David G. Burnet Elementary
Shining Stars Gazette - February 8th, 2016
Excellence Will Lead to Success!
David G. Burnet Elementary
Mission:
Providing excellence in the physical, emotional, social and academic growth of every child to ensure all student achieve their maximum potential.
Vision:
Teachers will create strong classroom cultures, build relationships with students, and implement instructional practices that engage all students.
Notes from the Principal!
This will be the best year ever at Burnet, home of the All Stars! Not only are we celebrating Burnet's 60th year, we are also celebrating school culture, instruction, data-driven and team effectiveness. Our student achievement show many gains, your hard work is paying off!
Teach valuable knowledge and skills and spiral important TEKS, especially Readiness Standards, on grade-level. Ensure that you are using feedback from PLC to concentrate on lesson alignment of on grade-level TEKS that all students must be introduced to, guided on and have the opportunity to do and master independently. Ensure that you are reteaching knowledge and skills that the students missed last six weeks and that you are spiraling them in after reteach.
From Marshall Memo 621
. The Curse of Knowledge – A Failure of Empathy in the Classroom
In this Edutopia article, Christopher Reddy explores the “curse” of a teacher knowing content really well and forgetting how difficult it was to learn it in the first place. This creates an empathy gap with students who are having difficulty learning – the teacher can’t get into students’ state of mind, making it much more difficult to teach effectively. A teacher suffering from the curse of knowledge may assume that the lesson’s content is “easy, clear, and straightforward,” says Reddy. “We assume that connections are apparent and will be made effortlessly. Assumptions are the root cause of poor instruction. And acknowledgement is the first step to recovery.” Reddy suggests these steps to counteract the curse of knowledge:
• Fill in background knowledge. It’s very difficult for students to understand new content without a foundation of facts and concepts, says Reddy: “Conceptual knowledge in the form of facts is the scaffolding for the synthesis of new ideas.” Teachers should not assume that students have all the prerequisite puzzle pieces to understand what’s being taught.
• Tell stories. Vivid narratives are one of the most powerful ways for students to make a personal connection to curriculum content, says Reddy: “Everyone loves a great story because our ancestral past was full of them. Stories were the dominant medium to transmit information. They rely on our innate narcissistic self to be effective learning tools – we enjoy stories because we immediately inject ourselves into the story, considering our own actions and behavior when placed in the situation being described.”
• Inject emotion. Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson has found that playing a short, humorous film clip or making a quick joke can change the emotional valence of a classroom, creating emotional links between teacher and students.
• Use more than one learning modality. Students are attuned by a variety of learning styles and intelligences, and presenting visually, kinesthetically, orally, musically, etc. connects with more students.
• Use analogies and examples. An effective analogy highlights a connection, and getting students to form connections is at the core of learning. Similarly, giving lots of examples helps students scan their knowledge inventory for possible connections.
• Use novelty. “New challenges ignite the risk-reward dopamine system in our brains,” says Reddy. “Something that is novel is interesting, and something interesting is learned more easily because it is attended to.” Teachers should look for ways of presenting content with a different spin.
• Have students retrieve what’s been learned. Effective teachers check for understanding at regular intervals, strategically spacing the mini-tests to maximize long-term retention and provide feedback to teacher and students on what’s being learned and what continues to be a struggle.
“The Teacher Curse No One Wants to Talk About” by Christopher Reddy in Edutopia, December 18, 2015, http://www.edutopia.org/blog/the-curse-of-knowledge-chris-reddy
Sincerely,
Ms. Loskot, Proud Principal of All Stars!
Key Action 1: Promote a positive climate and culture that ensures student achievement by establishing a common vision. (Philosophy)
PreK Celebrates 100th Day of School!
Kinder Celebrates 100th Day of School!
1st Grade Celebrates 100th Day of School!
5th Grade Goes to the Perot Museum
Falling in Love with Math
Students are quiet in the hallways!
Key Action 2: Strengthen the instructional program and data system by providing differentiated professional development. (Process)
Small Group Intervention in Math and Reading
Small Group Intervention in Reading
Small Group Intervention in Math
Starting with the End in Mind
Independent Writing
The Writing Process
Holding Students Accountable of their Own Learning
Writing Rubric
Text Analysis
Key Action 3: Promote student achievement by implementing and monitoring a system of data and feedback on instruction. (Implementation)
DDI Meeting
RTI - Tiered Students
Personal Goals
One School, One Vision, Together We Are On A Mission
Week At-A-Glance
Monday, February 8th, 2016
- Classroom Entry & Ten With a Pen (Day 101)
- Work on grade/input on gradespeed
- Faculty Meeting - PLC/Lesson Planning in Grade Level Chair's Room
Tuesday, February 9th, 2016
- Classroom Entry & Ten With a Pen (Day 102)
- Work on grade/input on gradespeed
- Predicting Performance 4th Writing/5th Math & Reading
Wednesday, February 10th, 2016
- Classroom Entry & Ten With a Pen (Day 103)
- Work on grade/input on gradespeed
BOC Meeting @ 3:15 in Ms. Loskot's Office
Behavior Committee Meeting @ 3:15 in Ms. Seaton's Office
Attendance Committee Meeting @ 3:30 in 106
Thursday, February 11th, 2016
- Classroom Entry & Ten With a Pen (Day 104)
- Work on grade/input on gradespeed
- Thursday Folder
Meeting in 106 - TELPAS Training Administration Procedures
Thursday Folder
Friday, February 12th, 2016
- Classroom Entry & Ten With a Pen (Day 105)
- Work on grade/input on gradespeed
- Valentine's Party 2:00-2:45
- Valentine's Dance 3:30-6:00
Quote of the Week
Think BIG
Keep Calm and Shine On!
Action Items
David G. Burnet Elementary
Email: sloskot@dallasisd.org
Website: http://www.dallasisd.org/Page/2236
Location: 3200 Kinkaid Drive, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: 972-794-3000