Region 1 Coaches get a "Hi" from Diane Sweeney

Learning with Diane Sweeney

ARI Regional Staff spent two days with Diane Sweeney, the author of Student Centered Coaching. We are so blessed to round out our year learning together!

Learning with Insight

Teachers at Red Bay Elementary and High School spent two days exploring the Alabama Insight Tool. Through exploration, collaboration and support from Region 1 ARI staff, these innovated educators took existing lessons and units and updated them using ideas from Insight. If you have not explored this great resource, take a few minutes and see what it has to offer. It is easy to navigate and is a terrific source of rigorous and standards based classroom lessons.

                      Alabama Insight Tool

Student Engagement

Picture middle school students leaning forward in their seats, discussing the learning of the day, and committed to achieving the daily outcome.  Imagine an early childhood classroom with young learners answering questions, talking with their fellow classmates, and the productive hum of learning. What can bring this to life in your classroom? Planning and practicing strategies that promote student engagement. Below is a link to a fantastic article that focuses on many aspects of student engagement. It is a great read with some new information on how to think about, plan for, and facilitate best practices for student engagement.

Closing the Engagement Gap

Many teachers are discovering the power of using a close-read process for helping students dig deeper into text. This is a great article investigating the use of the close-read process in elementary classrooms.

Close Reading in Elementary Schools- Fisher & Frey

Productive Struggle

As we work to increase the rigor in our classrooms, we will see students struggle and work harder than they have in the past. The most effective teachers recognize when the struggle to learn is increasing student knowledge and when the struggle has reached frustration level. The ultimate goal is to allow students to do the " hard work" while providing the just right level of support.

New Bethel Elementary School

 Colbert County 

Tonya Moore (ARI Regional  Staff) and Heather Collum(ARI Building Coach)

The faculty at New Bethel Elementary worked together to create a unit dealing with the continents that was based on CCRS standards and centered around the book Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. The students had a wonderful day and worked on grade level standards at the same time. This is a great example of collaboration!