Charger News
May 2-May 8, 2016
"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively & to think critically."
Summer Professional Development
Schdeuling Update
- If you have course syllabi, have Mrs. Handy to post it along with any other pertinent information for new students.
- If you sponsor a club or organization make this information available in the front office for curious parents and post of the webpage.
- Be proactive in recruiting students for your club or organization, do not wait for the kiddos to come to you. Be prepared to go to them to grow your program.
Those are just a few ways to proactively meet the needs of students and parents. As we move forward, please plan to work with Mrs. Handy to utilize the strength of our campus webpage as a tool for communication.
Our Students Are Our Future!
Using the Rule of Three for Learning April 27, 2016 by Ben Johnson
As it turns out, economists, chemists, aviators, and scuba divers use the Rule of Three (even Agatha Christie did when she wrote a series of plays entitled, The Rule of Three). Although it has not been labeled as the Rule of Three, great educators have used it in classrooms since Aristotle (ever heard of syllogisms?). So what is the Rule of Three for learning? Well it is as simple as one, two, three (not kidding). The Rule of Three for learning basically establishes the requirement that students be given the opportunity to learn something at least three times before they are expected to know it and apply it.
As Easy as One, Two, Three
Step One of Three
Students engage in a particular learning topic for the first time. The key is that the student must be engaged; an introductory lecture or a movie clip don't count because the students are learning passively -- just listening or observing. So after the introduction and modeling by the teacher, step one of the Rule of Three could be a vocabulary development exercise, a history inquiry activity about primary and secondary sources, or a mathematical patterns discovery excursion. The important thing is that students have their first roll-up-the-sleeves-and-get-messy experience with the content they are supposed to acquire. Much of what the students learn in this step will still be in the knowledge and comprehension level.
Step Two of Three
In this step, students have their second opportunity to practice what they learned in step one. Since students have some basic knowledge of what the topic is, this is a wonderful time to use collaborative-learning strategies. Students can analyze the word compositions by categorizing them according to similarities. Students can assess the validity of the data acquired from primary sources versus secondary sources using tertiary sources. Students would be able to expand their knowledge, for example, of mathematical patterns by creating unique formulas that create visual patterns when graphed.
Step Three of Three
While three steps are the minimum, sometimes students require more than three opportunities to learn. This step should not be viewed as the final step. In step three, students get to do the really fun stuff through project-based learning, product-based learning -- with a lot of hands-on learning. All of these learning activities require problem-solving (analysis), critical thinking (evaluation), and creative thinking (synthesis).
Student learning could include creating a visual lexicon, a PowerPoint lesson for younger students, or an interactive HyperStudio presentation. History students, for example, can demonstrate varying perspectives of the different sources by creating a reader's theater, a quiz show, or a panel discussion. In studying mathematical patterns, students can create a photo tour of mathematical patterns that occur in nature or in architecture at the school or in the community.
The Rule of Three for learning helps us as teachers to design our lessons with not only multiple opportunities for the students to acquire the skills and knowledge, but it helps us to deliberately increase the level of complexity and difficulty with each iteration, which, as it turns out, helps the students to remember more because they are experiencing the learning rather than just observing it.
Teachers often expect students to know something after having only presented it once. Also, please do not assume that simply reminding the students three times, providing a pre-test or post-test, or teacher modeling are part of a learning series of the Rule of Three. The Rule of Three has to be the students trying to recall, understand, or apply what they have learned on their own.
The Rationale
Posted above my office door in my classroom is a poster that reads, "The Rule of Three." This serves as a reminder to me, but it also helps my students. I constantly refer students to look at this poster to remind them that they should be patient and forgiving of themselves. Learning is difficult, and students need to hear things more than once before they can expect themselves to be able to remember it, use it, and apply it. So, before you give your students any sort of evaluation, ask yourself, "What three learning opportunities have I given my students so they can be successful here?"
Math, science, aviation, and computer programming all have one thing in common: the Rule of Three. In those fields, it's an easy way to remember a list of three things that must be done. It is the same with the Rule of Three for learning. It is supremely easy to remember, and it identifies what must be done to learn effectively.
The Rule of Three equally applies to how students should study at home, as well as to how teachers should design their learning activities at school. How do you use the Rule of Three in your classroom? Please share in the comments section below.
IDEA is Federal Law...Let's Be Sure and Honor the Needs of Our SPED Students!
Conrad Feeder Pattern Foci
Listed below are items that our entire feeder works to make norms for every class in the Conrad Feeder Pattern.
- Progress Monitoring: Teacher-managed Profiling & Student-managed Profiling
- Differentiated Individualized Professional Development
- Data Driven Decisions and Instruction
- Graphic Organizer Utilization
- Justification of student responses (i.e. How do you know? Why? What does that mean? Explain, etc.)
- Scaffolding Instruction
- Differentiate Instruction, inclusive of Small Group Instruction/Instructional Stations
- No Opt Out, Think-Pair-Share, Cold Call
- Content Specific Writing
- Content Specific Reading
This Week...
Teachers Appreciation Week!
Monday, May 2
7:45am-AP Testing
12-1pm-SBDM Meeting
4:30-5:30pm PTO Meeting
Tuesday, May 3
Wednesday, May 4
Thursday, May 5
EOC Testing-Biology
7-8pm Spring Band Performance
Friday, May 6
Saturday, May 7
All Day-Track Meet @ Kincaid
Coming Soon...
Announcements & Action Items
- Please post lesson plans in a visible place for visitors to access. (Remember lesson plans should reflect pacing by the minute for components within the lesson plan)
- Please be sure and review Mrs. Esparza's monthly calendar. If you have any events you would like added, see her in the front office.
- Please plan to support Conrad's Senior's by assisting with the graduation
- Pleas uncover all classroom door windows and keep doors unlocked.