The Elementary IDSS News
October 25, 2019
The following is a true story from a second grade classroom...
Duke is the story of a boy named Jim and his dog Duke. After finishing the book, I asked the student who had just read it if he had made any connections with the book. He said, “Yes, it made me think of tequila.” I looked at him dubiously and said, “How does this book make you think about tequila?” His response: “I have a chihuahua named Tequila.”
TDE E-FOLIO CHECK IN
- All teachers should have met with their administrators (by October 31st) for their one to one meeting to review task 1 from your e-folio and this task should have been saved and submitted. Once your administrator has electronically signed the task and sent it back to you for your electronic signature, it will then appear in your "History" tab in TalentEd. At this point, you should not see task 1 in your task list any longer.
- Tenured Year 1 & Year 2 - Complete first observation with IDSS Coach by winter break - including pre/post conferences and reflection in e-folio; remember to refer to the rubric to cover all areas in your reflection. Observe and reflect on your takeaways from observing a colleague - this reflection is completed in the second box inside the Peer Feedback Reflection section. You are responding to the prompt of "What did you learn from observing another colleague that can be applied to your own professional practice IN THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR?"
- Tenured Year 3 and Probationary - Complete first observation with your administrator as well as the pre/post observation questions. Don't forget to submit these questions.
Year 3 = 2x with administrator
Probationary = 3x with administrator
BEST PRACTICES: It's ALL about RELATIONSHIPS
"Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don't like.'" A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level".
Watch this TedTalk video to remind yourself about one of the most important pieces of education.
Digital Learning Ideas
Flipgrid
Flipgrid amplifies student voice like never before! Use this website/app that allows teachers to create “grids” of short discussion-style questions that students respond to through recorded videos. Each grid is effectively a message board where teachers can post a question and students can post 15 second-5 minute video responses that appear in a tiled “grid” display. Click the graphic below to learn more!
Halloween Fact or Opinion (use as it fits your students and families)
Here’s a fun and festive resource from Paula Klipfel to help students with Fact vs. Opinion. Each slide is self-checking and has an audio clip embedded to read the slide. This would be a great whole class review or independent practice. (Thanks for posting @smalchow!)