Group items tagged

Every superintendent, or state commissioner, must be able to say, with confidence, ‘Everyone who teaches here is good. Here’s how we know. We have a system.

school-based administrators “don’t always have the skill to differentiate great teaching from that which is merely good, or perhaps even mediocre.” Another problem is the lack of consensus on how we should define “good teaching.”

In 2009, TNTP reported that teacher evaluation systems didn’t accurately distinguish among teachers with varying levels of proficiency, failed to identify most of the teachers with serious performance problems, and were unhelpful in guiding professional development.

The Widget Effect study concluded that “school districts must begin to distinguish great from good, good from fair, and fair from poor.”

On average, only 2.7 percent of teachers were rated below Proficient/Exemplary on a 4- or 5-point scale.

“It’s not just effort, but strategy. Students need to know that if they’re stuck, they don’t need just effort. You don’t want them redoubling their efforts with the same ineffective strategies. You want them to know when to ask for help and when to use resources that are available.”

the key to schools succeeding with all students is prioritizing – isolating and focusing on “only the most vital, game-changing actions that ensure significant improvement in teaching and learning” and then sustaining a disciplined, laser-like focus for a significant amount of time.

Teachers should have clear, specific direction on which skills and concepts to teach – the what and when – with discretion on the how to and some room each week for teachable moments and personal passions.

In This Issue: 1. Four secrets of peak performance 2. “Emotional labor” on the job 3. Getting students thinking at higher levels 4. Student work analysis to improve teaching, assessment, and learning 5. Elements of the Haberman principal interview

“The key to resilience is trying really hard, then stopping, recovering, and then trying again… Our brains need a rest as much as our bodies do… The value of a recovery period rises in proportion to the amount of work required of us.”

the best long-term performers tap into positive energy at all levels of the performance pyramid.” Here are the four levels:

o when tech is doing the things teachers did, what do teachers do? Here are some ideas. Relationships: When technology provides the on demand lecture and feedback, teachers have more time to develop relationships with students.  Students want to be seen, heard, and known. Technology enables teachers to better know their students for who they are as a whole as well as their talents, interests, and areas where they want to grow. Guidance: Young people need and want guidance. Teachers can spend more time guiding and supporting students. Tutoring: When whole class instruction can be done using technology, teachers are freed up to do small group and one-on-one tutoring.  Digital Literacy: Teachers can play an important role in helping to support students in being responsible and respectful digital citizens. Learning Network Development: Connections are key and with technology we can help students safely make local and global connections.  What if we found a mentor for every student that could support them digitally and/or face-to-face. Cheerleader: Students love knowing you know their accomplishments.  More time to notice what students have accomplished. Discuss what that means and give them support.

Yet, grading—how teachers evaluate, describe, and report student achievement—is rarely considered part of DEI work.

Perhaps most profoundly, grades shape how our students think about themselves—who they are, what they’re good at, and whether school is a place they can succeed.

Teachers often use grades not just to indicate how well students master course content but also to evaluate student behaviors. Categories such as “effort” or “participation” are highly subjective and heavily influenced by a teacher’s own experiences and habits. The student who is penalized for not asking questions or contributing to discussions may be learning just as much as other students, and the student who is taking copious notes may not be learning at all. Similarly, teachers judge student behaviors through culturally specific lenses and assumptions that they might not even be aware of, which can result in student actions being misinterpreted and misjudged.

the necessity of emotional support in our schools through affinity groups and the need for culturally responsive professional development opportunities similar to ones offered at the NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC).

In her book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Beverly Tatum outlines a familiar circumstance that many Black faculty face when working in PWIs. “Particularly in work settings, where people of color are isolated and often in the extreme minority, the opportunities to connect with peers of color are few and far between. White people are often unaware of how stressful such a situation can be.”

As confirmed in my research findings, affinity groups are one of the few places in PWIs where Black faculty and staff expressed a genuine sense of recognition and appreciation. Affinity groups provide teachers who share a common identity at our school the opportunity to meet, connect, and support each other. The Black affinity group gatherings at our school can range from informal check-ins to more structured and facilitated conversations about stress management and teaching practices. As important as these meetings are, they are unfortunately infrequent.    

It is the responsibility of educators to be aware of executive functioning and to create environments that support all students.

Educators should also teach executive functioning language to all classroom learners, not just those who show deficits. When educators assist students with identifying their executive functioning strengths and areas of need, they also teach them how to advocate for their own needs in the classroom and beyond.

Executive functioning comprises both the skills that involve thinking, or cognition, and skills that involve doing, or behavior. Here’s a breakdown of these skills and how some might look in the classroom:

But if you’ve ever wondered whether you’re doing and intervening too much, you’re not alone.

Many parents of students with ADHD wonder how to strike the elusive balance that offers support and encourages independent self-advocacy skills.

Enabling is doing something for someone else, without a plan to help them do it for themselves. Supporting is providing guidance and encouragement to someone as they learn to manage the task on their own in time.

In a disturbing number of cases, aggressive boys harass girls (Berger & Rodkin, 2009; Rodkin & Berger, 2008; Veenstra et al., 2007). Sixty percent of 5th to 7th grade girls whom Olweus (1993) reported as being harassed said that they were bullied by boys

A colleague and I have referred to socially connected bullies as "hidden in plain sight" (Rodkin & Karimpour, 2008) because they are more socially prominent than marginalized bullies, yet less likely to be recognized as bullies or at risk. Because socially connected bullies affiliate with a wide variety of peers, there is an unhealthy potential for widespread acceptance of bullying in some classrooms and schools. This is what Debra Pepler and colleagues call the theater of bullying (Pepler, Craig, & O'Connell, 2010), which encompasses not only the bully-victim dyad, but also children who encourage and reinforce bullies (or become bullies themselves); others who silently witness harassment and abuse; and still others who intervene to support children being harassed (see also Salmivalli et al., 2010).

One good friend can make a crucial difference to children who are harassed. Victims who are friends with a nonvictimized peer are less likely to internalize problems as a result of the victimization—for example, being sad, depressed, or anxious

“While people usually gain power through traits and actions that advance the interests of others, such as empathy, collaboration, openness, fairness, and sharing, when they start to feel powerful or enjoy a position of privilege, those qualities begin to fade.”

Behaviors like these undermine leaders’ effectiveness by depressing the performance of those around them, and are ultimately self-defeating.

power puts us in something like a manic state, making us feel expansive, energized, omnipotent, hungry for rewards, and immune to risk – which opens us up to rash, rude, and unethical actions.” But it turns out that simply being aware of those feelings – “Hey, I’m feeling as if I should rule the world right now” – and monitoring impulses to behave inappropriately helps keep those behaviors in check.

Find this free five-part Series, Twitter 101: An eCourse for Educators and Parents, here (8). Below is an overview of what participants can expect to learn. Part 1: The Basics (9) Part 2: The Language of Twitter (10) Part 3: Registration & Interface Overview (11) Part 4: Sending a Tweet (12) Part 5: Finding People & Resources, Taking Control of Your Own Development

If you're a teacher and not an instructional leader, you can initiate this important conversation, too.

make sure you acknowledge his or her specific strengths so that he or she can build on them

now is the time to give them complete ownership over their development so that it's meaningful for them and they're inspired to do it.

I generally keep an agenda for my training sessions and then make sure that I provide a brief video highlighting each topic.

I provide the teachers with a playlist highlighting the more advanced tools, such as widgets, embedding videos, and inputting a variety of multimedia.

By providing faculty with additional tools and information that may be more challenging, they have the option to accelerate their professional development according to their comfort level and individual needs.

However, when an entire class moves forward to study new skills and concepts without any individual adjustments in time or support, some students are doomed to fail.

What Differentiated Instruction Is–And Is Not: The Definition Of Differentiated Instruction

a Professional Learning Community is "a group of educators that meets regularly, shares expertise, and works collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the academic performance of students."

A PLC is made up of "a school's professional staff members who continuously seek to find answers through inquiry and act on their learning to improve student learning.

Teachers who work in more supportive environments become more effective at raising student achievement on standardized tests over time than do teachers who work in less supportive environments.

Teachers at the school often say they’re “teaching kids to teach themselves” and rarely answer questions directly; instead they ask students to consider other sources of information first.

mixing age groups accelerates learning.

“When you get kids collaborating together, they become more resourceful and they see themselves as experts,”

students who have four years of art score 91 points higher on the SAT than students who don’t.

In middle school, the majority start to lose their passion for making stuff and instead learn the price of making mistakes.