Curriculum Leadership Institute

Pathways to School Improvement

E-Hints Related to Instruction

Below is an archive of E-Hints related to classroom instruction and planning. We welcome you to use them to improve pedagogy in your classroom or share them with a colleague who might benefit.

Thank you for making learning fun for kids, even when it means stepping out of your comfort zone!

Teaching Tip - Follow every introduction of new learning with time for students to reflect and discuss. This way they'll have a more permanent stamp in their memory of what you're teaching them.

Communicating with Parents: Mediums and Methods for Success

by

download_pdf_smcommunicationWe live in a fast-paced world where society as a whole communicates and receives feedback within seconds.  This has become the expected norm in social settings and the business world and has also affected how educators connect with the parents of our nation’s most important product — children.  Here are some keys to communicate efficiently and effectively in this ever-changing world.

Mediums

Sending a letter home or waiting until parent-teacher conferences before contacting home allows too much time to pass.  Immediate communication, when possible, can help correct academic and social behaviors by identifying obstacles to learning in a timely manner.  While nothing can replace a face-to-face conversation, there are some options to bridge the gap until that can happen.

Email and texting.  These approaches can be used as a quick reminder about tests and field trips, a class update, or to schedule that face-to face appointment.  Keep in mind that you are an educator.  While it may be convenient to use slang, lowercase letters, or trendy abbreviations within texts or emails, it may not leave a favorable impression on the parents of the child you are teaching.

Social media.  Creating a private group for parents to follow is a common way to communicate with a large group and keep everyone informed.  It is a fun way to share positive events through quick posts and photos.  Always make sure to have parent permission when including images or work of students. Once again, it is still important to use a formal writing style when posting updates.

Webpages.  Many school districts offer links to teacher pages.  Parents can review calendars, classroom activities, assignments, and schedules.  Teachers can add links to helpful websites, textbook logins, and educational articles.  They can also provide email, phone, and office hours so parents know when and how teachers can be reached. The key for using this medium is to update it frequently so the information is current and not outdated.

Electronic management programs.  School districts often use a single electronic organizational system to house both student information and grades. Parents have access to the program and can typically do any of the following:  provide personal individual student details, update records, contact the school, check student grades and attendance, and upload money to a lunch program.

Video conferencing.  While the above options aren’t a face-to-face conversation, they do allow an electronic dialogue to take place.  Facetime, Skype, and Zoom are just a few applications available for video conferencing where parents and teachers can see each other and converse even though participants are not in the same room.  They are fairly simple to operate and the download time is negligible.  Video conferencing can also allow screen sharing to take place so teachers can display documents for parents to review.  When a parent cannot attend an onsite conference, this alternative is a close second.

Phone or Tablet Applications.  Parents who are interested in immediate, frequent communication are downloading teacher-selected applications to their phones, tablets, and iPads. These applications are private and convenient for busy lifestyles.  A few suggestions for this type of application include:

Google Apps for Education. These are the most commonly used applications that allow communication through shared documents, drives, and calendars.

Bloomz. When scheduling parent-teacher conferences, providing class updates, sharing photos, and soliciting parent volunteers, this application is very helpful.

Appletree.  Formally known as BuzzMob, this application has similar capabilities as the previously mentioned apps. One unique feature is multi-language translation capability.

Remind. This free app will help teachers communicate effectively via text with parents and students. Send messages to a whole group or individuals.

Smiling_Teacher_jpgMethods

The education of students cannot be reduced to emotionless technology.  The combination of people, feelings, and uncontrolled variables requires teachers to make decisions and communicate in a timely fashion.  Even when the communication needs to take place quickly, teachers should still be personable in order for any type of conversation to be received well.  Remember the basic tenets of good communication whether communication is real time or via electronic medium.

Establish rapport.  Common ground is an essential concept for effectively working together.  Include something positive to start the conversation, address the concern in question, and then close with another positive point. This helps both parties identify things students are doing well and where the student needs to focus his or her efforts.

Goal setting.  Whenever possible, offer some short-term goals to support desired student behaviors.  If the behavior needs long-term corrective action, providing some suggestions that deliver faster gains encourages continued efforts to reach the big picture.

Listen first. Talk later.  People are more willing to take suggestions if they feel they have been heard.   Effectively communicating with parents is critical to the success of the child.  No one needs to win.  Struggling over who is correct or at fault wastes valuable time.  Although parents should be made aware of student behaviors, take the time to listen to their explanations and ideas first.  It may help you fit pieces of a puzzle together!

The key for effective parent communication is to realize that communication mediums and methods should be identified and addressed on an individual student basis.  Some parents are tech savvy, while others may not even have an email address.  It takes time to discover what works best.  The earlier in the school year options are outlined, the greater the chance for success for all!

Book Briefing: The Other Side of the Report Card

by

download_pdf_smIn honor of School Library Month, this E-Hint is inspired by a new book: The Other Side of the Report Card: Assessing Students’ Social, Emotional, and Character Development by Maurice Elias, Joseph Ferrito and Dominic Moceri (2016).  As curriculum developers, we know that academic learning should be thoughtfully planned, and that instruction and assessment should be carefully aligned to standards.  However, we may occasionally ask ourselves, “What about the other aspects of development, for example, self-management and social awareness? Shouldn’t we be planning for personal growth too?”  These other areas of growth are a primary concern for the “whole child” education movement, which attempts to include a child’s physiological needs, safety needs, and belonging needs.

One of the most prominent education news stories recently was teacher Kyle Schwartz’s rise to “viral fame” simply because she asked her students, “What do you wish your teacher knew about you?” and Tweeted their responses. Many of Kyle’s students revealed that relational, emotional, and physical challenges were creating learning hurdles in their lives that they needed to overcome, and they appeared to be relieved to share these challenges.  Through empathy and the sharing process, a social bridge was built between her and her students. We might go so far as to conjecture that Kyle’s empathy earned her social capital within her class, which could lead to an increase in motivation and learning.

The Other Side of the Report Card provides evidence (Chapter 8: Literature Review and Resources) that distinctively human characteristics such as communication and listening skills, empathy, and evaluating possible outcomes, may be taught, however the primary focus for the authors is the documentation of such learning. Perhaps given growing awareness of bullying and student suicide, districts might want to consider building a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Character Education (CE) curriculum.  This book is an excellent examination of how that process might be initiated and student growth assessed.

The authors begin with definitions of SEL and Character Education, referring often to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) which has defined key competencies and outcomes. A number of Likert rating systems and rubrics are provided demonstrating how skills may be quantified and evaluated. Case studies are provided as OSORC-smallexamples. (One is the Open Circle SEL Curriculum where students rate themselves using a three-point scale on skills such as cooperating with and encouraging others.) School Leadership Teams (SLTs), similar to the Subject Area Committees (SACs) within the CLI Model, are encouraged for the tasks of: specifying behaviors, creating a model for reporting skill development, report card design, and implementation. A key takeaway for implementation is that, “a deductive approach is needed in order to focus on the specific behaviors to be rated.”

In the meantime, even if a formal Social and Emotional Learning and Character Education curriculum has not been implemented, instructors could still apply a meaningful self-assessment of the quality of their own interactions within their classrooms.  Simple questions might include these: “Am I demonstrating empathy to my students? How well am I building bridges and social capital in the classroom? Am I demonstrating character qualities that I’d like to see in my students?” Finding specific answers and examples to answer these questions may lead to personal growth and improved learning for everyone.

For more detailed information, see Austin Independent School District’s SEL curriculum based on the CASEL Core Social and Emotional Competencies and CASEL’s free online guides for Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs.

Supporting Student Learning: The “Ins” and “Outs” of the Classroom

by

download_pdf_smEducators are always trying to discover and use new academic strategies to increase student learning.  Sometimes the best approaches are not academic, but they are supportive in nature.  According to Awaken the Learner, published by Marzano Research, as well as recent articles in NEA Today, attention should be paid to the inside climate of the classroom in addition to the activities that take place outside of the regular classroom setting.

The “Ins”

Bulletin Boards and Wall Postersins

Classrooms that have meaningful and relevant bulletin boards help to engage the students even when they are not in a formal instructional setting.  Too much stimulation, caused by an overload of information displayed on the walls, can contribute to attention problems. Along the same line, too much wall décor can also pose other problems such as being a fire hazard.   It is okay to have open space on the wall.

Lighting.

Natural lighting, when possible, is the best choice for a classroom.   Classrooms with flickering fluorescent bulbs are distracting to the eyes and ears, especially to those students with attention problems.  Too little light can also cause trouble when eyes strain to the point of fatigue.

Temperature Control and Air Quality

The temperature of a classroom should be comfortable.  In order to save on heating and cooling costs, some districts keep the room temperatures too cool in the winter or too warm in the fall and spring.  Students may be physically unable to focus on learning when they are shivering or sweating.  Another factor to consider is the scent of the classroom.  While fire codes ban burning candles in classrooms, they are often replaced by potpourri, warmers, and plug-in units. Be sensitive to students with allergies and make sure the scents aren’t too strong.

Standing instead of sitting

Some students benefit from standing desks and work stations.  Recent research has determined that students with attention problems are less likely to get off task when they are allowed to stand.  Not only does this improve classroom management, it also decreases stress on spinal structures and is may help reduce childhood obesity.

The “Outs”

Activities taking place outside the classroom can have a negative or positive influence on learning.  While the master schedule cannot be controlled by the regular classroom teacher, recess and exercise can be regularly scheduled within the teacher’s instructional plan, even if it occurs inside the classroom.   If students engage in less than twenty minutes of unstructured play per day, cognitive, emotional, and physical development are not as great as they could be.  Physical energy needs to be expended.  Research indicates that being more physically active throughout the day increases cognitive ability and leads to higher academic achievement.  Think about the following areas and their implications on student learning:

Physical Education

As mentioned earlier, standing in the classroom does have benefits.  However, it cannot replace exercise provided through physical education and recess.  The national recommendation for all students is for a minimum of sixty minutes of physical activity daily. Physical education classes can count for some of the desired time, but it is usually structured with no room for free play.

Recess

As defined, recess is the temporary withdrawal or cessation from usual activity. Most states do not mandate recess; however, students need breaks from academics. Allowing unstructured recess contributes to creativity and opportunities for social interactions.  Research shows that students have a greater focus in class following a recessed break.  It is not uncommon to allow a table-based activity to be used during inclement weather as a substitute for recess; but, playing board games just does not have the same effect as increasing the heart rate through a cardiovascular activity.

Socialization

In past practices, it was common to keep students inside for recess as a disciplinary measure or to provide them more instruction.  This is not only detrimental but counter-productive! Adults usually expect to have some type of break during an eight-hour workday.  Why wouldn’t we allow the same for our young learners?   Like adults, they need to spend some time off task to socialize so they can refocus later.

Ideal time for exerciseouts

Another recommendation is to allow at least one 20-minute block of recess a day—preferably before lunch.  Studies show that students who have recess before lunch tend to eat healthier food, including milk, fruits, and vegetables.  A combination of exercise and eating healthy food helps combat the increasing concerns over childhood obesity.

Making it happen

The Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA), an up-date of the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), has identified health and physical education as a vital part of a “well-rounded” education.  This declaration also allows the utilization of Title IV federal funding for health, physical education, and physical activity programs.  In return, the ESSA helps to alleviate the possible cuts to these programs and it places emphasis on establishing healthy living practices.

Although few of these areas receive the same attention as publicized academic assessment results, they are nevertheless essential to the experience of a young person’s overall education, which can indeed determine whether every student succeeds.