Excellence in Education:
Different Seats for Different Lessons
One of the common elements to our faculty meeting
discussions was the need for classroom procedures. One of the simplest, yet extremely effective procedures
is having different seating arrangements for different activity types. While the
seating arrangement is dictated by the type of activity, the opposite is also
true: the arrangement of seats tells the students what type of activity and
what behaviors are appropriate.
I’ve seen several teachers time students (Ms. Tuthill and Ms. Fermoselle to name a
couple) and set an acceptable limit to move seats from one arrangement to
another. Great way of setting the tone
that every second counts.
While sitting in rows (direct instruction) has a place in
education, in many ways it’s a relic of the Industrial Age when we wanted all
students to be like the factories they were destined to work in--robotic,
identical, one-size-fits-all with an emphasis on rote memorization. However, today’s world calls for a more
personalized educational experience, one that emphasizes collaboration,
creativity, skill development and knowledge. Our classrooms should be designed
in modular, ever-changing arrangements to meet these needs.
Some of the teachers who seem most at ease and most skilled
with creating a fluid, modular approach: Mr. Patterson, Ms. Overholt, Ms. Marple, Ms. Murphy, Ms. Krasny, among others.
And the most extreme award goes to Mr. Kuzma who last year changed his seating arrangement every
day before class. I actually heard
students in the halls excited to go to class to see what arrangement he had
created.
Ideas for the Classroom: Fact Pyramid
Because Box
Solid evidence supports the use of
graphic organizers as an effective means of enhancing student learning. So when
I came across this graphic
organizer which requires higher-order thinking, I fell in love with it because
it can be used in so many different settings (after reading a document/text,
after a video, as part of a lecture, during a presentation, as part of a web
assignment, etc.)
In the pyramid students write 4 critical pieces of
information from most important to “least” important. Then the students explain
their reasoning in the “because box.” After completing the graphic organizer,
students should summarize (another highly effective strategy).
Administrative Notes
Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/cZIXm7 Please remember that it is
expected that each teacher submit a positive referral for one of your students
by the end of today.
Based on your feedback, we’ve made some minor tweaks
(improved passes, announcement, etc.) to improve flex. Please let us know how
the new changes work. While flex does mean a loss of some instructional time,
we feel that it is important to provide many of our students with additional
time to work in smaller groups with their teachers. We know for many of you
that the flex period means an additional assignment/prep; your willingness to
meet our students’ needs is what makes Kettle Run a family.
Working with the belief that “if we don’t tell our story,
who will?” we’re trying to do a better job of sharing all the great things that
we do here at Kettle Run. One of the things we’ve added is Cougar Chat, a daily blog to our school website. We’re always
looking for special events and classroom activities to share with our audience.
Stat of the Week
Most research indicates that as much as
80% of classroom questioning is based on low order, factual recall questions.
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