The Aviator Compass
Empowering teachers to grow EVERY child every day.
FEBRUARY - 2018
Introduction
Our district vision statement challenges us to "respect, value, inspire, and empower EVERY child to reach their full potential in an ever-changing world". To help build on our collective capabilities to bring that vision to fruition, our district curriculum and instruction team seeks to promote innovative practices which align with our district priorities.
Emily Williams - ESOL and MasteryConnect
Tony Shaver- Data-Driven Decision Making
STEAM
Sycamore Community Schools' STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) Team is excited to announce the 1st Annual Sycamore STEAM Showcase on May 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at E.H. Greene Intermediate School. The purpose of the event is to spotlight district-wide STEAM learning and local STEAM companies. The showcase will consist of project-based learning activities, booths, demonstrations, and presentations throughout the day.
We have so many exciting STEAM opportunities going on in our community and we are seeking STEAM-related businesses and organizations to participate in this event. Please fill out this brief form to express your interest in being a part of the STEAM Showcase and tell us a little about your company/organization. We welcome you to showcase your STEAM-related work through a number of ways: poster displays, booths, live demonstrations, design challenges, hands-on activities, etc.
Please help us create a day of STEAM fun by “showing off” the many exciting STEAM opportunities for our students. Registration is due by February 23rd.
While teachers presence is encouraged at this event, attendance is not necessary. Our district "pony" will pick-up materials and transport them to EHG for Friday's set-up. Teachers are simply asked to query their students to see if they would like to "show off" their work and to help them organize their materials for the pony pick-up.
Brad Williams
K-12 S.T.E.A.M Supervisor
Engineering Instructor
(513) 686-1770 ext:3133
Cell:(513) 253-1082
Aviation Station Homework Assistance Program: Sign-up to Volunteer
Thank you to those of you who have dedicated time to the success of our program. The commitment of teachers, as well as adult and student volunteers has made an incredible impact on many students. To date we have provided after-school homework assistance to over 130 students on a weekly basis.
If you would like to assist, we have a few spots open in March and April.
We will be looking for additional help for a summer outreach program in our next Smore issue. Stay tune for the details.
YOU will make a DIFFERENCE!
F.I.P.
As we look at MasteryConnect data for the first semester of the school year, we are pleased to see that our district-wide usage has doubled from the end of the first quarter to the end of the second quarter! (See the table below.) Each building is increasing use of the tool to create high-quality formative assessments, to review data to inform instruction, and to provide quality feedback to students to promote ownership. Individual teachers are also increasing their formative checks in between common assessments to check levels of understanding, taking the guesswork out of student mastery and closing gaps as a result.
If you or your department would like additional supports with MasteryConnect, please contact an ITF. The more you work in the MC program, the more you will find it will help you to work smarter, not harder.
Our goal for the 2018-19 school year is to open up the student portal of MasteryConnect. This will allow students to see real-time data about their learning for personalized goal setting and as a mechanism for reporting standards-based mastery. We will pilot this in the near future with teachers who are utilizing the tool with fidelity and consistency.
Measuring What Matters
Three Key Questions on Measuring Learning
To gauge different types of learning, we need a broader collection of measures, with a greater emphasis on authentic, performance-based projects.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb18/vol75/num05/Three-Key-Questions-on-Measuring-Learning.aspxLiteracy Edge - Writing Across the Curriculum
This year Literacy Council continues to be facilitated in collaboration with the Ohio Writing Project with a focus on writing across the curriculum. This month’s strategy for creating a culture of literacy in content areas is called:
VIP (Very Important Post-It) Notes
Students grasp more information, think more critically, and learn to synthesize when they read many texts on one topic
Culturally Responsive Practices
Black History Month Resources
Mighty Times: The Children’s March (grades 6-12)
Educator Resource:
Let’s Talk: Discussing Race, Racism, and Other Difficult Topics with Students
One Degree Shift In Understanding Race, Class, Culture and Poverty in the Classroom
A three day professional development series to explore, study, and discuss the research of world-renowned educators and researchers in multicultural and diverse studies. Moving from theory to application this unique cohort will take learning from each session back to your schools and classrooms to make an impact by applying strategies and ideas to support students with diverse backgrounds.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional Learning Network: Be a Connected Educator
By Lorinda Ottaway
A traditional Professional Learning Network (PLN) consist of "takeaways" instead of "collaborating and sharing." The 21st century connected and networked teacher utilizes 21st-century tools along with traditional means in order to grow professionally (Couros, 2008). The 21st-century PLN is a space for the lifelong learner that utilizes technology and social media “to collect, communicate, collaborate and create with connected colleagues anywhere at any time” (Whitby, 2013). The networked teacher now has tools that are not just about receiving but also about sharing and collaborating with others. By building such a network, the educator creates a digital presence that reflects who they are as a teacher and a leader.
When creating this presence, there are several avenues to choose from. For example, sharing resources, sharing experiences, your work with content standards, creating posts based on themes, and reflective teaching and dialogue through blogging, wikis, video blogging or other methods of sharing through social media. Richardson (2013) defined six steps on how to create a PLN. They include: (1) defining your passion, (2) become an active participant in social media, (3) search blogs for information on your passion, (4) share your thoughts and ideas, (5) follow, visit, and read other educators tweets or blogs, and (6) make this professional learning opportunity a habit.
Many of us are on social media for various reasons. The tools are the same. For me, I decided to make my Twitter account only professional. This gave me a space that I could focus on my professional growth as an educator as well as share what I have learned. Other tools I use include LinkedIn, Pinterest (some but not much), and Google+. Of course, as mentioned above, blogs and youtube also play a role in my learning and teaching. In order to manage these spaces, I use tools such as Feedly or Hootsuite. How are you getting your professional development? Here are some more resources if you are interested in building your own Professional Learning Network.
Resources
Couros, A., (2008). Using social media for transformative teaching and learning. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/9eLXev .
Moreillon, J. (2016). Building your personal learning network (PLN). Knowledge Quest, 44(3), 64-69.
Richardson, W. (2013). Create your PLN: 6 easy steps. Educational Leadership, 70(9), 20-22.
Whitby, T., (2013). How do I get a PLN? Retrieved from
Woods, B. (2013). Building your own PLN: Seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network. American Society for Training & Development, Inc., 67(11), 70-72.
SPRING-2018 Offerings at HCESC
Ohio Teachers of English To Speakers of Other Languages Offering Content Area Workshops in the Spring !
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