Weekly Coaching Communication
Make it a great day -- every day!
22 - 26 May 2017
On the Standards Front . . .
The Power of Stories
The learning map can be read as fluently as the paragraphs that follow and is a much quicker, less daunting, read. To read the map, begin at the top and follow the line/wording to the center. Then start on the left side and work your way over to the right -- counterclockwise. Both convey the importance of stories in the classroom, but which appeals to you more -- the map or the paragraphs?
Jim Knight opens his seventh chapter, "Stories," of High-Impact Instruction (2013) with this quotation from Barry Lopez to promote the purpose and the need for stories. From the learning map, Knight proposes that the chapter is about "using narratives to enhance learning by understanding why we should use stories in our classrooms. Stories engage, and motivate students, as well as build community and enhance learning in our classrooms.
Knight imparts that to use stories effectively to enhance learning, we must understand the stories purpose. Perhaps students need an anchor for new knowledge or to build prior knowledge. Stories can also prompt thinking and dialogue, as well as generate interest. For some students, stories will even inspire hope or offer new perspectives. If anything, teachers should be using stories to build community in their classrooms.
The purpose is closely related to the structure. Stories of escalation may generate the interest or anchor new knowledge. Perhaps, your content is in need of a hero-conflict-resolution sequence to inspire hope or offer a new perspective. Building and upsetting expectations can promote thinking and dialogue. Self-revelation and epiphany stories are ones that can inspire hope and perhaps build prior knowledge for students.
How do you know which stories to tell? Knight advises making a story line of the people an events in your life and then identify the associated stories and the impact those stories can have on students. The stories that have the most potential for impact are the ones to flesh out and share with your students. If you don't want to tell your own stories, share those of others -- check out Story Corps.
No matter the content of the story, the purpose or organization, stories have been an effective mode of communication since humans began to communicate. Stories are how we relate to each other. Building a community in your classroom is integral to the success of the students in your classroom and often thwarts management issues. The main thing to remember about telling stories is that the vulnerability you share with your students will increase the "stickiness" of your content. "'It's back to the Velcro theory of memory, the idea that the more hooks we put into our ideas, the better they'll stick'" (as cited in Knight (2013), p.179).
Ending the Year on a Positive Note
Here's how we can stay sane and end the year with a bang:
Celebrate Your Accomplishments
Rather than counting down the days, start a list of your most successful uses of technology this school year. Celebrate your growth and make either a pencil and paper list (I'm picturing one of those papers under a magnet on your fridge or tacked to your cork board), a blog post or Facebook note listing at least 5 things that you have done better this year (try tagging a few colleagues or teacher friends in your Facebook post to get a nice conversation going), a few new things you have tried or changes you have made in your classroom because of technology. This could be as simple as creating a filter in your email inbox, trying out a new Web 2.0 tool, starting a blog or using email to correspond with parents.
Encourage Student Reflection
Have your students reflect on their own use of technology and have them brainstorm ideas for next year. Let them offer up ideas for how technology could have been implemented in a lesson or project or have them list their favorite ways that the class has used technology this year.
Practice a Positive Mindset
When you walk into the staff lounge, do so with a smile and find something positive to share with your colleagues about this year. Try to pull a happy memory out of them of a successful lesson or bright moment in their year. Both of you will return to your students feeling refreshed.
Coaching Schedule -- see Google Calendar for specific "Busy" times **schedule subject to change**
LINK to Mr. Libolt's Weekly Calendar & Communication
Monday, 22 May -- SENIOR FINALS
- 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM ICs/Admin Action Planning
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Tuesday, 23 May -- SENIOR FINALS
- 11:25 - 11:45 HS Model Syllable Types w/ Barbara Leete
- 2:30 - 4:30 PM SBL Chat w/ GWAEA & Principal
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Wednesday, 24 May -- 7:30 AM Staff MTG -- SENIOR FINALS
- 11:25 - 11:45 HS Model Syllable Types w/ Barbara Leete
- 12:30 - 1:15 PM IC/Principal MTG
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Thursday, 25 May
- 11:25 - 11:45 HS Model Syllable Types w/ Barbara Leete
- 12:00 - 1:00 PM Professional Learning Planning with GWAEA
- 1:00 - 2:30 PM Progress Monitoring Planning MTG w/ GWAEA & Principal
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
- 7:00 PM Senior Awards Ceremony
Friday, 26 May
- Jeremy Arends visits ALL DAY-- new English teacher (replacing Plasencia)
- 11:25 - 11:45 HS Model Syllable Types w/ Barbara Leete
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
SUNDAY, 28 MAY -- GRADUATION -- 2 PM
ARCHIVE LINKS
Click on the link to access 2015-16 prior weekly communications.
Pope's IC Weekly Communication Archive & Index 2016-17
Click on the link to access 2016-17 prior weekly communications.
IC/Principal Weekly Meeting Notes
Click on the link to view the Friday notes.
Contact Information
Center Point - Urbana CSD
Email: epopenhagen@cpuschools.org
Phone: 319-849-1102+91015
Twitter: @Epopenhagen