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annemariecory

Why do they act the way they do? Functional Behavioral Assessment - 5 views

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    We've all experienced difficult student behaviors in our classrooms; at least some of it seems to go with the territory. But it's important for us to try to understand why our students may be acting the way they are and try to meet them where they are. I used some of these approaches in my classroom, and what I discovered led me to use 1:1 iPad technology to help differentiate for my students and meet them where they are educationally. This article has some very helpful, practical approaches to functional behavioral assessment.
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    Thanks for sharing this article. It is a nice overview of the FBA. I liked how it also included the "How To's" section. I took a Behavior Assessment class over the summer that was all about using and developing the FBA. This article summarized the class and is a real eye opener into our newer SST paperwork.
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    I found this article to be very informative. Thank you for posting. Our SST team actually follows the FBA form. I have found that taking the time to identify " triggers," rather than just responding to problem behaviors, pays off for everyone in the long run.
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    Thanks for sharing this. I like language, checklists, forms, etc that can change our team meetings in middle school from endlessly perseverating on one child to no avail to actually creating an action plan.
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    Hi Annemarie. This is very helpful for me, as "special education" strategies are a big gap in my learning, although these seem like the mainstream would also benefit. I find this really good for classroom management and for setting a welcoming vibe. As a specialist, I'm often having to create buy-in with near strangers because I'm assisting a class. While I'm positive and empathetic by nature, here are some concrete things that I can do to make sure I don't lose students along the way.
Kerry Gallagher

Better News in New Study That Assesses U.S. Students - 0 views

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    Latest results released by the National Center for Education Statistics. Massachusetts is #1 in science and math again! Amid growing alarm over the slipping international competitiveness of American students, a report comparing math and science test scores of eighth graders in individual states to those in other countries has found that a majority outperformed the international average.
JDeeatRMHS

Kindergarten teacher: My job is now about tests and data - not children. I quit. - 5 views

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    I think this is an important read about a local school system and early childhood assessments.
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    Thank you for sharing this, Janet. I also think it's an important read for everyone. While I'm in the middle school, it does often seem that expectations are moving to lower and lower ages. What our students are doing in math this year is what I remember struggling with in 8th grade. Many are successful, but others may not be developmentally ready for it. It's worth noting that as things have changed over the years, schools have felt more and more of a need to focus on mental health - are we pushing these kids too far, beginning in early childhood? I even see it in the demands of preschool with my three year old nephew. He was already marked as "behind" on a few skills. Really? I'm not sure that I'd agree, and not just because he's my nephew. I do think it's important to have high expectations for all students, but we also need to make sure that they're realistic, and in process, that we're not losing sight of the children in front of us, and their immediate needs.
JDeeatRMHS

Deeper Learning MOOC week 2 materials and activities - 3 views

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    This week's theme is looking at student work for deeper learning. The resources are outstanding. If you haven't seen it before, watch the video Austin's Butterfly.
Julie Merrill

Projects to Engage Middle School Readers - 0 views

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    Nothing earth shattering in this article, but a good reminder to think outside the box when it comes to asking students to demonstrate understanding of what they're reading. I love the movie trailer idea, and the kids have shown they can do some amazing things with iMovie. I'm also interested in exploring some of the apps that the author says would allow students to put characters into new settings - it may be a neat way for them to demonstrate deep understanding of character's personality and motives.
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    Julie, I agree that these projects are interesting and also that kids like doing them. But...always...I wonder... do they really get kids more interested in reading or do they really just help kids get through the monotony of assessing reading? I think the latter goal is a worthy one and I do feel that kids get something out of these projects.researching, writing and collaborating. Even when I was a student, I used to wonder about these questions. Outside my school life, my reading was so rich and varied. English classrooms to me seemed places devoid of books and the discussion of books that took place in my home. So I don't think think this is a new question, but I like to think of the primacy of helping kids finding books they love as well as giving them a place to discuss them.
Kerry Gallagher

A Teacher's Defense of Homework - 6 views

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    This is a real and current issue. I assign homework. I believe it helps me assess that students have mentally digested what happened in class through their reflections, and helps my students prepare for class when we are operating in a flipped capacity. Tough issue with people who feel strongly on all sides. This is one teacher's perspective.
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    I give homework too, Kerry. for some of the same reasons that you do. I think the issue of homework is often simplified in the media (I don't think elementary kids need much-certainly not all of these "creative" projects that kids can't do without Mom and/Dad helping them and believe me, I've often been angry at my children's teachers for the fifty math problems when ten would have sufficed!), But I get also tired of all of these "kids need the time to unwind and play" arguments that seem to come out of affluent parent's mouths. Many (not all!) kids when they are not in school (especially in our community!) have lives that make me exhausted. Kids are on millions of teams and seem to spend lots of their lives in structured activities. When I ask kids if they enjoy these activities, many (not all) seem very unenthusiastic about them. So I don't think they are doing a lot of "unwinding: or play. I have never done anything in my life that was worthwhile that didn't involve of lot of hard and sometimes routine work. I don't want to see young kids stressed and burned out-but I think the debate over homework sometimes is so intense because it is a diversion from the larger issue how we are raising our children today which is more nuanced and painful debate.
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    I like to think of Homework as "enrichment." What could be more interesting than an inspiring or provocative or beautiful lecture, reading, podcast, data set, etc., to inform the subject matter being taught in class. History has so much to teach us and we are unbelievably privileged to live in a time where information is plentiful and accessible in whatever format appeals to us. I had the best experience this summer reading Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies on my iPad. Being able to tap on a word for a definition (hello etymology!!) and Googling English royalty and the schism between the Catholic church, Henry VIII, and Thomas Cromwell role, i.e., the rise of the middle class, was a total blast. And completely self-directed. Who owns the learning, yup.
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    I was going to stay out of this because it is such a hot button issue, but in the end, I decided to comment. I think we all know there is no easy answer. I have a daughter in high school here in Reading who does 7-8 hours of homework per night and spends at least half her weekend, every weekend, studying and doing more homework. It has become a real issue for my daughter and my family. It is September, and to say she is burnt out is an understatement. More balance is needed. An hour and a half to two hours of homework in each class per night equals 7 or so hours minimum every night after attending school for 6 1/2 hours each day. This normally means getting to bed well after midnight each night, and up again by six the next morning to do it all again. She is exhausted. It's not mentally or physically healthy for anyone, let alone an adolescent. This is just my perspective as a teacher and the parent of a high schooler. I am not against homework, and have always instilled a strong work ethic in my kids, but the time and stamina needed to complete the pure volume of homework, study for tests, complete individual and group projects, day in and day out, is not sustainable.
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    Thanks for posting your perspective, Jan. Indeed, 7 hours of homework after a full day of school sounds staggering. There are other articles at the Atlantics website in which teachers argue against assigning any homework at all (see http://m.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/should-i-stop-assigning-homework/279803/). Both perspectives are interesting and both talk about what their research shows. I think 7 hours a night is too much. I think assigning mere "worksheets" is not helpful. I posted this because I have been considering my own practice. I don't think it has to be 2 hours a night or nothing, though. There is no easy answer.
Kerry Gallagher

Vine & Instagram Video in the Classroom - 3 views

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    I started using Vine late last year to post videos of our students doing great things. (Reading to first graders, working together at field day, encouraging one another during a Smart Board review game, etc.) This Edutopia blog post gives TONS of links to really great ideas for using Vine with kids as a way to assess their understanding. Some of them are really funny and insightful. I know there is some nasty stuff out there on Vine and Instagram, but if we teachers don't show kids how to use these social media outlets in a positive way, who will? Right? I think I might give some of these ideas a shot.
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    Thanks, Kerry. I haven't used Vine before, though I've seen it used. I'm definitely interested in trying it out this year. It's amazing how creative some people can be in six seconds! Taylor and I recently started using Instagram to post what's going on in our classrooms. We are loving it so far. It's something that the kids are on anyway, so the interest is there. They love going on to "like" pictures of themselves and their peers, and even "like" the picture Taylor posts of the homework board! It's also a fast and easy way to keep parents informed about what's going on in the classroom on a daily basis. I also love that even though we're only in October, it's a photo log of the many things that we've done already this year. I look forward to giving the video capabilities a try.
Julie Merrill

Ted Ed - 0 views

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    TED-Ed was mentioned in at least two different workshops I attended at MassCue. We're all familiar with TED Talks; this takes a similar idea and moves it towards kid-friendly videos, lessons, and quick assessments. One example that I saw was a third grade teacher using a YouTube video (which works along with TED-Ed) about the phases of the moon for the students to watch at home. The website includes a "Flip this Video" button so that teachers can assign a short video for students to watch at home, along with quiz questions as they watch. This could be a great tool for flipping the classroom. Each time I heard it mentioned, the presenters commented on the quality of videos. In addition to using YouTube videos, TED-Ed is pairing up good teacher lessons with animators and visual artists to create a video library that teachers can access for free. I believe you can also suggest or submit a lesson idea that they will consider for a future video. Definitely worth checking out. The URL listed above takes you to a short video explaining the website.
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    I've started playing around with this site and it's great! I'm looking forward to using some of these as I begin to flip my classroom this year.
Steve Olivo

Mass DOE - DDM Technical Guide - 1 views

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    Useful information on measuring student growth. (Pre/Post, Repeated Measures, Holistic, Post Only)
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    Thank you for sharing this, Steve. I found it very useful and I'm going to pass it on to the other 6th grade ELA and special education teachers. This guide works well with our focus for the in-service day on Tuesday. We decided that our focus during the morning sessions was going to be on scoring samples of student work to make sure there is consistency among how we are scoring, and then use the second block to determine anchor papers that represent different levels of achievement. As a special education teacher, I was initially apprehensive about this process of DDMs. This was addressed in the guide, as many teachers who teach students with learning differences are concerned about being evaluated on student performance. However, if the DDMs truly look at student progress, based on where they started, and keep it focused on the individual's growth, then I do believe that it will be a more equitable measure for assessing teachers. One question that still remains is what accommodations are allowed when administering DDMs. In sixth grade there were questions about whether it was strictly MCAS accommodations, or whether we were allowed to read the articles to the students since we were measuring writing. It's something that still needs to be worked out in this pilot year. Thanks again for making this available for others to use.
R Ferrazzani

Newslea - 1 views

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    Kathy Favazza sent this site out to our staff at Parker. This is the email message: At the PARCC and CCSS trainings that I attended in Chicago I learned of an amazing tool. It's called Newsela. It is a website that takes articles in various topics: War & Peace, Money, Kids, Science and Law and links them to the anchor literacy standards that we all need to address in our subjects. You can set up classes and assign articles for students to read. Some articles have text based follow up questions (those with a small anchor in the top right) that you can assign to students. The coolest feature however is that you can adjust the reading level of the articles!!!!
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    I've played with this site and it is awesome. You can adjust the reading level of the texts. It has built in assessments like main idea. I highly recommend this resource for grades 4 through middle school.
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