Instructional Coaches Newsletter
October 2018
Future Me
Write a letter to the future!
Write a letter to the future: set goals for yourself, make a prediction about the world. Envision the future, and then make it happen.
Use this site to have students write a letter to themselves in the future. They can write about their goals, dreams, etc.
Milling to Music
“Milling to Music” is a Checking for Understanding Technique where students can share their thinking, classwork, or homework in an interactive way with their peers. This activity is similar to Musical Chairs, except there are no chairs and no one gets ‘tagged-out.’ While the music is playing, students should dance around to move throughout the room; when the music stops, each student will share his/her thinking or work with the student closest to her/him. Have students do this twice, so they have the opportunity to share with two peers.
GREAT THINGS NEVER COME FROM COMFORT ZONES
Double-Entry Journals
The Double-Entry Journal strategy enables students to record their responses to text as they read. Students write down phrases or sentences from their assigned reading and then write their own reaction to that passage. The purpose of this strategy is to give students the opportunity to express their thoughts and become actively involved with the material they read.
Benefits
Double-Entry Journaling improves students' comprehension, vocabulary, and content retention. This interactive strategy activates prior knowledge and present feelings, and promotes collaborative learning. It fosters the connection between reading and writing as students are able to "reply" to the author or speaker as they write their responses.
The technique offers flexibility in that teachers can use any form of written text, read alouds, or listenings that are assigned in class.
Create and use the strategy
Introduce a passage of text to the students. Discuss the Double-Entry Journal technique and model the procedure including specific guidelines for writing. Have students read the selected text making journal entries whenever a natural pause in the reading occurs, so that the flow is not interrupted constantly.
- Students fold a piece of paper in half, lengthwise.
- In the left hand column, the students write a phrase or sentence from the selection that was particularly meaningful to them, along with the page number.
- In the right hand column, the students react to the passage by writing personal responses to the quotes on the left. The entry may include a comment, a question, a connection made, or an analysis.
- Students can share their responses with the class or literature discussion group.
http://www.adlit.org/pdfs/strategy-library/doubleentryjournal.pdf
Podcast
Hacking Engagement. James Alan Sturtevant, the author of the book Hacking Engagement, hosts this podcast that presents a problem, solution and a way to implement that solution in your classroom. Chris Conant, the professional development specialist in Boise, Idaho, says, “They are quick-hitters, so they're great to listen to on the short drive to school.”
Ten Minute Teacher. Vicki Davis’ popular CoolCat Teacher blog also has a podcast. “I love The Ten Minute Teacher because Vicki Davis always has great guests and/or tips,” says Frank Ferrara Lombard, an Illinois teacher. “After listening to her podcast, I get inspired to try new things or tweek others. Her mantra is ‘Innovate like a turtle.’ So, I don’t feel bad jumping in and slowly trying one of the tips or tools she introduces and see where it goes or I may stick with one that’s working well for me and my students; either way its ok to ‘innovate like a turtle.’
The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast is full of practical, applicable ideas for taking your daily teaching strategies to the next level. Jennifer Gonzalez has your back when it comes to the latest and the greatest, and giving her 45 minutes in your earbuds as you peruse the aisles will definitely be worth it.
TED Talks Education will give you something to ponder as you fill those Bento Boxes. Like all TED talks, each one is radically different, and most are radically interesting. Keep pace with innovative and fresh ideas in the field as you listen to the many viewpoints presented by TED.
The Ten-Minute Teacher Podcast is unique in that it offers five episodes a week, each focusing on different themes in education. You can tune in to Motivational Mondays, EdTech Tool Tuesdays, Wonderful Classroom Wednesdays, Thought Leader Thursdays, and Five Idea Fridays. Each episode features a short interview with a remarkable teacher. This show provides a lot of variety and freshness to keep you thinking about new angles in education.
The House of #EdTech Podcast is a great resource if you want to learn about new apps, tech resources, and programs you can use in your classroom. With a little help from Christopher Nesi, host and founder of The Education Podcast Network, you’ll soon be using new education technologies in your classroom with aplomb.
InsertLearning
Transform Any Web Page into an Interactive Lesson by using InsertLearning! This is an extension for the Chrome Browser. It allows you to insert any questions, feedback, discussion into the article or online website. Check it out at https://insertlearning.com/