What Does It Mean to be Smart?

Last weekend, six of us went to Sacramento to hear Ian Byrd speak on meeting student needs. One of the questions he brought up was related to the definition of 'smart'.  Then this morning, I received his newsletter, Byrdseed, focused on having a conversation with students about "What does it mean to be smart?"  He has two additional articles down at the bottom "The Burden of Being Called Smart" and "Curse of the Kidney Table which are equally thought provoking. Take a look.

Intranet

If you were around for last May’s inservice meeting, you probably remember the worldwide debut of the RVUSD Intranet movie. (Missed it the first time or want to see it again? Click here.)

But have you checked out the Intranet yet?  Log into Google Chrome (if you’re not already), click on the Bookmarks tab at the top of the screen, scroll over rvusd.org bookmarks, and you’ll find the Intranet.

The Intranet houses incredible information and resources.  Here’s what you’ll find when you go to Resources → Teacher Resources.  

By clicking on any of these content areas, you’ll find multiple links and documents for you to use! Here are some of the highlights...

Looking for GATE or ELD resources?  Click on the Differentiation button.  All of the ELD documents and slides from our recent trainings are available under “ELD”, and you’ll find rubrics under the “GATE” link.

The entire Treasures curriculum is found under the Language Arts button (except for the resources available on CD).  There are also WBD materials, including anchor papers for each grade level.

The Mathematics button leads to a multitude of resources. “I Can” statements, math practices posters, Graham Fletcher videos from the math planning days, and Engage NY curriculum and parent letters are just some of the links you’ll find.

Clicking on S.T.E.M. takes you to all of the NGSS handouts distributed at the science planning days.  You’ll also find lesson and unit resources as you begin your NGSS implementation.

The Social Studies button leads to the entire K-5 Scott Foresman curriculum.  There are also links to the EEI curriculum and CNN Student News.

...and that's not all! There is so much more to be found on the Intranet. Happy perusing!

A Vocabulary Epiphany

You know how you do something for a long time that you know should be better but you just can't figure out how to make it better then suddenly the stars align and angels sing and you get it? Yeah, that happened to me today.  Hilary, you're going to be extra proud.

So for YEARS I have had my students create concept maps of the vocabulary and key concepts from the unit of study.  And for YEARS kids have struggled with the idea of making such a thing, even with direct instruction, modeling, blah blah blah.  Today was no different.  My first class of the day was lost.  I couldn't explain it any different to them.

Then it HIT ME.  Vocabulary sort!  So in my break between classes, I printed up the vocabulary list and cut up slips of paper.  Made a set for each group.  When the kids came in, I told them to clear everything off the desks and told them about vocabulary sort - categories, headings, use all the words.  Five minutes - go!  Stop, go look at another group.  Back to your group - want to change anything?  Five minutes to finalize.

THEN - here's a sheet of paper.  Pass the paper around the table and record the organization your team created.  What are the big headings? What words go under the headings? Draw a picture for the words.  Use arrows to show relationships.  Write-Pass-Write-Pass.

After they had spent time documenting their work, I made copies of the work for each member and then they used this work to make their concept maps.

The list-group-sort process helped kids get the idea that these terms were related to one another in a way that I couldn't get across in other attempts.

Flippin' life changing.

E-Book Resources

We recently had the county librarian, Michael Powell, visit our Library Clerk meeting. In addition to gathering ideas for our big book order this year, he also told us about an excellent resource: epointplus.com.

epointplus.com is a SCOE-provided website that has over 200 e-books, 55 of which are dual language.  You and your students can access this site from any internet-connected device!  Just enter “sonoma” as your username AND password.

Here are some categories that stood out to me as I scrolled through:

• Dual language books (Kindergarten teachers - there is a great selection of community helper books in English AND Spanish!)
• LOTS of science nonfiction texts (weather, atoms, matter, earth, energy, etc)
• Animals
• Everyday life in ancient civilizations
• Makerspace references
• Math puzzle books (titled Making Connections)

There are a lot of creative ways to use this resource: projected in the front of the class, on Chromebooks, on iPads, or at home (yes, you CAN send home the log-in information to families!)

Piqued your curiosity?? Here are a few other resources to explore:

Librivox https://librivox.org/

• FREE public domain audiobooks (and no ads!)
• Browse the catalog by genre/subject and use the search tool to get specific.
• No log-in required.

Sonoma County Library https://sonomalibrary.org/digital-media

• E-books and digital media available to anyone with a Sonoma County Library card.

International Children's Digital Library http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

• Historical and contemporary works from around the world, in many different languages.
• Try this site for your newcomer ELs who are literate in their primary language!

Increasing Student Engagement in SIPPS

A couple weeks ago, I received an email from Lacey Currie.  She noticed that her students seemed disengaged during SIPPS and wondered if I would come in for a demo lesson.  Being the nerd that I am, I asked if she might be interested in a SIPPS lesson study spanning over three days.  And being the good friend that she is, she obliged.

We started on Tuesday during the second grade Scholar Switch.  She and the other two classes level their students four days a week.  Lacey has 14 students in her group, and she teaches two groups during her Scholar Switch time.  While one group is with her at the carpet, the other group is on Lexia.  When we started our lesson study, we began with Extension 35.

Our focus for this lesson study started with student engagement, but keep reading to find out where our biggest takeaways occurred...

Day 1

Lacey and I each taught a group the first day.  Indeed, some students exhibited off-task behaviors: blurting, staring off into the distance, and other signs of disengagement.  A few students struggled with sitting upright at the carpet, so there was a lot of movement and some rolling around from a couple little ones.

At the end of our lessons, we reflected and committed to four changes for the following day:

-Set up chairs in a semi-circle for the students instead of having them sit on the carpet.

-Make sure to point and pause when reviewing the mixed word list.

-Listen for the collective voice rather than individual voices. (Instead of calling on one student, ask for the whole group to respond.)

-Move a student from one group to the other to balance out the personalities of the groups.

Day 2

The second day started with the students sitting in chairs - and wow, what a difference it made!  I’ve heard Ann Leon talk about using chairs at the carpet, but didn’t understand the power until I saw it in Lacey’s room.  Setting up the chairs required a bit of prep on Lacey’s behalf, but she gave the task to students (who were happy to help!).

When reading the mixed word list, we made sure to point and pause, which seemed to positively impact student engagement.  When we provided the think-time that some students needed, we were hearing a collective voice instead of just one or two students.

Moving a student did help balance the groups, but we also think the chairs helped students focus and pay better attention during the lesson.

After the second day of lessons, we decided to change up the guided spelling practice. After students asked, “Which (vowel sound)”, we would not point to the card or name the card (i.e., “Look at the noisy toy card”).  Instead, we decided to only hold up fingers to indicate which spelling to use.  

Day 3

During our third and final lesson, we weren’t sure if students would be as successful in their spelling if they weren’t directed to the correct card, but guess what… they were successful!  We found that the change with guided spelling required the students do the heavy lifting, adding rigor to the lesson.

Reflection

While our changes positively impacted student engagement, we found that a lot of our debriefing time was spent talking about structure.  Structure is built into SIPPS through the routines for each section.  During every lesson, we found ourselves following that structure more consistently.  At the end of our second lesson, Lacey said to me, “I was tweaking the lessons to fit my teaching style, but after watching you, I can see the purpose of the structure and routines.”  

It’s so true - the structure and routines are built for a purpose.  In fact, the SIPPS program meets our high quality instruction criteria.  The structure is clearly laid out in the lesson, and keeping to that structure allows for engagement and accountability.  Without first establishing culture and building relationships with students, we can’t get to this level of instruction.  Through this lesson study, we can see how the pillars of high quality instruction overlap in SIPPS.

A huge shout-out to Lacey Currie for letting me experiment with her class during this lesson study!

Still thinking about Rigor? Me too!

Well the first day of the 2016-17 school year is in the books and there was amazing energy at every Rincon Valley school.  Happy kids + engaged parents + enthusiastic teachers = great start.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the content I delivered at the Buyback Day last week, specifically around the definition of Rigor (BINGO!) that we’ve adopted.  It comes from the work of Robyn Jackson (2015) and you can check out her quick overview explanation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY492T_CUdQ

There are four parts to Jackson’s definition of Rigor: 

• Students make meaning for themselves.
• Students impose structure on information.
• Students use individual skills to create processes.
• Students apply their learning to new and novel situations.

During my presentation, I demonstrated Jackson’s definition by having you sort shoes.  My hope was that you would be able to see that a learning activity doesn’t have to be hard to be rigorous…that rigor is more about complexity of learning than difficulty of concepts and skills.  Now, I’m not gonna lie…it made me nervous to give such a concrete example, because it oversimplified the concept.  You all know that sorts aren’t the only rigorous task we can ask students to do AND sorts can be set up in a way that aren’t rigorous at all!

So, that got me thinking about other examples of tasks and activities that meet the definition of rigor.  I was drawn back to Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR).  You know the “I Do-We Do-You Do Together-You Do Alone” sequence, but when a teacher truly realizes the flexibility of the GRR cycle, some amazing things can happen.

Let’s consider what happens when we do this order instead:  “You-We-I.”  The teacher presents a problem and lets students grapple with it independently for a short time.  Students then share their thinking (or guess) with a partner and create a visual that represents both ideas.  The teacher reviews these “first responses” and asks students questions about key points they have discovered (or even partially discovered).  The teacher then clears up misconceptions and provides some direct instruction that takes into account what students already know.  This method is sometimes called Diagnostic Teaching, as it allows the teacher to diagnose what students know before providing in-depth instruction. It often reveals what the teacher does not need to review or reteach.

Where is the rigor in the above scenario?  I see students making meaning for themselves and imposing structure on information.  I also see the teacher helping students to use individual (previously learned) skills to create a new process.  The Clothespin Math and Estimation 180 (http://www.estimation180.com/) activities we did at our Math Planning Days last spring are great examples of simple yet rigorous activities. (If you weren’t teaching in Rincon Valley last year, talk to your grade level partners.)

What activities are you planning for next week?  Where’s the rigor in them?  And what does paying attention to the rigor of the activity do to student engagement and student learning?  I can’t wait to hear from you!

Terry

Follow me on Twitter:  @tchevmetz  #rvuteach

Tips from Around the Internet

"Oh! I should blog about that!"

It's something that I say to myself on a regular basis as I open emails from different organizations or read articles about something new and exciting; so here we go!

New Features of Google Slides
Google Slides is the Drive version of PowerPoint.  You can either upload existing PowerPoints or Keynotes or create a new slideshow directly in Google Slides.  It has many of the features you would expect from PowerPoint or Keynote, like the ability to add transitions and animations or embed videos and images.  It also has features that are not available, like collaboration with a partner or the new features that were unveiled last week - Q&A sessions and laser pointer.  Now you can create a private "chat" within a slideshow that allows viewers to ask questions or make comments during the presentation that are visible to the presenter in a separate window.  Other audience members can see these questions or comments and even "vote" for them to indicate that they have that question too.  With a wireless mouse or an app like Splashtop, presenters can now also use a virtual laser pointer to draw attention to key details in their presentation.  Pretty groovy.

Digital Resources from SCOE
I was recently reminded that the Sonoma County Office of Education not only has a fabulous lending library but also has digital collections!  The SCOE Library Media Center now has 280 new eBook titles available for Sonoma County schools. Access to the books, which are geared for grade K-10 students, is free and does not require a library services contract. The link to these free books is epointplus.com and can be accessed by using the username and password "sonoma."

Schedule Posts to Google Classroom
And finally, to you Google Classroom users, Google has added a feature that allows you to schedule posts to your classroom.  This means that you can create content ahead of time and set a day and time when that information will post so that students get the information just in time.  One way you could use this feature is to plan out a day when you know you will have a substitute.  The instructions for an assignment and directions to the class could automatically publish and the directions to the sub would be to point the kids toward classroom, where they could get instructions directly from you (you could even post a quick video of yourself giving the instructions!).

A Mathematical Tool: No theory, just a take away!

Mathematical Practice #5: Use appropriate tools strategically.

Not only do mathematically proficient students consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem, but mathematically proficient teachers need to consider the available tools when building and supporting student understanding of mathematical concepts. The key word here is available!

Sometimes you need quick access to a copy of a simple tens frame, fraction strip, number line, or hundreds chart. And you never need it when you are on that page in the EngageNY manual. You need it way before for pre-teaching or long after for reteach and review, yet you have no idea where to go back and look for it, right?

Whether you teach KinderBridge or 8th grade, there is a mathematical tool here for you to take away and use tomorrow. Click on the link to see what's available.  http://lrt.ednet.ns.ca/PD/BLM/table_of_contents.htm  Offered in a downloadable word document format, you can manipulate these to your needs and likings. I guarantee you will want to bookmark this page in your browser! 

Primary Source Documents: 

Building a rich context for learning

You've heard the buzz words "Primary Source Documents", but what are they, why are they important, and where do you find them?

A primary source (also called original source or evidence) is an artifact, a document, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. (Wikipedia)

Here's a snapshot that might help answer why they are important.

http://www.middleweb.com/29094/teaching-the-watsons-go-to-birmingham/

Although this was submitted by a sixth grade teacher, it reminded me of the power of incorporating primary source documents as evidence to build students' understanding of narrative and informational texts, topics, and times in history. 

It left me asking myself these questions...

When I select short stories and novels as read alouds, interactive read alouds, and novel studies, do they allow for a rich web of conversation, meaning making and real world learning?

What primary sources can I "bundle" together with the literature to allow students to create deeper connections, paralleling their classroom learning with the real world of yesterday and today? 

So if we know primary source documents are important, where do we find them? Here are a few links that I found helpful. 

http://www.archives.gov/education/

https://calisphere.org/

http://library.mtsu.edu/tps/lessons.php

Five Strategies for Using Primary Source Documents in the Social Studies Classroom  http://www.discoveryeducation.com//feeds/www/media/pdf/Five%20Strategies.pdf

6 Free Online Resources for Primary Source Documents
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/online-resources-primary-source-documents-monica-burns

Teaching Students to Make Meaning and Ask Question

Teaching Students to Make Meaning and Ask Question

I've been reading this great book called Questioning for Classroom Discussion by Walsh & Sattes focused on how to move students toward meaningful conversations. Chapter 4 of their book , “Structured Small-Group Discussion”, is a great resource (K-8, across content areas) for teaching students about productive partner and small group work and how to develop their own questions. I have pulled out a few activities that I thought might be of interest which I thought were easily implemented. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/1TfVRD5

NGSS, California, and You: Resources, Testing, and More

California has officially adopted the Next Generation Science Standards as the state standards for grades K-12.  So why are we still giving the CST in 5th and 8th grade?  

Because the law says we have to.

Yes, even though we aren't teaching the 1998 standards, the test is still given.  Seems silly, but the law says that we have to give a test assessing science knowledge in 5th, 8th, and 10th grade and until a new test is written, we will continue to give the CST.

The process to adopting new standards and developing tests and resources is a long one and it take a while for the red tape to clear.

It goes like this:
Step 1) New standards are written, revised, drafted, revised, and adopted.  For NGSS, that was about 5 years in the making.

Step 2) A framework for education is written.  Once the standards are adopted then the work of writing the framework that will help teachers, test writers, and textbook publishers navigate the standards can begin.  The California NGSS Framework is currently being revised following a public draft period.  It will be edited based on suggestions from anyone who participated in the survey and released for a second public draft sometime in the summer.

Step 3) Once the framework is adopted by the state, then the test writers and textbook publishers can get to work.  We expect that a pilot version of the state test to replace the CST will be available as early as next year, depending on the development of the Framework.  Text book materials will probably be available for review in the 2017-18 school year, with probably adoption in the 2018-19 school year.

So we don't have materials until 2018-19?!

Technically, yes.  However, there are many free resources that are available from the National Science Teachers Association, the California Science Teachers Association, and organizations like NASA to help us along the way.  But don't forget the resources you have in your building or in our district; this is a time to work with your grade level partners across the district to pool your resources together and develop your own "text book."  And, of course, don't forget your friendly neighborhood STEM CT who will happily join in planning sessions, brainstorm with you, or comb the internet for resources to share with you!

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it! 

On a daily basis, I get teachers asking for help in finding appropriate, complex, thought provoking, engaging informational texts to use for close reading across the content areas. Newsela is a resource that many 5-8 teachers have been utilizing in our district. But what about for those students in the primary grades? Just this week, I discovered Newsela - Elementary, designed for elementary classrooms, starting in 2nd grade!!

Both versions of Newsela offer

• High interest, nonfiction text offered in 5 Lexile levels (for differentiation)
• Relevant, daily news articles
• Innovative ways to build reading comprehension 
• Pre-bundled text sets that tie to a common theme, topic, or standard

Check out Five Easy Ways to Use Newsela for quick and easy ways to bring Newsela into your classroom next week. 

Not sure how to convert AR to Lexile Level? This AR to Lexile Conversion Chart might help.

I just found an interesting article on the MiddleWeb website about teaching students to write strong paragraphs before focusing on multi-paragraph essays. This article focused on argument writing and has some great ideas. Here's the link: http://www.middleweb.com/29202/teach-students-to-write-strong-paragraphs/.  

So you have an Apple TV in your classroom, now what?

They magically appeared over night.  A mysterious little black box with a tiny shiny silver remote.

It's an Apple TV! Hurrah!  Wait, what do you do with it? How do you use it with your MacBook? Can kids use it?  So many questions!

Why should I use an Apple TV instead of connecting directly to the projector?

Check out this blog from "Educate 1-to-1"

1. You are the front of the room

2. Improved pedagogy

3. Instant Feedback

4. More dialogue

5. Improved motivation

What does an Apple TV do?
The short answer is that the Apple TV allows you to show anything that is on your MacBook computer, iPad, or iPhone on your projector screen (or even SMART Board!) without plugging in any cables to your device.  Your device has to be on the same wireless network as the Apple TV in order to work (your school network) and you have to be using an Apple branded device in order to connect - sorry Android fans!

How do I use an Apple TV with my computer?

1. Click the AirPlay icon  AirPlay icon in the menu bar, then choose your Apple TV under "Connect To AirPlay Display." The icon turns blue when your Mac is using an AirPlay display.
2. From the same AirPlay menu, choose either Extended Desktop or one of the mirroring options under "Use AirPlay Display To." 
3. To stop using your Apple TV as an AirPlay display, choose Disconnect AirPlay Display from the AirPlay menu. Or just press the Menu button on the Apple TV remote.

Check out this Help page from Apple

How do I use an Apple TV with my iPad or iPhone?

1. Connect your iOS device and your AirPlay device to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. On your iOS device, swipe up from the bottom of your screen to open Control Center.
3. Tap AirPlay.

Check out this Help page from Apple

Great.  I'm connected.  Now what?

Here are some great suggestions from  "Inside the Classroom, Outside the Box"

1. Simple be untethered – freedom to move around.

2. Demonstrate apps or sites

3. Display pictures of student/teacher work

4. If you have more iPads in the room, students can share their screen on the Apple TV

5. Students/Teacher can present/share from anywhere in the room.

6. Annotate documents live with your students

7. Using iBooks and highlighting sections/words for discussion

8. Display Apps so all students can see on a big screen (Ex. ShowMe, Virtual Field Trip Apps etc)

So, give Apple TV a try.  Want more help? Email Erin Conrad, STEM CT!

Here's a great resource from the MiddleWeb website on choosing strong evidence to support your thesis and when evidence is not as good.
http://www.middleweb.com/28722/tools-to-help-writers-explain-good-evidence/

Who's Asking the Questions?

Out of 210 easy to read pages, I've dog-eared 18 and scribbled 185 with reflective annotations. The sure sign of a good book and one you are going to want to read as SOON as you get the chance! And what do you know...this week just happens to be Question Week 2016, March 13-19! What better time to start exploring.

Last year as a 4th grade teacher, I could get my students to have academic conversations like the best of them. However, I struggled with shifting the focus from me asking the questions in teacher-guided discussions to them creating their own and sharing them in structured small groups and student-driven ones. Questioning for Classroom Discussion by Jackie Acree Walsh and Beth Dankert Sattes has answered my prayers!! These authors challenge teachers to remove themselves from the stage and invite students to take the responsibility for the thinking and meaning making. Moving from the current model of having students just answer teacher formulated questions to getting students to create and share the rich authentic questions they have, students learn content at a deeper level. However, the author's warn that it's not a random questioning free for all! They share the purposeful planning, process and practical, easy to implement strategies necessary to establish questioning for classroom discussions. Might this be the next book club?

Check it out here at this ASCD link -
http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Questioning-for-Classroom-Discussion.aspx 

We have an extra copy here in the District Office if you'd like to check it out! 

Google Keep - Making To Do Lists AMAZING

Post it notes.  Notes written on your hand.  Emails to yourself.  Multiple apps on your phone.  How many ways do you try to remember to do something?  I know for me, I relied on reminders and alarms on my phone but what if I didn't have access to my phone or it was stuffed in my desk drawer when the reminder alert sounded?  There has got to be an easy way...oh look! There is!  I introduce you to Google Keep.

Google Keep is a to do list and reminder app all rolled into one that integrates seamlessly with your Google accounts (including your RVUSD account and your personal gmail account) and allows you to make multiple lists with checkboxes nested within each list.  You can assign due dates to the list, color code the lists, tag the lists to help keep them organized, and even share lists with other Google users.

Want to know more? Go to the Google Keep Help page to get instructions, or email your friendly neighborhood STEM CT (econrad@rvusd.org) to set up an appointment!