FRIDAY FOCUS
January 25, 2013
What 'Ya Need to Know...
•1/28 Student Council will be showing their Kindness iMovie on Monday at 8:40AM.
•1/30 Monica's Thirsty! Thank you Social Committee for arranging a Happy Hour for us!
•1/30-FYI-Caroline, a Deputy Sheriff and I will be touring the school reviewing our safety and security plans. No need to get nervous when you see a Sheriff on campus!
1/30-Angie has scheduled district grade level Tech Sharing opportunities. 2nd grade is on Wednesday! What a great opportunity to hear how other schools are using Mobile Devices to support instruction. (and to share what we are doing!) 2nd grade- don't forget to share how your Big Buddies are helping your students learn different applications!
•1/31 Pay Day-Finally! It seems like it has been forever since we got a check!!
•1/31 K-3 Family Science Night-Please encourage your students to attend-WITH their parent!
A DROP IN THE BUCKET...
•Thank you to everyone (especially KT, Chris, Susan, Robyn and Lydia) who filled in for me while I was attending my conference! And thank you to Vero for providing me with a reading list to keep my busy while I was away!
•Thank you to Dr. Lynch, Carlos Estrella and Gary Pulaski for their perseverance in finding a solution for the icky smell in Room 21! The new carpet seemed to do the trick!
•Congratulations to Student Council for a very successful Kindness Campaign! I can't wait to see the iMovie that they created!
•Kudos to Shaina for getting all of students into the computer lab for MAP testing this week! Our kiddos are doing GREAT!
...And Then There's S'more...
Measuring the Quality of Math Instruction
In this sidebar to a longer Ed. article on teaching Common Core math, David McKay Wilson reports on the Mathematical Quality of Instruction tool (MQI) for evaluating K-8 mathematics teaching. Developed by Heather Hill at the University of Michigan and Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, the MQI is designed to give observers a better lens and get teachers self-assessing and bringing more mathematical substance to students. The MQI
measures five key components of math instruction:
• Richness of the mathematics – Does the teacher explain ideas well and make connections between different ideas (e.g., fractions and ratios) and different representations of the same idea (e.g., a number line, counters, and a number sentence)? Does the teacher include different solution methods, generalizations from specific examples, and fluent and precise mathematical language?
• Working with students – Is the teacher “hearing” and understanding what students are saying mathematically, responding appropriately, and remediating misunderstandings thoroughly, with attention to the specific misunderstandings that led to the errors?
• Errors and imprecision – Is the teacher making mathematical errors and/or using language and notation imprecisely (for example, telling students that 0.5 percent is one-half when it’s really one-half of one percent)?
• Student participation in meaning-making and reasoning – Are students asking questions and reasoning about mathematics (e.g., examining claims and counter-claims or making conjectures)? Are students providing mathematical explanations, finding patterns, drawing connections, determining the meaning of math concepts, and explaining and justifying their conclusions?
• How classroom work is connected to math – Does the work have a mathematical point, or is the bulk of instructional time spent on activities that do not develop mathematical ideas (e.g., coloring, cutting, and pasting) or on transitions and discipline problems?