Excellence in Education: First Day
Reflections
In talking to many of you, I heard 50
minutes seemed to be the perfect amount of time to get what you wanted to
accomplish done. What was also interesting was the different approaches that
were taken.
Some teachers used the opportunity to
simply cover the syllabus, class rules and class procedures
Others did getting to know you
activities
Others gave pre-assessment tests. A
note from author Thomas Guskey on pre-assessments via twitter, “But
formal pre-assessments start the learning unit with a failure experience for
most students. This needs to be done very carefully!” Truthfully, I never had
really given that much thought and by no means is he saying that we shouldn’t
pre-assess.
No matter what was being done in the classroom, what I most
enjoyed observing was your enthusiasm and active engagement with your students.
For example, instead of sitting behind your desk or on your computers, you took
the opportunities to walk around, monitor student progress, ask students
questions, provide extra help, and get to know the students!
Excellence in Education: Using
Images/Pictures to Start Class
Last term, I saw several teachers begin
instruction with pictures or images. The pictures ranged from political
cartoons focused on the day’s topic to picture with thought bubbles to works of
architecture. This simple technique primed the students’ brains for the
upcoming lesson by requiring them to decipher/decode information, to process
and combine old and new information, and, most importantly, it engages the
students. The pictures and student answers were then used to spark small group
or whole class discussions.
Here’s an example:
Teacher displays several pictures of
the Palace of Versailles with a writing prompt something akin to, “In your
opinion, what does this architectural
work tell us about France’s political, social and economic structure in the
late 1600s?” Or have students imagine themselves as French citizens during the
1600s and write from the different perspectives and then discuss, "How did
the class divisions influence how the Palace of Versailles was perceived by
French citizens?”
Administrative Notes
Please update your class rosters and emergency lesson plans by January 15.
Term
2 Open House: January 15 (7pm)
Faculty
Meeting: January 21 (afternoon) and January 22
(morning)
Positive Referral
Link: http://goo.gl/s0KXRB Please take the
opportunity to nominate and recognize a student from one of your first term
classes!
Work Order Request
Form: http://goo.gl/H7hFwK
Comment Box: http://goo.gl/forms/KAHNoGf5D2
Please evaluate me https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_WBILQxqyJI0CJgc285RbbAXVI24UnQuJI96Ie_oWEs/viewform
: If you could complete this by January 19, that would give me the opportunity
to create my term 2 goals.
Some upcoming—way down the road—dates:
February
3: Flex Begins
April 30:
Honor Breakfast (Top Decile)
May 17:
Scholarship Banquet
May 18:
Senior Picnic
May
26/27: Probable Senior Exams
What I’m Reading
John Hattie, who’s book Visible
Learning, is a must read believes “that teachers and school leaders who
develop these ways of thinking are more likely to have major impacts on student
learning.” Here’s
a great little video discussing his eight mind frames for teachers.
Poor, Hispanic school
focuses on test prep, sees huge gains. But can it be replicated? from the Washington Post
Edweek: Differentiation
Doesn’t Work (Although I think you know where I stand on this)
Thought for the Week
“Fair isn’t the everybody getting the same thing, fair is
everyone getting what they need to be successful.”
