EAGLE MOUNTAIN NEWS & NOTES #15
December 1, 2014
EAGLE MOUNTAIN ELEMENTARY
Email: bmclain@ems-isd.net
Twitter: @bmacEME
REAL QUICK
I hope your Thanksgiving was relaxing & enabled you to slow down a little bit. My surgery went well & I should return by the end of this week or the first of next week. Thank you very much for thinking of me & for the cards, gift baskets, food, home visits, encouragement & prayers as I bounce back. I know you will support Kelli while I am recovering this week.
IMPORTANT INFO FOR THIS WEEK!
· Our Staff Christmas Party is this Friday evening at Shanna Harlin’s home.
· Please let Regina know if you are able to help out next Friday, Dec. 12th when we have our Parents’ Night Out. A flyer should go home this week promoting it. The money raised will be used for leveled readers.
· Our Eagle Mountain 25 Skill of the week is Rule #11 – Greet visitors & make them feel welcome.
· Last call for December calendar items – Kelli & Pam are finishing the calendar & will have it to you soon.
· We have important benchmark testing going on this week beginning tomorrow.
· Debbi Roest will be coordinating Secret Santas for us this year & the gift exchange will begin next week. I believe you will draw for names on Tuesday.
· On Wednesday there will be a very brief faculty meeting to discuss a few
Watch-Dog procedures. Drew will not keep you long but we need you to know a few logistical things.
· Colleen Clower was complimentary of what she observed during her recent
Math Walk-Thrus. Keep up the good work!
· Madeline, Kim, Donna, Bethany, Kelli, Drew, & I had the best visit to Trinity
Valley School recently. We are planning to take one more group next Wed. to experience it firsthand. We were impressed with the relaxed atmosphere & general vibe of the school!
· We have enjoyed having Christina Witta in 5th grade so very much. Beth Welch is planning on returning Dec. 15th so Christina’s last day will be the 12th. Thank you very much Christina for your service to EME during Beth’s absence!
REMINDER OF TECH DO'S THIS NINE WEEKS
1st WEEK – Try ClassDojo.com
2nd WEEK – Decide what you would like to do. (twitter or blog)
3rd WEEK – Twitter or blog should be ready to go
4th WEEK - Post at least one time to twitter or blog
5th WEEK – Set up a You Tube Channel
6th WEEK – Should be posting regularly to twitter or blog
7th WEEK – Post a video to You Tube
8th WEEK – Try to Flip one lesson
9th WEEK – What’s Your Plan for the Next nine weeks?SOME TWEETS FROM SOME OF OUR TEACHERS
THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Monday – Bryan out, PTA Board Luncheon 10-1, EME 25 Skill of the week is
Rule #11– Greet visitors & make them feel welcome.
Tuesday – Kelli to AP meeting, Benchmark Testing – 4th Writing, 5th Science,
Wednesday – 1st grade Field Trip, Benchmark Testing – 3-5th – Math, Faculty Meeting – 3:PM
Thursday – Benchmark Testing – 4th grade Writing, 3rd grade Reading
Friday – 1st grade Field Trip, Staff Christmas Party at Shanna Harlin’s
NOTEABLE QUOTABLES:
PEDAGOGY IS THE DRIVER, TECHNOLOGY IS THE ACCELERATOR.
Student-Led Discussions (Originally titled “Talking to Learn”)
“Some of my happiest, most rewarding moments as an educator have been hearing what comes out of learners’ mouths when I get out of the way,” says Elizabeth City (Harvard Graduate School of Education) in this Educational Leadership article. “Talking matters to learning. Although it’s possible to think without talking – and to talk without much thinking – each can strengthen the other. Talking also provides windows into what students are learning.” Rich classroom conversations also go to the heart of democratic schooling, she says: the better students get at thinking, speaking, and listening, the better off we’ll all be.
So why do teachers do most of the talking in classrooms? And why is so much student talk unimpressive? City believes there are five reasons:
- We have other priorities. Curriculum coverage. Test preparation. Even if “accountable talk” is in the school-improvement plan, other things push it aside.
- It’s hard to step outside the traditional paradigm: the teacher steers discussions, the students follow in familiar roles.
- We’re afraid. Teachers fear losing control. Students fear not knowing how to play the game of school. Both fear sounding stupid.
- We believe that only “advanced” learners can drive discussions.
- Everyone thinks silences should be avoided at all costs.
There’s no question that having rich, authentic discussions is difficult, says City. It involves balancing each of these elements: safety, challenge, authentic participation, and ownership.
Students must feel safe from being attacked, but discussions shouldn’t be so safe that no one takes risks.
The level of challenge must be just right – not too hard and not too easy. This is tricky, but City believes we often underestimate what students can handle. “Authentic participation means students offer questions or comments that deepen their own and others’ understanding and make space for multiple voices and ideas to be heard,” she says.
And ownership is key: not anarchy, in which students “veer wildly from one side of the intellectual road to another while the teacher sits back like a powerless passenger,” nor dictatorship, with the teacher saying, “I want you to discuss…”
In a successful discussion, says City, “students ask most of the questions, connecting with and building on one another’s ideas, taking responsibility for the tenor of the conversation, and talking with one another… The teacher is valued and respected as a member of the discussion community – albeit one with more experience and expertise – but she or he is not
deferred to as the authority.” How can this happen?
· Set the stage. Students should be in a circle or U so they can see each others’ faces.
· Think-pair-share. Getting students to think, jot down ideas, and chat with an elbow partner is an excellent way to ramp up participation and authenticity.
· Use discussion protocols. In Save the Last Word, students read a text in advance and choose a sentence or passage they consider important or striking. A group convenes, one person reads the passage he or she chose aloud, the others have one minute each to respond, then the first person gets “the last word,” with 2-3 minutes to explain the choice and connect with what others said. In Four A’s, students read a text with four questions in mind: What do you agree with? What assumptions does the author hold? What do you want to argue with? And what parts of the text do you aspire to?
· Use texts. It’s possible to have student-driven discussions without texts, says City, but well-chosen texts are very helpful. They provide common ground for a conversation and offer pathways to ideas, experiences, and feelings. They don’t have to be print – art, music, maps, primary documents, essays, political cartoons, and math problems are fine. One discussion used two photographs of Abraham Lincoln, one taken shortly before he became president, one shortly before his death.
· Focus on process. Content is the central focus, says City, but “a little attention to process can make a big difference in quality.” Facilitators and participants can set goals – “Talk more,” “Listen more,” “Ask a question” – or a collective goal like “Let’s try to connect with one another’s ideas” or “Let’s refer to the text more.” And at the end of the discussion, it’s good to reflect on how it went. How did we do on safety? How challenging was the conversation? Who participated and who didn’t? How authentic and educative was it?
“Talking to Learn” by Elizabeth City in Educational Leadership, November 2014 (Vol. 72, #3, p. 10-16), http://bit.ly/1wMkBce; City can be reached at elizabeth_city@gse.harvard.edu.
STORY STARTERS
Story starter websites – In this School Library Journal feature, Richard Byrne suggests apps to help students get started with their writing. Here are three that are free:
• Write About This http://ow.ly/CwmbT
• WordWriter http://www.boomwriter.com/wordwriter
• StoryToolz http://storytoolz.com
“Four Top Story Starters” by Richard Byrne in School Library Journal, November 2014 (Vol. 60,#11, p. 16); Byrne can be reached at richardbyrne@freetech4teachers.com.
SHOUT OUTS
- We want to give a shout out this week to Sandra Short, Helen Hopkins, & Donna Bell. These ladies keep the office running smoothly, are the “face of Eagle Mountain” & I sincerely appreciate each & every one of them for all they bring to EME! Please let them know you appreciate them too!
- Kudos to Candice Martin for being on a team of district curriculum writers! Candice recently helped write curriculum, & her expertise is appreciated.