Teaching/Learning 2017-2018

School Year Prep and Planning Chart 

Winter, Spring, Summer School Prep for 2017-2018 Create new website for 2017-2018 TeamFive - Write/Print move-up letter/supply list, place on TeamFive Website Order supplies Plan a student orientation - in progress Summer reading/study Mostly Complete Review and re-organize math website - ongoing Revisit the curriculum night presentation Meet with team to plan year ahead, new orientations Plan Selfie Project/create exemplar - complete Attend NB Academy - July Attend Summer MTA Conference 7/30-8/3 Focus on Union Efforts. Continue to Update local union website. Ongoing Prep Start of Year Bulletin Board:

Teacher Prep Days at end of August: Determine classroom needs, complete order forms, shop for supplies, and keep receipts.  The PTO gives us a few hundred dollars for supplies, but we have to turn in receipts to get that. . Match with system-wide initiatives Curriculum Night Presentation Revision (ongoing) Meet with special educator, to review student services and schedules. Communication Protocols , Establish Routines,  Plans to recognize each child: lists, schedules. Ordering: Check orders, put away all supplies. Room Set Up Team Meeting Summer Date(s) : August Review curriculum map, create weekly teaching pattern (embed reading specialist ideas), attend to other items listed on this page and our team planning page. create homework patterns including student number, computation, problem solving, explanation Update orientation, Plan face-to-face student/parent meetings Plan field studies Review, revise, and set up Class Data Chart. (complete) Assess MCAS scores prior to school year. (when scores arrive) Set up notebook for important anecdotal notes, reminders w/regard to each student

First Six Weeks of School Year Begin embedding positive learning attitude/behavior: Learning-to-Learn Website Complete Mandated Online Trainings: This takes about a half day. Make sure that the trainings are up to date at time of completion. Summer/Fall 2017 Start of Year: Practice Routines that Matter Complete The Selfie Project and Video with Students Establish Math Routines, Teach Tools: Teach Symphony Math, Khan Academy, TenMarks, math supplies What's Your Number activity - math vocabulary How to make, label, share math models - area models w/fact arrays Early year assessments How to use math tools: rulers, calculators, tiles. . . . Math reflection/metacognition Math Mindset Begin First Unit Math Workshop PLC Start: Establish overall focus, norms, roles, protocols. . . . Curriculum Night: Establishing the Learning Community, Extended time: one hour in gymnasium with a presentation/sound Parent surveys: Paper survey worked better than online survey last year. Send out weekly newsletters Evaluation Professional Learning and Practice Goals: Update goals to reflect system-wide goals, summer work, review with admin., continue efforts to meet goals. Create Classroom Culture with students: Set norms with students Practice following norms Discuss classroom community. Work to empower student voice, respect, and contribution from start of the year. Create guiding signage with students Be explicit. Ongoing STEAM Workshop: Update STEAM Efforts Naturalist Study Review and update. Consider system-wide updates

School Year Focus: Big Events September: Routines, Protocols, Community Focus October: “In the Heights” Cultural Proficiency, Identity November: Space Study December: January: February: March: Math Global Cardboard Challenge Event April: May: June: Global Changemakers

Professional Learning for School Year 2017-2018 NBPTS Conference, Las Vegas MTA Summer Conference Reading, Research, Writing, and Study (link via title) Special Education Course (15 pdps) - online (if time permits)

This poster will continue to lead my work in the year ahead.

Following Students

Our system has some procedures in place that give us a chance to follow our students. We can use those procedures to assess some of our efforts and decisions with regard to students' future success.

I've also had the opportunity to follow many students since my own children are in the system, so I've been able to see how students have progressed over the years.

In general, I notice the following:

• When teachers, parents, and others stand behind a student and support a student through highs and lows, those students tend to achieve well.
• When students find areas of interest and passion, those students tend to carry that forward and succeed.
• Students who receive substantial support or have incredible drive seem to outperform our expectations. High expectations appears to play a role in this as it seems that when parents and others have high expectations for students, those students often reach those expectations.
• Students have to make choices--some who excel in one area will not do quite as well in other areas. Yet, there are students who excel in all areas--they tend to be extraordinary students.
• Students who have little at-home academic support and other challenging factors tend to struggle, yet some of those students achieve despite those struggles and it would be interesting to dig deeper in that regard. 

Now that my children have almost all graduated from the system, I won't have as much information about the long-term progress of students. I think this information is valuable and I wonder how we might keep track of students in ways that impact our teaching/learning decisions at grade five. 

The most recent data made me realize that the following efforts help a lot:

• home study support
• helping students with executive function skills such as completing work, asking questions, being on time, and more
• regular assessment and response
• an engaging, standards-based, student-centered program

I'll continue to think on this subject. 

Living with President Trump

Living with President Trump is not uplifting, instead it is a worrisome affair.

Everyday the news is alarming.

Everyday people are demeaned and discounted publicly.

Everyday we are wondering what is true and what is not true.

The only uplifting moments are those that feature his young son and grandchildren, who like children everywhere, bring smiles to our faces as they go about their childhood ways.

I'm trying to look beyond the headlines.

I find myself researching the laws, his past, and the stories of those he champions.

I find myself reaching out to friends in many professions to understand what's happening from their points of view.

In the classroom, I tell students that we will not talk poorly of the people, but instead debate the issues and beliefs as I know my class represents many points of view as they arise. I tell them that my job as an educator is not to choose one candidate or another in front of the class but to foster respectful discussion when it occurs.

In the teachers' room we talk about this. There I say these are not simple issues--there is so much to digest, figure out, and understand. Have we had an international businessman as President before? Trump's work as an international businessman challenges all kinds of laws and ethics. His material wealth is challenging too. For example is our tax money supporting his Florida resort as he does national/international business there? If he has private interests in other countries, how does that affect his political dealings with those countries? Are his close relatives including his children privvy to national security issues? What is the official role of the adult children of a President?

Also, his extensive use of social media is relatively new. Obama used social media, but Trump is using it with greater ease and less oversight. What do we think of this? I do like to see his words first hand on Twitter though I rarely agree with them. Yet, many of his tweets incite anger and conflict. They don't demonstrate the typical measured respect that leaders of a country show. The way he talks publicly is discourse unwelcome in elementary schools--we can't even share most of his sentences as we would be breaking the elementary school rules about kindness, respect, and caring for one another.

I hope that those in the know in our country and abroad will do the right thing when it comes to the multiple controversies that exist. I hope they will choose the welfare of many over the greed of some. I hope they will not be afraid to tell the truth of what has happened and why it has happened. I hope they will out anyone who is doing our country wrong and breaking the law.

These are worrisome times for our country. I hope true leaders step up and do the right thing to lead our country forward in ways that dignify people and reach for modern day Constitutional fidelity and "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" for all citizens.

Compassion Builder

There's nothing like being down on your luck, ill, or even a special event to awaken you to the power of compassion.

Today I unexpectedly became ill. And, I was met with considerable compassion.

Yesterday I was celebrating a milestone, and at that happy event, I was also met with compassion.

A while ago, a family emergency, found me surrounded by compassion.

To experience compassion is to learn compassion, and to learn compassion is to be compassionate.

Now the challenge is to pay all that wonderful compassion forward--a positive challenge. Onward.

Teaching for Mastery in Math

We completed a whole unit on prisms. Students worked diligently to explore surface area, perimeter of the net, and volume. We talked about cubes and rectangular prisms. Yet when some were asked to choose the definition of a prism on a test, they were unable to do it. Why?

As I think about this, I recognize the need to have students utilize the specific mathematical language in written explanations as part of math explorations. Explaining what they did in writing using key mathematical words will solidify vocabulary knowledge and understanding.

This reminder makes me think about the essential ingredients to math study. What is it that we have to include in order to help students master concepts? As I think of this, I can think of the following components:

• Introduction of the big idea of the concept. This invites students into the learning in thought provoking ways.
• Introduction to the concept with similarity and difference. For example teach what the topic connects with and also teach what is in opposition to. This helps to provide context for the learning.
• Explicitly teach the concept using models, real world stories, numbers, and words.
• Give students the opportunity to integrate the concept into engaging, meaningful, and explicit practice.
• Provide students with the opportunity to apply the learning into a real world context giving students a chance to construct knowledge.
• Let students teach the concept to others. This demands deep understanding.
• Have students and reflect and write about the concept using specific language/vocabulary. 
• Review students' work, provide feedback, and give them a chance to correct their errors, ask questions, an deepen understanding.
• Teach the concept with many modalities including music, words, images, video, story, building, manipulatives, number problems, online programs, games, and more.

The challenge to deep learning is often time. As educators we sometimes cram learning into the year in order to meet state and systemwide expectations. This cramming often does not result in deep learning or mastery. The challenge is to find ways to teach and embed the learning in rich, multi-modal, broad ways that result in mastery, engagement, and success.

This leads to the challenge of learning design--how do we work together to design rich, blended, and broad units of study that encourage students to reach mastery?

What would you add to this discussion as I want to continue to consult this list and grow this practice in order to teach children well. Thanks in advance for your ideas.