Upcoming Meetings
May 28, 2014 Superintendents' Council
June 4, 2014 MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
June 25, 2014 Superintendents' Council
Communication Briefings
Numbers know-how
When you are writing numerals, you should spell out the numerals from one to nine and use digits to represent numbers 10 and above. Here's an exception to that rule: If you use more than one number in a sentence, use digits for both - but only if they both refer to the same kind of thing.
Examples: "When we totaled the four teams, we counted more than 200 participants." In that case, "four teams" is a different kind of thing than the "200 participants," so it is ok to use different styles. "The power came back on for 1 hour and then stayed off for 24 hours." In that case, both numbers refer to time, so you should use digits in both cases.
This is the last update of the 2013-2014 school year! We hope you have all grown a little in your educational journey as a results of many of the different aspects of the update! As you go throughout your summer, the MRVED wishes you a relaxing and rejuvenating summer! Take some time to relax, you have all earned it. Don't turn your brain totally off. Take the summer to do something you love, but also spend some time thinking about your own educational philosophy and how you can grow as an educator over the next school year.
As every summer, do not be a stranger if you are in the Montevideo area. Mary always has the candy dish full and will greet you with a smile (if she's not at her lake place or rooting on the Twins). There is usually one person in the office all summer (besides around the 4th of July). The MRVED office hours stay the same, 7:30-4:00 M-F if you need anything!
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.
Positive Interdependence
Social Skills
Individual Accountability
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.
Blogs/Sites to Follow Over Summer
If you are looking to explore some technology over the summer, bookmark the following websites and/or blogs to learn more over the summer. This list is definitely not all-inclusive! This list is a smattering of some of the blogs and sites Brandon follows. Not all are tech focused blogs, but many are. Some of these blogs/sites can really challenge your thinking as an educator. Choose one or two blogs to follow over the summer and see if you can make it part of your daily routine to check those one or two sites. Once those have become habit, look for one or two more.
The Center for Social Studies Education is sponsoring a variety of workshops this summer for social studies teachers and/or people who are interested in social studies. Access the link below to see dates, location, and cost.
