Monday Morning Memo 12.7.20

We are nearing the finish line!  There are only 13 days left until winter break.  Many of you have been using some of the tips that we mentioned last week to spread a little bit of holiday excitement with your students while still continuing with your regular academics.  Below are a few links to videos similar to what we have seen teachers using on their tvs while their students are working.  Keep sharing ideas with each other!

Piano with Winter Scenes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpYnYczNkQc

Snowfall with Piano Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmwCDjuKAEQ

Christmas Tree with Christmas Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYg70N2vSkg

Penguins with Relaxing Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZab6f-XWNE

12 Days of Christmas

This week kicks off our 12 Days of Christmas which will begin on Tuesday.  We can't wait to have some fun with you!  Please see the schedule below.  If you visit the photo booth on Tuesday, please email or text me the photos.  I would love to share these out on Facebook with our families and students.  

LiveSchool Challenge

Don't forget to keep LiveSchool up and active throughout the day.  Awarding positive points to our students will keep them engaged in learning. Please share out the digital flyer with parents that Sarah made about the special days our students are working for.  This will help our parents remind their child about behaving and to also be ready with items for our Cubs to wear!  

Element 26: Response Rates

Now that classroom observations have kicked off we wanted to begin sharing with you some great ideas and reminders for some of our key elements.  We are going to start off with Element 26: Managing Response Rates.  This element encourages teachers to find ways to get ALL students answering ALL questions.  This helps us avoid being an "owl" when we ask questions such as, "Who can tell me the...."  When we ask questions in this manner we call on one student, and it is often a student that we subconsciously believe will have the correct answer.  This also sets up some of our bottom quartile students to disengage because they often get skipped over or are allowed to opt out of answering when they begin to stumble.  During our PD session in November James challenged us to be a school where students do not raise their hands to answer questions.  This does not mean that we aren't asking questions or that we are allowing students to just call out answers, but instead means that ALL students are answering ALL questions.  Think about how we can get all of our kids doing all of the thinking, the reading, and the responding.  So, how do we do this?  Below are some ideas we have researched and also seen in action.

• Random Selector Tools - When having to pose a question in class with only one student answering consider using a random selector.  This could be through the use of popsicle sticks, the selector feature in LiveSchool, or another app similar in nature.  One new technique we observed last week was a teacher that placed duplicate sticks in her cup for students that are in the bottom quartile; therefore greatly increasing the chances of these students being called on more frequently.  Another teacher also placed sticks in her cup that said "teacher's choice."  This allowed her flexibility to call on any student that needed to be engaged at that moment.  
• Dry Erase Boards and Desks - When posing questions to the class have students record their answer on a dry erase board or on their desk.  As they write, circulate the room to monitor their responses.  Call on key students based on their responses to have them share with the class.  This may create some great opportunities for probing or for class-wide academic discourse.
• Paddle Responses - Paddles can be used in many ways.  They can be premade by the teacher based on a specific type of response you are looking to solicit from your students such as true/false, thumbs up/thumbs down, agree/disagree, etc.  These can also be made as blank laminated circles that students write on with dry erase markers.  For example, the teacher could ask students to write down the names of two specific characters from the text.  Then, she could read out specific traits about these characters and students have to show the character's name that fits that trait.   
• Technology - Using technology is often a great way to manage responses while also collecting data.  We have seen teachers do this through programs such as Quizizz and Kahoot.  Now that we are becoming more comfortable with Google Classroom, students are beginning to post their responses in their digital classroom and even have academic conversations with their group members.
• Academic Discourse - Get your students talking together about their answers to questions.  These structured conversations really hold our students accountable to answering the question and using academic vocabulary in their response.  With Covid restrictions we have seen teachers really finding creative ways to keep our students talking.  We have seen teachers set up hoola hoops or shower curtains for students to stand around so they can talk in a group.  We have seen teachers set up sit spots in their room that allows partners to sit on specific colors to specify who their partner is and then they turn to face one another from their spaced spots.  As mentioned before, some teachers have moved digital to allow students to have conversations through typing messages to one another.  
• Old School - We can always go old school.  When posing a question we can have all students find the answer in the text and highlight or underline it.  Or, they can solve their math problem on their paper.  As teachers, we then circulate and monitor their responses and facilitate what needs to occur next with the class.  We may decide to pair students together based on their answers, select papers to show up on the tv for discussion, or randomly select two students to share out for the class to then discuss the differences in their responses.  

Remember... we need kids working harder than we do!

Weekly Schedule:

Have a great week!

-Keli and James