A Look in the Mirror

Okay… I have lived in the ivory tower of district office administration for 4 years and am finally back in the classroom after a lay-off of 7 years. Yes… the first day of school was freaky frightening facing my first 11th grade homeroom! However, for 4 years I was in the position to have to tell my peers what to do, how to do it, and in such a manner that they were convinced that it would work… no matter what their intelligence said to the contrary! And now it is time for me to see if what I was preaching was really doable… So here are the results from my first semester back….


My belief system is that the key to an effective classroom is organization and planning.

Is it possible to do all the things that we (Ivory Tower Gurus) know to be effective in the amount of time that we (Ivory Tower Guru’s) have allotted in our instructional periods?

I answer a resounding YES! With the caveat of that magical “IF” we (Reality Based Instructional Staff) have the appropriate time to plan and organize our lesson.

As the details and expectations increase so to must the planning time to achieve the desired end. Therefore – a note to administration…. If you expect effective teachers to meet and exceed your desired level of effective instruction, you (Administrative Honcho’s) must be prepared to:

• Limit the amount of preparations (courses taught at the secondary level) by any teacher

• Bell to bell instruction requires a tremendous amount of planning and organizational structure. To ask a teacher to plan bell to bell for more than one unrelated subject is asking for all but one of the classes to be shorted.

And I mean ‘tight’ relationships… Biology and AP Biology is okay… 2 different classes in the same instructional family are not. Even if you have another teacher writing the plans and collaboratively sharing… it doesn’t work, I wish it did… So, you must choose – and if you assign more than 1 preparation, make allowances knowing that you are putting the teachers in a position to not be as effective as they could be.

• As much as we administrators would like to believe otherwise … teachers do have lives outside of the school.. (SHOCK…GASP!).

We have made adjustments in our thinking to accommodate the different lives of our students outside of the classroom; we need to understand that our teacher’s lives outside of the school have changed as well.


As a teacher I have always been willing to come in early, and I will stay after the bell if my children don’t have ballet lessons, art lessons, doctor’s appointments, or a football game/practice/sleep over … but I do not take my work home. So if it can’t be done in the time allotted to me at school, guess what… it doesn’t get done.


I try and prioritize my daily activities so that my critical assignments are completed 1st, however, because I am still building up my repertoire in my new subject areas… that means that some things that I would like to do like plan a cool lab, etc. get put on the backburner because I had 3 unexpected meetings that cut into my planning time and now I am back to... ewww book work quickly adapted into a collaborative activity.

• Allow teachers time to build up proficiency in one area and/or with a specific co-teacher before changing up their course loads

• Okay, this semester I have 3 different co-teachers that I am working with and 2 different subject preparations.
• I teach 2 Economics classes with 2 different teachers and 1 World History class. 
• The students on my instructional caseload range from independent with minor accommodations to IQ’s of 42 but adaptive skills that put them in the MID range landing them in the general education setting.
• 1 Econ teacher teaches the textbook and 1 Econ teacher is learning how to teach the frameworks (our suggested state course map developed through teacher collaboration). So neither teacher is teaching the same thing at the same time. My co-teacher in World History has only 1 section of WH and 2 World Geography classes. She has taught the text book before but is now moving into using the frameworks.
• I may get to work with 1 of the Econ teachers again next semester… that will be the only consistency in my schedule.
• The administrative expectations for me (and yeah… they and the teachers I work with know my background in instruction….) are to: 
• Teach the GPS standards to proficiency in an effective standards based classroom environment using Best Practices.
• This would be demonstrated by 80% of my students passing the required, standardized, on grade level, End of Course Exam with a score of 80%.
• Develop an effective co-teaching environment that allows for collaboration and effective differentiated instruction that meets the needs of all the students in the room by:
• Making appropriate accommodations, not modifications (they are receiving Carnegie unit credit), 
• Progress monitoring the students on my instructional caseload on a bi-monthly basis as indicated on their IEP, chart my data, and send it home every 4.5 weeks.
• Communicating and interceding on behalf of all the students on my caseload, regardless of whether or not they are on my instructional load.

And I can do this… BUT… I need a foundation of effective instruction to build from.

If:

• The instruction in the existing classroom is textbook driven…
• Is content teacher directed and the kids still sit in rows…
• The Smart Board/Promethean Board is used as a projector screen…
• The students assigned to my instructional caseload are inappropriately placed…
• Don’t have access to or a space for my cart…

I am going to fail in some way to meet your expectations and/or my student’s needs.

So I have spent the semester:

• Working with my co-teachers to develop a relationship that may or may not ever be used again.
• Introduced some instructional ideas that are based around best practices of a standards based classroom (to mixed reviews)
• Differentiated where I could and modified the curriculum where I couldn’t
• Don’t even ask me about Progress monitoring or why my test scores suck …. Just write me up.

• Set a clear and consistent mission… belief statement… priority… for your instructional staff. Be clear on what you want me to accomplish, and then put me in a position to be successful in meeting those expectations.

Since being out of the tower and back in reality… there is not much that has changed in my initial belief on effective instruction… the key to an effective classroom is organization and planning. If, as an administrator, I am not getting effective instruction from my staff, I need to look in the mirror to the amount of organization and planning that I am putting in to placing them in positions to be effective.

Education in Crisis...Oh The Possibilities....

Before we start this I need to put in a disclaimer… I have the utmost respect for the many superintendents, principals, and local boards of education that are being forced into making horrible choices. I believe that good superintendents, principals, and local boards of education will continue to make good (if difficult) decisions and those that weren’t so good – well there is no place to hide anymore, high test scores brought about by community demographics aren’t going to help you now and heaven help the children in districts that were already struggling.


The K-12 education crisis in rural Coastal Georgia is similar to the K-12 education crisis striking other districts everywhere. When the market started crashing in late 2007, many looked at education with the idea that a degree and certification in education represented consistency and a ‘safe zone’ of protection with a guaranteed salary, benefits, and a secure retirement; certainly a field that you would feel safe investing $60 - $70,000 in an advanced degree. Now, as the economy appears to be turning around, K-12 education is hit exponentially hard. And just when the numbers are starting to creep up, the unemployment rate is getting ready to take another hard hit as teachers across the nation begin losing their paychecks and join the rolls of unemployed. Oh, and you can count me as one of those unfortunate souls.

Money woes are forcing deep cuts in systems regardless of size, stature, or effectiveness. Good systems, bad systems, regular systems that just keep their nose down and do their job – all systems are feeling the impact of idealism – what we should be doing and aspire to do… and reality – what we can afford and can fund. What we ‘used’ to offer and published as why we were so good…the advanced classes, orchestra and fine arts, technology, IB, and Advanced Placement… and reality – what are the bare necessities that we must continue to offer just to call ourselves a local education agency or school when faced with a $3 - $30 million dollar fund evaporation. As we struggled to meet the needs of every child and educated our communities on why that was important and necessary (some of us better than others) – we now have to figure out how we are going to explain why we can’t do that anymore. Because if advanced math was necessary for my child in 2009-2010, why is it not necessary for my child in 2010-2011 and you’re cutting all the fine arts too? And what about that ‘highly qualified’ thingy – you mean that my child’s strings teacher will no longer be teaching strings because she is now going to teach social studies? But she’s a strings teacher, not a social studies teacher – oh, social studies isn’t counted towards AYP…. Hmmm…and you’re going to give her a remedial math class too? Hmmm…I thought they were in remedial math because they were having trouble…a strings teacher, oh a teacher can teach one or two classes out of field and it doesn’t count towards your highly qualified status, oh… okay.

Then there is the problem of who to cut… the strings teacher, the 28 year veteran who is just trying to make it to retirement and hasn’t changed her teaching strategies since the early 1980’s, or the new teacher with the most incredible hands on approaches and latest technology integration who doesn’t have tenure and isn’t ‘from here’? What about the 30+ veteran who has dedicated his or her whole life as a professional and continues to lead the school in both mentoring of new teachers and leading the charge in updating her teaching skills but is on a year to year because technically she has retired versus the 10 year veteran who calls in sick on average of once or twice a week and has been known to turn the lights off and put in a movie when her head hurts from being out late and you should be glad she just came to school at all? Politically, are we going to take the path of least resistance or the ideal path because both sets of questions are housed in the same small school and there is no way to do this easy…and you know, my job on the line too and it is an election year!

How do we meet the needs of the talented and gifted, needs of the 21st Century Learner, and needs of the struggling learner from low socio economic background who moves on average of every 6 months in an aging system that would cost more to fix than to tear down and start all over when the state has:

• eliminated the requirement for professional learning to meet continuous certification;
• raised class sizes so that systems can reduce staff;
• raised the per pupil limits and eliminated funding for school counselors;
• relaxed the instructional calendar to give systems flexibility in selecting the number of days versus hours of instruction students receive;
• allowed systems to furlough teachers up to an unlimited number of days from the calendar as long as they don’t raise administrator salaries?

Reality is that a superintendent can set a 170 day instructional calendar meeting the minimum instructional hour requirement with a teacher contract of 180 days (an automatic 10 day pay cut), and STILL have enough days to furlough teachers an additional 10 days if he/she needed to. However, by doing so, that same superintendent can save the jobs and health insurance and ongoing retirement benefits of the 20 or so teachers he/she would have had to eliminate without some creative budget control. So who wins, the school system that doesn’t have to eliminate any new or tenured teachers, or the families like mine that could be looking at a minimum $3,700 loss in monthly wages?

I am all for educating the ‘whole child.’ I believe strongly in preparing my children with 21st Century Skills (see previous blog). I am committed to increasing the fine arts and hands on science, math, and technology training… But it is EXPENSIVE! And unfortunately, all my eggs are in one basket – the school system can’t afford to teach my children these things and now, because I am an educator, neither can I. I have looked at what this crisis is going to cost me, approximately $43,500 this year in net annual income, fine arts, gifted and remedial programs for my children provided by ‘others’, and an amazing teacher leader for our local school.

But what about what I am going to potentially gain? Because of the crisis – I have started a new career path that will allow me to be more active in my children’s education and could potentially surpass my ‘guaranteed’ income (if we don’t get kicked out of our house first), and the ability and time to impact education on a more personal level for all the children in our local community. I have been forced to evaluate my belief system of what is really important in education (translate, my children’s education) and nothing changed – I still feel the same way – however, I acknowledge that how we are going to go about getting those things – fine arts, gifted and talented programs, extreme remedial programs for struggling learners, etc. Well that is going to have to change. We are no longer going to be able to depend on the school system to help us achieve those ends in the way that they have in the past – it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen on school time, and on school property, but we are going to have to open our minds to outside assistance in reaching these goals. I am currently working with an incredibly talented certified teacher who is willing to write grants through the local art association and volunteer her time to teach art in our schools at no cost to the school system – but will they let her? Will we be willing to let our talented community members into our schools to provide non traditional instruction to our children in areas we can’t afford to provide – or will we get caught up in legalities, will it be too much trouble – for the school AND for the community member? Oh the possibilities… oh the logistics… who will win and who will lose?

Education Week: E-Learning Hits Barriers to Expansion

Interesting.... Also upcoming webinar information availalble...

Education Week: E-Learning Hits Barriers to Expansion

Defining Differentiated Instruction | Edutopia

Check this out... From Rebecca Alber's blog on Edutopia

Defining Differentiated Instruction Edutopia

When Do I Stop Being a Teacher? Weisure and the Digital Age

Many of us are aware of the positive and negative impact that the rapid expansion of social technologies such as Facebook, MySpace, SMS and IM has had on our personal connectedness and in our student’s lives. As professionals, many of us have expressed excitement about the collaborative possibilities that come with working ‘in the cloud’ and concern over the seeming lack of guidance over conduct. What are the rules? Who is going to decide what is the accountability standard?


I am a 46 year old just made it into Gen X’er who lives in a small town located on the coast of Georgia. I am a registered user on Facebook, Skype, and have joined several professional learning circles that connect me via Twitter and RSS feeds. Most of my connectedness revolves around my professional life, but just like many of the teachers now entering into the profession, I started my Facebook profile as a personal entity.

Because I am not a new teacher, many of my ‘friends’ are fellow teachers. Initially, we used Facebook as a mass messaging tool to set up beach Fridays and to share vacation pictures. Eventually, as school got rolling again, we moved to discussing the latest snag in implementing a district initiative and other school related issues. As professionals, we have had abstract discussions about whether or not we should have students as friends and appropriate profile settings. My daughters’ teachers were ‘friends’ before they became their teachers and I confess I am guilty of using the personal messaging feature to discuss my children’s progress and address areas of concern. For me, my relationships on Facebook have blurred the line between parent, professional, and friend. In an article for NPR, Joshua Brockman identified Dalton Conley, a New York University professor who has even coined a name for it, weisure, the blurring between work and leisure.

Nevertheless, there are definitely warning signs on the horizon. Today, more and more Generation Next, sometimes called Millennial, or Generation Y learners are entering our classrooms as teachers. Born between 1980 and 2000, they are characterized by their use of technology and their ability to adapt and integrate it into their personal and professional lives. While Boomers and X’ers continue to struggle with how to effectively, safely, and with etiquette incorporate emerging technologies into our personal/ instructional/professional lives, perhaps the bigger and more immediate dilemma rising is - How do we proactively put policy in place to protect our teachers and provide guidance on how to separate their existing personal technologies from their professional identities? Can we answer the question – “When do I stop being a teacher?” Or “How did I find myself in Weisure World and do I need to find the exit?”

Although well documented in the business world, the culture clash between generational technology users in education has never more evident. In 2009, a young Georgia teacher was asked to resign from her position at a public high school because of a curse word and pictures which depicted her holding alcoholic beverages while on vacation in Europe. This did not take place at school; the pictures and use of the curse word were posted on her Facebook page and reported to her administrator. While the teacher has maintained that the page was a private entity and that neither students nor parents had access to it, the administrator stated that he found her “online conduct to be unacceptable” and warranted her immediate suspension and possible termination (Civil Case No. 09CV-3083X). He advised her that she could prevent further disciplinary action by tending her immediate resignation (WSB Article).

The rapid deployment of new wireless technologies such as smart phones, IPhones, wireless enabled eReaders, and the new, and much anticipated, IPad, have made needing to connect to the armor protected school networks almost obsolete. According to data from the CTIA – The Wireless Association, there were over 257 million data-capable devices in consumer’s hands by the end of 2009. In addition, over 1.5 trillion SMS messages were sent, most by Gen Next users who average 1472 per month. State, district, local, and individual teacher web pages are now the norm. Whether done well or not, it is expected by industry professionals and parents that each school has a dedicated website that enables them to post information for parents and interested perusers.

More and more, local and state agencies are encouraging the use of existing technologies and social networking sites such as Google, Moodle, Facebook, Skype, and Twitter. From the main page on my state Department of Education website, I can become a Facebook fan of our state school superintendent and follow the happenings on Twitter. My local school district also has a Twitter account for dispersing information to the community and parents. However, there are conflicting guideposts for technology use which may or may not be determined by socio economic or rural/ urban status settings.

Some districts have truly embraced technology as a formative and creative tool used to encourage collaboration and higher order thinking. On the other hand, more often than not, the majority of Gen X and Baby Boomer teachers and administrators have never had opportunities to explore technology as anything other than a new way to do the old work. They may or may not be aware of the extent that technology is being used in their school, district, or by Gen Next teachers and millennial learners and therefore have no way to proactively deal with issues until there is a perceived problem.

One working example involves a rural, low socio economic district in SE Georgia where I have observed teachers and students accessing information blocked by the school’s network on cell phones in order to answer questions brought up during a discussion. Yet, this same district still has to hold basic computer application courses for teachers who have not figured out how to take attendance using the school’s student information system. It is not uncommon for other area teachers to use personal air cards and wireless hubs at school to access streaming video and YouTube so that students can create projects in Prezi and Google WAVE using imbedded video. I have used my phone to post to a social networking site while conducting a teacher observation because of the joy I felt in watching two teachers who are truly artisans at their craft.

Much to my mother’s horror, I have thrown the established policy manual out the door and have decided to swim in the deep-end of uncharted waters. So too are the thousands of Gen Next teachers who are entering into our profession with a backpack full of connection habits and no idea how to meld their new professional identifies with their ‘backstage selves.'

My personal philosophy of teaching revolves around putting students in situations where they can be successful; giving them full access to the tools that they will need to meet my expectations and goals I have set for them. As I have moved into administration, my students have become less middle-school aged and more just plain old middle aged, however, my philosophy has not changed – I still need to put those who depend on me in positions where they have the tools they need so that they can be successful. This means ensuring that we all have a working understanding of not only the expected dress code, but the possible professional and personal consequences and ramifications of how we incorporate technology into our lives and our classrooms.

Mike Simpson has written an excellent piece for NEA Today entiltled Social Networking Nightmares. The article encompases both horror stories as well as some practical advice and is well worth checking out. But for those of you not wishing to burst the bubble, appear to be tattling, or looking to avoid the 'permission' question but are afraid 'forgiveness' might not be on the table... Here are four questions designed to start a discussion about weisure and networking technologies:

1. How do the emerging new technologies and 21st Century Learning Skills fit with our current mission statement?

2. Do our current school policies and course offerings incorporate these new technologies and skills to meet the needs of our teachers and learners or do we need to make some changes?

3. Do we see ourselves using Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites to engage and communicate with parents and the community at large? How will these technologies affect teachers? Students?

4. What training and professional learning do we need to ensure due diligence on the part of our district towards teachers incorporating technology into the classroom?

I am a Co-Teacher... Now What? What is Effective Co-Teaching?

Spring has sprung and many school districts will be looking at changing up their continuum of special education services and adding more Co Teaching to the plate.  Whether or not you are currently in a Co-Teaching Model or anticipate becoming a member of a Co-Teaching team, knee jerk reactions sometimes follow..."Why me?"... "Who are you?"... "Not him/her!"… Now is the time to start preparing for an effective next year.

In all honesty, the method we use to determine the actual effectiveness of your Co-Teaching team, is not whether or not the co teachers are there for the whole time… the co teachers speak to each other at the end of the year… or how many kids get sent to ISS, put on a BIP, or sent back to residential placement. Effective co teaching classrooms are determined by student performance. If we are effective teachers (showing up for class with a great plan)… effective teachers working together (speak to and plan with each other)… and offer effective instruction (not just one method for 170 school instruction days with 10 days for assessment)… our efforts should result in objective data that indicates higher levels of student achievement.

Federal law identifies that ALL students are entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). The State of Georgia has identified the basic public education curriculum to be our identified Georgia Performance Standards (GPS). Our school system has identified co teaching as the preferred model for ‘inclusion’ of students with disabilities in the general education setting. The end result is that, for the most part, every child enrolled in the Long County School system will have access to the GPS curriculum in the general education setting.

Having a designated co teacher immediately identifies a specific class as having ‘a wide variety of abilities’ and interests. However, I would challenge any teacher any where to find a class they teach that doesn’t have ‘a wide variety of abilities’ and interests (even among high achiever and gifted students). Therefore, in order to meet the needs of all of our students and provide access to the GPS, we must become proficient at scaffolding, differentiated the instruction, and holding all of our students accountable to the language and intent of the standards.

Hopefully your leadership team will take the time before school ends to set up success for next year - but if not, there are some things that you can do before that first bell rings... However, I recommend three aditional abstracct goals that will help you explore and create a professional focus for your team:

1. You each need to set a personal goal—Based around your personal growth as a professional - this is personal. 
2. You both must agree to a team goal for planning (at least 1 - 2 hours per week) —this is Non negotiable. 
3. You both must agree to an instructional strategy goal— One is negotiable around an idea and will guide how you grow in this model.

Once you have your goals, you can begin to identify the effective best practices and instructional strategies you want to explore. I recommend that you committ to trying at least 1 new instructional model (there are about 6 identified) around every 2 weeks until you have worked the kinks out and have a good idea of what works good where....

Here comes the NERD REVIEW:

There have been multiple texts and surveys available (just Google or Bing it, or try this Amazon link) that get into the practical aspects of how to share a teaching space but, after attending multiple directional meetings, discussing and identifying with various district and school level initiatives, I have pulled the following resources for specific highlight to use in professional development in Co Teaching.

The focus of these selections is effective teaching practices using differentiated instruction as the foundation. Not only will these selections assist you in meeting  your needs in Co-Taught classes, but also for your other “mixed ability” classes as well.

The first resource that I have chosen is Carol Ann Tomilinson’s How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, 2nd Edition. She offers a great metaphor for foundation of a differentiated classroom and probably where we are headed—Director of the Orchestra—The director of the orchestra helps the musicians make music (different instruments with individual, small group, and whole group time), but does not make the music him/herself.

The second resource is Cindy A. Strickland’s Professional Development for Differentiating Instruction. A lot of the tools and activities that we will work on will come from this resource. While I love this resource for the tools, etc. that allow me to create (hopefully) engaging activities for you...it is not one that I would recommend for a just a good read—unless you want to develop your own professional development series on differentiated instruction!

The last resource that we will target is Marzano & Pickering’s Building Academic Vocabulary Teacher’s Manual. Again, I would put this in your professional library, and if you have any other resources that you would like for me to look at—Never Work Harder Than Your Students, etc. let me know and I will pick them up.

  

Good luck and remember - you can always find me here - or on Twitter under debra_robinson if you have any questions.

Dr. ThinkPot

Effective Teaching and Student Engagement

According to materials presented in the workshop I attended Friday, Dr. Bishop stated the following attributed to Madeline Hunter and Barak Rosenshine:

When effective teachers teach concepts and skills explicitly, they use the following to increase the probability of student success:

• Begin the lesson with an anticipatory set, activator, or hook. 
• State the objective or identify the Essential Question. 
• Provide an appropriate model and check for understanding. 
• Provide systematic feedback and appropriate correctives. 

We need to ‘engage the mind of the learner with active involvement. This can be accomplished using a variety of techniques that may or may not require student movement. Below are a listing of several common techniques that promote engagement. Please peruse the list and set a goal to try and incorporate at least one new method per day. If you are not familiar with some that are listed, drop me an email and I will go over the particulars with you—as well as things to watch for in the implementation…

• Silent Discussion 
• Free Write 
• Frayer Diagram 
• Jig Saw 
• Mix Freeze Group 
• Museum/Gallery Walk 
• Carousel Brainstorm 
• Give 1 Get 1 
• Human Organizer 
• Four Corners/Physical Barometer 
• Numbered Heads Together 
• Round Table 
• Open Outline 
• Tell A Neighbor 
• Target (Bulls Eye) 
• 3—2—1

and a bit more on Anchor Activities...

Students in the differentiated mixed ability classroom must be taught strategies to self-manage and self-regulate behaviors and materials and to reflect on their learning. Taking the time to teach the upfront expectations:

Start by teaching the whole class to work independently on the anchor activity, (Teaming/Assisting Whole Class).

Move towards 1/2 the class working on the anchor activity and the other 1/2 works on a different activity (Teaming with small groups/ Assisting small group);

Work towards 1/3 works on the anchor activity, 1/3 works with teacher under direct instruction; 1/3 works with teacher under direct instruction (Station Teaching/ Leading Small Group).

Remember...an Anchor Activities are ongoing assignments that students can work on independently throughout a unit or grading period. An Anchor Activity should be Meaningful—have a purpose and are goal oriented; Focused—on the standards; Independent—students can manage the activity with minimum teacher support.

Nerd Review: Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization & Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings have revolutionized Retail

If I don’t harp on student engagement—then I am harping on technology and globalization, which are actually very related.


Two books have been recently released that deal with this—One is Yong Zhao’s book on what is actually ‘right’ with our education system and how we are determined to screw it up (Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization). Those of you who are no fans of standardized testing will be very rewarded! The other is Gen BuY: How Tweens and Twenty-somethings are Revolutionizing Retail by Kit Yarrow and Jane O’Donnell.

In Zhao’s book, a retired teacher describes his own high school daughter’s engagement in school—straight A’s, respectful, never gets into trouble—HATES school—bored out of her mind. “Schools can no longer ignore the importance of digital competencies or what our children are already doing in the virtual world, with or (/and mostly) without the involvement of educators” (pg. 195). In an issue first addressed by Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century), Yarrow, O’Donnell, and Zhao, are quick to point out—a lot of the knowledge that we want to share as well as the way we share it—has no interest or relevance to the students that we teach either now or for their future.

So why these two books? Learning in general what makes our students tick as researched by Yarrow and O’Donnell, can help us understand how our students think, react, and engage. While Zhao’s book brings insight into how the concepts of globalization, the virtual world, and the ‘death of distance’ are transforming the economic and social landscape of our world. Both provide critical insight into how to create those ‘authentic performance tasks’ that will add relevance and engagement to our students.

Did you know that they are trying to bring Internet 2 to Darien through Grey’s Reef and Sapelo Island? Do you even know what Internet 2 is or how it can impact your class?  Our students are not impressed with our Power Points, but they may be able to impress as well as teach us something if we give them the opportunity.

It really doesn’t matter whether or not you change how you use technology in your home—however, we are doing our students a disservice if we limit their opportunities and create barriers they will have to overcome outside of where we live.

Fundamental Skills and Working Smart - from 9/25

I was fortunate to be able to visit 8 classes as I began walkthroughs. During the day, I was reminded of the importance of fundamental skill acquisition.


As a teacher, I lamented at the inability of my students to do the simplest fundamental skills. The use of calculators and the ability to punch in numbers in the correct order does not negate the need for students to understand ‘why’ the answer that appears in the window is correct.

The same principle applies to us as educators—we have to know, understand, and do the fundamental skills of effective teaching. Just having an essential question posted on your board might get you through a focus walk, however if it doesn’t reflect what you are doing in class, is never referred to during instruction, is not related to the standards… it is just one more example of busy work.

Of the 8 walkthroughs I was able to complete—

3 classes had the essential question posted (38%) and of the 3, 2 were working on an assignment related to the posted question.

50% of the classes were involved in whole group direct instruction; in 33% of the classes, students were engaged in independent work; and 17% of the classes had some type of small group activities.

I observed 151 students, 49 who were off task (32%).

While 70% of the classes were using an identified Co teaching instructional strategy; 30% did not have evidence of co teaching.

Continue to focus on the fundamental skills of effective teaching— knowing where you want to go before you start, how you are going to get there, and let the kids in on the secret! Are we planning our way to success?

Importance of Vocabulary Instruction : Original 9/18/09

Research has clearly shown the relationship between a student’s vocabulary and his or her crystallized intelligence as well as the direct correlation between vocabulary development and socio economic status (Robert Marzano What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, 2003). Is there a way to provide direct vocabulary instruction that is effective and can add to the instructional strategies we already employ as effective teachers?


Well, yes… there actually is a lot of research that says we can impact our students achievement gains by 33%  IF we will forgo rote memorization of definitions and allow our students to expand on the information that may be initially presented. In other words, not looking at words as words in isolation, but words specifically related to the academic content and in context.

Marzano found that research implies a process that is best for learning academic terms:

Students are presented with a brief, informal explanation, description, or demonstration, and asked to describe the information in their own words.

Students are presented with or asked to add an imagery based representation of the new term (a picture, diagram, etc. a non linguistic representation).

Students are asked to elaborate on the term by making connections with other words.

Over time, students continue to add information or alter erroneous information as their understanding of the term expands.

HOWEVER I should note - that using a "student understood" definition, does not supplant the need for teacher and students to be able to correctly use the "language of the standard" - Example - Definition of Volume: - The amount of cubits that an object occupies. The FULL understanding of the term does require the full understanding of the 'hard' words too.

Nerd Review: Becoming a Classroom of Readers

My favorite article so far in the latest EL centers on making students want to read.


“No matter what instructional methods we employ, students must spend substantial time applying the reading skills and strategies we teach before they develop reading proficiency.”

Basic reading instruction ends in the 4th grade and who wants to be 10 or 11 and still reading Junie B Jones (350L; 2.4 AR)? So of course by the time they are in high school most of them can’t read the text book— and if the math and science teachers can’t pick themselves off the floor from laughing at my previous dissertation—we are stuck…

That is why I loved, I mean Loved this article...it hits two of my favorite subjects… reading and relationships!

My nephews think I’m cool —when I taught the oldest in the 6th grade, I turned him on to Harry Potter and then Lord of the Rings.  Then last winter—the oldest 2 gave me Twilight and in the summer, Percy Jackson. I in turn am contributing The 39 Clues (they are complete National Treasure freaks) and Super Freakonomics.

Many of the relationships that I still have with students were formed over the basis of books. “What are you reading? ...Well if you like that, you may want to try….” and then they come back and tell me all about it. My children are completely amazed when strange kids come up to me in the Piggly Wiggly to tell me about their latest favorite book...which is astounding since I never actually ‘taught’ any of these children—I just met them on breakfast duty or while administering AIMS benchmarks.

Do you read what your kids are reading? Do you model the behaviors that we expect to see in our students? Do you have conversations with your students about what they are reading with an expectation that they are actually reading something? Do they know you read? Do you keep books on hand for your students to check out? Do you order from Scholastic too, just for your room? Did you know that the classics like Lord of the Rings, Little Women, The Old Man and the Sea are available in the middle school scholastic monthly order thing… CHEAP? Do you think that reading is play?

Another article, Literacy Starts with the Teachers, assures me that more than 1 or 2 strategies will overwhelm the middle and high school teachers…. So here are the two strategies—read something (not related to your subject) and talk about it to your students; and use cooperative discussion to scaffold your students into reading both literary and informational text on grade level in your classroom. Let’s open our eyes to the possibilities.

Cooperative Discussion as a Differentiated Activity: Part II

As soon as I posted my last dissertation, my Education Leadership (March, 2010) was in the mailbox and low and behold the WHOLE thing is related to reading and integrating more reading strategies into the curriculum—So… —here are some additional ideas:


The Case for Slow Reading by Thomas Newkirk. “To be quick is smart; to be slow is to be stupid.” However take this on for size—”The term taste applies to both literacy and eating. And to taste, we have to slow down...because in the folktale, the turtle always wins.” Have you had the pleasure of reading and re-reading the same book over and over. My husband read at least 1 book in the If you give a …. Series by Laura Nurmerof every night for a year to our daughter Ashley. I have read the final book in Harry Potter 5 times and Breaking Dawn 4. (But I am also caught up in the Sieg Larsson trilogy - so please don't kill me)Let’s look at the possibility of allowing our students to learn something ‘by heart,’ and introduce them to the pleasure of reading a passage aloud with inflection, savoring passages….

The activity that I was drawn to involves annotating a page. The value was further reinforced when my second grader sat down beside me to read a Junie B. Jones book and wanted to share passages on a page—reading aloud, she was so taken with the author’s humor—she just had to share—

“In this activity, students probe the craft of a favorite writer. They pick a page they really like, photocopy it, and tape the photocopy to a larger piece of paper so they have wide margins in which they can make notations. Their job is to give the page a close reading and mark word choices, sentence patterns, images, dialogue—anything they find effective” (pg. 10).

There are two applications—the first is to make this the Quote Finder assignment— and the other is to have each student find and share 1 favorite page of annotated notes from the assigned reading in addition to their assigned role.
Okay– so you aren’t into the warm fuzzy—


Texts That Matter by Gay Ivey pg. 18—23.

“As a university professor, I also think about the contrast between the literacy experiences students have in kindergarten through grade 12 and those they encounter in college, where they are often expected to access, evaluate, and critically analyze both print and non print texts...even students who enter the workplace right after high school need advanced literacy skills, including reading critically across various sources of information…”

One of the main reasons I get for math and science teachers not wanting to incorporate scientific readings into their lessons is that they fear their students can’t read it. (and they are probably right—)

So, we are going to have to scaffold and be picky about what we choose—that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a chance to read Aristotle, Newton, or original work by Einstein. Use the Cooperative Discussion strategies to provide support to the text.

Nerd Review: MindWare, Family Fun and 7 Habits

For those of you who have never received or seen a MindWare Catalogue—you are missing out! This company bills itself as providing ‘brainy toys for kids of all ages’ and they do! Inside are amazing games and activity sets that will allow you to build independent student centered learning anchor activities. Most of the product sets are designed for advanced, gifted, and enrichment in both language, science and math. You can receive a free catalogue by going online at www.mindware.com. Or you can come see mine at the office—I have sticky noted it all up with ideas! Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up soon—and for any of you who would like to ditch another coffee mug—gift certificates are available!


Family Fun must know that March and April are testing months! In the March issue there are some really great activities, crafts and projects that really resonate especially for teachers looking for that extra ‘edge’ and support for their students in this very stressful time.

How about Butterfly Bounty—using the smaller snack size Ziploc bags, glitter encrusted clothes pins, pipe cleaners, and a healthy dried fruit trail mix—your students can SOAR to the top, or how about Fly High with a special treat that is full of ‘brain’ food!

Or are you ready for some ‘Smarty Pants?’ - pant pairs cut from construction paper, stapled and filled with … you guessed it… Smarties!

There is even an article on helping students develop a ‘positive attitude. Something we could all practice about now!

I am also reading two Steven Covey books—Principled-Centered Leadership and 7Habits of Highly Effective People. The center of both books revolves around this premise…”Effective people lead their lives and manage their relationships around principles; ineffective people attempt to manage their time around priorities and their tasks around goals.”

While the books are very similar, here is a quote from Principled-Centered Leadership that I really like “No bypassing, no short-cutting, no pretending, or appearing, no making impressions, no amount of “dressing for success,” will compensate for lack of skill and judgment.” and how about “To improve, we must start from were we are, not where we should be, or where someone else is, or even from where others may think we are.”

I ordered SuperFreakonomics for my nephew for his birthday… what are you reading?

Cooperative Discussion as a Differentiated Activity: What are we going to do when "the test" is over?

I was able to attend Project CRISS training in November. The strategies presented were so aligned with the goals of a standards based classroom, differentiated instruction, and effective co teaching that I ordered the Presentation Materials CD-ROM.

For the next few weeks, I will try to focus on a different strategy that you can try after ‘the test.’ These strategies will allow us to experiment away from whole group, direct instruction activities toward more “Student Centered” Instruction as we prepare for the 2010—2011 school year.

Cooperative Discussion is a CRISS Strategy designed to provide an alternate method of reading and discussing text passages.

Groups can flex or be long term in nature and developed along homogeneous ability or heterogeneous groupings depending on the material or purpose of the activity.

Each group is composed of 5 members with specific roles and the activity covers 5 periods of instruction. These periods can be consecutive or developed over time, keeping in mind that each group should meet at least 5 times overall to enable each student to play each of the roles.

This strategy would be very effective in place of whole group instruction that involves reading sections of a text, article, or literary piece. Individual roles could be modified in a more specific setting for science such as to preview and review the instructions for an upcoming lab; or in math, to assist students in reading a series of complicated word problems before solving.