Brand new shoes! A fresh coat of paint! A blank calendar! The beginning of a school year means more to educators than "ringing in the New Year" in January. What are your New Year's Resolutions? Here are ten ideas to ponder:
1. Take better care of your health: floss more often, park farther away, make healthier food choices, drink water, apply sunscreen, take mental health breaks.
2. Pay it forward: take someone's bus duty, put money into someone's account, change the roll of bathroom tissue, leave the copy machine ready for the next user.
3. Smile more often.
4. Write a least one thank you note per week: text, email, sticky note, or formal card.
5. Apply at least one strategy from summer PD.
6. Allow data to really guide your instruction.
7. Take formative assessment seriously.
8. Don't take yourself seriously. Refer to number 3.
9. Be a better communicator: talk, text, talk, email, talk.
10. Learn something new: how to play an instrument, crochet, blog, golf.
Whether you are just beginning your career or counting down the days, determine to make this year the best ever! Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year!
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
10 Tips for Teaching Grammar
from Lauren Davis www.eyeoneducation.com
1. Teach grammar in the context of writing.
Grammar shouldn't be taught in a separate isolated
incident. Think of a way to incorporate
grammar mini-lessons into your writing lessons.
2. Teach grammar in the context of reading.
Use mentor texts. Show students how fiction and nonfiction
writers uses grammar to communicate clearly and create their own style.
3. Help students figure out the grammar rule, not memorize it.
If you’re teaching concise language, give students a few
wordy sentences and ask them to remove the weeds. Have them come up with the rules for
eliminating wordiness.
4. Teach students real-world grammar and not just textbook
grammar.
In the real world, grammar rules can change over time and can be
subjective or contested.
5. Don’t teach students grammar; teach them how to learn
grammar.
Students need to know how to be independent learners who can
figure things out on their own by consulting resources.
6. Show students how grammar can affect our impressions of one
another.
Have a discussion with students about grammar in the real
world. If a fancy store has a mistake on
its sign, does that affect your impression?
Why? Why not?
7. Avoid negative modeling when possible.
Be careful not to spend too much time on the wrong way to
wrote something.
8. Teach students the rules – and when to break them.
As Churchill famously said, “There is some nonsense up with
which I will not put!”
9. Teach students the importance of audience and purpose.
Students should consider audience and purpose when
deciding to use formal or informal grammar.
Resources to Explore
The winter weather may have you suffering from cabin fever. To help keep your brain active, check out these links:
Common Core and Adolescent Literacy
Grammar, punctuation and spelling; Build
confidence in language skills
Teaching Grammar In Context: Video Clip
3rd Grade Common Core
Writing Lesson
Live Binders: Literacy Resources
NCTE Q & A about teaching grammar
NCTE Position paper
http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/grammarexercises
Lesson from Read Write Think:
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
What is Rigor?
During Quarterly Meeting #2, we discussed rigor and what that means for our students. Dr. Barbara Blackburn, author of Rigor is Not a Four-Letter Word and Rigor for Students with Special Needs, explains in this video what rigor "looks like" in the classroom.
Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, and each is supported so he or she can learn at high level, and each student demonstrates learning at high level. (Blackburn, 2008).
Friday, November 15, 2013
The EQuIP Rubric
You will be hearing and reading more about the EQuIP Rubric
as our understanding of the College and Career Ready Standards deepens. As we
select and construct lesson plans for our students, we want to make sure that
our efforts support these standards. The EQuIP Rubric is a solid resource that
will guide us toward lessons/units that are of CCRS quality!
Background
Information
The Tri‐State Collaborative (comprised of educational
leaders from Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island) has developed criterion‐based
rubrics and review processes to evaluate the quality of
lessons and units intended to address the Common Core State
Standards for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics.
The purposes of the EQuIP Rubric are to:
- Provide
clear, descriptive criteria for CCRS lessons/units
- Provide
meaningful, constructive feedback to developers of lessons/units
- Identify
lessons/units that can serve as models
- Guide
collegial review and lesson analysis
Intended Use
The EQuIP Rubric is designed to analyze:
- Lessons that include instructional activities and assessments aligned to the CCRS that may extend over a few class periods or days.
- Units that include integrated and focused lessons aligned to the CCRS that extend over a longer period of time
Formats
• The
one page format contains the entire rubric including dimensions and
criteria.
• The
two page format is used during the review process and includes a column
following each dimension for recording observations, comments and suggestions
for improvement.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Your CCRS Homework
Don't forget the follow-up piece from
Quarterly Meeting #1. Think forward about what you want to learn, practice,
and share. IF you need suggestions or feedback just let us know.
ALSO, if you had a teacher that went with you, buddy up with him/her! WORK
SMARTER not HARDER!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Three Key Shifts in ELA/Literacy
1. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational texts
2. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational
3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language
These touchstones are a great starting point for learning about and understanding the CCRS. How have you adjusted your expectations of students, what must be taught, and how you teach?
From Quarterly Meeting #1
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