http://heichelbechwebtools.weebly.com/blog/review-with-plickers
Posted 10/13/14
This blog by Kara Heichelbech, teacher at CPMS, covers practical uses for teacher employing Plickers. Heickelbech writes, “Plickers allows teachers to collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices - only a teacher device is needed.” Check out Kara’s complete entry on the site below. This is a super classroom tool.
http://heichelbechwebtools.weebly.com/blog/review-with-plickers Posted 10/13/14
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You don’t need garlic, stakes, or religious artifacts for this battle with the supernatural. Let me preface this blog by stating that it is not in reference to any specific or recent incident. I simply happened to be reading a leadership book which started me thinking about several other works on the same topic which have helped to shape my ability to communicate in situation where strong opinions are present. As you know, I am not perfect and these skills must be practices daily to remain sharp. Even with some inside experience, I still encounter the typical pit-falls described by the experts on occasion.
Drama is part of human existence and can be observed in numerous examples of professional interaction. A common theme in most writings, including The Bible, cautions readers to be ever vigilant of the destructive nature of the tongue. Educators often talk among themselves in amazement of the atrocious manner students relentlessly and ruthlessly treat classmates. In Bloomberg Business Week (November, 2012), Adam Piore wrote, “By some accounts, legions of Biff Tannens and Nurse Ratcheds are running rampant, inflicting cruelty on a large part of the American workforce. In August, CareerBuilder announced that 35 percent of employees surveyed claim to have been bullied at work, up from 27 percent the year before.” This supports the notion that relationships are not just a "kid" problem anymore. In some cases this becomes a "Do as I say and not as I do" hypocrisy since educators may be, conscientiously or unconsciously, offenders themselves in their own work place. In history, Buddha used a common theme, "Is it nice, is it true, is it necessary" to help adults see the error in some communication exchanges. Regier and King (2013) purport that drama is in our nature. In their book they write, "The more passionate you are, the more it (Drama) wants in." Dr. Steve Gruenert discusses culture by pointing out that an organization's culture belongs to those who spend significant time together. Roles and expectations are developed and begin to define each person. Once established, change is neither welcome nor easy. Gruenert continues by explaining that it takes years to change an established culture and the former never truly disappears. A new hybrid evolves based on the desire to forge a positive environment. On September 12, during a simulcast to students across the state of Indiana held at WCHS, Nick Vujicic told a story about a school he spoke at in England. Nick is the Australian who was born without arms or legs. Nick said the school was so moved by his message that the principal wrote him a letter eight months later reporting they had not one single incident since he spoke. This alludes to the idea that some things can happen quickly or even right now. In the perspective of Regier and King, drama is a drain on the organization and so they establish the phrase "energy vampire" to illustrate not only the people involved but also the toxicity of organizational culture it creates. Organizations can become fragmented and Balkanized in terms of the way drama influences interpersonal exchanges. According to Google.com, Balkanize is a fancy verb for “divide (a region or body) into smaller mutually hostile states or groups”. This is somewhat surprising in education since many would proclaim the strength of their commitment to professional learning communities or collaboration. Although PLC does not directly confront drama, it has a built-in mechanism for accountability. Some educators are unable to generalize the PLC objectives to those concerning operational efficiency. Often leaders allow employees to say more than they should or to do it in a less than constructive manner. In many circumstances the leader will proclaim that people need to vent. In actuality there should be critical conversations instead which are direct and honest rather than the discussion with a third parties. My Granny Asher use to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say nothin' [sic] at all." However, in a professional setting this is often impossible or counterproductive. Another practical tool is the “24 Hour rule” where you sit on it for 24 hours before the needed discussion occurs. There is a constructive manner to express a message in a professional setting. Regier and King explain that there is an interdependent triangle which develops when drama emerges. The points of the triangle are Persecutor, rescuer, and victim. Each allows the existence of the other. In the past, leaders were taught to be compassionate, approachable and to listen to concerns. These are important to being a good leader but research is slowly indicating that the direct approach is the best approach. Healthy discourse should be encouraged, audacity welcomed, and productive discord practiced. Patrick Lencioni explains that in any organization teams are inherently dysfunctional. He states, “If you could get all the people in the organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.” Patterson, Greeny, McMillan, and Switzler (2002) define crucial conversations as, “A discussion between two or more people where (1) stakes are high, (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong.” Notice this is not discouraging the conversation; it merely defines the type of conversation that is going to take place. Now participants can prepare appropriately by setting ground rules. When we have issues it should almost always be a situation where the primary point of conflict is addressed first. We need to encourage each other to handle problems at the primary source. Doing unto others is a deeply compelling ideology which is complex yet reminds us that even in complexity a simple underlying order is typically present. Everyone has the right and responsibility to produce the kind of culture in which they wish to work. For further reading, if interested in organizational culture or interpersonal communication, I recommend the following selections. These references provide practical strategies if you find yourself face to face with an “Energy Vampire”. Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Patterson, K., Greeny, J., McMillan, R., and Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Regier, N. and King, J. (2013). Beyond drama: Transcending energy vampires. Newton, KS. Next Element Publishing. Posted by John Schilawski There are times when I am reminded that the World does not always work the way I pictured it. There is a thesis and antithesis as well as Yin and Yang. An interesting concept is whether legal and illegal have any correlation
to right and wrong. There is often a type of “Fire and Water” in the education field stimulated by the assessment of learning or the assessment for learning argument. This is where the crux of my philosophical pondering initiates. Is grading a true measure of learning? This is a profound concept to grasp. Researchers have been saying for decades that we need to rethink schools and champion systemic change. At the granular level we must ask ourselves “What does a grade mean?” I read an article once which purported that a hard earned B was better than an easy A. Upon intricate examination of learning, one must fathom the concept of mastery. Often there are times when assigning a grade may be more a reflection of compliance rather than the gauge of a student’s intrinsic thirst to learn and explore all facets of the material. Schlechty (2002) defines ritual engagement as, “The immediate end of the assigned work has little or no meaning or direct value to the student, but the student associates it with extrinsic outcomes and results that are of value-for example, reading a book in order to pass a test or to earn a grade needed to be accepted at college.” These students typically receive A’s but are they learning and growing. “But they got the grade!” Deep Practice (Sun, 2014) is that in which produces days or even weeks of growth in a matter of minutes or hours. Can you grade Deep Practice? Scale development of essential learnings are a powerful measure of authentic learning that places expectations into clear and concise language. If we understand that 3 is skill mastery and 4 is advanced, then we can determine where the child is performing, how much growth they demonstrated, and when they attained targeted achievement. With the 100-point scale there are simply too many gradations to successfully pinpoint a student’s actual performance level. In many cases teachers are uncomfortable with the simplicity of scales because letter grades, 100 point scales, and percentages are all we have known concerning performance measurement. Do we know what learning actually resembles? I believe teachers do know and that we are often distracted or even fooled because historical performance tracking does not relate well to what we know about student mastery or skill attainment. Quantitative measures of behaviors encompassing knowledge are extremely difficulty to apply effectively to obtain a true reading. Case in point, apply what you understand about the almighty IQ Test. Once, it was coveted by scientists and universities as the ultimate measure of student potential. They theorized that high IQ equaled future success. IQ has lost most of its luster and thunder over the years as more effective measures have been discovered to identify an accurate image of what a student is capable of doing. Now IQ is considered one of many factors in making decisions. This is an exciting time where educators can remold the landscape of education by defining learning in comprehensible terms. I, for one, am thrilled to be learning different lexicon where grades are not intended to denote the end. Instead, precise criteria should be developed to accomplish this feat. Posted by John Schilawski 9/23/14 The attached link is from a blog describing the uses and benefits to Pearltrees for teachers. This is a really good site and useful tool for the more technology integration minded instructor. There appears to be multiple relevant applications for this process with practical implications for saving time while also improving student performance.
http://heichelbechwebtools.weebly.com/blog/pearltreesto-save-trees http://www.pearltrees.com/ Poted by Kara Heichelbech, 7th Grade Digital Communications Teacher, Clark-Pleasant Middle School 9.18.14 As we are well aware, practice is often the way to assure high levels of learning and greater retention. A couple of quotes come to mind.
1. “Practice makes perfect” 2. “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.” The initial quote has roots streatching back to a 1500’s proverb but it is speculated the first use in the United States was by President John Adams. The second quote comes from legendary Green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi. With this context, think about different practice scenarios. Some of you may remember the repetition over and over again during different activities from your childhood. The number of free throws, the balance beam, wrestling takedowns, infield and cut offs, those crazy dives, music lessons, marching band, musical rehearsals, dance steps, and don't forget about the violin to mention a few examples. There are a plethora of examples for each individual’s taste. The focus of this discussion deals more with an academic perspective but retains the implications for all practice. There is a reality that practice can and does help the individual improve and in extreme cases reach master performance; however, there are also situations in which practice can yield marginal results or even cause a decline in results. In The Talent Code (2009), Coyle describes a young clarinet student named Clarissa practicing. In this example the girls in six minutes actually accomplished a month’s worth of learning. This was achieved through deep practice, concentration, determination, and perseverance because she liked the song and wanted to play it well. By the way, Clarissa was not a virtuoso; in fact Coyle describes her as somewhat mediocre. After the six minutes she went on to a familiar piece which she performed with relative ease and few mistakes but it was “completely awful.” The reason was that she was not thinking or learning. It could be described as a waste of time. Coyle believes that the answer is in Myelin. That is what the brain produces to wrap around neural fibers. The thicker the Myelin the better insulated the electrical impulse causing it to move faster and more efficiently. This is what Coyle believes causes “The Talent Code”. Pink (2009) would equate intense highly productive learning with a personal strive for mastery based on a person’s motivation. Pink describes this as Type I behavior “fueled more by intrinsic desires.” According to Pink, “The secret to high performance and satisfaction…is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.” Think about how long a child will sit in front of a computer navigating and playing games, drawing on paper, playing with Play Doh, or building with Legos. Countless hours are spent in this realm of extended learning and expansive creativity. Watching a child maneuver in Mario world or running the dungeon maze is captivating to observe. They learn through trial and error and problem-solve continually. Dr. Robert Sun (2014) expounds on the power of Deep practice. In his treatise on why some children do not like math, Sun says, “interest is a function of proficiency-and proficiency requires practice.” Sun continues,“Through Deep Practice techniques, skills that might take months of conventional practice can be mastered in a matter of weeks or even days.” Of course this has to occur under the right conditions. Anyone who is not aware of Dr. Sun’s work, he is the inventor of First In Math which is a computer software game for learning. In education we all too often rely on mass practice and redundancy through repetition. “Skill and drill” is the term often equated to this approach. This has a place in learning but, as we are slowly learning, it should not be the primary strategy in the learning process. Hattie (2012) advocates the use of spaced practice rather than mass practice. If a child does not understand the order of operation in Math, then it is reasonable to believe that giving them fifty additional problems will yield minimal results toward mastery. From Hattie’s meta-analysis, spaced verses mass practice ranks 13th at an effect size of d=.71. Simply spending more time on the task may make little difference to learning. According to Hattie, “Deliberative practice increases opportunities to not only enhance master but also fluency.” Students should be provided with the opportunity to practice in a manner which fosters different experiences and strong immediate feedback. Providing students with a few well-structured problems may facilitate a level of Deep Practice which produces higher than average results in terms of time and effort. Sun writes, “Children should have the freedom to explore, make mistakes, and learn from experiences…once they do we have begun to move away from the abyss that is the derivative economy-and restructured America’s ability to thrive in the years ahead.” When anyone wants badly enough to learn something, they find a way to make it happen. The secret is in the motivation and relevance of the task for any participant. Maximizing the learning experience may be more beneficial than simply providing more time to it. Posted by John Schilawski 9.8.14 During a recent meeting with a potential vendor, Mr. Rains and I were describing the needs of the district. Suddenly Cameron said something so prolific it resonated within my cognitive conscientiousness for days. He exclaimed to the vendor that we were focused on the district's "One Thing" to make sure we remained steadfast on our journey toward true student learning. This "One Thing" is helping us to avoiding fads, distractions, confusion, and adding to the already full plate of our teachers and administrators? The discussion quickly shifted to how CPCSC was on the High Reliability School path; the "One Thing". Covey writes, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." The central framework of HRS prohibits various initiatives from existing in a vacuum and joins them together into functional harmony. There are numerous research-based "Best Practices" which may be observed throughout the district. All of these serve a noble purpose and improve instruction. The range includes, but by no means is limited to Rasinski literacy, Mattos' RtI, Smekens' writing, SIOP, DuFour's Professional Learning Communities, and Daily 5 by The Sisters. What do these practices and processes have in common? The answer, for some, may be nothing but yet for others it could be everything, Each fits intentionally somewhere within the structural levels of High Reliability Schools. What is the CPCSC "One Thing"? The chart on this page is a simple matrix which depicts how the micro is related in regards to the mission of the corporation. Remember that every decision made by district leaders, building administrators, and teachers must directly translate to student achievement. If a decision fails to meet this criterion, then it probably is not a priority. Anyone in our organization should be able to answer the "One Thing" question. Now a default response could be "student achievement" but that is more a generality and rather nebulous instead of speaking in terms of specifics. This opens the door to a critical argument concerning how is this accomplished? A worthwhile exercise could be to pair various initiatives to the potential level in HRS where they might correspond. The following are only a sample of the questions one could ask in search for "One Thing". 1. Where does PLC fit? 2. Where does Daily 5 reside? 3. Which level encompasses Essential Learnings? 4. What about the placement of scales and growth-based reporting? 5. What about each school's improvement plan? 6. Does the building HRS team go somewhere? 7. Is the language of instruction part of HRS? 8. Do evaluations connect? 9. Response to Intervention, what about RtI? The point here is whether everyone within the organization can answer the question, what is our "One Thing"? Many school corporations can claim something different for their main thing. I am sure Adlai Stevenson High School in Illinois and others around the country may identify theirs as professional learning communities. Others still may answer the same question by The Eight Step Process. Those are sufficient answers because at least they can identify some larger coherent structure. HRS could be defined as Clark-Pleasant's because it provides a flexible opportunity to guide the strategic planning process for years to come in respect to what schools will look like now as well as down the road. In my career this is the first time in which the dynamics of education have come together in a logical manifestation. I can ask myself specific and deliberate questions and associate them to a complete portrait. So when someone asks you what our "One Thing" is, how will you answer? Posted by John Schilawski 8.18.14 The importance of a positive teacher-student relationship is supported by Hattie in Visible Learning (2009). Hattie, has ranked positive teacher-student relationships as the third most powerful teacher influenced factor when looking at increasing student achievement. Hattie defines an effective positive student-teacher relationship as follows Building relations with students implies agency, efficacy, respect by the teacher for what the child brings to the class (from home, culture, peers), and allowing the experiences of the child to be recognized in the classroom. Further, developing relationships requires skill by the teacher—such as the skills of listening, empathy, caring, and having positive regard for others. (Hattie, 2009, p. 118) Young people need to know what adults expect regarding conduct, that consistent and predictable consequences result from not meeting those expectations, and that the expectations are fair. They also contend that teachers can share control and offer choices in the classroom for students to learn when they have established a relationship based on warmth, trust, empathy, and realness. For educators, a positive teacher-student relationship allows for an environment where pedagogical and curricular endeavors lead into increased academic achievement, student growth, and personal development. Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam (2013) also believe there are areas teachers need to work on establishing appropriate boundaries and having the ability to appropriately work with students’ emotional issues for relationships to foster correctly. Students are no different than anyone else and just want to be cared for, respected, valued, and when they feel you value and care for them as individuals, they are more willing to comply with your wishes. Boynton and Boynton believe when teachers treat students with respect that respect is reciprocated, and students become more willing to please their teacher. Achieving this ultimate level of respect from a student more often than not leads to decreased classroom discipline and fewer disruptions in learning. The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2009) conducted a study of 36,000 middle and high school students in regards to students having a positive relationship with teachers in their school. The study found that positive teacher-student relationships were the single strongest factor for both genders in the prevention of: substance abuse, sex, violence, and absenteeism, and is the second most important factor in suicide prevention, emotional distress, and eating disorders. Being supportive and understanding during these stressful times for students is when he believes the student begins to feel safe and cared for, and therefore the teacher and student start to create a positive relationship. With everything going on in our classrooms it is difficult at times to sit and have a conversation with a student to see how they are doing and how they feel. One of the most impactful actions a teacher can take with their student is to talk to them and explain to them how you are both working together personally and academically. How the school is the student’s school, and how you will both work together to solve all problems, ensure learning takes place, and provide support as needed. Taking this time helps to ensure the teacher-student relationship will lead to increased academic results and an incredible learning environment for the school year. Posted by Jarrod Burns, Assistant Principal CES 8.12.14 On the first day of school I was in a 2nd Grade classroom at Clark Elementary. After I entered the room, the teacher politely asked students to move to the carpet and sit quietly so he could read them a story. I joined them on the floor. The kids really liked that. He selected a book titled First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg. The enthusiastic and animated way the teacher read to students, showed pictures, and asked intentional higher level questions was inspiring. I wanted to stay in that class all year to experience more of the magic. Students were at ease, engaged, and loved learning during that snap shot of the morning. Spoiler alert: To my astonishment Sarah Jane Hartwell was the TEACHER!
In Chapter 9 of Visible Learning for Teachers (2012), Hattie highlights the fact that quality of teaching is the most important single influence on student success. Educators are well aware of the multitude of influences students bring into school based on their life experiences which pose either obstacles or advantages for learning. This is often dependent on whether they come from privilege or disadvantaged backgrounds. Schools have become proficient at identifying At-Risk students but does that necessarily translate to visible learning? Hattie emphasizes that some students lack certain habits but it is the teacher’s mission to help make them attainable. It is time to return to the basics of transferring our love and interest in learning to students. Where is the passion? It resides in the teacher. Why did you become interested in teaching? Because you loved it, had an undying interest in it, and wanted to transfer it to others. Ben Levin (2008) advocates nine practices which are essential for improving student outcomes. These are reminiscent of more than thirty years of research by Larry Lezotte on Correlates of Effective School. Levin’s list includes high expectations, personal connections, learner engagement, a rich formal and informal curriculum; effective teaching practices used daily, data and feedback to inform students and teachers, early support, positive parent relationships, and connections with the broader community. On more than one occasion I have emphasized the words of Schmoker (2011) where he writes, “What is ‘essential’ for schools? Three simple things: reasonably coherent curriculum (What we teach); sound lessons (How we teach); … authentic literacy (integral to both what and how we teach).” I would advocate the teacher-student relationship as well. It is time to overcome the multitude of barriers to the learning experience. This is not simply for the entire class but also the individual student who has a name. The answer is a positive frame of mind on the part of the teacher. Each day should be a viewed as a new adventure in learning for everyone involved. Rath and Clifton (2004), in How Full Is Your Bucket , articulate the fact that there is no such thing as neutral human interactions. They believe every interaction is either positive or negative in nature. Classroom interactions follow this same tenor. Student learning and continual growth are the desired outcomes with the teacher as the key. Posted By John Schilawski 8.6.14 There are times when it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what we are doing as educators. What is our great contribution? Answers abound to this question but responses by those of us in the field vary. When boiled down to the granular level, it is apparent that what we do every day is combat poverty. Compassion International proclaims that charitable giving people are a child’s greatest hope in the battle against poverty. This is not entirely true.
To me teachers are the greatest hope in assuring a child’s success. According to the United Nations, 1.5 Billion people around the world live in or near the international poverty level. In the United States alone, it is estimated that 50 Million Americans live below the poverty level. In a NewsMax release (January 8, 2014), Melissa Clyne indicates that the federal government defines the poverty level as a family of four, the old Nuclear Family, who’s combined yearly income is less than $23,550. Imagine trying to do anything on that amount of money especially when you divide it four ways. Clark-Pleasant is highly involved in the High Reliability School (HRS) movement. This is a spin-off of High Reliability Organizations (HRO) in high stakes industries where failure can lead to catastrophic results. There are industries where failure simply cannot happen. These include, “electric power grids, air traffic control systems, prisoner confinement and transportation, commercial aircraft maintenance, nuclear power plants, and toxic chemical manufacturing”(Marzano, 2013). Imagine again if you will, even the smallest detail being overlooked and how that can lead to chaos and death. All children deserve the right to a fruitful life. Mattos (2012) defines “all students” as any child who is expected to be financially independent when they leave school. When looking at it in this respect, this encompasses the vast majority of school age children. Teachers are on the front line in the poverty battle. Here are a few shocking statistics for comparison.
-12 newborns would be given to the wrong parents every day (YIKES! HRO?) -114,500 pairs of mismatched shoes would be shipped per year -18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled per HOUR -2 Million documents will be lost by the IRS this year -2.5 Million books would be shipped with the wrong covers -315 entries in Webster’s dictionary would be misspelled -20,000 wrong drug prescriptions would be written (YIKES! HRO?) -5.5 million cases of soft drinks would be produced with no fizz -3,056 copies of tomorrows wall street journal would be missing a section -880,000 credit cards in circulation would have the wrong info coded on the magnetic strip. The next time someone asks you what you do for a living you can tell them you fight poverty every single day. How much more important of a job is there in the world than that? Take pride in this because your contribution is spectacular. Posted by John Schilawski 7.28.14 Recently, a new teacher asked about the expectations for PLC work in Clark-Pleasant. As our
discussion ensued, I was reminded of the sheer number of times the acronym gets thrown around regardless of whether the work is really grounded in the 3 big ideas and 4 critical questions of a true PLC (see link below for more info. on the 3 big ideas and 4 critical questions). As Mike Mattos states, “There are many schools that don’t know the difference between a PLC and a BLT.” I would argue that we should migrate away from the acronym and focus our conversations on the work inherent in the PLC process. That work is largely focused on the 4 critical questions and the team time should be devoted to these. In addition, I think the best description of the work can be achieved through a conversation about the teaching/learning cycle and the many products and artifacts that should be produced during a learning cycle. Let’s assume that we are going to begin a 3-week cycle with our class. The first step is to identify the goals/expected outcomes/learning progressions that will be the focus of the unit/cycle (in CPCSC these are your essential learnings and scales when available. This is your answer to PLC Question 1). Next you will likely take note of the various starting points for students in your classroom and plan for initial core instruction. Then you will provide core instruction based upon those needs. After core instruction is delivered, you will give a common formative assessment (i.e. the same assessment as all of your colleagues on your team). This satisfies PLC question 2. You will then come together and share results (data) for two distinct purposes: 1) to discuss which instructional strategies worked, which ones didn’t, and reflect on what you might do differently the next time, and 2) to group students appropriately for intervention/enrichment (PLC questions 3 and 4). This intervention/enrichment will occur during the extended learning time in your school (often referred to as Focused Instructional Time-FIT, Success Groups, Guided Instruction-GI, or Individual Guided Instruction-IGI in various Clark-Pleasant schools). A concerted effort should be made to place the students in most need with the staff member with the most expertise in the area (possibly the person with the best results). The cycle often starts over while you are providing intervention/enrichment. In other words, you might spend 3 weeks providing core instruction, then another 3 weeks providing intervention/enrichment while moving on to a new essential learning or unit of study during core instruction. Finally, at the end of a cycle, everyone should be clear on which students have mastered the essential learning and which students have not (by name). This data should be captured in some way. At this point you should find ways to circle back and continue to work on the essential learning with any student(s) who still hasn’t mastered the EL. The goal is to ensure that all students master all of the essentials by the end of the school year. This is the true work of a high performing PLC team. http://www.allthingsplc.info/files/uploads/DuFourWhatIsAProfessionalLearningCommunity.pdf http://www.allthingsplc.info/ Posted By Cameron Rains 7/22/14 |
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