Rose Ferrero Bulletin
Week Of: September 20-October 1
LCAP GOAL 5: SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS – Modeling Your Thought Processes in Front of Students is the Second Half of Focused Instruction
An important element of Focused Instruction is teachers modeling their thought processes in front of their students using “I” statements. Whether it be working through a math problem, a question regarding a reading passage, or ways to go about starting writing that constructed response, students really benefit by listening to and learning about the thought process of the smartest individual in the classroom – their teacher! However, remember that just providing students an “I” statement model of what you are going to do – “I think I need to read this again” – is just offering them an example. To make teacher modeling as powerful as it can be, teachers need to also add an element of metacognition as well, and that would include a “because”, a “why” or a “how” …. For example, “When I read this paragraph, I believe the author meant […], because in the second sentence he stated […], and this is why I think […].” Utilizing this strategy on a consistent basis will provide your students with the foundation they will need to help them get better at thinking through the tougher questions & assignments you give them. In addition, your students will be able to better collaborate with one another as well. After sharing the “WHAT we are Learning”, the “WHY we are learning it”, and the “this is HOW you will know you learned it”, teachers modeling their thought processes using “I” statements – with an element of metacognition – is the is a very important part of Focused Instruction - the first component of an effective lesson.
LCAP GOAL 2: PROFICIENCY FOR ALL – What We All Want for Our Students When It Comes to Mathematics
What does it mean to be good at math? For many of us, it was all about memorization, following the standard algorithm, and getting the right answers. Elementary math was about memory, speed, and right answers, and if we could do those things, we were rewarded with good grades. Math was never creative, and as students, we were made to feel like it was out job “to perform” in the classroom. However, none of the above should be true today. None of the above should be how we, in the fall of 2021, think about math instruction, whether we’re teaching remotely or in person.
Today our expectations for students go well beyond the ability to memorize math facts and perform basic computations. While those skills are important, we recognize them as just a part of what our students need to know and be able to do. Today, we must expect our students to understand math, think mathematically, and be able to use the math they have learned.
1. Understand the big ideas of math. So much of mathematics makes sense when you understand the big ideas – Jo Boaler talks about his constantly. When students understand the counting sequence, place value, properties, and the ways in which numbers work, math makes sense to them.
2. Create models of math ideas. We want our students to act out situations, use concrete objects, draw pictures and diagrams, or use abstract symbols to express math ideas. Modeling math ideas pushes our students to think deeply about the ideas, provides a way for them to show their understandings and justify their thinking, and allows them to simplify math tasks and solve math problems.
3. Have computational fluency. We want our students to be able to use their math understandings to efficiently perform a variety of computations, including computations with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals.
4. Have a strong sense of numbers. We want our students to develop a strong understanding of numbers that allows them to compose or decompose numbers as needed, perform computations in varied ways, make sense of various number representations, make predictions, interpret solutions, and understand when solutions make sense.
5. Understand the math procedures they do before memorizing them. While we still value efficient procedures, we want our students to understand what they are doing and why it works. When students explore math procedures through models and discussions, not only do the procedures make sense, but students discover important ideas about how math works. Armed with understanding, students are better able to apply their knowledge to new situations or problems. By first exploring math procedures through discussions and place value models, our students develop a solid foundation which later helps them make sense of standard algorithms.
6. Understand how math ideas are connected. Math is a series of interconnected concepts and skills, not a set of isolated skills. Seeing connections between math ideas allows students to continually build their math knowledge. As our students explore addition, they connect it to previous experiences with counting on. As they explore tools for measurement, they think about the fraction number lines they have created. As they explore area measurement, they reflect back on the use of arrays in multiplication. As they explore decimal subtraction, they connect the new procedure to the known procedures for whole number subtraction and decimal addition. The interconnectedness of math ideas allows our students to build on previous knowledge and discover important insights.
7. Solve a variety of math problems. We want our students to know more than how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. We want them to be able to apply math skills to real situations. We want them to know when to add, subtract, multiply, or divide. We want them to have a strong repertoire of skills and strategies to be able to solve complex math problems.
8. Reason mathematically. We want our students to reason through math tasks, to analyze data, to discover insights, to test conjectures, and to draw conclusions.
9. Communicate their math ideas. We want our students to be able to precisely explain their strategies, defend their answers, describe math concepts, summarize their findings, and explain their conclusions. We want them to communicate about math in talk and writing in order to process their ideas and refine their own thinking, and in order to show us and others what they know.
10. Have a positive disposition. We want our students to feel confident in their math abilities, to be willing to take risks, and to persevere during complex tasks. We want them to love math!
Progress Reports
Three Reminders for the Fourth Week of September:
1). Teachers: Please make sure to remind all students to return their ‘Emergency Packets’ we handed out the second week of the school year.
2). Teachers: Please make sure that students WALK to second chance breakfast, wait patiently in line, and then walk from the cafeteria to the playground to finish their recess time.
3). Please make sure we close and lock all entrances to the school after we enter to ensure the safety of everyone on campus.
Weekly Duties
9/20/21-9/24/21
CAFETERIA HELPERS - Bassetti
MORNING RECESS - 1st and 4th gradesAFTERNOON RECESS - 2nd and 5th grades
DISMISSAL DUTY - 3rd and 6th grades
9/27/21-10/1/21
CAFETERIA HELPERS - Collins
MORNING RECESS - 2nd and 5th grades
AFTERNOON RECESS - 3rd and 6th grades
DISMISSAL DUTY - 1st and 4th grades