do the lab work, 7 percent of them didn't participate in small group work, and so on.

Students often forgot what choices they made, so I posted their choices in lists on the back of the classroom door. I also posted the protocols, guidelines, and deadlines on large poster boards.

In order to prevent deadline overload, I staggered deadlines so that no student had more than one project due on any single day-the products in each mode were due on different days.

Reality Check: My Principal's Input

My principal was curious about my new system-and concerned about whether my students were meeting all of the standards and objectives. He asked me to administer one written test at the end of each grading period. Although I didn't think this was necessary, he was the principal.

As it turned out, most of my students performed well on those tests, and after a year my principal seemed convinced that the new system worked well without them.

My original goals in giving students a choice in how I would evaluate them were to provide ownership in the process, to put the burden of responsibility of learning on the students' shoulders, and to help each student be as successful as possible. I also wanted them to discover on their own which modes worked best for them. Most found it refreshing to know that if they made poor choices, they could change them in the next grading period.

An unexpected side effect was that I was never bored-the students constantly surprised me with their creations and apparent understanding of content. And switching from orthodox methods of evaluating student progress-written tests, canned lab activities, and the occasional report-to a choice system created an environment that fostered authentic understanding of scientific principles and concepts. Students began to see themselves thinking and behaving like scientists.

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Bringing Student Choice to Assessment in Science Classes

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What happens when students can opt to skip tests and instead give oral presentations or create art to show what they know? Art Directors & TRIP / Alamy Stock Photo One day while I was giving a lecture on the life cycle of ferns in a Biology I class, I noticed several students doodling rather than taking notes.

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How to Maslow Before Bloom……………….All Day Long!

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How to Maslow Before Bloom……………….All Day Long!

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Pamela Cantor, Child Psychiatrist, told Edutopia in 2019 “when we’re able to combine social, emotional, affective, and cognitive development together, we are creating many, many more interconnections in the developing brain that enable children to accelerate learning and development.” Making time to integrate social and emotional learning into academics, in other words, is a better way for schools to achieve their goals than a focus on academics alone.

Learn more !

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-maslow-bloom-all-day-long/

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How to Maslow Before Bloom, All Day Long

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Morning meetings are a good place to start, but what you really need is a toolkit of strategies to meet your students’ social and emotional needs all day long.

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5 Metacognitive Questions for Students Learning New Material 

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5 Metacognitive Questions for Students Learning New Material 

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New materials can leave kids in the fog!  Check out this information that will help them find their way and become more independent learners.

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Confronting new material is an almost daily occurrence in classrooms, but figuring out how new learning connects to what's already been covered isn't always clear to students-or even something they know is important to think about. For many kids, when new lessons are taught in class, it can feel like just another disembodied idea or concept to add to the mix, another thing to grapple with or memorize for a test, or explain in a writing assignment.

But grasping the larger framework of how ideas and knowledge build upon each other, how they form an intentional continuum that stretches through units and grade levels and connects to existing background knowledge, helps build deeper, more durable learning. It's also a critical part of students taking ownership of their own learning.

Many teachers focus on instilling in kids the metacognitive habits to actively reflect on their learning process with the goal of developing self-sufficient learners. But teaching students how to grapple with new material so they see how it fits into the puzzle of what they already know, how it solidifies concepts, or reveals gaps in their knowledge, is just as important.

Here are five questions-inspired by a tweet from TeachThought as well as by the work of several Edutopia contributors-to help students build the metacognitive habits to evaluate new materials and make sense of them, helping them grow as competent, independent learners.

1. What stands out to me? What makes me wonder?

When students encounter new information in Ann Young's math class at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, she asks them to do an "I notice, I wonder" exercise. They begin by simply spending a few minutes examining the material and noting what stands out to them. "It helps them slow down and really focus on what's in front of them," says Young. "They write about what they noticed and then turn and talk to a neighbor to enhance and draw attention to things that they maybe had missed." By giving students time to think for themselves and ask questions about the new material, Young is intentionally empowering them to engage critically with it. She wraps up the exercise by asking students what they wonder, creating a window for Young to see where students might need further instruction and getting them to reflect on their own knowledge gaps.

Getting kids to ask themselves this type of question is key here. When teachers ask the class "What stands out?," rather than letting students do the asking, it can inadvertently send the signal that there is "something you've already noticed, as a teacher, and you want to know if they see it too," writes educator Terry Heick. This can send the message that "if they do see it, they're smart, and if not, they can continue to guess what you're thinking," he explains. "This not only de-centers the student but the content as well, devolving the process into a distracting game of cat and mouse."

2. Which parts or terms are new to me, and which parts do I recognize?

What students think they know and what they actually know don't always overlap; research shows they frequently overestimate how well they understand content and how prepared they are for tests or exams. But active reflection as they encounter new material can help-they should be looking for gaps in their knowledge, poking at their assumptions about a subject, and contemplating how their thinking syncs with new information.

To help scaffold learning new vocabulary terms and build student agency, Rebecca Alber, an instructor at UCLA's Graduate School of Education, has each student in her classroom create a chart where they write down key terms or concepts from a new unit and rank them as "know it," "sort of know it," or "don't know it at all." On the same paper, students then attempt to define the terms they identified as ones they know or kind of know, giving Alber a roadmap for areas to focus her instruction and giving students a clearer picture of where more work is needed.
3. How does this connect with what I already know?
The beginning of a unit is an excellent opportunity for students to think more deeply about how what they're learning may be tethered to previous knowledge, strengthening both the new knowledge and providing a review of older material. This is sense-making and students should regularly be pausing to contemplate and ask themselves questions about how what they're learning fits into their existing knowledge framework.

One way to do this is by sketching out a concept map, says educational consultant Kripa Sundar. Concept maps-visual diagrams that show the relationships between ideas and information-can help students organize and structure what they know and prompt the creation of deeper, richer connections. "A student learning about bacteria can create a concept map that includes any relevant ideas-such as specific types of bacteria ("Helicobacter pylori") or ways to describe them ("single-celled organism")," Sundar writes. "This layout allows learners to identify what they know and where the gaps are, in addition to the relationships between concepts."

4. What follow-up questions do I have?

Many students are hesitant to ask questions, or don't connect their feelings of confusion to a need for more information. To get her students to "identify what they are confused about and then embrace, work on, and wrestle with that confusion as they participate in the learning activities" Kimberly D. Tanner, a professor at San Francisco State University, regularly asks her students to fill out index cards answering the prompt: "What was most confusing to me about the material being explored in class today?" Examining the "muddiest point" in this way-the place where things got confusing or complicated for students-or doing a quick misconception check, can be powerful tools for students to identify where they lack clarity.

"For many students, it is an unusual experience for an instructor to invite them to share confusions aloud," writes Tanner. "Regular use of the Muddiest Point in classrooms sets a tone that confusion is a part of learning and that articulating confusions is not done solely to inform the instructor, but also to inform students themselves; students can use identified confusions to drive their independent learning or to generate dialogue in review sessions."
5. Why is this idea important?
When teachers routinely encourage students to think about why a new concept or skill is important to learn, or how it links to the real world, it helps students find their own connections to the material and "add their own spin" in ways that clarify for them why they're engaging with the work, writes eighth-grade English teacher Cathleen Beachboard. "Taking the time to look for and add intrinsic motivation ensures that student engagement is built into the learning process. The best part? Focusing on intrinsic motivators will give students desire, discipline, and dedication to learn."

Students can answer this question via a simple journal jot or a quick classroom discussion. Graphic organizers can also be helpful, says Alber, providing a scaffold to "guide and shape students' thinking" and allowing them to pull out and organize important information from new content. "Some students can dive right into discussing, or writing an essay, or synthesizing several different hypotheses, without using a graphic organizer of some sort," Alber writes. "But many of our students benefit from using one with a difficult reading, or challenging new information."

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5 Metacognitive Questions For Students Learning New Material

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Confronting new material is an almost daily occurrence in classrooms, but figuring out how new learning connects to what's already been covered isn't always clear to students-or even something they know is important to think about.

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5 Shifts for the True Science of Reading Instruction

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5 Shifts for the True Science of Reading Instruction

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For classrooms and districts making the shift, understanding what is authentic Science of Reading-aligned curriculum looks like can be challenging. We have outlined five incremental changes that you can make today as you explore and implement true Science of Reading instruction!

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is a personalized learning model developed 

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by faculty who understand the challenges busy adults face when balancing work, family, and school. Delivered on a digital platform, our competency-based online programs are designed to leverage your previous knowledge and experience as you complete course modules aligned with a list of competencies. You advance to the next course module by demonstrating your mastery of the content—giving you the ability to earn your degree on your time, at your own pace!
https://online.umpi.edu/what-is-your-pace/

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Coaching for Greatness: Every Teacher Deserves a Coach 

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Coaching for Greatness: Every Teacher Deserves a Coach 

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View this recording of a webinar held May 16, 2023. Hear discussion around how to shift our paradigms, invest in our educators and create a coaching practice that informs how all can drive teacher engagement, retention, and school wide outcomes!

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Talking to Our Children about the violence in Israel and Gaza

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Talking to Our Children about the violence in Israel and Gaza

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As parents, it is our responsibility to guide our children through difficult conversations, even when the topic is a sensitive as the ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza. To read more and learn about the three top things to remember when discussing this heartbreaking situation with our little ones go to:
https://www.docspeaks.com/blog/talking-your-children-about-violence-israel-and-gaza-doc-adolph-brown

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Improving Literacy Scores by Rethinking the Master Schedule 

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Improving Literacy Scores by Rethinking the Master Schedule 

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In a recent analysis of our district’s reading data and statewide assessment results, we discovered that many students had lower-than-average literacy test scores; in fact, many of these same teenagers hadn’t read a single self-selected book the entire school year. We knew we needed to make administrative-level adjustments to help get these students on track with reading. The secret to our school turning around reading rates? Giving kids time to read and teachers time to plan. ·      ·       https://www.edutopia.org/article/improving-literacy-scores-rethinking-master-schedule?utm_content=linkpos1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-2023-06-07&utm_source=edu-newsletter

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Administration & Leadership

A school turned around flagging reading scores by setting aside dedicated time for students to read-and for teachers to plan.

One of my (Kristen's) students, an 11th grader named Caleb, began the year reading on a third-grade level, proclaiming a distaste for books and reading in general. Imagine my delight when he accepted my recommendation of Jason Reynolds's Long Way Down, a gritty verse novel with a strong male protagonist. Over the course of the next week, Caleb sat at his desk, turning the pages-engrossed in the tale.

He finished, turned to me, and asked, "Do you have any other books like this one?" Caleb's end-of-year reading assessments reflected a growth of two entire grade levels, a modest yet significant success.

In a recent analysis of our district's reading data and statewide assessment results, we discovered that many students had lower-than-average literacy test scores; in fact, many of these same teenagers hadn't read a single self-selected book the entire school year. We knew we needed to make administrative-level adjustments to help get these students on track with reading. The secret to our school turning around reading rates? Giving kids time to read and teachers time to plan.

Diagnosing the Problem

Two overlapping areas with strong potential for academic growth are often overlooked: Teachers need time to plan, assess, and collaborate, and students need more timely, intentional interventions where academic gaps exist. Carving out time in the master schedule to address these needs can lead to significant improvements in classrooms and ultimately throughout an entire school.

Our leadership team realized that this population of students routinely missed our campus's enrichment period due to scheduling conflicts. Students who needed to make up missing credits or who opted into vocational training at the nearby career center had no room in their class schedule to be "enriched." The unintended irony of the scheduling situation was that students who desperately needed time to read and work on literacy skills didn't have the opportunity to do so. Instead, our students who were enrolled in AP courses and read on a college level benefited from an entire class period to read, work on skills, and meet with teachers.

A second concern was the lack of time that educators had for identifying struggling students and for subsequently developing effective, individualized intervention strategies. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many students were already testing two years behind in core subjects. Math teachers reported spending the majority of class time reviewing basic skills. English teachers noted that students constantly struggled to organize their thoughts. Reading nonfiction texts (a necessary skill across the entire secondary curriculum) seemed to many students like a mountain too steep to climb. Writing in response to those texts was even worse. And in-class remediation simply added the complication of time lost to acquire new skills.

Finally, the existing schedule was a hodgepodge of planning periods, and a divided lunch schedule ensured that several days might pass before teachers with shared subjects would cross paths. If teachers wanted to collaborate, their only option was before or after school. And since many faculty members also were club sponsors or coached teams, their responsibilities negated even that option.

Planning for Change

Over shared meals and emails, our school's teacher leaders began imagining effective revision of a master schedule. We knew that struggling students deserved time to read self-selected books, receive direct instruction from highly effective teachers, and recoup skills lost during the pandemic. After the team collaborated for several weeks, we drafted a sample of the master schedule and approached our administrators with our concerns and our solutions. As with any major change in the scheduling, subsequent discussions involved counselors, teachers, coaches, and students.

Ultimately, we decided to rework the master schedule so that third period became an enrichment class for all students, providing the opportunity for uninterrupted reading as well as access to tutoring, intervention, and remediation as needed. These 45 minutes, an island of calm in an otherwise hectic school day, allow teachers and students alike to pause and read and think.

Enrichment is exactly that: a moment to enrich the lives of the entire school community, totally set aside from all other content areas and athletics, and to offer a predictable pocket of time to close achievement gaps. The 15 or so students assigned to each teacher loop from their sophomore to their senior year; the three-year relationship between teachers and students strengthens school culture far beyond the improvement of reading skills.

On a practical note, the implementation of the enrichment period means that after a schoolwide 20 minutes of reading, teachers have the remaining 25 minutes of third period to work with each other or with struggling students. A simple system of combining students into classrooms-through a paired network of teachers established at the start of the school year-provides a quick solution when educators need to meet.

In one particular instance, the special education literacy teacher and I needed to discuss a shared student, one whose failing grades and lack of progress concerned us both. We both sent our enrichment students to neighboring classrooms and used the remaining time to share data, create a plan, and visit with the student privately. These types of informal gatherings quickly became the norm as teachers pulled in specific groups of students to address specific needs or combine their enrichment groups as teaching teams met.

The Results

Under the revised master schedule, now every teacher in the building has an opportunity to work with individual students while the rest of the class reads. Whereas before nearly 40 percent of students had scheduling conflicts that interfered with the enrichment period, all students now have that built into their schedules. Not only is this time rigorously guarded against any scheduling anomalies, but also it's kept free from other meetings, announcements, assemblies, and other interruptions.

This mutually shared enrichment period also puts a heavy emphasis on the importance of reading. It offers an opportunity to talk about books, characters, conflicts, and resolutions. Students and teachers alike can offer book talks, make recommendations, and discuss unifying themes across genres. Teachers can share personal book selections, post social media tweets from favorite authors, and generally use books to deepen relationships with students. Collaboration between invested parties can result in what Olympia Della Flora calls "small changes [that] can make huge differences" in students' academic participation.

One of my greatest joys this year was overhearing a conversation between Kennedy and Whitney, two of my AP English Language and Composition students, as they gushed about their favorite memoirs, a genre they'd never explored before I recommended Jeannette Walls's The Glass Castle to them. They discussed titles like and Born a Crime, books that they now encouraged their peers to read. Without a devoted time to read and to discuss books, these may have never had a chance to touch readers' lives.

Because our teacher leaders had their finger on the pulse of our students' assessments and their specific needs, we were able to provide teachers and students with a solution that could help make reading a priority on our campus. Arguably, small school districts like Pottsville have more flexibility to shift the master schedule-working with 400 students is far simpler than, say, 4,000-but the general principle remains: The best educators are those who name the problem and find the solution. For our entire student population (the future doctor, welder, or truck driver) to have an equal opportunity for academic success, we needed to master the master schedule.

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Improving Literacy Scores by Rethinking the Master Schedule

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A school turned around flagging reading scores by setting aside dedicated time for students to read-and for teachers to plan.