Update From Annie Hawker
Teacher Leadership Instructional Specialist
May 2020
MVCSD Mission
Fostering growth and confidence as learners and people.
MVCSD Vision
Through effective and intentional collaboration, the Mount Vernon Community School District will develop clear goals that outline the steps needed to be an exemplary district of choice.
Full Document MVCSD Mission Vision Commitments & Goals
Our MVCSD Continuous Learning Plan through May 29th!
Washington Elementary School
Mount Vernon Middle School
Nice work, middle school teachers!
Mount Vernon High School
Digital Tools & Tips for Continuous Learning
Grant Wood AEA Digital Learning Continuous Learning Guide
Click image to the right for a table of Digital Tools and learning tutorials to choose from. You can learn at your own pace. Table includes Zoom, Screencastify, Google Classroom, Google Slides tips, FlipGrid, YouTube, SeeSaw, EdPuzzle, Quicktime, Zoom Break out Sessions, and many more. Please email me or an instructional coach if you need any support with any of these.
Zoom Resources for Educators
Google Meet
Google Suite Teach From Home Hub
Google Classroom
Click image to the right for additional Google Classroom tutorials. There are many options for posing student questions to all, conducting class discussions, producing 1 Google Document for all students without them needing to make a copy, and giving meaningful feedback.
Engagement Strategies for the Virtual Classroom
Matt Stier (University of Iowa Professor) has been teaching via Zoom exclusively for the past 4 years. He likes to start class with an engagement activity posted on his screen (as seen above) with 3 options to get students thinking. Sometimes, he has students their products in break out sessions. Other times, whole group or not at all.
I have seen many of you use Kahoot to increase the response rates of all students in your classrooms and via Zoom. Nice work!
Increasing student response rates is key in the regular classroom, but can be even more challenging via Zoom. Learn how to use the polling feature (can be set up by signing into Zoom, clicking on settings on the left hand side, and scrolling down to click the polling feature on.) Here are some written directions and a video tutorial.
The reactions feature is also a great way to engage all students during your Zoom session. You could also use the research based Talk Moves typically implemented with students during Number Talks. Many teachers utilize these hand gestures to increase student response rates in all content areas.
We have learned through our Instructional Practices Inventory work that it is important for students to engage in higher order thinking conversations as they relate to the standards and talk about what they are learning. The Breakout Room Feature is a great way to do this during a Zoom class. Here are some written direction as well as a video tutorial.
It could also be as simple as asking our students their preferences, strengths, challenges, and aspirations for learning in this new digital world. In our Accessible Educational Materials work as a district, for the past 2 years, we have been learning about digital tools, how to design virtual content visually, auditorily and in text, as well as gain an understanding of how the brain best learns. Equity has been a focus with the hope to remove barriers for our students in this group and our Computer Science learning team. Ensuring students have access to meet learning standards. It does not mean we lower the expectations of the standards or the rigor of our content, but how choices for students in our assessments and instructional tools can support their access to depths of learning. I learned a lot about your needs as learners by polling you before this newsletter. How can we provide this practice to our students too?
leadership/mar17/vol74/num06/Personalization-and-UDL@-A-Perfect-Match.aspx
Teacher Continuous Learning Resources & Links are updated!
Washington Elementary Teacher School Closure Learning Resources & Links
MVMS Teacher School Closure Learning Resources & Links
MVHS Teacher School Closure Learning Resources & Links
The Hyper Docs linked even show you how to have students turn in assignments using a Google Form.
Choice Boards, Hyper Docs, and Playlists
Click Images below for links to examples of Choice Boards, Hyper Docs (see definition above), & Playlists
Writing Choice Board
Fractions Choice Board
Playlists
(3-5th Grade) Choice Board
Math Choice Board
Science Choice Board
Inspiration
Click images below for links to videos, articles, or podcasts
#12 Teacher Leadership Podcast
The Timm Podcast
Teaching for Better Humans 2.0
Shawn Achor (Harvard) TED Talk
Positivity!
John Hattie Article
Coach Preston Pedersen's Podcast
Books!
Instructional Leadership
We saw him in October present with John Hattie. Looking forward to this one.
Making Grades Matter
Both former Solon leaders now at UNI and Linn Mar.
Teaching To Transgress
Education is about positive outcomes for ALL students! This one was recommended by the Standards Institute focusing on a guaranteed and viable curriculum as equity of outcomes from ALL students.
Teacher Leadership Instructional Specialist
Email: ahawker@mvcsd.org
Website: https://anniehawkertlis.blogspot.com
Location: Mount Vernon Community School District
Phone: (319)895-8845 1010
Twitter: @hawker4