Monday Mustang Memo: September 2019

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Chose 1 Thing

Excellence in Education: Choose 1 Thing

In writing Mustang Memos, I sometimes struggle writing the first section because I don’t want to seem preachy, nor do I want to discredit good instruction. I still remember teachers/friends of mine at Kettle Run (my previous school) commenting, “I know you don’t like lectures.”

The fact is that lectures and other traditional teaching methods can be effective when used appropriately--just like every means of delivering instruction. Many of my memos suggested alternative means of delivering instruction and mistakenly made it seem that I was anti-lecture. But, as a teacher, I often used direct instruction, and I think for many of lessons, my lectures were darn good.

Lectures, worksheets, and other “traditional” instructional methods, often get a bad rap. We should focus on balance and emphasizing our strengths as teachers instead of being all things to all people.

One size does not fit all. This applies to both students and teachers. We should proactively design learning experiences that provide multiple means of engagement, means of representation, and means of action and expression (UDL principles). Too often, however, we discount methods that are proven and too often we try too much.

As a basketball coach, for example, I tried to install too many plays for every situation. This only confused my student-athletes and took away from their ability to master the fundamentals. As a teacher, I often found myself trying the newest and flashiest strategy, when my time and energy would’ve been better served perfecting something I was already really good at, such as adding more formative assessments to my mini-lectures.

I hope Mustang Memos occasionally inspire you to try new strategies, but I’d rather you work on perfecting a strategy and focusing on your strengths. Simply ask yourself, Are my students learning and making significant progress? What can I do to advance their learning and my own practices? Choose methods of instruction and student engagement that are based upon your style, strengths, philosophy and comfort level to ensure student success.

Excellence in Education: Avoiding a Power Struggle

When a student possesses the necessary skills to complete a task and challenges your authority, this is often indicative of his/her desire to take control. Here’s a simple suggestion to preserve his/her need for power and ensuring compliance and it only takes two simple sentences.

“We both know you have the power to (insert desired behavior)”

“Thanks for using it.”

Please note that this works when a student is engaged in a power struggle and the skills are present.

Tasks, Important Information, Upcoming Events

Mustang Morning: Mustang Morning sessions have been created for the month of October. Please continue to request students.

Parent-Teacher Conference Links

Conferences are Thursday 10/3 and again Thursday 10/17 (separate sign up to follow), both from 4:30-7:00.

Please double check the appropriate link for accuracy of the following: Spelling of your name (and that I didn’t inadvertently forget and Location where you will meet parents for conferences

You may also block off up to Three 10 minute time slots for a 30min dinner break. Please do that ASAP as these links will go live to parents early next week!

Links by last names:

Thanks Ms. Fisher!

September 25: Interim Period Ends

September 27: Pep Rally Bell Schedule

October 16: PSAT / CWRA Tests (3rd and 4th periods will meet)

October 31: End of Quarter; 10th grade field trip to Career Expo (will miss Mustang Morning and 2nd period)

Schoology Support Survey Let John know where you’d like support with Schoology. Thanks John for hosting these lunch and learns as we integrate Schoology with fidelity!

Homecoming Dance Chaperones We need help in various locations; taking tickets, sitting/standing near exits, coat/shoe check, food tables, and walking around the dance floor. If there is something specific you would like to help with, just let me know. When you reply, please let me know if you would like 1st shift, 2ndshift, or both. The times are as follows: 1st Shift - 7:45-9:45 & 2nd Shift - 9:30 -11:00. ~Ms Csapo and Ms Colgan

Birthdays

9/26: Monique Faruque

9/27: Jennifer Csapo

Useful Information

Bell Schedules http://bit.ly/MustangBells

Seeking volunteers? ACPS is attempting to expand volunteer outreach and help teachers find volunteers. Here’s a form that takes a minute to complete.

Morning Announcement Stream: http://streaming.k12albemarle.org/ACPS/links.htm

Announcement Request

Athletic team schedules, rosters, etc.

Teacher Manual

Want something included on the Monticello Outlook Calendar, the Monticello website, in the PowerSchool Daily Bulletin, schoolwide Schoology accounts, or the student newsletter (viewed by parents, students and staff)? Please use this link https://goo.gl/forms/bIjfJLKokWPcEHx33

Worth Your Time

How to get students excited about learning

Helping students develop executive function skills

Pep Rally Bell Schedule

7:40-8:40

Zero Period

8:55-10:18

1st Period

10:23-12:15

2nd Period

Lunch	Class
1st: 11:19-11:54	10:23-11:15; 11:58:12:19
2nd: 11:54-12:19	10:23-11:49

12:19-1:42

3rd Period

1:47-3:10

4th Period

3:10-3:50

Pep Rally

Please wait for the band or an announcement to dismiss your class.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Ensuring Students Learn from Mistakes

Ideas in Education: Ensuring Students Learn from Mistakes

When we allow students to learn from mistakes without evaluation and judgment, mistakes become learning opportunities.

As both a parent and an educator. I often made comments like, “Failure is the greatest teacher; make it a detour,” or “Mistakes are opportunities to learn.” I probably fell short, however, encouraging students to learn from their mistakes when answering questions or completing assignments. Too often, I gave false praise, “Nice try,” an abrupt “No,” or I gave a clue that pretty much gave the student the answer.

None of these responses dignified the student or his/her answer and they didn’t acknowledge student mistakes and failures as opportunities.

While observing a couple of classes, I saw two teachers highlight the benefits of mistakes by explaining the mistakes when they occurred. Compare their responses to “No,” “Nice try,” or “What you did wrong was…”

The first example comes from a math class where the teacher was reviewing a problem with a group of students.

Teacher: “How’d you get that answer?”

Student explains the answer.

Teacher: “You did a good job of [bunch of math terms]. You made a mistake when you [more math words]. Try it again and when you do the next question, remember that.”

The next example came from a science class where the teacher was asking open-ended questions when a student volunteered an incorrect answer.

Teacher: I see where you’re going with your answer. That is one type, but it’s not what we’re looking for here. Take another look at your notes and see if you can figure it out.

What happened next was most impressive: the class silently waited for about 20 seconds while the student looked back through her notes before offering a correct answer; other students also skimmed through their notes.

Five things I loved about how these teachers corrected students/5 Techniques to help students learn from mistakes:

They focused on learning and provided actionable feedback for students that encouraged student participation and learning.
They made learning visible for students and teachers. Prompting and further questioning enabled the students to work their way to the answer and learn from their mistakes.
Student mistakes were validated and they were motivated to try again.
The error was identified.
Student mistakes were corrected with empathy and respect.

As you provide feedback to your students, what are some ways that you ensure students feel safe and are willing participants who are taking risks and learning from their mistakes?

Tasks, Important Information, Upcoming Events

September 19: Faculty Focus Group Meetings

Friday will be an B-Day with clubs.

Mustang Morning: If a student cannot sign-up for an extension/enrichment activity (orange/red color), it’s probably because he/she has 2 Ds/Fs. Please also remember, that we strive to make Mustang Morning proactive but if a student has a D or F, he/she should be requested. Even though it’s early in the year, by requesting them we’re holding them--and us--accountable for their success.

September 25: Interim Period Ends

September 27: Pep Rally Bell Schedule (see draft below)

October 16: PSAT / CWRA Tests (3rd and 4th periods will meet)

October 31: End of Quarter; 10th grade field trip to Career Expo (will miss Mustang Morning and 2nd period)

Birthdays

9/20: Madeline Michel, Brittany Sullivan, Deleanna Eddy

Useful Information

Bell Schedules http://bit.ly/MustangBells

Seeking volunteers? ACPS is attempting to expand volunteer outreach and help teachers find volunteers. Here’s a form that takes a minute to complete.

Morning Announcement Stream: http://streaming.k12albemarle.org/ACPS/links.htm

Announcement Request

Athletic team schedules, rosters, etc.

Teacher Manual

Worth Your Time

Teachers still believe in ‘learning styles’ and other myths about cognition

I was a low-income college student. Classes weren’t the hard part.

Pep Rally Bell Schedule

7:40-8:40

Zero Period

8:55-10:18

1st Period

10:23-12:15

2nd Period

Lunch	Class
1st: 11:19-11:54	10:23-11:15; 11:58:12:19
2nd: 11:54-12:19	10:23-11:49

12:19-1:42

3rd Period

1:47-3:10

4th Period

3:10-3:50

Pep Rally

Please wait for the band or an announcement to dismiss your class.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Severn Reasons and Tips to Greet Students at the Door

mohsmustangmemo.blogspot.com

Ideas in Education: Building Rapport with Students: Seven Reasons and Tips to Greet Them at the Door

One of our expectations this year was for students to be greeted at their classroom by their teachers.

When you enter a restaurant and many shops, someone greets you as you enter. The host makes you feel welcome and sets a positive tone for your dining or shopping experience. The same principle applies when students enter your classroom. While not always possible, we should strive to welcome our students to our classes every day.

7 Reasons and Tips to Greet Students at the Door

1. It fosters relationships with your students, enhancing their emotional needs (as well as yours) and fosters a sense of emotional belonging.

2. It provides an opportunity to offer praise and feedback.
I really appreciated how you initiated the conversation yesterday in our Socratic Seminar.

Yesterday, you seemed to be off task on the group work (pause). I saw you on your phone a lot talking to Jose about some things. Your group is counting on you and the work you turned in doesn’t meet our expectations. This bothers me because I know that you have a lot to add to your group.

3. For some students transitions, like switching classes, are difficult. Greeting students with explicit directions, eases their transitions and establishes clear expectations.
Good morning. How are you today?

Our do-now is posted. Do you have your foldable from yesterday?

Great! It will be of great help for you.

For some students, you may want to expand on this pre-conferencing even further by asking them to bring their foldable to you or giving more concise directions and then following up with a phrase like, “See if you can get the first two questions done in two minutes; I’ll be sure to come by to help.”

4. It gives you a chance to connect with every student and gauge each student’s emotional state.

5. Similarly, it gives us an opportunity to listen to students. These quick conversations can be quite revealing. Even though these are often quick conversations, the one-to-one nature of them allows students to be open, I had trouble with my homework...I’m having a really bad day. Do you mind if...

6. It provides you with an opportunity to model--and for students to practice--socially acceptable behaviors, like eye contact, a firm handshake, good posture, and conversational techniques. I greeted each student with a handshake, a high-five or a fist bump (in recent years there have been numerous studies showing the positive power of human touch) and one of my classroom “rules” was when someone asks you a conversational question, you exchange the favor. So for every time I asked, “How are you today?” or “Any plans for the weekend?” I expected an answer and a reciprocating question.

7. It’s a time saver, increasing student engagement and time on task. As a part of a consistent classroom routine, I could remind students about simple tasks, like turning in an assignment, picking up from an absence or I could cue them about something that might be different in today’s class.

Greeting students at the door is a simple and effective means of increasing student engagement and decreasing disruptive behaviors. The above is a modification of an article/blog I wrote . Since then further studies have been completed. One such study found that when teachers greeted students at the door, academic achievement increased by as much as 20 percentage points and led to a 9 percentage point decrease in disruptive student behaviors.

Tech Tip: Sharing Your Google Document as a PDF

This is a neat little trick to sharing a google doc or sheet as a pdf. It’s more efficient than downloading as a pdf because it means you don’t have to re-share PDFs or update PDF links since it automatically goes to the most recent version. It also helps keep your drive folders more organized.

Share your document

Click SHARE
Enter the name(s) of whom you would like to share with
Choose permission level
Click send

Copy, paste and send PDF link

In Drive, select the document
Click SHARE.
Click COPY LINK and click DONE
After you paste the link, change the end of the URL before sending it: For example change docs.google.com/document/d/12345/edit?usp=sharing to docs.google.com/document/d/12345/export?format=pdf
Send the modified PDF link

This trick is similar to forcing copy (replace last part with copy).

Tasks, Important Information, Upcoming Events

Like many of you, I found Adaptive Scheduler to be slow and timing out. Our tech people, recommend using Firefox and/or clearing out your Chrome cache. Below is a recommended resource to clearing your cache. https://www.refreshyourcache.com/en/home/

Friday will be an A-Day with clubs.

Student Pictures: September 10 and September 11 (pictures will be taken during social studies classes)

Back to School Night: September 11 (6:30-8:30)

During Back to School night families will have an opportunity to meet with their child’s teachers by following their child’s schedule.