Curriculum and Instruction News
February 2019
myON Reader is coming to Fox!
Summer of Learning 2019
The Curriculum & Instruction Department is dedicated to providing high-quality PD all year around facilitated by both our own staff members and workshops led by educational leaders from around the region and country. Registration for the 2019 Summer of Learning will open in March. We will offer content area EPEP courses, along with instructional technology courses facilitated by district staff. We will also be hosting Add+It+Up and the Summer Literacy Institute among other workshops. Check bit.ly/fox-summerpd for the summer PD lineup!
AirTame Updates
1. Click the Windows button on your laptop.
2. Select Control Panel.
3. Select Install a program from the network.
4. Select Airtame - Wireless Projector to start the update.
Professional Development
Fox C-6 Educators Sharing at Regional Conferences
Powerful Learning Conference
Interface Conference
Midwest Educational Technology Conference
In addition to those pictured above, the following Fox C-6 educators have recently presented at regional conferences:
- Becky Alden, Jen Joergensen, Nicole Schnabel: Midwest Educational Technology Conference, "Digitizing your Curriculum"
- Sherrie Bonastia: Interface, "Growth Mindset & STEM...STEM is NOT an activity"
- Robin Greene, Nik Maxwell, Heather Schwalbe, Ryan Sherp: Powerful Learning Conference, "Implementing Block Schedule with PLC and Intervention Time for Schools with Limited Resources"
- Vicki Mikow: Midwest Educational Technology Conference, "Cultivating a Curious Classroom", "Get Kids Excited about Writing through Augmented Reality", and Micro::bits = Mega:fun"
- JP Prezzavento: Midwest Educational Technology Conference, "I just attended the Best. Conference. Ever.", "Edtech PodSquad LIVE", and "Memes, GIFs, and #Booksnaps, oh my!"
Spring EPEPS
Seven of our spring EPEPs are up and running. The Flipped Classroom EPEP begins in March with meetings on Mar 26, Apr 2, and Apr 9. Please contact Robin Greene if you are interested in signing up for this learning.
Common Focus: Content-rich Informational Text and Note Taking
Curriculum Writing Teams
6-12 Math Curriculum Team
The 6-12 Math Curriculum Writing Teams have been hard at work. Grades 6-9 have been continuing their work from last year. They have been modifying pre- and post-assessments, piloting materials, and updating curriculum documents. Geometry and Algebra II teams have begun their curriculum work. They have established units, completed curriculum documents, and are finalizing their pre and post-assessments. They have also evaluated potential resources. Some teams are beginning their curriculum work on the advanced math courses.
6-12 Science Curriculum Team
6-12 ELA Curriculum Team
The 6-12 English Language Arts Curriculum Writing Teams are setting ambitious goals for next year, and the year after. Each unit in the ELA 6-12 Curriculum will define three common elements:
Published writing task (narrative, informational, or argument)
Reflective writing task (response writing, or note-taking)
Editing for conventions focus (grammar, usage, or correctness)
While curriculum writers, pilot teachers, and early adopters will be working to incorporate all these elements, our goal for all 6-12 ELA teachers is to complete common scoring of three published writing products during the 2019-20 school year. Administrators and department chairs are working now to schedule PLC time to develop a specific plan for each course team to accomplish this. The goal for the following year is to complete common scoring for reflective writing and conventions.
6-12 Social Studies Curriculum Team
The 6-12 Social Studies Curriculum Writing Teams have been working all year to revise their complex tasks for grade 6 through 9, and to develop units for 10th-grade World History and 11th-grade Government. The new tasks for the 6th through 9th-grade units should be much more tightly focused. We are working on developing tasks that work effectively as quick pre/post tests that students can complete entirely independently. The longer DBQ writing assignments that are important learning experiences for students are still fundamental to the units. We are learning how to pair shorter, on-demand, independent tasks as pre/post-tests that will show us what students have learned throughout the writing process.
Reading Fluency Accommodations
For our learners who struggle with reading fluency, all content areas can be quite overwhelming. One of the biggest challenges for teachers is helping students access course content without reading deficits getting in the way of student learning.
As we continue to think about the support we offer for students with reading fluency issues, it is important to understand the differences between accommodations and interventions. When we are looking towards accommodating learners, we should be looking at providing support in getting to the actual content of the work you are doing. To a certain extent, teachers will be looking to ease the act of reading. When intervening with students we are working towards actually developing the deficits in the area of fluency. This would come in the form of providing some instruction around key fluency skills, such as word analysis, that could support your specific content area.
The trick to choosing the right accommodations is in finding the right “fit” for your students. Since there are so many digital tools that can provide accommodations to our students, we have curated a list of recommended digital accommodations and packaged them into a short PD module with instructional videos, links, and explanations of each accommodation. This PD module has been created for individual use, PLC teams, or for a faculty meeting discussion.
The module can be accessed at bit.ly/fox-accom.
Instructional Technology
Google Classroom and Tyler Gradebook Sync
The Technology Department recently enabled grade book syncing between Google Classroom and Tyler Classroom 360. Teachers who are using Tyler's new Classroom 360 are able to sync their Google Classroom classes with Tyler and import graded and returned assignments from Google Classroom to their Tyler grade book with just a few clicks. The video below from Jen Walter, Antonia Middle teacher and Edtech Instructional Specialist, demonstrates the process. If you have questions about this, feel free to contact JP Prezzavento, Jen Walter, or Lu Weithop.
Federal Programs
Fast Tips for Educators of Students Facing Homelessness
While it may be impossible for educators to remove all obstacles faced by students who are dealing with homelessness, it does make a huge difference when the student has a loving and caring teacher who does try to remove at least some of those obstacles. Here is a list of things educators can do to help support these students:
Try to connect the student with resources should the student be in need of food, clothing, medical and/or dental care.
Pair the student with a buddy or mentor for some additional support and connection.
Try to help the student find solutions to issues they may have with attendance, hygiene and homework completion as a result of facing homelessness.
Be a friendly face who provides the student with a smile and a presence that makes them feel welcomed and valued. Sometimes the situations the student is going through at home can be very difficult to face and having someone just care about them can help a great deal.
Give choices when appropriate to counter the loss of control experienced in their lives.
Allow students to express fears and frustrations and allow opportunities to do so in other ways in addition to verbalizing (i.e., drawing).
Show sensitivity when asking children to bring food, photographs, favorite toys, or other items from home. Children who are homeless are often embarrassed to admit that they do not have these things.
Fast Tips for Educators of English Language Learners
Offer opportunities/time for class and peer discussions
When possible use visuals and graphic organizers
Allow for some periods of silence (this is a normal phase for many English Learners as they learning a new language)
Allow the English language learners to begin using English by scaffolding in his/her native language
Research the parts of speech used in the student's native language. This can help you understand why they sometimes may form sentences in a different way.
Use sentence frames so students may use academic language without having to worry about sentence structure while trying to concentrate on the meaning of certain academic terminology
Pre- or Re-teach slowly, using visuals, when possible.
Other available ELL resources:
“Growing Together”- Our Adult English Collaboration with Jefferson College that provides free English learning classes for adults in our community. Great opportunity for parents and grandparents wanting to learn English as well.
“Can-Do-Plan”- This is a list of tasks that an educator can expect a student is capable in relations to the student’s English proficiency level. This assists educators and students in setting appropriate academic goals for students given the student’s English proficiency scores.
“Begin at the Beginning”- This is a service we provide by distributing kits to incoming kindergarten students. The information and tools provided in the kits help to create a positive transition into kindergarten for our English Language Learners. We will begin compiling a list of students to receive these kits in March.
“Family Bilingual Book Program”- This program offers books in many various languages that families can use in the home so parents and students get to experience the joy of sharing literature in both English and native languages.
Find a list of free online games for English Language Learners here:
Check out our Blog for more tips at:
https://foxc6ell.blogspot.com/Contact C&I
- Declan FitzPatrick, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction: fitzpatrickd@foxc6.org
- Luke Heitert, Director of Technology and Information: heitertl@foxc6.org
- Robin Greene, Director of Professional Development: greene@foxc6.org
- Angie Baker, Federal Programs Coordinator: bakera@foxc6.org
- JP Prezzavento, Instructional Technology Coordinator: prezzavento@foxc6.org
- Tina Risse, K-5 Curriculum Coordinator: risset@foxc6.org
- Maria (Scopino) Bielik,CCR and Assessment Coordinator: bielikm@foxc6.org
- Ashley Berding, C&I Secretary: berdinga@foxc6.org
- Gradebook help: sisk12help@foxc6.org