Building Student Understanding (Again)

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Building Student Understanding (Again) —

We have done great work working on our GVC and Learning Targets. Bob mentioned that he loved working with all the grade levels as you worked on your GVC last year. I don't think we can ever be reminded of the PLC questions enough. 

• What do we expect our students to learn?

• How will we know they are learning?

• How will we respond when they don't learn it?

• How will we respond if they already know it?

Using these questions, we set our GVC and Learning Targets. Once we have the what we want them to learn we set up our program and find our tools that help us teach so we can move to the next question. GVC is the one thing they need to learn on that subject, Learning Targets are the Steps that lead to the GVC, and daily lessons are scaffolded to reach the Learning Target. Teachers throughout the district met this summer and found the “Nonnegotiable” GVC fro each grade and subject. From those we need will look at what we have done as a school and see where we need to adjust what we have. Remember that our GVC will change a little as we find a more clear picture of what is important in our teaching. Scott had a great question a couple weeks ago. He asked, “Do we go deeper in our subject or do we teach everything”. Deeper is better. We have taken the most important curriculum and that is what we are teaching. To find out if they learned what we wanted them to learn and to see if we taught it well we assess the students. From that data we look at who did not get it, who did get it, and what we going to do next. The hardest part of the assessment is looking at our teaching practices as a team and finding out if there is something else we can change or tweak to improve our lessons. When we answer these questions we find our next steps and get to work. The work Bob did with us was the first step in this process. This is the first step in knowing what we want our students to understand. And that is our calling as teachers. To help every student, no matter their circumstance, no matter their behavior, no matter their attitude, is to give them the opportunity to learn and understand.

Quote I’m pondering —

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.

–Haim Ginott

What I’m Reading —

How To Win An Argument According To Science

This infographic has great information about the steps to arguing. Might be some good steps to teach students as they discuss concepts in class.

Favorite Article This Week —

17 English Words that Come From Japanese

I love language and where we get words in English. We have collected many words over the years from many different languages, which makes it hard to speak for some of us.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Cami, Jaime, Shelly, and Lisa for taking the time to help with the afternoon snacks. After working on your club we appreciate taking little time to help pass out the snacks to all the students. for all you do. Sometimes you are there for a while as you wait for safety patrol and other stragglers. We also want to thank you for helping with Tan’s Treats every week as we go from class to class handing out weekend lunches and dinners. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Good Intentions

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Good Intentions —

As I sat in the Principal’s Literacy class today, the presenter said something that really struck a chord with me. She said that everything we do in our schools needs to be intentional. We are given children for 6.5 hours and we need to use every moment to help them succeed. If we are not intentional with our instruction, our lessons, and our attitude, it is not helping students. Every lesson should be planned out ahead of time with objectives, structure, and sequence to maximize the learning with each student. Students deserve to more than best intentions from teachers, the deserve to have teachers that are intentional in their teaching. I found that interesting and true. We have very little time in our day. Everything we do with students should be intentional to help them succeed in learning.

Quote I’m pondering —

"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.” 

–Ender Wiggin in Enders Game

What I’m Watching —

Kindergarten Assessments at the Beginning of the Year- thank you Politicians....

The fun we have with computers and kindergarten students. I understand that some of the older grades have issues like this also. Enjoy.

Favorite Article This Week —

 Stop telling kids you’re bad at math. You are spreading math anxiety ‘like a virus.’

One of the things adults need to understand is that sometimes we help children with their anxiety and fears. This also goes for more than math.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Heather for all you do. You have come to our wonderful school with high expectations and an amazing attitude and have picked up the job and ran with it. Everything we have asked of you, you have done. You have cared for the students. You have taken it upon yourself to be out at lunch recess with stickers so you can learn student names. You have done amazing and we just want to thank you for all you do for our school and for the students. Thank you for being with us. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Find the Purpose

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Find the Purpose —

When we are planning for our lessons each day, how purposeful are we in the outcome we want from that lesson? There is a lot to get through in one year so we need to make sure everything we teach has a purpose and an outcome. This is why we have GVCs and Learning Targets. If the outcome is not ending in a GVC’s then why are we teaching it? And if we need to teach it, why is it not a GVC? Every school needs to purposeful in their lessons, but in the drive-by teaching we do in our school, we need to be more focused on the outcomes and purposeful in our delivery. More is not better, more is more. Less and deeper is more of what we need. How will this apply to our students’ lives? How will it create opportunities for them and a drive for them to want to keep learning. We will never be able to teach them everything, but if we engage them in learning and create a love of learning, they will keep learning themselves and they will learn everything they need to know. And if they need to know something we did not teach them, they will know how to find it and be able to learn it for themselves. Be purposeful in every lesson. Know your outcome and scaffold the learning so it builds to the next learning opportunity. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will, through work, bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art idea’.”

-Chuck Close, American artist who achieved fame as a photorealist through massive-scale portraits

What I’m watching —

How our friendship survives our opposing politics

We live in a world with differing opinions. How do we teach our students to listen and learn from different opinions. This TED talk is a good example with good stories about how we can respect other ideas without ruining relationships. Not to show to students, but something to think about. 

Favorite Article This Week —

The 1 Word to Delete from Your Vocabulary if You Want to Succeed

I need to work on deleting this word from my vocabulary. It really does hold me back from what I could really do.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Jana, Cindy, Kathy, Cristin, and Lisa. You have taken and tested students on a variety of different tests that give us the data that we need to help our students. Now after you have started your LLI groups we mention how we might change things up a little and what we got from you was, “whatever you need.” We sure appreciate you great attitudes about doing what is needed to help each of the students at Dixie Sun grow. We sure appreciate all you do behind the scenes and all the little things you do that make such a big difference. Clubs, library, GT, lunch duty, kindergarten lunch duty, and everything else you do at the drop of a hat. Thank you. We appreciate all of you. Thank you for all you do. Thank you. 

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Next Steps

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Next Steps —

We are coming to the end of testing for the 3-5 grades. We have started looking at a few things we are going to do next year and how we will make it better than this year. We have set up the schedule with Jennifer and Sara for our Literacy training next year (It should be on your google calendar under DSES Staff Information). We are also working on the Tech endorsement at our school on Tuesday’s (As soon as I get the schedule it will be on the DSES Staff Information calendar) with elective classes starting this summer. Annette will visit us at the beginning of the year to get us started off on the right foot. 3-5 will be trying out a schedule that will move students around and  hopefully help every student be successful while adding in a little more science and social studies. Fifth Grade will be trying the schedule out in the final weeks of this year. It sounds like we will be doing a lot of learning next year. We will be starting a Dad’s program, called Watch Dogs, next year to see if we can get some dad’s into the school. All Grade Levels have been working on refining their GVC’s and Learning Targets to keep the rigor in the learning expectations and to help guide our teaching. We will do our best to help support and build on the successes we have had this year. One of the thing I have learned this year, and the list is long, is that the Dixie Sun teaches and staff are always willing to learn and grow. You are amazing. With the plans we have talked about and that you have had a hand in, through the surveys, we will bring you much of what you have asked for to help you grow professionally. We don’t want to overburden you, but bring you the training that you will use and implement as you teach next year. Please let us know how you are doing with the trainings. We want to make sure we can support you.

Quote I’m pondering —

“One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, right here, right now, in this single, solitary, monumental moment in your life– is to decide, without apology, to commit to the journey, and not to the outcome."— Joyce DiDonato

What I’m Still watching —

Decorah Eagles

The eggs have hatched. The babies are grey and not the eye candy you would think. But they are cute and it is so interesting watching them over time. Each bird has their own personality. Amazing wildlife up close. Another few weeks and they will be flying. 

Favorite Book This Week —

Teach Like A Pirate

Arrr. This book is about engagement, teacher passion, and unleashing your creativity as a teacher. Great read. Great ideas. Borrow my copy if you want.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Shelly. The Color Run was a success. Thank you for planning it all out and making sure everything was organized so it would run smoothly. It was well thought out and the students had a blast. AS I walked around the track during lunch one student walking with me told me over and over that it was he greatest night of her life. She could not say enough good about it. She never wanted it to end. Thank you for all you do for the school. Thank you for your dedication. Thank you.

I also wanted to thank everyone that helped with the color run. We use most of the color and it was fantastic. Thank you for your dedication to the students. thank you for all you do throughout the year to give our students the best opportunities to come together as a community and as a school. Thank you.

And one more Thank you for our Administrative Assistants. You deserved all that you got this week. Every letter, every gift, every bonus meal, every thank you. You deserve it all. Thank you Anita and Inez. You two are amazing. Thank you for all you do.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

What Truly Matters

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

What Truly Matters —

SAGE testing has started and we are looking through the scores and they come in and are seeing some great things and some areas we wished were better. So what do we do with these scores? What do we do with any scores w get from our testing? What truly matters in our classrooms and what we do here at Dixie Sun? Is the test the end-all, be-all? No, student learning is what truly matters. Bob told us something during the K-2 training about assessment that stuck with me. 

1. Assessments determine who is proficient. 
2. Assessments show us who needs additional support to get the skill assessed. 
3. 3. Assessments determine which teaching practices get the best results.

The last one is a tough one. But it is also the one that helps students and teachers grow. Which teaching practice got the results we wanted and how to we take that practice from one or more teachers and have it work in other classrooms? If we keep doing the same thing and we are not getting the results, we need to look at our practice and change it a little. What truly matters is what is best for the students in our classroom. How do we improve learning in our classrooms? Assessments help us find out what is needed for students and what is best practice in our classrooms. It is not used for teacher evaluation. There are too many variables in that equation. How we use the data we gather from assessments is what truly matters. What will we do with what we know to help students learn and grow.

Quote I’m pondering —

“The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day; a movement is only people moving." —Gloria Steinem

What I’m watching —

Wait, What? (And other big questions)

Bob Sonju shared a piece of this video with K-2 during their team meetings this week. At least read the short article. It is an amazing video if you want to watch the whole commencement speech.

Favorite Article This Week —

The Pale Blue Dot

Bob also shared an article thing K-2 that talks about how we should think about how we should think in our lives. Read it. Ponder it. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Kindergarten, First, and Second grade. Watching you work in the meeting with Bob was amazing. i can see how your work will benefit the students and how your expectations will take our students to the next level. I loved watching the collaboration, the discussion, and the exchanging of ideas that made the curriculum more understandable for you and it will be more understandable for your students. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for taking the time to learn. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful 4 day weekend. 

What are Your Intentions

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

What are Your Intentions —

I have been talking to my son about dating these last few weeks and we talked about his intentions for dating. Is he looking for a girlfriend or is it to get out and have some fun with friends, or to find what he is looking for when the thought of marriage comes up in 10 years... It was a great discussion we had. Then I thought about teaching. An intentional teacher makes  every moment count in the classroom. Creating lessons that use learning targets from end to beginning. Creating common formative assessments and working backwards. Teaching beyond the subject. use the opportunity to integrate something extra into every lesson that adds to the learning. A life lesson. Science or social studies into a language or math lesson. Building and using learning targets and GVC's to guide what our lessons are going to look like so we know what the learning will look like. That is what makes our teaching intentional. When there is intention, there will be lessons learned and successes to be celebrated. I know that you put a lot of thought into your lessons and teaching. There are amazing lessons going on all day long. Making each lesson a piece of the puzzle that will end up in a masterpiece of learning in the end helps every student maximize their potential. Being intentional in our teaching helps each student maximize their potential. Students deserve every lesson to be intentional. Every lesson should fit into the puzzle. As I watch our fifth graders get ready to show-what-they-know I know they will show how they have progressed through their years at Dixie Sun. They are the masterpieces we have helped build. They show our intentions. Celebrations are coming, I can feel it.

Quote I’m pondering —

“What is learned out of necessity is inevitably more powerful than the learning that comes easily.” -Malcolm Gladwell

What I’m watching —

Text Talk Time

I was at a training this year and as I was looking through the videos I have kept to watch again, I found this one and watched it again. Great lessons and amazing questions to get students thinking and talking. It is a fifth grade class, but great questions work for most grade levels. 

Favorite WebsiteThis Week —

Google Forms Basics in 7 Steps

This is an easy way to make a quick test, survey, ask opinions, or give students a chance to be a part of decision making. This is a quick tech training. East to do, easy to use, and it gets information put together quickly in beautiful graphs. Enjoy.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Amanda. Thank you for working with our students that need a little guidance and help in social areas. Thank you for all you do with Safety Patrol. Thank you for being here at our school to help with issues we are not always prepared to work with. Thank you for being our counselor. Thank you. 

Thank you Fifth Grade. Interviewing for a position is not an easy thing to do, especially when there are great candidates. Not as great as #freakingpaul, but Daryl  is a great fit and will do well in Fifth Grade. Paul will be taking his amazing teaching to another school where he will shine. Thank you Fifth grade for all you have done with your students. Thank you for all you do. Thank you Paul. Take luck and care for it.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 —

Assessments have been a thorn in the side of teachers. The reason and way we test has been changing and we are giving tests for different reasons that we used to. Instead of using them for grades, tests are used to help guide our teaching after finding out what students need. Assessments we give in the classroom should mirror what we will see on the end of year tests. There should be no surprises as our students take the SAGE, DIBELS, DRA, or WIDA assessments. As we give summative tests to show where students are on the GVC/Learning targets, it should give you an idea how well they will do on each those assessments. Being able to forecast how students will do on tests means high expectations for students, more rigor in our teaching so students are challenged, and students being held accountable for what they are doing in class. Putting the accountability back on students can happen by showing test data, having them tracking their own progress, and having them set academic goals. We have made amazing growth as a school in teaching and curriculum development. Our next step is to improve our assessments so they match the rigor of the core. This is a process that takes time. Many grade levels have been working on building assessments. Keep looking at your assessments and increasing the rigor in them. 

Quote I’m pondering —

A culture of accountability makes a good organization great and a great organization unstoppable.- Henry Evans 

What I’m watching —

The Mystery Box

J.J. Abrams is a pretty incredible writer, director, and producer of movies. In this TED talk he talks about the mystery box and how it helps move his stories along. How can we use the Mystery box in our teaching? Hmmm. 

Favorite Article This Week —

3 Science-Backed Lessons From Albert Einstein on How to Become a Better Student of the World

A long title, but great lessons from one of the greatest thinkers of our time. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Fourth and Fifth Grade for helping to provide chrome books for WIDA testing. We have quite a few students to test and just having you be so willing to give up a few chrome books to make it easier for Lisa to test is very helpful. Thank you for being flexible. Thank you for your help. Just Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful three day weekend.

Mindset

Teachers,
Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday.”

Mindset —
A couple years ago I took an online class from Jo Boaler, an incredible Stanford Math professor, about how students learn math. One of the things I learned from her was that I needed to change my mindset on how students learn. Mindsets frame what is going on in our minds. There are two mindsets. A fixed mindset or a growth mindset. The research Carol Dweck has done teaches us that a fixed mindset is an internal monologue focused on judging. A growth mindset has an internal monologue, but it is focused on implications for learning and constructive actions. The trick is to find what situations we use which mindset with and change the internal monologue from a judging one to a growth-oriented one. How does this apply to what we do here at school? How can a growth mindset change the way we teach, learn, and work with students? Curriculum? Student Engagement? Homework? Planning? Working within teams? Coke vs. Water (Anita, this ones for me). How does this apply to us? If you were able to go to the Insurance Presentation a few weeks ago, our presenter also talked about the Power of Mindset and how it applies to our daily lives. Tammara posted the presentation if you want to watch it. A growth mindset helps us to become a learner rather than a non-learner. Our school is full of growth mindset teachers. Full of learners.

Quote I’m pondering —
"Astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center. Therefore you cannot be it.” - David McCullough, Jr.
This one usually keeps me grounded. Usually.

What I’m watching —
Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration
One of my favorite Music Videos… about the American Revolution. I taught 5th grade for 10 years and it was fun to play this for the students after learning about the American Revolution and have them understand what they are talking about. And it’s just fun to watch Ben Franklin shredding on the guitar.

Favorite Website This Week —
schoology.washk12.org
This is the Learning Management System the district has bought into… and it is amazing. I just learned (thank you Kristen) that each student at Dixie Sun has an account, and we can use it to our hearts content. So I will be using it with teachers here and there for discussions we will have as a faculty. If you are unsure what a LMS is, many of you used Canvas it in college. Canvas is a LMS and is similar to Schoology, but not a good. Some schools use it in grades 3-5, but there are schools that use it K-5. It can be powerful. To sign in (all teachers have an account) sign into your school email account. Open a new tab and go to the link above. It should sign you in automatically. If it doesn’t, use your email and password. Look around. If you are interested, we will play and learn about it. Enjoy.

A Big Thank You —
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade you deserve a big thank you for your hard work on the GVC’s/Learning Targets. Fourth and Fifth really made some big breakthroughs that will help when planning curriculum. Third narrowed down their focus with their GVC’s/Learning Targets. What we are doing with curriculum is not easy work. It can be downright painful at times. I really appreciate the hard work and willingness to dig deep and work through what is really needed in our curriculum. Instead of going an inch deep and a mile wide, you are digging deep with each concept and building a great foundation of learning. I know it has seemed like a long process to get where you are. I hope you will be able to see that is will make your schedule a little easier to manage. Thank you for your hard work and willingness to do great things. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your willingness to work with Annette this week. She has amazing things to share. Have a wonderful weekend.

Professional Learning Community

Teachers,
Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday.”

Professional Learning Community —
What can I say about PLC’s that has not already been said? Well, the name says it all We are professionals and should be treated and act as such. We should always be learning and growing as teachers to benefit ourselves and especially our students. We are a community of teachers trying to do our best to teach our students. So we move into our Team meetings to build our Professional Learning Community. As we worked together this week I have noticed there has been great work on our GVC’s and Learning Targets. In a couple weeks, Annette will be here to work with 3-5 grade on focusing our GVC’s and targets. We will look at building formative assessments to make sure we are testing what the are teaching and finding out the information we want to know from our students. As we finish this training, Alma and I will work with the younger grades to help focus our targets and assessments. I don't want you to think this will be a ton of more work. GVC’s and Learning targets need to be reviewed and refined often. This is one reason we look at GVC’s and Learning Targets each week as well as the tests we are giving. I had a great question asked this week. Do we need a test every week to discuss the data? No. We will work with the data we have and discuss interventions and extensions. We will discuss students and their needs. The data should confirm who needs what and then we plan our next steps. The CSIP is what we use to document what we are doing. I appreciate all your help and work.

Quote I’m pondering —
“Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe."
—Winston Churchill

What I’m watching —
Audri's Rube Goldberg Monster Trap
When we inspire students, they go home and want to do more. That is the ultimate homework. Something they do themselves because of what a teacher did to inspire them. I do not know if it was a teacher that inspired Audri. But if it was…

Favorite Article This Week —
100 Percent is Overrated
This article quotes one of my favorite educators, Jo Boaler. She is a Professor of Math at Stanford and has done research on how Math should be taught. It is a change from what is traditional math teaching. I was fortunate to take an online math course from her about How to teach math. Her research is fascinating. If you are interested, I have the videos on my Google Drive I can share.

A Big Thank You —
Kirby is the man. He keeps our school clean, in working order, and well stocked. We have a few issues, but those are beyond Kirby’s control. He has taken this school and made it a work of art. The halls are always clean and the students are always taken care of in the lunchroom. He may say he doesn’t like opening milks, but I am sure he does deep down… really deep down. He loves this school. He loves making sure we are all taken care of. He is the man behind the scenes that makes our school run smoothly. Thank you Kirby. Thank you for all you do.

Thank you teachers for all you do. I appreciate all your hard work. Have a wonderfully long weekend.