• Standard Aligned Lessons
• High Expectations and Rigor
  
• Culture of Caring
  

in your classroom, please let us know so we can come by and check it out!

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A few points from Dr. Muhammad book...

"...four areas of instruction we know practicing teachers must master in order to increase levels of success for all students." (Marzano, 2010):

1. Classroom Management: "Responsive Management is inclusive and student centered, and it incorporates elements of students' culture, home, and community to engage them more deeply in the learning process."

2. Academic Vocabulary: "Responsive academic vocabulary instruction builds on the word knowledge students bring with them to school - the words students 'own'. Many of these come from students' cultureal backgrounds, their homes, and their communities. These words are abstractly connected to academic vocabulary; students have an understanding of these words that is connected to their own usage, not to the specific academic meaning of the words."

3. Academic Literacy: "Using text, fiction, and nonfiction to validate and affirm culture and language."

4. Learning Environment: " The school environment can influence student behavior, so how school spaces are organized (with regular "cemetery rows" of seats versus learning centers, for example) and what they contain (a wide variety of culturally relevant materials as opposed to strictly traditional academic materials, for example) can have a profound impact on student achievement by sending strong messages that encourage students to act in particular ways."

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I am always available to help a students find a great book to read. Please let me know if I can assist any students in finding their next great read!

Relevant, Purposeful Lessons

Students love to ask “why am I learning this” or “when will I ever use this stuff”? These statements have less impact when teachers provide opportunities for students to understand why the learning goal is important and relevant to them personally.

“Communicating the purpose of learning goes beyond posting the essential question or the relevant standard and referring to the objective from time to time. How do students sit through lessons where they learn a skill or concept, such as comparing and contrasting, but still are unable to perform that skill, express what they learned, or identify the relationships between skills and concepts and their lives? When teaching anything new, first ask yourself the purpose for learning the material and make that information visible to your students. Once students see the relationship between what they are learning and their lives, true learning is the most likely outcome.”

Partrick, Jennifer. "Giving Your Lessons The Power Of Purpose".

Learning-Focused: Lessons You Believe In. N.p., 2016. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.

Recommended Reading:

Ch 2 - Focusing on Learning Targets, Not Tasks

Ch 3 - Including Both Content and Language Components

Ch 4 - Ensuring that the Purpose Is Relevant

Ch 5 - Inviting Students to Own the Purpose

Ch 6 - Identifying Outcomes Related to the Purpose

Ch 7 - Knowing When a Learning Target Has Been Met

Purchase through Amazon or directly from ASCD:

The Purposeful Classroom: How to Structure Lessons with Learning Goals in Mind was written by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey. This 6″ × 9″ book (Stock #112007; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-1314-5) is available from ASCD for $18.95 (ASCD member) or $24.95 (nonmember). Copyright © 2011 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.

Picture Courtesy of Ide Instsructional Coaches Corner blog