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I LOVE Class Dojo! I start this at the beginning of school with my classes, they love the little avatars that go along with their names and love hearing the chimes when points are given out. During independent work time, I keep my dojo up on my interactive white board as a constant visual reminder of our behavior management system. I also installed the app on my iPhone, which syncs to my board, so I can give points from across the room if I'm pulling a small group at my kidney table. I love it! Works magic!

Dimension chosen: Student engagment Rating: 3 (Moderate engagement for most students) This activity would be good for preparing for my SMART learning goal of "by the end of quarter 1, 60% of students will score a 70% or higher on the Quarter 1 Literacy Assessment on Theme." Students could read a text and then come up with various themes based on their own evidence by passing around the clipboard. I think it would be engaging for majority of my fourth grade students to be able to move around and see new ideas from their classmates.

Dimension: Student Engagement Level: 3 (Moderate Engagement for most students) My partner's SMART goal is "By the end of the numbers unit, 60% of students in the Special Education program in MS Spanish 1A - Period 2 will achieve 80% or higher on each formative assessment including listening, speaking and writing assessments." I could see this GoGoMo protocol as a useful way to both check for understanding and review before upcoming Spanish assessments. Students could help each other review the material, and having to speak to other students also helps them practice in the target language. Also, because students are speaking to multiple other students, it helps keep them active and engaged with this class task.

Dimension chosen: Student engagement Rating: 3 This activity would be great to review different strategies to solve a certain math problem. Smart Target Learning Goal: By the end of marking period 1, 70% of students will score 90% or higher on the EMATS/ performance matters. This will help the students remember all the different strategies, the more practice the more likely they are going to remember different ways to solve when the assessment happens.

Dimension: Impact on learning Rating: 4 Students have to be able to reflect on their learning and they also be prepared to summarize it and present it to their peers. This repetition and organization of their learning will help them remember it better and possibly understand it in new ways.

Dimension: Student engagement Rating: 4 This is a good activity to allow students to collaborate and share ideas. It will allow them to focus on a specific topic (essay) by explaining and allowing interactions with peers so that students are not only reading but they understand that writing takes focus. This is useful in supporting my team's SMART Goal achievement for improving their writing proficiency for the 5th grade students so they are able to reach their WIDA exiting level of 4.4 because students will be able to remember what they are learning. As a writing tool, this concept would help to initiate a meaningful asset for improving a student's skills of communication and concepts of what is needed to form a proper essay for writing. It promotes brainstorming for supporting a topic of discussion.

Smart Target Learning Goal(s): By the of Unit 5, 80% of students will score at least 70% on the end of unit assessment By the end of the quarter, 80% of students will obtain a 60% or higher in Algebra 1 By the end of the unit, 50% of students will score 70% or higher on the assessment. Impact on learning - Using this protocol the teacher would be able to see what pieces of the content students are comfortable with and which pieces students are unsure about. This match my teams goals as we all wish to improve test scores. In our groups we noticed that there are gaps in the students learning across the board in specific areas. If we all implement this protocol we would be able to see what students do not understand and make sure to go over it before any assessments.

This protocol uses the most basic collaboration tool of pen and paper. My focus dimension is techonolgy integration. There are several options that can be used to integrate techonlogy but not overly complex to distract the students from the instructor's assigned topic. Students ciuld use googke drive, wiggio, padlet, recap, etc. SMART GOAL * For students to be able to analyze word problems to identify mathematical components needed to solve complex word problems and apply them to real life problems and scenarios. * Extending learning units when covering quadratic equations. Assign weekly formative tests to better track progress and adjust to students individual needs. The formative tests should only be 3-5 questions to be able to show progress and allow the teacher enough time to give detailed feedback but also adjust teaching strategy if necessary. * Goal is to show 90% student improvement from beginning of unit to the end of unit. * The games introduced will directly work to improve reading comprehension and application of quadratic formulas on multiple skill levels. * Time to complete goal is a unit of study, optimally 12-16 weeks. I would use this protocol with this SMART goal in the begining of a lesson as a way for students to share and monitor their own progress. However, the protocol does not allow for the teacher to be able to give direct feedback and adjust lessons. This is a huge part of the goal. If one of the technology tools was integrated into the lesson, it would allow the teacher to monitor progress easier and more individually.

Emotional start, easy to read eight part checklist that can help bridge the instructional gap; good tools to make sure all is being done to properly cater towards the full comprehension of material by students.

This short article highlights years of research that examined the racial achievement gap. Research and finding suggest that much of what accounts for the disparities in achievement is attributed to socioeconomic factors. The article offers 8 ways for closing the gap among those most impacted based on the findings and best practices.

Great article. Another source of proof that higher levels of expectations and rigor really do help close the gap. I also like that they reinforce the value of school and home connection.

This article talks about using assessments to tell if interventions are working, this like a response to intervention. Raising the bar for the student to they can be successful. Monitor the students progress on a monthly basis and get the parents involved

When we met, April's mother was in drug rehabilitation and her father was in jail. She would stare at the ground and rarely utter a word. I was a sophomore in college and was serving as April's mentor; I feared that we might never develop a close relationship.

When we met, April's mother was in drug rehabilitation and her father was in jail. She would stare at the ground and rarely utter a word. I was a sophomore in college and was serving as April's mentor; I feared that we might never develop a close relationship.

I almost put this article up myself. Very moving.

This article highlights 8 ways to provide educational gains to students needing them most. The goal is closing the achievement gap between struggling learners and high performing students. 1. Use Evidence-Based Instruction, 2. Provide a Rigorous Curriculum, 3. Increase Instructional Time, 4. Introduce Supplemental Instruction, 5. Monitor Progress, Ideally Monthly, 6. Motivate & Engage, 7. Deepen Professional Development, 8. Link School and Home

This is a great article that highlights different things that can be done in the classroom to close the achievement gap the two that I think are most important are the increased instructional time, and link between school and home. I think almost every teacher has wished for more instructional time in the classroom, I know I only see my students every other day and I often think about how much more I could teach them if I saw them every day like math and ELA. I also think the communication between home and school is important to a student's ability to learn.

Great article! I like how it was connected to an inspirational story. I like how each of the ways was described. Often in the busyness of teaching, it's good to have reminders of what is needed, so that you can strengthen weaknesses.

(Week 9: Sheila, Suzanne and Cathy) This article is accessible through the link above. This article explains eight ways educators can inspire academic advancements in students, especially students from lower socioeconomic statuses. While mentoring the author gain insight on how to help close the achievement gap. The writer and her team identified that evidence base instruction, a rigorous curriculum, increased instructional time, supplemental instruction, progress monitoring, motivating and engaging, professional development, and a link to school and home would accomplish those gains. The author believes that "if teachers know about and follow those suggestions they could help close the achievement gap." (Fisher, 2015) This article can be a great resource for teachers. Many of the suggestions could be incorporated by most teachers. However, the article also assumes that if followed these eight tools will close the achievement gap. The author also does not explain how teachers can increase instructional time. Reference: Fisher, O. (Oct 2015). 8 proven ways to help close the achievement gap. Istation. Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-10-27-8-proven-ways-to-help-close-the-achievement-gap

The article was very informative. I especially liked the 8th suggestion, "Link home and school." This is an essential piece that I think educators need to do a better job with for at-risk students. When there are more people engaged and involved, students have a broader network of support to ensure success. We need to do more community outreach to help our students improve both academically and in the broader sense.

I have not had much experience with gaming in the classroom, but I have seen other teachers use it and have much success when it comes to motivating students and bridging the learning gap. One interesting point the article mentions is the the "platform" model strategy. In this, students have one log in, and are able to access a variety of games which can be reported t to the teacher as a formative assessment. Teachers are also able to log in and track students progress.

I see the ideas for digital game-based-learning as a method of differentiation that can be particularly effective for students with special needs and learning disabilities. Interest in using games in the classroom continues to grow, as evidenced by the recent Library of Congress grants to build civics applications for classrooms. The full report mentioned in this article is linked within, and worthwhile reading. The learning gaps that we see in our team's data could possibly be addressed using digital games from iCivics, Shephard Software, and other sources.

I agree 100% with Andrea's quote "I see the ideas for digital game-based-learning as a method of differentiation that can be particularly effective for students with special needs and learning disabilities." I only have to think back to this morning in my 2nd period where this worked with one of 8th grade students in special education who has a severe visual disability. In fact I even have the link to the game I use in that class all the time. I encourage everyone to set up a free account: https://kahoot.it/#/ !!!! Kahoot was introduced to me in my Electives Professional Development. More than one of the teachers has issues with incorporating technology into their health classroom. I agree with this article when they write "Additional teacher training, as well as creating a common language between educators and developers, was recommended."

I am a little familiar with a few digital games. In my classroom, I use Kahoot.it to assist my students in learning their vocabulary. I use this website to make a classroom game that we all play together. Everyone can participate at the same time, competing for first place in points. I can create the questions on my smart-board, and the students can play on another computer or they can download the app on their phones. This makes our lessons more interactive, and the students get more involved and enjoy the class more.

Just like the article suggests, I use games to help students review or understand a lesson. A great one that was mentioned, and that I use is iCivics. Since Government is tested in my county, we have to make sure that our students fully understand the purpose, how the government works, and why it was created. When it comes to making sure the students are comprehending the information I will use iCivics, Kaoot.it, and a Jeopardy game I find online. It promotes students to take learning and their education into their own hands. I think the games don't have to be created by us or super complex, as long as you find one that relate to your content and engages students.

I love the idea of using these types of games to keep students engaged. At my son's school, he often has online math games given for homework. He loves IXL and it keeps him motivated to practice skills and learn new ones. In my 6th grade Spanish class we are exploring quia.com. Students can play vocabulary building games while I work one-on-one with students. It is a great way to keep kids engaged while doing assessments, too.