Staff Newsletter
because it helps to know what's going on
March 13, 2020
IREAD 3 Testing Date Changed
Taking a Closer Look at Hattie's "10 Mindframes for Visable Learning"
Mindframe #4
Getting people to pursue an appropriately challenging goal, motivating them, and appealing to their emotions are important abilities to have if one wishes to change people. How is it possible to convince learners to tackle a more difficult problem, fill them with enthusiasm, and inspire them? Every teacher knows that this is no easy task. It is also a task that is becoming more complex as society becomes more diverse and as there are more distractions to tempt interests, prior knowledge, and previous experiences. This means that teachers need to be change agents. (Hattie & Zierer, 2018)
The fourth mindframe, or behavior, is “I am a change agent and believe all students can improve.” Some critical factors to consider:
Use a variety of classroom management strategies.
Try to use preventive strategies to deal with disruptive behavior in your classroom.
You do not need the full support of your students to initiate changes. Try instead to get a critical mass of learners to believe in your visions.
Do not reinvent everything. Instead, test what is already available by searching for evidence.
Develop learning pathways, for instance by applying a variety of motivation, differentiation, and practice strategies. In doing so, do not forget to also include possibilities for making the success of the learning pathways visible.
Complement your assessment of the methods you choose with assessments from the learners. Demand feedback.
Talk to colleagues about methods, using evidence to support your views.
The 8 Minutes That Matter Most
Like a story, lessons deserve compelling beginnings and endings. From pop culture connections to finishing with a level-up, here are eight strategies for holding students’ attention.
I am an English teacher, so my ears perk up when writers talk about their process. I’ve found the advice handy for lesson planning, too. That’s because both writing and planning deal with craft.
In writing, you want your audience to be absorbed. You want them to care about your characters. You want them be delighted by the suspense. That’s not easy to pull off, and it’s just as hard in the classroom. So when writers pull back the curtain on what they do, I pay attention. I look at the ways in which they create drama and tension. I study how their twists and turns pace a story much like the transitions of a lesson. I am also fascinated by rituals.
John Irving, the author of The Cider House Rules, begins with his last sentence:
I write the last line, and then I write the line before that. I find myself writing backwards for a while, until I have a solid sense of how that ending sounds and feels. You have to know what your voice sounds like at the end of the story, because it tells you how to sound when you begin.
That is the crux of lesson planning right there—endings and beginnings. If we fail to engage students at the start, we may never get them back. If we don’t know the end result, we risk moving haphazardly from one activity to the next. Every moment in a lesson plan should tell.
The eight minutes that matter most are the beginning and endings. If a lesson does not start off strong by activating prior knowledge, creating anticipation, or establishing goals, student interest wanes, and you have to do some heavy lifting to get them back. If it fails to check for understanding, you will never know if the lesson’s goal was attained.
Here are eight ways to make those eight minutes magical.
BEGINNINGS
1. Trend with YouTube: YouTube reaches more 18- to 34-year-olds than any cable channel. One hundred hours of video are uploaded to it every minute. There’s something for every grade, subject, and approach on YouTube. Not only does it make learning HD visible, it also allows teachers to make connections that could never happen before. I had my students draw comparisons between Carl Sandberg's poem “Chicago” and the Chrysler Super Bowl commercial featuring Eminem. Fifteen years ago, I would have had to keep my finger on the record button of my VCR remote and pray for it to air. YouTube makes anticipatory sets a whole lot easier.
2. Start with good news: If you want to create a safe space for students to take risks, you won’t get there with a pry bar. Todd Finley starts his classes with two minutes of sharing good news. Classrooms that celebrate success build the comfort necessary for students to ask critical questions, share ideas, and participate in honest and open discussions. Starting with celebrations is a short, easy way to get there.
3. Cross disciplines: Toss a football around the class before you teach the physics of a Peyton Manning spiral. Play a song that makes a classical allusion for your mythology unit. Integrating other disciplines teaches students that ideas and concepts do not stand alone but rather exist within a wider web of knowledge. Starting with another discipline can open their senses to deeper learning.
4. Write for 5: Kelly Gallagher says that students should write four times as much as a teacher can grade. Students need to write—a lot—if they are to improve. One way to achieve that is to start each day with an essential question that students must spend five minutes answering. If done day after day, it becomes ritualistic and builds stamina. Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe have a diverse list of essential questions.
ENDINGS
1. Level up: GameStop operates 6,457 retail stores throughout the world. It’s no secret that kids love video games, partly because of the constant reward for reaching new levels and earning higher rankings. This creates a sense of accomplishment, competency, and worth. Teachers can play upon this need and develop levels of proficiency based on standards. At the end of a lesson, have students chart their own progress toward mastery based on standards. A popular game offers beginner, heroic, legendary, and mythic as levels, and they may be just the right motivation to get reluctant learners to overachieve.
2. Exit tickets: Robert Marzano classifies exit tickets into four different categories: formative assessment data, student self-analysis, instructional strategy feedback, and open communication. However they are used, they provide quick and comprehensive bits of data and feedback. Finley also has a comprehensive list of checks for understanding.
3. Mimic social media: The digital world’s spirit of collaboration and connection can be replicated in the physical classroom as bulletin boards become mock social media spaces to share ideas. Erin Klein has written about positive ways to use Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram in the classroom. In the final four minutes, you can challenge students to compose a tweet or find an image best capturing the learning that occurred.
4. Post-it power: Another way to create a positive classroom climate beyond the good news start is to end with notes of influence. Have students write one thing they learned from someone else in class on a Post-it note and stick it to the chalkboard. At the start of the next day, read these notes aloud. This affirms that a classroom is a community of learners and validates participation because it does so much more than answer a question—it helps others understand more deeply.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-minutes-that-matter-most-brian-sztabnik
Look Around the Room
Look around your room. Do you have an agenda where your objectives are posted? Can see them easily? Do you refer to them when you introduce a lesson? Do you end your day reviewing them?
Now look around your room. What is hung on the walls? Are the walls full of anchor charts? Do you use them? What else is hung on the walls? If someone walked into your room, would the room look inviting?
Do you have stacks of paperwork on the counters behind your desk? Do you have bookshelves in disarray? Is your learning space tidy or disheveled?
If you were a student with attention-deficit disorder, would all the stimulus set you off? Take this time to look around your room and reflect. Then think, "How can I make this classroom the best space for learning? How can I make this classroom the most comfortable, warm, and welcoming for my students?
Look around your room. Reflect.
Riley Days
Due to our school closure, we will assess whether or not this event gets rescheduled for a later date. We will update you once the decision has been made.
Spring 2020 ILEARN Indiana Educator Scoring Opportunity: Application Window Closing March 16
Indiana educators interested in scoring open-ended ILEARN 3-8 and ECA items must complete the application process by next Monday, March 16. This updated flyer includes links to the online application and the new Indiana Educator Scoring Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Contact the AIR Indiana Assessment Help Desk with any questions.
Grant Opportunity
Danville Tri Kappa is accepting grant applications up to $1,000 for teachers, non-profit agencies, programs and organizations to support charity, culture and education in our community.
All applications must be submitted by April 1st and will be awarded at the discretion of the grant committee. The application form can be found at danvilletrikappa.org/charity and is attached. Questions can be emailed to danvilletrikappa@yahoo.com.
Shout outs!!
"Thanks to Tipp for offering to cover my recess duty so that I could get some work caught up after being out sick!" ~Becky F.
"Expressing gratitude to Renee for walking my students to the bus on Monday's and Wednesday's so that I can get to Girls on the Run sooner, she's the best!" ~Becky F.
"Shout out to teachers and aides! Steven Katzenberger, our Cintas rep, was signing out when a group of students were on their way down to lunch. He commented on how well behaved our students are! He goes to several schools and said there's a big difference in the way they act!"~Kelly S.
"We are so thankful to have a nurse in the building!! Thank you Sandy for taking care of us!"~ Sarah & Kelly
"Shout out to the housekeeping team for not only keeping our school sanitized, but going above and beyond to make sure all areas and materials are prepared for concert performances!"~Abbie H.
"Jordan, thank you for all of the extra work on the Third Grade Curriculum Map!
You are amazing, and we so appreciate you!"~Tammy M.
Thanks to Abbie Hunter and our South Singers for putting on a wonderful choir performance Wednesday night.~Tina N.
"Thanks to Karen, Sandy, Sarah and Michele for helping me with the bird fiasco!" - Danielle A.
MTSS
March Birthdays
Susan Vrabel- March 1
Erin Stutler- March 4
Brandon Doub- March 8
Mark Callighan- March 20
Jennifer Wilson- March 26
Tina Noe- March 28
Kris Adolf- March 30
Reminders
- Don't forget to do 2 observations-1 of a colleague and 1 recorded lesson of yourself. Use this form and the Lesson Planning Template for your reflection.
- Please begin adding a message in your parent newsletters to make sure students are charging their Chromebooks in the evening. It will be especially critical that we are all charged and ready to go during IREAD3 and ILEARN season.
- Add your read-aloud titles to this google doc.
- Think about the great things going on around you and send a shout out to Tina to add to the newsletter.
Upcoming Dates
Mar. 16-20: eLearning days
Mar. 23-27 Spring Break
Mar. 31-April 2 IREAD3 ?
Mar. 31- PLC
Apr. 7- PLC
Apr. 8- 4th grade field trip
Apr. 9.- Faculty Meeting
Apr. 10- CIC meeting
Apr. 13- School Board Mtg.
Apr. 14- PLC
Apr. 20- ILEARN begins/NWEA window open
Apr. 21- PLC
Apr. 23- Gr.Level/Dept. Mtg.
Apr. 28- PLC
May 5- PLC
May 6- Data Team
May 7-Faculty Mtg., PTO public meeting
May 11-School board meeting
May 12- 1/2 of third grade field trip, PLC
May 13- Senior walk @ 9:20
May 14- 1/2 of third grade field trip, talent show
May 18- Second grade visit
May 19- Field day
May 21-student last day
May 22- teacher work day, grades due.