Skyhawk Staff Update
Layton Elementary, November 25, 2019
Congratulations! Now What?
I am convinced the key to our success will be Culturally Responsive Teaching. We are well on our way to providing a relevant education for our students, but still have room to grow. I have included some resources for you to help on our journey.
HOMEWORK!! This article (in the link below) is a "must-read" to prepare for our Faculty Meeting on Dec. 4th. The teaching framework here boils it down to the things we need to plan for in your lessons.
The Importance of Each Step in the CRT Framework:
This 1995 article is the best framework I have seen so far for recognizing the components of CRT in your classroom. Investing in these elements raises relevance for all students and will make your efforts pay off! As you view the framework, you will see how these elements combine:
- Norms are the explicit values espoused by the teacher and students.
- Procedures are learning processes that carry out the norms.
- Structures are the rules or binding expectations that support the norms and procedures.
1. Establish Inclusion
Norms:
- Emphasize the human purpose of what is being learned and its relationship to the students' experience.
- Share the ownership of knowing with all students.
- Collaborate and cooperate. The class assumes a hopeful view of people and their capacity to change.
- Treat all students equitably. Invite them to point out behaviors or practices that discriminate.
Procedures: Collaborative learning approaches; cooperative learning; writing groups; peer teaching; multi-dimensional sharing; focus groups; and reframing.
Structures: Ground rules, learning communities; and cooperative base groups.
2. Develop Positive Attitudes
Norms:
- Relate teaching and learning activities to students' experience or previous knowledge.
- Encourage students to make choices in content and assessment methods based on their experiences, values, needs, and strengths.
Procedures: Clear learning goals; problem solving goals; fair and clear criteria of evaluation; relevant learning models; learning contracts; approaches based on multiple intelligences theory, pedagogical flexibility based on style, and experiential learning.
Structure: Culturally responsive teacher/student/parent conferences.
3. Enhance Meaning
Norms:
- Provide challenging learning experiences involving higher order thinking and critical inquiry. Address relevant, real-world issues in an action-oriented manner.
- Encourage discussion of relevant experiences. Incorporate student dialect into classroom dialogue.
Procedures: Critical questioning; guided reciprocal peer questioning; posing problems; decision making; investigation of definitions; historical investigations; experimental inquiry; invention; art; simulations; and case study methods.
Structures: Projects and the problem-posing model.
4. Engender Competence
Norms :
- Connect the assessment process to the students' world, frames of reference, and values.
- Include multiple ways to represent knowledge and skills and allow for attainment of outcomes at different points in time.
- Encourage self-assessment.
Procedures : Feedback; contextualized assessment; authentic assessment tasks; portfolios and process-folios; tests and testing formats critiqued for bias; and self-assessment.
Structures : Narrative evaluations; credit/no credit systems; and contracts for grades
Zaretta Hammond Video
Calendar
November
- 27-29 - Thanksgiving Break!
December
- 2 - 4th Grade Living Planet Aquarium Visit
- 2 - Clark Planetarium Visit
- 9:00-9:30 K-3 Assembly
- 9:35-10:20 5-6 Assembly (4th has Living Aquarium)
- 10:30-11:30 6th grade presentation #1
- 12:10-1:10 6th grade presentation #2
- 1:15-2:15 6th grade presentation #3
- 3 - Lockout Drill 3 pm
- 3 - Amazing Shake Round 2 (TBA)
- 4 - Faculty Meeting - Social/Emotional Learning Training
- 4 - Amazing Shake Round 2 (TBA)
- 4 - Key Leader #4 - Be Inclusive
- 5 - District Leadership Service Project Here - Room 29 Reserved till noon
- 5 - Kindergarten Visit - Discovery Gateway (Stage reserved all day)
- 10 - JSSC, 7:45
- 11-12 - Book Fair
- 12 - Davis High Choir Assembly (optional) 9:30-10:00 am
- 13 - 3rd Grade Field Trip to Farmington High, buses here at 10 am
- 13 - House Lunch
- 13 - PTA Meeting, Noon
- 13- Battle of the Books Meeting, 1:30-2:30
- 13 - Staff Winter Party, 2:15 pm
- 17 - Reaction Time Lab, 5th Grade 12:30-3:25 pm
- 18 - Faculty Meeting, Exploring Implicit Bias, 7:30-8:30
- 18 - Fairfield Jr. High Choir Holiday Assembly (optional) 10:15-10:45 (we will do a short recess after for all)
- 18 - Key Leader #5, Congratulate Others Who Do Well and Don't Brag When You Do Well!
- 19 - ASP Holiday Party in Gym, 5 pm
- 20 - Holiday Sing-along, 9:10-10 am
- Dec. 21-Jan. 5 - Winter Break!