The Aviator Compass
Empowering teachers to grow EVERY child every day.
October - 2017
Introduction
Our district vision statement challenges us to "respect, value, inspire, and empower EVERY child to reach their full potential in an ever-changing world". To help build on our collective capabilities to bring that vision to fruition, our district curriculum and instruction team seeks to promote innovative practices which align with our district priorities.
Teacher Spotlight
Mary uses MasteryConnect, Screencastify, Google Classroom, and Blackboard to help her differentiate re-teaching for her science students. Mary describes two approaches to her use of these tools below:
Strategy #1
The students completed a MasteryConnect assessment about 75-80% of the way through the unit. Based on how they scored on each learning target or main idea from the unit I could tell who had mastered the content and who has not yet reached the mastery level. I created a video using the Screencastify program for each of those learning targets. The videos were between 5-10 minutes in length and retaught the key ideas from those targets using virtual interactives, or the unit slideshow as the backdrop. Each video was sent to only those students that were identified, using their MasteryConnect assessment, as having not met the mastery level. Some students received all three, some students only received one or two, and others did not receive any videos. Those videos were shared using Google Classroom, and the "assign to" feature for each video posted. For those students that did not receive any videos, they had access to all three on Blackboard and were able to watch the video that they personally felt was their weakest area or all three if they chose. These videos were viewed before the summative assessment to improve student performance.
Strategy #2
The students were given a MasteryConnect assessment about 80-90% of the way through the unit. Since MasteryConnect had the targets that I taught lumped into one learning target, I had the students rate their confidence level on how they answered each target on a goal setting sheet on a scale of 1-5. Based on their ratings, they had access to the Screencastify videos that were created for each learning target on Blackboard. They were then asked to watch the video that they rated themselves the lowest on from the MasteryConnect assessment. These videos were then viewed before the students took their summative assessment to improve student performance.
Here is an image of what it looks like on Blackboard and the other image has an arrow indicating the button I used to send it to specific students through Google Classroom.
We are moving full S.T.E.A.M. ahead in SYCAMORE! Interdisciplinary, project-based learning that focuses on real world application and problem solving.
Aviation Station Homework Assistance Program: Sign-up to Volunteer
F.I.P.
Interested in expanding your knowledge of how to reach every student in your classroom? Need additional evidence for meeting OTES requirements? Looking for a few more Sycamore 21 hours?
The Reaching Every Student F.I.P. Educator Effectiveness courses focused on English Language Learners, gifted students and students with disabilities can be accessed through your SAFE account by clicking here. Instructions for enrolling in a F.I.P. course can be found here.
Literacy Edge
Writing Across the Curriculum
This year Literacy Council continues to be facilitated in collaboration with the Ohio Writing Project with a focus on writing across the curriculum. This month’s strategy for creating a culture of literacy in content areas is called It Says/I Say/And So. This strategy helps a reader go beyond the literal information presented in any text or passage using inference to tease out its implications. For more on this Writing Across the Curriculum Strategy click here.
Culturally Responsive Practices
November 13 - 17, 2017 resources HERE.
International Education Week (IEW) is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is part of our efforts to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences.
We encourage the participation of all individuals and institutions interested in international education and exchange activities, including schools, colleges and universities, embassies, international organizations, businesses, associations, and community organizations. Individuals and institutions tend to hold IEW events as it is convenient for them in their local communities. We want you to celebrate as much and as often as you like. To that end, we are providing promotional materials that allow you the flexibility to promote events whenever they may be planned!
Professional Development
In Lisa Watts Lawton's elementary classroom, she uses five powerful strategies to develop students' problem-solving skills. She encourages students to think conceptually with math word problems, choose the right strategy, work and talk together, learn from mistakes, and be part of a problem-solving culture. In this article, Lawton describes how each of these five strategies plays out in her class.
Give Us Your Feedback!
(If you are having trouble viewing the survey in your e-mail, click on the blank box below to open it up in a new window.)