Wildcat Newsletter
George Washington Carver Creative Arts Center 10.31.16
Joy In School - Shout Out!!!!!!!
I would like to thank the Great Carver Wildcats Faculty for bring joy, wonder and excitement to the students at George Washington Carver Creative Arts Learning Center. The Candy Carnival was a true success!!! The students and their families had a wonderful time!!!! Two quotes from an article in Educational Leadership about schooling particularly resonate with me. The first is from John Dewey's Experience and Education (1938): "What avail is it to win prescribed amounts of information about geography and history, to win the ability to read and write, if in the process the individual loses his own soul?" (p. 49).
If the experience of "doing school" destroys children's spirit to learn, their sense of wonder, their curiosity about the world, and their willingness to care for the human condition, have we succeeded as educators, no matter how well our students do on standardized tests?
The second quote comes from John Goodlad's A Place Called School (1984). After finding an "extraordinary sameness" in our schools, Goodlad wrote, "Boredom is a disease of epidemic proportions. … Why are our schools not places of joy?" (p. 242). Now, a generation later, if you were to ask students for a list of adjectives that describe school, I doubt that joyful would make the list. The hearts and minds of children and young adults are wide open to the wonders of learning and the fascinating complexities of life. But school still manages to turn that into a joyless experience.
DO Now and Never DO!!!!!!!
It's common--and good--practice for teachers to have a short activity, often called a "Do Now," on the board for students to work on as soon as they enter class. Many teachers use the "Do Now" time to handle administrative tasks like taking attendance or organizing lesson materials. Then, after five or ten minutes, they say, "Ok, time's up," before taking another five or ten minutes to review the "Do Now" at the board.
That's right, up to ten minutes to review something without knowing whether students have even done it, let alone how well they've done it. The "Do Now" experience, as a result, plays out in one of three ways for most students:
- They complete the "Do Now" correctly on their own, and then sit idly, socialize, or do something for another class as the teacher reviews the "Do Now"--at which point, for these students the "Do Now" has become the "Did Already."
- They sit idly, socialize, or do something for another class instead of doing the "Do Now" on their own, since they know the teacher will eventually do it for them--at which time they can copy down the answers. For these students, the "Do Now" is really the "Do Later."
- They sit idly, socialize, or do something for another class instead of doing the "Do Now" on their own but, unlike their "Do Later" classmates, they remain off task even when the teacher reviews the "Do Now." For these students, as you could probably guess, the "Do Now" is the "Do Never."
The lesson here is that if something is important enough for you to assign, it should be important enough for you to assess. (And don't confuse "assess" with "grade.") This means
circulating from the start to: encourage would-be "Do Later" or "Do Never" students; identify students' errors; determine how much time students need to complete the assignment; and assist students who've earned your help (see my last post, When Helping Students Hurts Students).
Taking a more active role like this will improve student participation, and let you know what if anything to review with the class. So it's definitely something you'll want to do... NOW.
As for administrative tasks, it's always best if you can handle them before or after class. But when that's not possible, as in the case of taking attendance, at least hold off until students need little or no supervision--e.g., when they're copying notes from the board.
5 Parts of A Dynamic Lesson Plan - Introduction of New Materials - Taken From Standard Lesson Structure
During the lesson, effective teachers model skills by going through the key steps they outlined for their students, such as solving a sample problem and narrating their approach. They use visual cues (such as underlining or using different colors on the board), vocal cues (changing the volume of your voice – either suddenly softer or louder), signal phrases (“The fourth and final point is…”), and body language (through the use of gestures or position in the classroom) to highlight key concepts.
2. How will you convey the information? Use multiple approaches when presenting new information. Two basic methods teachers use to help present material are modeling and lecture. These two methods are not mutually exclusive, of course. Many teachers often mix both techniques in a single lesson depending on the context of their instruction. In the next chapter we will discuss tips for creating effective lectures and demonstrations in more detail. For now, note that effective presentations do not simply involve the teacher talking, but may include written text, visual aids (posters, graphics, illustrations), movement, additional sounds, manipulatives, or even smells and tastes, if they help students remember key ideas. You can also connect to students’ prior knowledge by using examples (and non-examples) and anecdotes, all in the name of making it easier for students to access the new information later.
“Here’s another way of thinking about it. An independent clause (“I went to the store”) is like Destiny’s Child’s ‘Independent Women.’ It’s a sentence that can stand by itself. Dependent clauses (“because we were out of milk”) are like the backup singers; they don’t perform by themselves, but they help out the main act.”
3. What will students be doing? Children do not learn as passive agents, so build in activities that allow students to “take in” the information. What your students remember from a lesson depends on what they are thinking about during your presentation of material. Consequently, you should always proactively anticipate where your students’ attention will be and create ways to aid their processing and retention of key information. To do this, many teachers have students create memory or processing aids to help students to organize information in their heads. graphic organizers, described in more detail in the next chapter, give students a structure in which to take notes. Another strategy is to stop the presentation and ask clarifying questions or have students paraphrase the key ideas thus far. Creating an outline of your presentation will allow you to notice natural breaks in the lesson during which to allow students to process the information more deeply. To keep students’ attention and allow them to connect new knowledge to what they already know, teachers may ask fact-based, objective questions (“What are the facts?”), but then reflective (“What do you think, and how do you feel?”), interpretive (“What does all this mean, and what are the implications?”), and conclusion-driven (“What should happen next?”) questions. You can also have students generate examples and analogies themselves.
“I need six volunteers to help me demonstrate the different stages of metamorphosis in front of the class while everyone else fills in the flowcharts of their graphic organizers.”
4. How will you know that your students understand? Target potential misunderstandings. You need to anticipate potential areas of confusion for your students and adjust your pacing to allow time for noting and clarifying potential contradictions. When you are teaching complex ideas or rules (all of the exceptions to English spelling and grammar rules, for example), choose familiar terms and explain any new vocabulary words. Allow students to make mental bridges from prior knowledge (noting that misanthrope comes from the same root as miserable, for example) to minimize all of the completely new 83 information that students must internalize. Another effective technique is to make common mistakes during your presentation and have students correct your errors - a method that can also serve as an effective way to check for understanding. Finally, you may determine that there is so much prerequisite knowledge involved that it is necessary to break the lesson into two different lesson objectives. It probably would have been too much to cover the process and the effects of global warming in one 45- minute lesson, for example.
“A very common mistake when multiplying decimals is forgetting to move the decimal point, so I want you to pay extra careful attention to how I do this…”
5. How will you know that your students understand? Check for understanding. Before moving to student practice, it is important to assess student understanding of the new material, just as you checked for student understanding of the lesson purpose and procedure during your lesson opening. Think about what is absolutely essential for students to understand before they begin to practice and what can be reinforced later. Checking for understanding—by asking students to paraphrase the information orally, write a one-sentence summary, or answer questions—is integral to introducing new material so that you can adjust your instruction accordingly. Only by knowing what students do and do not understand can you tailor your lesson to meet their needs. Here are some examples of teachers checking for understanding during their Introduction to New Material:
“Hold up two fingers if you can tell me why independent clauses are like Destiny’s Child.”
“What do I mean when I say the Civil War was largely about states’ rights? Take 30 seconds to write a one-sentence answer in your notebook. Then you’ll compare your response with a partner’s.”
Important Dates:
November 5 - Executive Ed Team Meeting
November 5- Wildcat University
October 31 - November 3 - District Common Assessment
November 4 - End Of 2nd Six Week Grading Period
November 7 - Beginning of 3rd Six week Grading Period
November 21-25 Thanksgiving Break
Every Monday PD Series 3:30 -5:00
Wednesday Grade Level Meeting
Thursday PLC - Lesson Plan Check- In
Lesson Plans and Targeted Assessment due every Wednesday by 8:00 a.m.
Student conferences weekly