MRVED Update - February 6, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings
February 13 - MRVED Board Meeting
February 21 - Teachers' Advisory Council
February 22 - Principals' Advisory Council
February 27 - Superintendents' Advisory Council

MRVED Did You Know: Why is the MELT Conference in January?

I was recently asked, "Why do you hold the MELT in January?"  The answer is simple, yet complicated.

There are 3 MRVED common days that fall within the school year.  One in the fall, winter, and spring.  The spring date is rather late to learn something new and implement it into your classroom, thus not a great time for an educational conference.  Plus, the SWWC Service Coop hosts their annual technology conference in the Spring and we would be competing for presenters.

The fall date, on paper, seems to be the best option.  Weather is better, it's early in the year, it coincides with MEA, etc...  However, taking a moment to think a little deeper about this date...it's so close to MEA (the day before), that many of the presenters from the cities are already presenting at MEA, on Thursday and Friday.  Also, the process of getting people to present takes about 3-4 months.  Presenters are sought after in September for the January conference.  If the conference was in October, it would mean June/July would be the time to solicit presenters...not really the best time to be contacting teachers :-)  With those two reasons alone, holding a conference in October, would present MANY obstacles to getting people to present.

In a nutshell, January seems to be the ideal time to hold the MELT.

8 Ways Teachers and Schools Can Communicate with Parents in 2019

I came across this great blog post by Kathleen Morris on 8 Ways Teachers and Schools Can Communicate with Parents in 2019.  Not only does the post provide ideas, but it gives actual examples as well.  So, if you are looking for different ways to communicate with your parents, this is the article for you.

Tech Tip - CollabraCam

CollabraCam is an iPad app that allows the user to see up to six other iOS cameras at one time.  It would be a great thing to incorporate into a class field trip or project.  You can then take the footage and edit it together for an awesome video montage.  The app costs $4.99 and is only available on Apple.  There are many uses for this from Kindergarten through 12th grade.

Ditch That Textbook - Ditch That Mindset (Part 2 - Chapter 14-18)

I've said it every week.  Ditch That Textbook is great playbook for your classroom.  Matt Miller provides so many GREAT ideas, not only for your students, but for you as a professional educator as well.  These next five chapters are about a variety of things, so once again, I will provide a short snippet of my learning from the book.

Chapter 14 talks about giving students control.  I love the analogy Miller provides about our students are just like tenants that rent a house.  Tenants simply live in the space and usually do nothing to improve that space, because there is no ownership.  Our students are the same way in the classroom.  They are tenants in our classrooms.  How do we get them to see ownership in the classroom and do something with their learning?  We have to make it real for them.  We have to get them invested into their learning.

Miller then goes on to talk about how we use our time.  He references Andy Stanley's sermon on "Choosing to Cheat".  If you have about 30 minutes, and don't mind a few religious pieces included, I highly recommend going to YouTube and finding the sermon.  In it he talks about how we choose to spend our 24 hours and often times find ourselves cheating the ones we love and care about out of time.  A teacher's' life is hard and busy.  Between teaching, correcting, lesson planning, coaching, supervising, meetings, etc... our hours can fill VERY quickly.  Pastor Stanley states in his sermon that "sometimes we need to give up on the good things we are doing to make way for great things".  Think about that quote for a minute.  It really hit home for me personally.

Miller also talks about being a connected educator and sharing the things that you do.  So often, especially in our small rural schools, we can become our own silos.  There are so many people that are willing to help and share, if you know where to look.  Find a platform for connectedness that works for you.  For many this might be Twitter or Facebook, but there are blogs, YouTube channels, Instagram, etc... for you to take advantage of as well.  If you don't think you have time for it, try it for 2 weeks and see if it works for you.  If you find value in it, you will make time for it.  Once you get comfortable becoming connected, learn how to share.  There is someone out there that can benefit from what you are doing or what you have to say.

First Days of School - Cooperative Learning & Conclusion

The last chapter on lesson mastery deals with cooperative learning.  We will look at different ways to do cooperative learning in the classroom and then wrap up our First Days of School series.

"Cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn"

Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning refers to a set of instructional techniques whereby students work in small, mixed-ability learning groups (Wong, 245).  Breaking into groups can be a tough task for some classrooms, whereas in others it is a simple task.  The question then becomes, why is this so?  The answer may be as simple as looking back a couple weeks at teaching your students procedures and routines.  Have you practiced getting into groups the correct way?  Do your students know your expectations for getting into groups?

Clear Expectations
Having clear directions and expectations for getting into groups is very important.  Students need to know how many people will be in a group and how many groups there will be.  Also point out from the start, how long each group will be meeting.  Is it for the complete class period?  Will it be longer?

Having clear expectations from the beginning clears up questions such as: How many people should we have?  Can I change groups?  How long are we in groups?

Placing Students in Groups
According to Harry Wong, "cooperative groups should be heterogeneous in terms of ability, sex, ethnicity, and other personal characteristics" (Wong, 251).  Wong goes on to say, "It is only from working with a diversity of people that students will learn the skills needed in a world of diversity.  These skills are learned when students are grouped heterogeneously." (Wong 252)

As you place students into groups, the number of students per group should be dependent upon how many jobs there are within the group.  This will alleviate the issue of one or two students not doing anything in the group.  The reason they do not do anything is because there are too many kids and not enough jobs.

**Tip - Create job description cards and laminate to be used within group work.**

Benefits to Cooperative Learning

"Most of the research indicates that cooperative learning leads to higher achievement for all students."

What some of the research says:

• Positive affects for both high and low ability students.
• Use higher-quality reasoning strategies, higher-level processing, and deeper thinking than isolated students.
• Develop skills of leadership, communication, decision making, and conflict management (21st Century Skills).
• Relationship building within groups.
• Teaches interdependence.
• Improves self-confidence.

How to Make Cooperative Learning Work

There are 4 elements that are needed to make cooperative learning work.

1. Positive Interdependence
2. Social Skills
3. Individual Accountability
4. Group Evaluation

Positive Interdependence

• Students really have to believe they are part of a group and they must believe they are in it together for a purpose.

Social Skills

• The skills of cooperative learning need to be taught.  These skills include: leadership, communication, trustfulness, and conflict resolution.

Individual Accountability

• Each member of the group is held accountable for the performance of all.  The teacher can stress accountability by being able to randomly call on any member of the group to present findings at any time.  This ensures that all members are actively participating.

Group Evaluation

• Periodically, the groups must assess how well they are working together and how they could do better.

Conclusion

Harry Wong's First Days of School book is a must read for every teacher!  If you haven't picked it up recently, make it a point to read it over the summer.  If you need a copy, you may check one from the MRVED library, or ask a friend ;)

The past 2 months we have spent time looking at what characteristics make for an effective teacher.  We broke it down into three areas:

• Has positive expectations for student success.
• Is an extremely good classroom manager.
• Knows how to design lessons for student mastery.

Hopefully you have gained something from going through part of the book.  Obviously there is so much more in the book!  Wong provides tons of examples throughout the whole book and is worth the read.  He has recently published a new book called The Classroom Management Book.  His new book will definitely be on my reading list for this summer.