Husky Times
Leading the pack in education
HHE Mission
CALENDAR
DATES
October 5 Art/PLC Day
October 7 Leader of Learners PM, Jeans with Rangers Spirit Day
October 8 Cotton Bowl Day: Jeans with Texas/OU Dress for student and staff
Mr. Wamsley AND Mr. Dukes off campus on the 8th. Ms. Henderson will be helping with administration
October 9 District PD Day: Planning for Learning with PLC Protocols
October 12 Columbus Day (Flex Day: make sure you put this in Eduphoria if you have summer PD hours)
October 16 Special House Meeting (Awards for 1st six weeks)
October 17 Fall Digital Learning Conference BCTAL 10/17 from 8-1
October 19 BARSP Book Giveaway: Cafeteria 8:50-10:40
October 22 Fire Drill
October 26-30 Red Ribbon Week
October 28-29 Vision & Hearing Screening
October 29 Art/PLC Day
October 30 School Carnival
November 1 Daylight Savings
Reminders and Focus
- Safe Schools Training Online due October 9th
- Teacher websites should be up to date and current. If you have not done this or need help, please make sure this happens ASAP.
- Our goal is to be level 3 (or moving close to it) in most areas on the district rubric for TEKS centered teaching. I have seen many great examples of students interacting with the TEKS in class. Be sure to not only post them, but have discussions so that students understand the goal of their learning.
- Reading Workshop at 100% implementation is our highest priority in curriculum. We will have some PD on our priorities in order of importance at the faculty meeting this Monday.
- Guided Reading groups should be in full swing. Meet with low groups 4 times per week, low/medium 3 times, medium and high 2 times. Special Education students should be part of both your Guided Reading Group rotation & TEAM Time interventions
- Rigor, relevance, and engagement strategies should be focus on when planning for learning
- Houses are picking up momentum. This is the time where there can be a little lull in the energy. Keep up the passion and excitement. Having students start taking the lead and be a cheer leader is a great way to do this.
Importance of Relevance: Tip from Eric Jensen
The effectiveness of activities, engagement, directions or content blocks depends partly on how well you prepare learners before you even begin instruction.
First, remember, relevance is everything to students’ brains. That’s why inviting secondary students to develop their own student voice and vision is critical. They will get vested in your class and the content. That’s why having choice is important.
That’s why having roles that matter in the classroom works. That’s why classrooms have to be culturally responsive. Save this in your brain, the #1 thing that students care about is “WHY”!
Maybe you start out class by saying, “OK class, let’s pick up where we left off yesterday. Can you guys please find the start of Chapter 5 on page 51?”
Ooooops!!! If that’s you, this is especially for you.
There are two processes you should know about: setup and buy-in.
These two practically ensure the next thing that you do will work and the lesson will be effective. Remember, if the brain’s not buying into the content, the brain’s not changing. If the brain’s not changing, you’re wasting your time. Creating behavioral relevance may be the most powerful skill you can master. With it, students will remember what you teach.
Why?
There are two types of classroom learning: (1) compliance (“OK, I guess I can do this.”) and (2) choice learning (“This sounds good; I will jump in and give it my best.”).
Over fifty million U.S. students attend school, and many are compliant learners. According to the High School Survey of Student Engagement (with over eighty thousand participants) 58 percent of students attend school because it’s the law, and 68 percent attend because their friends are there (Yazzie-Mintz, 2007). That is not a rousing endorsement of our teaching colleagues. You, of course may be different.
I want more learning to be the “good” type of learning.
Why?
Compliance learning invites re-teaching in your classroom. Compliance learning means students go though the motions, but the learning is rarely recalled.
Motivated, choice learning is more likely to stick (get remembered). Motivating your students before the learning (vs. assuming they have “bought into” what you are doing) is critical.
Why?
Unless the brain perceives the task to be behaviorally relevant, it is unlikely to “save” or remember the learned task.
A teacher who opens a lesson with a problem to solve, a puzzle, game or joke is certainly building up and hoping for student arousal. Those are not bad ideas, they are just NOT buy-in.
Why?
Arousal means the student is awake, alert and in a good metabolic state for potentially learning something. But that is not the same as a state of buy-in, which is a yearning, hungry state that MUST be fulfilled. Buy-in says to the learner, “This is worth learning, pay attention and save it!”
I cannot emphasize this enough: unless you get buy-in from your students every single time you introduce new content, an activity or anything you want their brain to “save” you risk students forgetting it. The human brain is driven by behavioral relevance.
It is as if the brain is saying, “Why should I care about this? Because if I really should care about, I’ll remember it!” So let’s pause and distinguish between arousal “hooks” and relevancy buy-in. Check out the list below:
- Teacher enthusiasm (may incite arousal)
- Compelling relevancy (this is the “holy grail”)
- Urgency or excitement (arousal hooks)
- Anticipation or curiosity (arousal hooks)
- Novelty (creates curiosity)
- Props or costumes (activate curiosity & arousal)
- Problem solving (invites a state of “challenge”)
You can see that many times a teacher will confuse the arousal with buy-in. By the way, arousal is a good thing to do. If your students are sleeping or bored, nothing good is happening for learning. But to get students to learn with energy and momentum, both arousal and buy-in are critical.
The following buy-in or arousal strategies can hook students into your learning and they are simple and sweet. The idea is to get students to nibble at a good idea until they want to eat up the rest of the learning. These six hooks introduce the content.
- “Now, let’s tie in what we just did to what will be on the test. First, grab a pencil.” (the “hook” word is “test”)
- “Here’s an idea to help you get the grade you deserve.” (the “hook” words are “get the grade you deserve”)
- “Oh! I’ve got a great idea; it’ll only take a moment. First, stand up please.” (the “hook” here is curiosity)
- “I’m going to share something that will boggle your mind!” (the “hook” here is anticipation)
- “First, take in a deep breath. Now, if you’re ready for something awesome to learn, stomp your feet twice.” (the “hook” word is “awesome” to invite curiosity)
- “I’ve got an idea that might cut your time spent with your head in a book. It should take just a few minutes. Are you game?” (the “hook” words are “cut your time spent” which is a clear benefit)
In closing, you CAN have the best school year of your life. Implement ideas from this monthly newsletter and get ready for a miracle!
Building Academic Vocabulary
http://www.springisd.org/docs2/ci/special/Word%20Walls%202010.pdf
Real School Gardens
Scott brought us seeds last week and the beds are ready for planting! Tips for preparing and planting garden beds. Materials needed are highlighted in green.
1. Take kids out for a pre-lesson/recess trip to pick the larger pieces of wood out of the beds.
2. Read the seed packet planting instructions. This is extremely important for successful plant growth. For instance Swiss Chard says to plant 2-3 seeds 1/2 inch deep every 6 inches. If you will drag a tool, stick, etc. in a straight line approximately 1/2" deep, along one of the drip lines, this will give the kids a target area to put their seeds in. Lettuce calls for 1/8" depth. I've found that it just barely needs to be under the surface. If planted too deeply, it fails to emerge.
3. When taking the kids out to plant, bring a yard stick or meter stick and make it a math lesson on measurement as well as any plant related teaching that you put into it.
4. Water the newly planted seeds lightly with a watering can. The seed bed will need to be initially watered for a while until they take root. After that the drip irrigation system should keep them sufficiently wet.
5. Back in the classroom or as another garden lesson, have your kids journal what they have done including details such as type of seed or plant planted, date, weather conditions, drawings, etc.
6. Teachers should mark their planted rows in some manner, perhaps a tongue depressor that has been written on with sharpie and covered with clear tape to prevent water making the marker run.
http://www.realschoolgardens.org/Curriculum/Leafy_Learning_LessonPlans.aspx
Moving toward Quadrant D
Remember to continue to build on our work with Rigor and Relevance. I am so excited to see 2nd grade's plans in ELAR come to life next six weeks. Take full advantage of inviting coaches, digital learning specialists, and stretching the classroom to include others (Mrs. Corkery will be helping our 2nd graders publish some original content).
SIX ELEMENTS OF A HIGH PERFORMING CULTURE
"High performance is about inspiring not pressuring."
#1 Philosophies in high performance cultures:
Servant-leadership. Everyone is viewed as a leader--> leaders serve teammates--> teammates serve each other--> everyone serves customers (students).
Maximize strengths. Understand, acknowledge, and leverage strengths more than fixing weaknesses.
Behavior focus. High performance always degenerates into observable behaviors.
#2. A fundamental belief in high performance cultures: Coaching maximizes potential, expands capacity, and enhances fulfillment.
High performance coaching:
- Is a fundamental way to develop and lead people.
- Requires heart.
- Is forward-facing.
- Successful coaches:
- Partner rather than pull rank.
- Make people feel valued and powerful.
- Leverage curiosity and listening.
- Believe people want to succeed.
- Serve the best interest of coachees and the organization.
- Keep one eye on the scoreboard and two on the playing field.
Successful coachees:
- Aspire to grow and contribute.
- Practice transparency, candor, and vulnerability.
- Take responsibility for their own development and performance.
#3. Coaching principles:
- Create safe environments.
- Focus on the future, even when discussing the past.
- Monitor energy.
#4. Coaching practices:
- Ask questions.
- Listen openly.
- Offer reflections and observation.
- Design solutions and goals.
- Inspire ownership.
- Schedule follow up.
#5. Coaching patterns:High performance cultures leverage the power of systems without treating people like machines.
- Basic coaching patterns.
- Coaching patterns for special situations.
- Performance problems.
- New opportunities.
- Respectful Conflict.
- Patterns that build results and relationships.
#6. Coaching plans:High performance organizations develop execution plans. How will you move the ball down the field?
- Use checklists before and after coaching sessions.
- Schedule quarterly meeting to debrief, train, and support coaches.
- Leverage evaluation systems for coaches and coachees.
- What’s working?
- How might this relationship be better?
- What percentage of time did my coach spend listening?
Husky Pride
Location: 5221 Susan Lee Ln, North Richland Hills, TX, United States
Phone: 817-547-2600
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