tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67004945640307092522024-03-18T23:15:44.270-07:00Mr. Gillespie's OfficeMusings of a lifelong educator and learner.Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-42115173757933020782019-08-24T08:17:00.000-07:002019-08-24T13:42:05.754-07:007 Mistakes I Made Implementing Standards-Based Grading (And What I Learned From Them)Over several years, I gradually shifted from a traditional grading system to a standards-based system. In year one, I got rid of zeros, extra credit and drastically cut the number of grades entered. The next year, in addition to small tweaks, I experimented with involving students more in the grading process and eliminated homework, group and effort grades. I entered year 3 excited about the prospects and ready to fully implement standards-based grading. Following are 7 mistakes I made implementing standards-based grading.<br />
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<ol>
<li><b>I failed to effectively communicate my vision and purpose to families</b>. Honestly, I don't remember a single student having any issues with standards-based grading, and most families were extremely supportive and even appreciative, but some families resisted. The families that did resist were on the two grading scale extremes. I remember the father of an "A+ student" who seemed more interested in preserving the status quo and seemingly ensuring his daughter would be ahead in the race for valedictorian. On the other end of the spectrum, I had several parents who argued, "If my son does just enough to pass, he should be able to pass." In hindsight, I needed to more clearly communicate--and in multiple ways--why standards-based grading benefits all students. </li>
<li><b>I still relied on calculating grades instead of determining grades.</b> I entered the year knowing this would be my biggest hurdle because we were required to enter grades into our grading program, use either a point or a percentage system, and assign exam grades. Knowing averaging falls short of providing an accurate description of what a student has learned, I stuck with a point system because I felt I could better manipulate it to reflect student achievement. I attempted to focus on the most recent evidence of learning and used both median and mode in determining grades, but I felt my efforts were continually handcuffed by the school system's requirements. I slowly became more adept at determining grades and ultimately relied on my own professional judgment. </li>
<li><b>I didn't develop an effective naming convention for organizing my gradebook</b>. My gradebook reflected a combined--and thus confusing--approach to grading. Instead of completely organizing my gradebook by learning standards, expectations and criteria, I relied on a combination of naming by sources of information (quiz, project, presentation, etc.) and specific content standards. </li>
<li><b>I didn't collect enough quality evidence. </b>For power standards, I believe I did a pretty good job of collecting multiple samples of student achievement to accurately assess student learning, but for less important standards, I assigned grades that relied too heavily on assessments that were not sound. Essentially, I was checking a box that the student had learned it and I was ready to move on. We should attempt to collect at least 3 samples of student work to accurately assess student learning. </li>
<li><b>I struggled to grade exceptional students. </b>While I modified and differentiated learning and assessments for exceptional students, I did not have a plan on how to accurately assess all students based on their abilities, thus I could not accurately provide information on their achievement as it related to their IEP goals. When it came time to enter grades, I sorta' just entered a grade based on my heart and gut. Tailoring learning goals for exceptional students requires communication and collaboration with case managers, co-teachers, families and the student. </li>
<li><b>I didn't solicit administrative support. </b>At no time did I sit down with my school administrator to share my vision and plan to implement standards-based grading. At the end of the first marking period, I was called into the principal's office and asked/told, "Why do you have so many INCs? You can't give incompletes unless there are extenuating circumstances." For the first time, I explained to my assistant principal and the principal my standards-based grading system and the INC represented not having sufficient evidence to assess the student at this point, and I was holding the student and myself accountable for learning." Well, that didn't go too well. I was told to enter grades by the end of the week and within 24-hours an email went out to all staff that from that point forward all INC grades required administrative approval. I no longer gave incompletes, but instead submitted countless grade change forms every marking period thereafter. <i>Thankfully, I had a good relationship with our registrar! </i>Needless to say, I should've sat down and communicated my plan with administration before the school year started. </li>
<li><b>I went at it alone</b>. It wasn't until the end of the year that I learned that another teacher was also implementing standards-based grading and that she also had been called into the principal's office for giving incompletes. The shift to standards-based grading is a tremendous endeavor to take on alone. I wish I had solicited others to begin the journey with me--perhaps other ninth grade teachers or other world history teachers.</li>
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Even with all of the mistakes I made, I am glad that I made the change to standards-based grading. Grading requires significant professional judgment. We should aim to ensure that grades are an accurate representation of student learning and are clearly understood by the the sender (the teacher) and the receiver (students and families). </div>
Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com136tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-37235857409595732502019-02-28T02:52:00.001-08:002019-02-28T02:57:02.867-08:0010 Ways for Administrators to Support Educators and Build a Culture of Pride, Positivity and Teacher ConfidenceWe entered education for different reasons. Some entered the profession because one of our own teachers, counselors, or coaches made such a difference in our lives. For others it might have been the exact opposite and the desire to do better, and for some it might be a passion for a subject matter and wanting to share that passion with students. What is clear, is none of us entered education solely to ensure our students pass an end-of-course test. We should feel pride in our profession. We are dedicated, hard-working,
compassionate experts who are invested in the lives of our students and cherish the opportunity to positively influence the lives of our students.<br />
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Sometimes, however, the grind gets to us. Long days, meetings after meetings, being asked to do more with less, the challenging student or class, the parent who never seems satisfied all add to the stress of our profession. <br />
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As an administrator, I feel the some of the same strains and when the stress mounts I know I'm not as effective at my job as an instructional leader as I need to be. Needless to say, it's the same for teachers.<br />
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Administrators most important responsibility is creating a culture of pride, positivity and confidence for our educators. Below are 10 ways to accomplish this.<br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Writing a handwritten note of appreciation</b>. </li>
<li><b>Creating a culture of collaboration among teachers</b> Whether it's through PLCs, faculty teams, or other purposeful groups, it's important that we create opportunities for teachers to work together to build social and human capital. Creating agendas and setting a purpose increases the effectiveness and efficiency of group meetings so that they're not a waste of time, a gripe session or <i>another meeting. </i></li>
<li><b>Talking to students about their best experiences. </b> Before school and during lunch I often talk to students about what they most enjoy about our school and their best classes. In addition to using this to take a pulse of our school, I share the accolades and positive comments with the appropriate teachers. </li>
<li><b>Make appropriate use of data.</b> Too often--and often not deliberately--data is used for compliance or scare tactics. Instead use data to analyze trends to create plans of instructional support for teaching and student learning. </li>
<li><b>Create meaningful and purposeful professional development.</b> </li>
<li><b>Work collaboratively and individually with teachers to determine what it is they need to be successful</b>. This ranges from questions like <i>When I observe your class, what do you want me to focus on </i>to<i> </i>constantly asking, <i>What is it you need from me? What can I change or do? </i></li>
<li>R<b>ecognize that almost every teacher wants feedback</b>. By providing meaningful and targeted feedback focused on students' learning strengths and challenges in relation to teacher instruction, we build efficacy and skills. </li>
<li><b>Encourage risk-taking. </b>January and February are great times to take risks. After a full semester of building relationships with their students, it's a great time to leverage the relationship and trust that has been built to try innovative lessons that may fail. Harness the power of trust to be adventurous. </li>
<li><b>Make use of positive referrals.</b> In addition to recognizing students--which teachers love to do-- it's an opportunity for the student to discuss the positive influences of the nominating teacher. </li>
<li><b>Create opportunities for your students and families to recognize excellence. </b>This could be something as simple as setting up a table at lunch for students to write personalized notes or nominating teachers for recognition through an online form'</li>
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What are some systems or ways in your schools that administrators provide supports for educators? <br />
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Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-36839175809362482152018-11-11T11:34:00.000-08:002018-11-18T12:52:54.419-08:004 Reasons Effort Shouldn't Factor Into GradesLearning is not a behavior, but rather a complex process that differs for each student. As such, we need grading systems that don't measure--or attempt to measure--behaviors like effort. Too often grades measure compliance, completion of assigned tasks, participation, and responsibility, which are <i>effort </i>grades. Grades should be an indicator of learning and progress.<br />
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What follows are four reasons effort shouldn't factor into grading. <br />
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<b>Measuring effort is nearly impossible; it's vague and intangible. </b><br />
<ul>
<li>My senior year in high school, I took US Government and Calculus. Growing up in a political family, I found government easy; it came naturally to me. Calculus, on the other hand, required every ounce of effort. My year-end grades were an A and C respectively. If I were graded based on my effort though, my grades would be the inverse. </li>
<li>Effort is a subjective measurement. A teacher who favors grading effort may look at factors such as amount of work attempted/completed. Measuring variables such as these don't factor in how long and hard the student worked to complete an assignment. Another teacher may wish to measure class participation in discussions and asking questions, but an introverted student may be attuned to everything and thinking but seemingly isn't participating. </li>
</ul>
<b>Incorporating effort into grades makes grades less valid and ambiguous. </b><br />
<ul>
<li>Grades should not harm the relationship between teacher and student. Effort grades increase the likelihood of conflict. During my first year of teaching, I had a problematic world geography class. Most of the students in the class were high achievers and their poor behavior was most likely indicative of lessons that didn't challenge them. In an attempt to <i>gain control </i>of the class, I implemented a participation grade. Students were rewarded for participation and punished for coming unprepared, disruptions, etc. My new grading procedures didn't solve the problems and the relationship between my students and I soured. </li>
</ul>
<b>Effort grades don't change behaviors </b><br />
<ul>
<li>Effort grades are often used to change behaviors through punishment. Say for example a student could earn up to 10 participation points each week. At the end of the week, the teacher (me) goes through the class roster and assigns most students 10/10 points and assigns students who exhibited disruptive behaviors 5/10 points, hoping this will motivate the student to change his/her behavior. Rarely--if ever--will this change the behavior. Using grades as extrinsic motivators to control student behavior does not work. </li>
</ul>
<b>Effort grades muddle the academic meaning of grades </b><br />
<ul>
<li>When a student tries hard but is barely succeeding, educators' hearts ache and we feel tremendous guilt. Feeling a passion for that student, we reward that student's effort but at the end of the year they haven't met the course's standards. It's not until the end of the course test or the next year that it is <i>learned </i>that student has academic weaknesses that need addressing.</li>
</ul>
None of this is to say that teachers should not communicate about student behaviors that are important. We should, however, separate academic achievement and behavioral grades. As a matter of fact, we should strive to create a dual-purpose report card with a standards-based grade and a separately reported behavioral "grade" focusing on social and emotional aspects, soft skills, and intended learner outcomes. <br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "georgia" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span> Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-84700893392848423932017-04-03T16:02:00.001-07:002017-04-03T16:02:18.127-07:00PEEL Graphic Organizers <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f1c232; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Excellence in Education: PEEL Graphic Organizers </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In all classes students should analyze and support their analysis with facts and reasoning. The PEEL strategy is a graphic organizer that can be used by itself, as a pre-writing strategy (especially DBQs and other shorter, social studies essays), in preparation for a class discussion/Socratic Seminar, and more. Simply, it’s a great way to get students started because it helps them determine a main idea and how to find supporting details.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-5ce98f8c-360d-1e2c-0375-33870804d4da" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is PEEL?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PEEL stands for Point-Evidence-Explanation-Link</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">oint: provide an opening statement for your argument</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">E</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vidence: provide evidence (this can be direct quotes, facts, etc.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">E</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">xplanation: explain the evidence through purpose and context</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ink: a statement that links back to the main point</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s a </span><a href="http://teachingrocks.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/peel.making.connections.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">link</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to a PEEL Graphic Organizer.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f1c232; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just a Thought: Rubric Design </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most rubrics are scored on a 1-4 scale with 2 of the scores being below mastery. Why should we accept less than the student’s best and failure to show proficiency? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f1c232; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Useful Links: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Positive Referrals:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://goo.gl/forms/HZtZoQqHoa2SWT0H3" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://goo.gl/forms/HZtZoQqHoa2SWT0H3</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-u0IjREj4ICTegMhweBD_H2HvpuVylOgYZgUnry3iqE/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friday Activity Calendar (Mentorship/Portfolio/Club Day) </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Club Day</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Portfolio Assistance </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have a student who needs assistance setting up his/her portfolio, click </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/a/k12albemarle.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGB3k_3ofX1UzzwxlT-1HeV8MQjid7tohzXqfRTlJ9YyncLg/viewform?c=0&w=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Technology / Website Permission Request Form</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://go.shr.lc/1HovEA6" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://go.shr.lc/1HovEA6</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Please use this form to request use of a website that requires student log-in if the site is not already on the approved list. </span><a href="https://goo.gl/XTnyzn" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DART approved list</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morning Announcement Stream: </span><a href="https://owa.k12albemarle.org/owa/redir.aspx?REF=DX7jIVtN5zaiqYeG5RrWJsRg9nA4RwC4N9iUoFDxqOBpqoPloM_TCAFodHRwOi8vc3RyZWFtaW5nLmsxMmFsYmVtYXJsZS5vcmcvQUNQUy9saW5rcy5odG0." style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://streaming.k12albemarle.org/ACPS/links.htm </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please be sure to have announcements cued and ready to go at 8:55 every morning. </span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Announcement Request: </span><a href="https://owa.k12albemarle.org/owa/redir.aspx?REF=icXuFMJrFX_Ck630BqQAG69TtqU4usF9Jt4jsEUWX7NpqoPloM_TCAFodHRwOi8vdGlueXVybC5jb20vcmVxdWVzdGFubm91bmNlbWVudA.." style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tinyurl.com/requestannouncement</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/a/k12albemarle.org/document/d/1XgwoSPoZ2JobkGUeY8-pkBD2e2lMwtgE8oR4USrGMSY/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teacher Handbook </span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f1c232; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Calendar and Memo Items </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Year-end calendar is </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UNWw6LTDGfIP1G43LIlzs5V4F4KJMjyH7kgf8Oe0Ers/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><img height="64" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Qx1BKSTPvq9D3rxZrkKHZEUYRsWGhHIFIKj4PNGcB1ZdnbqVYZvtspG5Fj1KQTez5kh7VTEB8OHb6A8mtjcPWxBIR23oT9oOYxi5xqW05AbnR13mFhwJEvcTHNkOO7WhFYL-6XFi" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="64" /></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 28: Middle School/Rising 9th Grader Visit; No Mustang Morning. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students will complete the School Safety Survey in extended 1st block. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s the </span><a href="http://survey.k12insight.com/survey.aspx?k=SsUTPVsYQUsPsPsP&lang=0&data=" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">link</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to survey. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 30: End 3rd Quarter </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 11: Grades due, 9am </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 13: In School Drama Performances </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 21: Pep Rally</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 22: Prom (Interested in chaperoning? Please email Ms. Stott)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #004db4; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Project-Based Learning: The What, Why, and How! -April 3</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Virginia Association for the Gifted is excited to offer an introduction to</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Project-Based Learning: The What, Why, and How</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at the Lynchburg City Schools' Information Technology Center. Participants will explore delivery models by engaging in the creative process of developing their own project step by step with collaborative support from instructors and peers. All participants will receive resources for building future units along with a collection of previously developed ideas. Deadline for</span><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001Xvvi4gpwUt1sUfPUegUgEQY-7Nl5VxyhmLS51EmeERrcF0HvhvtJf5KTiJJF4JI6wkcLLYa45do25KrJyigJ1Wbm8uG4CG3OR1Wcq7Y5Jap5cweKByAMCmNOlLORTSCfyByIobxSWPhfuq0lrfHXIOAoVHdkYoUwSTTj88Z0EW8qrxM0hBxBbcPgqxS7SOUC2lEu1PNFAyalsA6GtEsmqX14rWNIz89ISwTk8dLznrftRfQPX37ibZN3FklSoH_J37MdqrpHCHnqzgU9NCZF19L4C6HCLtUdhKXywxqGZ0F70SnJAszDwLIMwNlWfEzZa2hCw8SrIYrkHF7IAmz7QI8o04Dzjh-T&c=iHpWicqTC10N-k91FfXTnyQjx8uB11h2OQu4tlCd-MpAXFna0RRVrA==&ch=pERRiKkEUkLs5Dxl1MclHxUnqt4AGgofY52s2f29Vd6p4A70WjsvMg==" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">registration</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is March 29 and the event is April 3. </span></div>
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<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/O3aKgqG_iq0Fxr3-KiqM0JgOpSoTrpQM3kqH-ms-_jxIEgMPjAzdHchqMMJXO2PnKNFIvYn987Qtj3lux0wUNb1UywrlPYZgpmecMtOdB0AGzg2MpiPzKpeZeI36VMmcADjCHYgn" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="61xbYAizKuL._SY346_.jpg" border="0" height="142" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/O3aKgqG_iq0Fxr3-KiqM0JgOpSoTrpQM3kqH-ms-_jxIEgMPjAzdHchqMMJXO2PnKNFIvYn987Qtj3lux0wUNb1UywrlPYZgpmecMtOdB0AGzg2MpiPzKpeZeI36VMmcADjCHYgn" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="92" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For tonight’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#vachat</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, we’re joined by Denis Sheeran, author of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instant Relevance, Using Today’s Experiences to Teach Tomorrow’s Lessons </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d love to have you join us (I think he’ll be giving away a couple of books as prizes). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f1c232; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Birthdays </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 27: Leta Johnson</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 28: Hank Atkins</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 29: Jeannette Stott</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 31: Chris Columbano</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 2: Karen Ye</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 5: Gwen Reynolds </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f1c232; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Worth Your Time </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/22/schools-in-rural-areas-shifting-toward-4-day-week.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schools in Rural Areas Shifting to a 4-Day School Week </span></a></div>
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<a href="https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/10/13/the-emotional-weight-of-being-graded-for-better-or-worse/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Emotional Weight of Being Graded, For Better or Worse </span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2016/06/06/7-findings-that-illustrate-racial-disparities-in-education/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Findings That Illustrate Racial Disparities in Education</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<br /><a href="https://blog.newsela.com/2017/03/13/jay-mctighe-beware-of-the-test-prep-trap/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jay McTighe: Beware of the Test Prep Trap</span></a>Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-85367441044685239912017-03-22T03:38:00.001-07:002017-03-22T16:29:07.352-07:00What Do You Teach?At a gathering last week, someone asked, "What do you do?"<br />
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"I'm an assistant principal at Monticello High School."</div>
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After a couple of minutes discussing my current position, she asked, "So what did you teach?"</div>
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"Students." </div>
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Recognizing that my response came across as flippant, I explained, "<b>It's always about the kids.</b> The subjects were social studies, reading and some academic skills, but it was never about that. It's about helping students learn about themselves. Hopefully, they left my class every day a better person because of me." </div>
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I then asked her--and I ask you to do the same--<i>Think of her favorite teacher. Was he/she your favorite because of the subject or because of how he/she taught you?</i></div>
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Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-60712710543827005892017-03-07T15:05:00.000-08:002017-03-08T03:47:08.348-08:00Building Relationships: Practical Ideas to Implement in Classrooms <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Tribe_Post_Relationships1 (2).jpg" height="315" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/dsGlX8OwhfzopQVhdnGz-c6Jj2Xyn4rGZDS2qEBE1iQ8MtN5RjPzo890XuHHvdNqBqj1CSkfKeL8NrxILlROAt-UquPaVT2JFRrAH-kfJ-BbRS4N98ufGF3Y-4P3LbxTL9Dr0Ij-" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="560" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It all goes back to relationships!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Relationships are the essential element in our schools. The old adage, “Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” is true especially in today’s society when kids are used to so much choice in their world. Also, in today’s busy world, it’s important for teachers and school staff to make positive connections with students. We must be intentional and taking time with these relationships must be purposeful.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Members of the </span><a href="http://www.thecompellededucator.com/p/the-compelled-tribe.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Compelled Tribe</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have teamed up to share practical ways for educators to build relationships with students. As connected educators we also embrace the notion that it is the power of the team that drives much of what we do. How do you build relationships with those that you serve? See the list below for ideas to add to what you may be already doing in the buildings and districts in which you work. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greet students at the door. Smile and call them by name. Tell them you are glad to see them. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ask your students to share three things about themselves. Let them choose what they share. Keep them on index cards to help make connections throughout the year. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Know your students' families. As important as it is to know the students, make the connection to home. Great relationships with your kids starts where they kick off their day. As the year continues and both the good and bad arise, having that connection will be crucial to getting the results you are seeking.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Journal writing is an activity to get to know your students well and give students a voice in the classroom.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make positive phone calls home especially within the first two weeks of the school year. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Genius Hour/Passion Projects really give teachers an opportunity to learn about student passions.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have kids make something that represents them out of Play-dough and share.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the first couple of days of school, learn the first name of every student in your first class of the day, and something personal and unique about them that has nothing to do with your first class of the day.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be vulnerable! Let your guard down and show your students that you are a learner, you make mistakes, and persevere. They will see you as a person, opening the door for a relationship built on trust. Share stories about yourself as a learner or challenges you’ve faced when you were there age and help them see what it took to overcome it. It’s easy to forget how much a simple connection can make the difference.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Eat together. Have breakfast with a small group of kids or join them at the lunch table. Gathering around meal time provides an informal way to have conversations and get to know your students.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hold Monday morning meetings (We call them “Weekend News Updates”). Ask each student to share about their weekend - good or bad. Ask questions. Be sure to share about your weekend too! Occasionally bring in breakfast or make hot chocolate.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laugh with them. Frequently. Show them that school, and your class, is just not about learning stuff. It is about sharing an experience. Tell them you missed them if they were out. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keep in touch with past students. Show past students that you do not have a 1 year contract with them. The ongoing relationship will also model to your current students the value of a positive classroom community.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the elementary level -- hold morning meeting everyday as a class and stick to the routine of greeting, sharing, team building activity, and morning message. This is a sacred time to build and maintain a culture of risk tasking and building relationships.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Send positive postcards home to every child. Have them address it on the first day of the quarter, keep them and challenge yourself to find at least one thing each quarter to celebrate about your students, let them and their parents know. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Find their interests and what motivates them! Sometimes it may take a bit to break down barriers and build trust, but through being genuine and authentic with them this will happen in no time. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make personal phone calls to parents. Find one good thing to say about the children in your class. It can be how they contributed to a class discussion or how well mannered they are in class or in the halls. For older students it can be how diligent a student is at learning challenging content. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Share something about yourself that they will find relevant or interesting to extend your relationships with students.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell a story from a time you were their age. This approach allows students to see teachers as they once were and make connections easier to establish and maintain.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create a unique handshake or symbol for each of your students. Use it when you greet them at the door or say goodbye.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eat lunch with a group of kids throughout the week. They will enjoy a time dedicated just to them. (And you will enjoy a peaceful lunch!)</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a school, hold monthly celebrations to recognize students and educators their accomplishments. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take pictures with students. Print. Write a special note on the back to the student. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of a term or year, write a thank you to students telling them what you have learned from them. Be specific and honest - authenticity goes a long way. Try to make the note handwritten if possible, but email works well too.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8unky5Gzh2wsIv-yT8hnLZIawxOx0S4Fzj2B7SRcBA0EhEbgLRhgkaSa7uWaijkx4rZQyaEJhN-Qlx_4ugwXE-SMXkp02Akr8c4AQtMeu1RZEmxmNC7wSYp2HMypykvmu3_3Omt0mLlB/s1600/wordcloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8unky5Gzh2wsIv-yT8hnLZIawxOx0S4Fzj2B7SRcBA0EhEbgLRhgkaSa7uWaijkx4rZQyaEJhN-Qlx_4ugwXE-SMXkp02Akr8c4AQtMeu1RZEmxmNC7wSYp2HMypykvmu3_3Omt0mLlB/s400/wordcloud.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each day write two students a personal note about something that you have noticed about them. Go into some detail and be specific. Keep track of who you reach out to over the year and try and reach as many students as you can. The time you spend doing this will deepen connections and pay off 10 fold. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have dance parties! It is so fun to let loose and get down with students. Students love seeing you have fun with them, and the saying goes, “The class that dances together, stays together”.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Play with students at recess or during a free time. Climb the monkey bars, play kickball, or tag. Students will never forget you connecting with them on the playground.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hang out in the hall to give high fives or to have quick conversations with students. Relationship-building can be squeezed into any time of the day.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notice students having a bad day. Ask questions without prying. Show that you care. Follow up the next day, week, etc.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a student is having a rough day, ask if he/she has eaten. We are all more unreasonable when we are hungry. Keep a supply of snacks on hand (ex: breakfast bars, crackers, etc).</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Go see students at their events: sports, theater, dance, volunteering. Meet parents and families.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a student stops to say “Hello” and has a friend in tow, introduce yourself and be sure that the guest feels important.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stop class from time to time with a comment such as, “Hey, everyone, Katie just asked me a great question. I think you’ll all benefit from this. Katie, could you repeat that for everyone?”</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sing “Happy Birthday” to students; send birthday emails (I use “Boomerang” to schedule my birthday emails each month).</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Say “I missed you yesterday” when a student has been absent. Be sincere. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have to make time to grow relationships with our students. This time can not always be in a planner or a calendar. Sometimes, this simply means just being there for your students. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mail them a postcard for their birthday. They are always amazed to receive personal mail!</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a leadership position, learn as many names as you can. Greet students by their name as often as you are able.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Music! Bond with your students over music. Play soft classical music while they are working. Incorporate music/songs into special events or lessons. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Classroom: Start a compliment jar. Share comments at the end of class or randomly throughout the day. School: Do shout-outs during morning (or afternoon) announcements/news show.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Smile and make eye contact. “Good morning”, “Good afternoon”. Something as simple as a greeting in the hall with smile and eye contact conveys both warmth & safety. Try it tomorrow. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First day of math class have them choose 10 numbers that are significant to them (3 for number of cats, 1 for brothers, 20 for number of hours they work, etc.). Everyone shares out. You will learn lots about all your students in one day. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cut them some slack every now and then. “What were you doing? What should you have been doing? Can you do that for me next time?” We all make mistakes. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hold class celebrations and have students develop unique cheers for various accomplishments...these can be anything from a sports team victory, to being selected for something, to earning a grade, and they need not be school related. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Allen Mendler’s 2x10 strategy for challenging students. Spend 2 minutes per day for 10 consecutive days talking to a student about something not academic. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Share your own goals, successes/failures. Don’t be a mystery to your students. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After morning announcements have students participate in a daily discussion question. Have a student read the question and set a timer for two and a half minutes. Each person turns to a partner and answers the question then volunteers share with the whole class. Each question, in some way, will help you get to know your students.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halfway through the year, have your parents and students fill out a feedback form. In my classroom, these forms look different. Allow them to evaluate you so you can keep what works and change things that aren’t working.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In your summer introduction letter, include a letter asking parents to write about their children in 1,000,000 words or less. Keep the assignment voluntary and open so they tell you what is most important to them.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t be too busy to truly listen. Listen to understand, not to respond. Are you starting a lesson when a student interrupts and tells you they are moving? Take the minute to hear them out. That time will mean more to the student than the first minute of the lesson ever will.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When students get stuck in class, teach the other students to cheer them on. We do a simple, “Come on, [Name], you can do it,” followed by three seconds of clapping.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teach students call and responses to uplift each other. When a student responds with something profound and someone loves it, that student gets to start the cheer.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you check in with groups to give them feedback or see how it’s going, make sure you are seeing them eye-to-eye. If they’re sitting, don’t stand. Pull up a chair next to them. If they’re sitting on the floor, sit down on the floor next to them to avoid standing over them.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Give honest feedback even when it may not be positive. Your students will appreciate that you expect more out of them than they’re showing.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create a “You Matter” wall. Take fun pictures of each of your students. Print each photo and put each student’s photo in an 8x10 frame. Hang them all on your wall under a “You Matter” heading. At the end of the year, send the photos home with students.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell them what was hard for you when you went through school and how you worked to overcome the challenges. It shows they aren’t the only ones who struggle.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defend your students in front of other people.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take risks so students feel comfortable doing the same. Don’t ask them to do anything you wouldn’t do.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create something that is unique to your class. For us, it’s a house competition. It’s something that connects my past students and current students. It’s also a family bond that only the students who have been in my class understand.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apologize when you make a mistake.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cook together and then you can eat family style in the classroom. Some fun and easy Crockpot meals: applesauce, vegetable soup, chicken and dumplings. Then, make cupcakes for dessert!</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every so often, take the pulse of your building according to students. Convene a volunteer round table with student reps from various groups (athletes, scholars, quiet, loud) and ask them for critical feedback about topics you are working on. Some ideas I’ve seen discussed in this format include school-wide incentives (assemblies, sledding event, etc.), dress code, and discussing recess options for winter. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During your informal walk-throughs, saddle up right next to students and ask them the purpose of the lesson they are involved in. Why do you think the teacher is asking you to work on this? You’ll be more than surprised with the honest feedback.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bring board games back! Add a few games like Checkers, Uno or Chess to your lunch table options. See if any students are willing to play a game or two with you and others. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use sidewalk chalk to decorate the entry of your building with positive messages to students. Have teachers help you write and draw the notes! </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leave nice notes on post-its for students on the outside of their lockers. Recruit other students to help spread the kindness throughout many lockers! </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Forgive them when they make mistakes. Remind them that mistakes are opportunities for learning. Don’t hold grudges against misbehavior and don’t allow other adults to hold them either. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make time for dismissal. Tell them you can’t wait to see them tomorrow and share high fives on the way out! </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notice which students still don’t have money to pay for lunch. Help them out when you can. Treat them to a snack they don’t usually get to purchase at lunch time. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Find special projects that need to be done around school and recruit the most unlikely helpers. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remind your students you and your staff were all kids once too. Have your team bring in pictures of themselves as children (at the ages you have in your school). Post them and have a contest allowing students to guess which teacher is which. Those 80s pictures are the most popular! </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My favorite question to ask my students or any student I come in contact with is what are you into lately? This opens communication with your students and let's them know you are interested. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Allow students to do a job shadow. Give them a peek into what you do and how you make daily decisions. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Host an ice cream social for students that meet certain goals.</span></div>
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</ol>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What would you add to this ever-growing list? Please add your favorites in the comment section.</span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our list will grow as our experiences and our connections grow. Feel free to reach out to any of the Tribe members listed below to learn more about the power of our team and how our tribe constantly supports each other in our teaching, leading and learning. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Compelled Tribe Contributors:</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jennifer Hogan, </span><a href="http://www.thecompellededucator.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Compelled Educator</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @Jennifer_Hogan</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jonathon Wennstrom, </span><a href="http://sparkoflearning.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spark of Learning </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @jon_wennstrom </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Craig Vroom, </span><a href="http://www.fueling-education.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fueling Education</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, @Vroom6</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Allyson Apsey, </span><a href="https://allysonapsey.wordpress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serendipity in Education</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, @allysonapsey</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sandy King </span><a href="http://inspiringthelight.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Inspiring The Light</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @sandeeteach</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gary Kidd </span><a href="https://highnotewailer.wordpress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reflections and Rants from the Asst Principa</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">l, @hinotewailer</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jacie Maslyk </span><a href="http://jaciemaslyk.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://jaciemaslyk.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @DrJacieMaslyk</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jodie Pierpoint </span><a href="http://jodiepierpoint.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Journey In Learning</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @jodiepierpoint </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jim Cordery </span><a href="http://jcorderyteacher.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Cordery’s Blog</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @jcordery</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Allie Bond </span><a href="http://thepositiveteacher.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Positive Teacher </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@Abond013</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Angie Murphy </span><a href="http://connectedtolearning.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ConnectED to Learning</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @RoyalMurph_RRMS</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Karen Wood </span><a href="https://karenwoodedu.wordpress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://karenwoodedu.wordpress.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @karenwoodedu</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lindsey Bohler </span><a href="https://lindseybohler.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lindseybohler.com </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@Lindsey_Bohler</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starr Sackstein </span><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @MsSackstein</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Debbie Campbell </span><a href="http://www.curiouseducator.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Curious Educator</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @DebraLCamp</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael McDonough </span><a href="https://goo.gl/g1nv49" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M Squared at the Microphone</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @m_squaredBHS </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Barbara Kurtz </span><a href="http://bkurtzteachermentor.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bkurtzteachermentor.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @BJKURTZ </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stephanie Jacobs </span><a href="http://www.thisblogiswhy.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.thisblogiswhy.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @MsClassNSession</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael Todd Clinton </span><a href="http://www.themotivatedteacher.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Motivated teacher blog </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @MotivatedThe</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cathy Jacobs </span><a href="https://cathyjacobs.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://cathyjacobs.org/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @cathyjacobs5</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reed Gillespie </span><a href="http://reedgillespie.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Gillespie’s Office</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @rggillespie </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Molly Babcock </span><a href="http://sweetteaandaliveoaktree.wordpress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sweet Tea and a Live Oak Tree</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @MollyBabcock</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lisa Meade </span><a href="http://msprincipal23a.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reflections</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> @LisaMeade23</span></div>
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<br />Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-28857206345420356022017-02-26T11:39:00.003-08:002017-02-26T11:39:48.255-08:00In Pursuit of a Learning-Oriented Classroom <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">About fifteen years' ago, while interviewing for a teaching position, the principal asked, "Describe your classroom management strategy." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I gave a relatively standard answer, "Good lessons are the key to maintaining a well-run classroom. A lesson that is engaging and well-planned will keep students busy and on-task, meaning classroom management won't be a problem."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Indeed, engaged students tend not to disrupt learning. But, in all honesty, my answer reflected a traditional work-oriented classroom where I confused compliance and on-task behavior with true engagement and meaningful learning.</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Sadly this was the prevalent approach to teaching and learning. Under pressure conditions, teachers used controlling practices that led to passive student learning. Meaningful learning took a backseat to maintaining order. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thinking was a bonus add-on in the work-oriented classroom. We should strive or learning-oriented classrooms where the focus shifts from being on-task and looking smart to BECOMING smart. Doing so means taking risks and relinquishing control; embracing chaos and vulnerability.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Work-Oriented Classroom</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Learning-Oriented Culture</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Student errors and mistakes should be avoided as they indicate incompetence on behalf of the teacher and students. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn and grow. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Learning is coercion-based. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Teachers listen to and act on the various opinions in the classroom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Instruction follows a predetermined, mass-produced curriculum planning guide.</span></span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Give students the power to pursue their interests. Recognize the diverse needs and interests of students and make appropriate adjustments. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students participate as passive learners</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students are appropriately challenged and are in control of how they spend their time. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The teacher maintains high-levels of order and control. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Encourage divergent thinking in students who drive their own learning by asking and seeking answers to their own questions. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students learn through memorization and practice. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Meaningful, lifelong learning is chaotic and students must think about or act on ideas. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Assignments and projects are overly prescriptive and often presented as a checklist. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Assignments emphasize the learning that will occur and students are given freedom to choose how to learn and demonstrate their mastery. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students learn in isolation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Learning is a social endeavor.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Classroom tasks/assignments are broken down into 20-minute chunks. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students are given time to wonder, to explore, and to dive deep into learning. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Humans have a natural curiosity to learn. Too often this curiosity is
squashed in what Paulo Friere termed banking education where the teacher
transmits information to students. As teachers we must assume
responsibility for student learning by encouraging and increasing
student autonomy and self-control, allowing our students to create,
discover and explore. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Please share how you create a learner-oriented culture. </b> </span></span></span></div>
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Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-9510767811946346882017-02-25T17:43:00.001-08:002017-02-25T17:55:20.943-08:00Responsive Classrooms<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two relatively innocent actions taken by Ms. Irving in her Biology class reminded me of something that it takes far too many educators to learn or act on. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After her students set up the room for an interactive, movement and team-based Kahoot! Ms. Irving stopped, “This isn’t working quite right. I need to make a change…” Then she turned to the students, sought their opinions and put what to do next to a vote. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the matter of 30 seconds, she “violated” two old-school rules--rules that should never have been rules. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Myth 1: Never admit mistakes in front of the students.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Myth 2: It’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">your </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">classroom. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reflecting back on my first year, I remember several veteran teachers, who shall remain nameless, challenging me to take more control. “It’s your classroom.” “Don’t listen to them [students].” Of course, this was also followed by, “Don’t smile until Thanksgiving (or for the real </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hardened </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teachers until Christmas).” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ironically, the year BEFORE I joined this school, teachers had studied the work of William Glasser. Anyway, back to Ms. Irving….</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the matter of 30 seconds, Ms. Irving modeled reflection and self-improvement </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Let’s change this up to make it work better</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and established a responsive, shared classroom approach (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What should we do?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, she’s not alone in establishing a responsive classroom. Ceding control, whether it's in regards to classroom management, curriculum decisions or assessments, requires confidence and risk-taking, but the results speak for themselves. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Responsive Classroom Practices </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Student choice, whether in how to learn, where to learn, or how to demonstrate learning. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Working to get to know your students beyond your classroom through conversations with students, counselors, TDT or teaching colleagues, families, etc. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remaining positive and focusing on student strengths while embodying a growth mindset </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Modeling the behaviors we desire. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Establishing logical rules, procedures/routines and consequences, so students know where they stand and feel safe. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are some of your favorite responsive classroom practices? </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Responsive Classroom Principles </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(from responsiveclassroom.org) </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The social and emotional curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How children learn is as important as what they learn.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Great cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To be successful academically and socially, children need to learn a set of social and emotional skills: cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knowing the children we teach—individually, culturally, and developmentally—is as important as knowing the content we teach.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knowing the families of the children we teach is as important as knowing the children we teach.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #484949; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How we, the adults at school, work together is as important as our individual competence: Lasting change begins with the adult community.</span></div>
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Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-4092395666085519412016-10-08T14:17:00.000-07:002016-10-08T14:27:39.060-07:00Helping, and Learning from, Robbie : A Simple Conversation Opened My Eyes After 10 years of teaching and coaching in the community in which I live, I had become accustomed to running into current and former students and families during every trip to the grocery or Walmart. My daughter, on the other hand, hated shopping with me because it always meant an extra 5-10-15 minutes of "listening to Dad talk to strangers." But, in the fall of 2011 I had a different experience at Walmart.<br />
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Over the summer, I left my teaching position for an assistant principalship at another high school. I was nearing the end of what I had hoped would be a quick in-and-out visit when I heard footsteps behind me. "Robbie," a student whom I had taught the year before, approached me. "Hey, Mr. G. I can't believe you left. Do you believe I'm doing well in school?"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheuQmp6tk23m2EkFF65Oinynp80U35-ARkkbMDgVoMw9cXTh9r_aS3TQyCz4asfbwGBn5Hbtvp64CvblKJG3JvQliHwjba1YgQcvrlGxbkC88AEmK8tQQ7gFtzvK08kkD-Gpy8zKacP4RP/s1600/Progress+quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheuQmp6tk23m2EkFF65Oinynp80U35-ARkkbMDgVoMw9cXTh9r_aS3TQyCz4asfbwGBn5Hbtvp64CvblKJG3JvQliHwjba1YgQcvrlGxbkC88AEmK8tQQ7gFtzvK08kkD-Gpy8zKacP4RP/s320/Progress+quote.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
"Of course I believe you're doing well. There was never a doubt in my mind." Of course, that last part wasn't entirely true. As a matter of fact, it might be considered a flat-out lie.</div>
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Robbie was an extremely challenging student. Extremely intelligent, he lacked motivation. He was part of our freshman transition program for at-risk students, and in my 17 years of teaching, he was one of the most frustrating students I ever taught. While he passed my class, I considered it a "loss" because his grade was not indicative of his abilities. His mother, who I corresponded with weekly, shared my frustrations. He failed multiple classes.<br />
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<i>So what made this interaction different than hundreds of others just like it?</i><br />
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After nine months it wasn't until that moment that I realized I had connected with Robbie. The connection--one which I had not even realized existed--had taken time and patience. Robbie had been a behavioral and academic challenge, and despite all the headaches he had caused, I failed to recongize his personal growth and my positive influences on him until then.<br />
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We cannot expect instanteous change. Struggles precede progress.<br />
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The honest, daily conversations with Robbie, the constant communication with his mother, the undying belief in his ability eventually reaped their rewards. Robbie, who had experienced failure in school for many years, challenged me; he forced me to improve. <br />
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As educators we relish the moments when students reach out to us and say, "Thanks," but we must also savour the daily challenges and struggles that we undertake daily to ensure each student's success and growth. <br />
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Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-134302192850217492016-09-11T17:54:00.000-07:002016-09-11T17:54:07.580-07:006 Fundamentals to Facilitating Change <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m a pretty straight-arrowed rule follower, and I’ve never considered myself a rabble-rouser. So several years ago, when I got called into the principal’s office, I suffered a mini-anxiety attack. With my heart palpitating and my spores gushing sweat, I feebly sunk myself into a chair opposite of the principal’s massive desk, seemingly hoping to hide behind it.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-920bd25d-1bd7-3a75-4aa7-a9a12b615568" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Reed, you gave 15 INCOMPLETE grades. Incompletes are only to be used in extreme situations like when a student misses several classes because she was sick. Go back to counseling and fix this.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that--and no opportunity to defend myself--my shift to Standards-Based Grading grading had hit another roadblock. I had a great relationship with both the director of school counseling and the registrar, so I was pleased to see them together as I entered counseling department. Obviously, they knew why I was there, and they reassured me that it was no big deal. The registrar let me in on a little secret, another teacher had also given a significant number of incompletes, and from her perspective, the only problem with incompletes was that it required more work for her since she would have to manually enter the new grades. She continued, “We can’t accurately calculate GPAs when a student has an INC. Other than that there’s really no problem with incompletes except that it’s something different.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that I immediately understood: different isn’t always good. This is especially the case when it goes against a long-standing school policy. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After I explained to the registrar that students received incompletes because they had not completed a significant assignment or did not demonstrate the required mastery of a strand or unit, the registrar offered a temporary solution, “Reed, give them the F or whatever, and then come back with a grade change form and I’ll change the grade. It’ll end up being the same amount of work on this end.” </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhua5OK7kntKpInPVNodYEkvs3n4ZepX8hol2NZ39rvyHnIZ-F6E28EkyuRo5WZO8sccXOPs7sNHJNiXakv3RtlTTMRZ1mwjEj5NC7AasXqx_Eh2GUSOcPyhhZ38ybvMHOsgdUC4KTFLyA2/s1600/change+quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhua5OK7kntKpInPVNodYEkvs3n4ZepX8hol2NZ39rvyHnIZ-F6E28EkyuRo5WZO8sccXOPs7sNHJNiXakv3RtlTTMRZ1mwjEj5NC7AasXqx_Eh2GUSOcPyhhZ38ybvMHOsgdUC4KTFLyA2/s320/change+quote.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I appreciated her understanding and willingness to work with me. Of course, I had already explained to the students and their parents why I had given Incompletes and what needed to be done, so I went back to my office space and started making phone calls. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While this wasn’t how I wanted to spend my time, it offered an opportunity for me to reflect, “Standards-Based Grading has been good for my students and assigning Incompletes (in my classroom I called them ‘Not Yets’) on assignments had led to improved academic performance. What could I have done differently? What did I need to do going forward? What had I done wrong? </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As an educator, I sought to constantly tweak, change and improve, but clearly I had taken a few missteps in my journey towards Standards-Based Grading. Through reflection I identified six areas where I erred.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 Fundamentals to Facilitating Change</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Change requires honest dialogue and courageous conversations.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Internally, I had identified a problem and a solution but not wanting to rock the boat, I did not involve others when I should have. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Educational change requires support from many people.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> By providing information to others, along with the rationale and supporting research, I could have increased support and avoided conflict. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s nothing wrong with starting small and sharing.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I had been flying solo on my Standards-Based Grading journey, but I could’ve expanded my efforts to include other teachers from my PLC or my team. Doing so would’ve ensured ongoing dialogue, increased validity and improved fidelity. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Change efforts must be organized. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Had I been more organized and done a better job of coordinating my efforts with others, I could have avoided cynicism and conflict. By creating a specific plan with the help of others, the change to Standards-Based Grading would have been more valid. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anticipate problems and emotional reactions, including your own</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. My principal rightfully felt like the carpet had been pulled from under him as I--unintentionally--broke school rules, and I also became very frustrated. I did not anticipate emotional attachments to educational policies, nor did I proactively plan for problems. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Expect cynicism.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> To reduce the rampant cynicism among most school staffs about educational improvement, restructuring endeavors should be well organized and coordinated. A written and/or visual model of the change effort can be developed and posted, including timelines, activities, task force members, and their responsibilities</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Educational policies should be synonymous with change. Ongoing restructuring and improving should be a valued norm. Such innovation must be appropriately managed to ensure positive results. Doing so will ensure that we meet the needs of our students. </span></div>
Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-29319876075966495542016-05-22T15:53:00.000-07:002016-05-22T15:53:16.735-07:00Revamping and Reinvigorating High School In a welcome change, <a href="https://education.virginia.gov/media/4964/2015-executive-summary-sol-innovation-committee.pdf" target="_blank">Virginia is making plans to revamp high school education.</a> The process got me thinking, <b>What classes should be required and how can we truly make high school relevant for all students? </b><br />
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<b>Digital Literacy:</b> <i>Through this course students will seek to understand literature and digital technology. Students will read and examine various types of autobiographies and biographies and “write” their own life stories using a variety of digital tools. Students will create their own narratives and design a digital project of their own.</i>
<i>Through the course students will learn what it means to be a responsible digital citizen and digital storytelling and presentation. This course will broaden student understanding of literacy by requiring students to engage with literacy and technology. Students will develop comfort and control over modern technological tools and will create an online digital portfolio.</i>
<i>This class would “replace” ninth grade English.</i>
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<b>Nutrition and Wellness/Human Biology: </b><i>S</i><i>tudents will examine the impact of nutrition on wellness by learning about diets, nutrients and the human body. Students will be introduced to the human species by studying human anatomy and physiology, physical fitness, genetics, and health.</i>
<i>Since the purpose of school is to prepare students for life, shouldn’t we include a class on nutrition and child care? Most of us will never truly use Algebra II or World History I, but most of us will eat, cook, and raise our own children.</i>
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<b>Fit for Life: </b><i>The goal of this course is for students to adopt a lifelong personal lifestyle that will achieve physical fitness. Students will identify and understand the various components of physical fitness including nutrition/diet, stress management, cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility.</i>
<i>I imagine this class could be completed outside of school as a blended class with occasional school-organized fitness opportunities in the community. I’d love for this class to be required for all 4 years.</i>
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<b>Driver’s Education</b>
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<b>American Studies</b> (2 credits) <i>Replacing an English and United States History class, this interdisciplinary course examines our nation and culture using literary, historical, visual, and social perspectives with an emphasis on our current world.</i>
<i>Students will examine: What does it mean to be American? How have race, gender, socioeconomic class, etc. shaped America? What are key ideas associated with America? Students will engage with primary and secondary sources of all kinds dealing with history, literature, culture, law, society, etc. There will be an emphasis on creativity, analytical skills, reading, critical thinking and verbal articulations.</i><br />
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<b>Citizenship Class</b> (2 credits)<i> This course offers students a chance to become a more engaged member of the community. Students will examine individual and state identities leading onto topics including democracy, justice, and the role of government. Students will examine an issue, undertake research into the issue and develop a plan of action. This community activity will link learning and life by connecting a meaningful community service project with academic learning and personal growth. Citizenship Studies enables learners to use and develop a range of skills such as communication, analyzing, advocacy, planning and collaboration.</i>
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<b>Geopolitics and Science</b> (2 credits) <i>Instead of progressing through Earth Science and World History textbooks, students will examine the world we live in through current events. Doing so provides instant relevancy. Students will take on the roles of historians, geologists, climatologists, theologians, etc.</i><br />
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<b>Two Interdisciplinary or Project-Based, Thematic Math Classes</b>
<i> If you look at the classes I’m recommending, I’m hoping you notice that my goal is to provide a purpose to each class so instructional units aren’t simply disconnected ideas. For example, World History should not be taught as it’s chronologically organized by textbooks, when a thematic approach is far superior. Far too many math classes are equally disconnected, lacking big ideas with no purpose. Much of what our students learn in math lacks context and purpose. Learn a new tool, practice, homework, quiz. Learn a new tool, practice, homework, quiz. Repeat 178 times. </i><br />
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Before you jump down my throat, I know there are many math teachers are doing great things in their classes and others feel handcuffed by state standards and end of course tests.
<i>Currently in Virginia, Algebra, Geometry and Algebra Functions Data Analysis or Algebra II are required for high school graduation. A <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/heres-how-little-math-americans-actually-use-at-work/275260/" target="_blank">study by Michael Handel </a>of Northeastern University revealed two important facts: less than a quarter of adults report using math any more complicated than basic fractions and percentages for their jobs. Equally important, the study discovered that some of the best blue-collar jobs require higher-level math; it’s not just the college-bound who need Algebra and above.</i>
<i>Across the Commonwealth and the United States, end-of-course math test scores are the lowest and serve as roadblocks to graduation. The answer to these issues lies in how we approach math. Less math isn’t the answer, rather we must embed math instruction into other classes to ensure it’s more engaging and meaningful. Instead of stand-alone math classes, math should be incorporated into STEM and CTE (Career Technical Education) classes or students--and teachers--can create project-based math classes. By revamping how we teach math, students will have the opportunity to apply and think mathematically instead of simply memorizing rules.</i>
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<b>These reforms, which dramatically challenge the status quo, emphasize relevancy; interdisciplinary instruction; and fewer, but deeper, more meaningful standards. </b>
Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-59283979794133480422016-04-10T16:17:00.002-07:002016-04-11T03:00:27.477-07:003 Challenges to Leading and How To Overcome Them <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRkNRHRPZT0KrQ_khuK-Xx4c9ZoQksDcS92MGx6OkL6dJjR2o15IWzFP3ylMjZWUXvMh2PwA4T6cl6jj4B-Nwh3JsIOF5DrYzy8ZAwWeFElmKmbpoaUoKtVbdrEE0H0QUjp7WvB-awmN2/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRkNRHRPZT0KrQ_khuK-Xx4c9ZoQksDcS92MGx6OkL6dJjR2o15IWzFP3ylMjZWUXvMh2PwA4T6cl6jj4B-Nwh3JsIOF5DrYzy8ZAwWeFElmKmbpoaUoKtVbdrEE0H0QUjp7WvB-awmN2/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a>Before I made the jump to administration, I rarely led professional development. I'd like to think that I had a lot to offer my peers. So although opportunities to lead PD were scarce, why didn't I ever take <br />
the lead?<br />
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Honestly, it comes down to one word: <b>FEAR</b>.<br />
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<b>Fear of Criticism</b><br />
As a leader, even if it's just temporary position, your shortcomings are often highlighted and your strengths are overlooked. Public criticism, or even worse, behind-the-back critiques can be the norm. As an administrator, criticism comes with the job, and I remember my first principal telling me, "Expect it. Take it. Get out ahead of it." It comes with the paycheck. Self-awareness is a must.<br />
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But for teachers, this burden is often too much. An excellent and innovative teacher, whom I've known for more than a decade, never lets fear hold her back. She pursued innovation and the opportunity to lead, but far too often cynical peers lambasted her for her efforts. We shared the same ideas and principles, but honestly, she was either stronger or more stubborn than I was because, as a teacher, I never had the courage to put myself out there.<br />
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While she was often a lone crusader, even when you work as part of a team, you face criticism. I worked closely with a voluntary group of about a dozen teachers who were responsible for the school improvement team and professional development. These highly dedicated, innovative and student-centered teachers faced a barrage of criticisms from their peers for their plan, leaving many to question their own efforts. <br />
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<b>Fear of Failure</b><br />
Faced with uncertainty of their efforts, these teachers feared that their efforts might fail. When all <i>The team by no means failed and the professional development model and school improvement plan were great successes. </i><br />
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eyes are on you, the pressure mounts and the fear of failure rises. For driven educators, failure is the worst thing in the world. <br />
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When we lead, failure is imminent. If we don't ever fail, are we actually leading? The best we can do is own up to our own mistakes, learn from them and make the necessary adjustments. <i> </i><br />
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<b>Fear of Innovation and Responsibility </b><br />
Many organizations, including schools, have deeply embedded cultures that fear change and innovation. In such organizations, mistakes are seen as failures. All feedback is seen as criticism. Growth goals are minimized to ensure they are easily met. Sadly, I worked for ten years in one school and over that time I saw little innovation; the status quo always won out.<i> If the leaders didn't seek change, why should I lead the charge? </i><br />
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Without the support of leaders, teachers will never feel comfortable expanding their comfort zones and growing. In a culture of learning, risk-taking and growth are encouraged. The expectation should be for teachers to explore and innovate with an understanding that mistakes will happen but only through the process will growth and excellence be met.<br />
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<i>I'm proud to say that I've become more comfortable taking risks, leading the way and no longer am I crippled by fear. I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps, it was the change in schools? Perhaps it was becoming an administrator? Or maybe, it's just been my own personal growth and the support and encouragement of others. Honestly, I'm probably also selling old-self a little short. Regardless, I hope to foster a culture of risk-taking and innovation where nobody is fearful. </i><br />
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<b>Related blogs </b><br />
<a href="http://reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2013/03/adminstrators-role-in-encouraging.html" target="_blank">Administrators Role in Encouraging Risk-Taking </a><br />
<a href="http://reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2013/02/jumping-out-of-comfort-zone.html" target="_blank">Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone </a><br />
<a href="http://www.reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2013/03/creating-risk-taking-classroom.html" target="_blank">Creating a Risk-Taking Classroom Environment </a><br />
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<br />Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-20988916779241136792016-04-06T17:41:00.001-07:002016-04-06T17:41:38.029-07:005 Barriers to Innovation <div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-8b023753-e101-7da9-c3e7-7ee0f37acb10" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dedicated educators are constantly asking themselves this question as we strive to create innovative learning experiences for our students. We need--our students need--new ideas and inventions that fly in the face of the status quo and transform our schools.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While our education systems has made great strides in recent memory, we need to do more. So why aren’t we making the necessary innovations? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5 Barriers to Innovation </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Isolation </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Many teachers believe, “I’m doing fine. My students are doing fine,” they shut their classroom doors and go about their business. Even the most reflective teacher, who remains isolated, lacks the ability to share and learn from others. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxmK3HEmUbTmqxbuPykKPep8dvZo1fj82eggI2iF2PliJzr1dNTBuc_lLk_tEgo75RHcEabIwngvEWVJOlzoYfI7Sv7UxggcK6_TZmHEG5W0E1dJJBZSOuCmrEoaiQlSycRvptveRf2m0/s1600/hkellerquote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxmK3HEmUbTmqxbuPykKPep8dvZo1fj82eggI2iF2PliJzr1dNTBuc_lLk_tEgo75RHcEabIwngvEWVJOlzoYfI7Sv7UxggcK6_TZmHEG5W0E1dJJBZSOuCmrEoaiQlSycRvptveRf2m0/s200/hkellerquote.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For many years, I was an isolated teacher, one who was successful but whose growth was limited by my isolation. I was perfectly content to shut my classroom door and teach. In truth, it wasn’t until I became an administrator that my perspective widened as I began observing and communicating with peers. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Budgetary Constraints </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Expansive collaboration--like shared collaborative planning time--requires time and money and many innovative ideas require increased funding. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For ten years, I was part of a high-functioning freshman transition team. As part of our vision, we wanted to go to 1:1 technology. Our school administration was on board, we asked the higher ups for money, but alas no money was available. We wrote grant or two. Again a no go. We gave up. Back to traditional paper and pencil teaching. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Risk Intolerance</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">: A child’s future is in the hands of his/her teachers. A failed standardized test can mean a student doesn’t graduate. Of course, many teachers are either formally or informally judged based on their students’ test scores. School communities, including the families they serve, are not risk tolerant. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After taking my class, students took a state-mandated standardized test; for many of my students this was their best chance to earn a required social studies credit. I’m proud to say that my students did extremely well on the test. But, knowing the “importance” of the test, I was always reluctant to take a risk, weighing the risks vs the consequences, far too often I stuck with the status quo. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fads</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Filled with cynicism, many teachers see the next wave of innovation as a fad. I heard one teacher exclaim, “I’ve been doing this for so long. I’ve seen it all. Portfolios, technology, project-based learning. It’s all the same. It’ll come and it’ll go. Just like everything else.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Innovative ideas, whether a fad or not, often complicate teachers’ work leading to disheveled implementation, dumbed-down instruction and ineffective instruction. Finding the appropriate balance between improvement and innovation </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Control </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Who controls the decision-making in your school? In one system where I taught we were prohibited from straying from the state curriculum. Observing administrators opened up the state framework and tallied instructional time into three categories (black: directly related to the prescribed curriculum, white: outside of what should be taught, and gray: information that falls somewhere between black and white). Needless to say, “effective” teachers spent most instructional time in the black. Teachers were rewarded for PowerPoints that essentially copied and pasted from the state curriculum. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In writing this blog, I came across the stark realization that schools were not designed to innovate and are inherently risk avoidant. Innovation is risky, causing many people to run away from it and it’s almost become reflexive for many educators to say, “We’ve never done this before,” or “That won’t work.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Too often we fall back on what is easy, what’s known or what’s comfortable. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We despiritedly ask, "Why bother?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Innovation means working towards our ultimate goal of improving lives. Our mission as educators is to ensure each student reaches their potential, and we must constantly explore ways to ensure this happens. We must do what's best for our students. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What are some barriers to innovation that you've experienced? Or better yet, that you've overcome? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Related Blogs </u></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2013/03/creating-risk-taking-classroom.html" target="_blank">Creating a Risk-Taking Classroom</a> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2013/03/adminstrators-role-in-encouraging.html" target="_blank">Administrators Role in Encouraging Risk-Taking </a> </span><br />
<br />Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-40601505661315115712016-03-10T02:26:00.000-08:002016-03-10T02:26:01.397-08:00Why Wait, Be More Dog<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Our Compelled Tribe theme this week revolves around a presentation given by Jennifer Hogan and Craig Vroom at NASSP’s (National Association of Secondary School Principals) Ignite Conference: Be More Dog. </span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LB8dD9c5AgA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LB8dD9c5AgA?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In the video a cat has a eureka moment; decides that his life is boring and takes on the role of a dog. In essence the cat stepped out of his comfort zone, did the unexpected, and was rewarded with a life of excitement by being more dog. </span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To dogs life is amazing </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Carpe diem, grab the Frisbee </span></i></b></div>
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<i><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are many things to explore and experience. </span></b></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Like most of us, I’ve had a handful of Be More Dog moments where I’ve seized the moment, but most recently I took a new job in a new city. After two decades of living and working in Warrenton, Virginia a distant exburb of Washington, DC, I took an assistant principal position in Charlottesville, Virginia. While professionally the move was essentially a parallel move from one assistant principalship to another, I realized there were many new things to explore and experience both professionally and personally.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Like the life of a cat, my “previous” life was fine. I was comfortable--maybe too comfortable. But professionally I was ready for a new challenge. Personally, I was ready to hit the restart button. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My new position presented several unique opportunities. As Dr. Moran, my new superintendent, told me several times, “We do things differently here.” I left behind a very high-performing, but very traditional school, for one with more challenges but one that was always looking to push the envelope. Simply put, there’s a recognition in Albemarle County that the traditional way isn’t what’s best and risk-taking is encouraged. Of course, inherent to risk-taking are failures but by embracing this innovator’s mindset, Monticello High School is at the forefront of technology, non-traditional learning, maker spaces and so much more. This new professional chapter of my life, while being overwhelming at times, has been exciting. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWrHWi81XS1ttqWcySSsVId7hrA3JcXOAegUKuVyAAT4uHP3VkpBlU3F5dfbDzxedIeRMBzL7Ml0vhAjr2Sw-7d17wXA5kO0u3TV7wAni5QykNMJ13j4CZTZz8MRmr0fRdkJtfx7nTfFP/s1600/wooden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWrHWi81XS1ttqWcySSsVId7hrA3JcXOAegUKuVyAAT4uHP3VkpBlU3F5dfbDzxedIeRMBzL7Ml0vhAjr2Sw-7d17wXA5kO0u3TV7wAni5QykNMJ13j4CZTZz8MRmr0fRdkJtfx7nTfFP/s200/wooden.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxO-Ngdjlq2YAc4SZUzLCchLDANcPGw7Dpdg01HKUkQk5cWlMfFxwNTnH7adWi8Tl7d1FO42LwuSo32fmfyMvZ-T3mAhhNsBT1-HcHOPuSYXQMg5Faj51eol0SChGnlWIJT2HUa80xw3EJ/s1600/Flickr_2768192221_Charlottesville_City_Hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxO-Ngdjlq2YAc4SZUzLCchLDANcPGw7Dpdg01HKUkQk5cWlMfFxwNTnH7adWi8Tl7d1FO42LwuSo32fmfyMvZ-T3mAhhNsBT1-HcHOPuSYXQMg5Faj51eol0SChGnlWIJT2HUa80xw3EJ/s320/Flickr_2768192221_Charlottesville_City_Hall.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Being recently divorced, the move meant being farther from my children and this weighed heavily in my “don’t move” thinking. But ultimately I saw the move as an opportunity to experience and explore. Honestly, I knew little of Charlottesville, other than it being about 2 hours away from my previous home. Friends spoke highly of it. A couple web searches revealed that for a small city, it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">played </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">big. As John Wooden said, “It’s not how big you are, it’s how big you play,” and Charlottesville played big. Indeed, I’ve fallen in love with Charlottesville. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Eight months in, I’m still learning, adjusting and improving. I’m glad I took the risk. The rewards have been incredible and I’m a better person because of it. </span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why wait? Be more dog. </span></b></div>
Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-64788585901959860722016-03-09T04:01:00.000-08:002016-03-09T04:01:08.389-08:0010 Take-Away Statements From Engaging Students With Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen<br />
<ol>
<li>50% of student outcomes come from <b>What a Teacher Does</b></li>
<li>Learning is social. Half the class should be spent with social interaction, cooperative learning. </li>
<li>Students can only respond with emotions they know and have</li>
<li>Students from lower socio-economic status are less likely to have positive interactions with their parents. In higher-income families the ratio of positive conversations to negative conversations was 6 to 1. The numbers shifted dramatically for middle-income families to 2:1 (positive to negative). For lower-income families, the ratio shifted to 1:2 (positive-to-negative). 3 to 1 is considered optimal for human growth. </li>
<li>Schools with low trust have a 1 in 7 chance of student growth in reading and math. Schools with strong climates of trust have a 1 in chance. </li>
<li>Building a strong working memory takes only 5-10 minutes of practice a day for 8-12 weeks. </li>
<li>Low SES students are more likely than their higher-SES peers to have auditory processing and language deficits. </li>
<li>There's no such thing as an unmotivated student; there are only students in unmotivated states, sitting in demotivating classrooms. </li>
<li>Teachers who score high in "life satisfaction," meaning they feel content with their personal and professional lives, are a whopping 43 percent more likely to produce significant achievement gains in the classroom than their less satisfied peers. </li>
<li>And as always: Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. </li>
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Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-7984487886441472022016-03-09T02:39:00.001-08:002016-03-09T02:39:08.588-08:00Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen <iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxEB32psimZXd0tsVTZuZTVxSGc/preview" width="630" height="480"></iframe>Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-10099156117678405632016-02-01T16:30:00.003-08:002016-02-01T16:30:45.928-08:00The Power of Teamwork <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>“A school community is like a ship. Everyone must be prepared to take the helm.”</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Roland Barth) </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-527b63a7-9f5b-c975-d0e8-f12216cd42d7" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Too few people realize that a group can accomplish what an individual alone cannot. Sadly, teamwork and collaboration are not prevalent in many schools. Despite all the challenges educators face, often we isolate ourselves. As a young teacher, I truly believed that I would make a positive difference in every student’s life--that I would be THE difference-maker, but I erroneously, and perhaps arrogantly, thought I could do it alone.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGf9XqO2bJezZUOerPNwnMovEci2xOuioHI0WieOgGhKPRp6rpwENeXwIp4e5QfCKUb0Tc1BD1jLzWTsHfP4p8hrWjT5DGIjBZ0QGnwaNlFR_VoPwN3JJAVHb-JS2chHyRSU8RfoO4mk0U/s1600/blue+angels.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGf9XqO2bJezZUOerPNwnMovEci2xOuioHI0WieOgGhKPRp6rpwENeXwIp4e5QfCKUb0Tc1BD1jLzWTsHfP4p8hrWjT5DGIjBZ0QGnwaNlFR_VoPwN3JJAVHb-JS2chHyRSU8RfoO4mk0U/s320/blue+angels.JPG" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.navy.mil/viewGallery.asp?id=29&page=50&r=4</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite my best efforts--I was always one of the first to arrive and the last to leave--by working in isolation, I limited my ability to advance as a teacher and thus hurt my students. I was too proud to ask for help (side note: I remember struggling with my junior/senior psychology class, which was made up of 24 female students and 1 male all of whom were just a couple of years younger than me, and seeking the advice of my administrators only to be rebuffed with flippant comments...that didn’t help change my perspective). </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We cannot close our classroom doors and just go about our business, either fighting the battle by ourselves or scared to admit that we need help. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my 7th year, my school began a freshman transition program. At the heart of the program was the collaborative planning time, an unfortunate rarity in American education. Teaching the most challenging students in the school, I soon realized that I could accomplish more and be far more effective if I was willing to share ideas, ask for help and offer support. Teamwork. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Almost by luck, we each brought our own diverse styles to the team. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>pleaser</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: This teacher was all about his students’ emotional well-being. He didn’t see himself as a subject-matter teacher and would sacrifice instructional time to talk to students. He focused most of his energy on getting to know his students and their lives outside of the classroom. Of course, knowing this, his students often purposefully side-tracked him so teaching and learning became secondary, but his students also confided in him. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>professional</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: This teacher enjoyed teaching and saw each lesson plan as a personal challenge. He was a practitioner who applied data and research-proven strategies to teaching. While recognizing the need to build relationships with students, instruction sat in the front seat. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>pragmatist</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: This teacher was new to the profession and entered the teaching profession to make a difference but also to have time with her young children. She was the person who would just sit in our meetings, not say much, and just soak up the information.She was even-keeled, consistent and rational. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>regular</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: This teacher was straight-down the middle. He was old-school, loved his subject and had seen it all. While he loved his job, he rarely showed emotion (positive or negative) as he’d seen it all. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While we each had our own strengths and weaknesses, together we made an exceptional team (by the way I was the “professional”). While we each had our own strengths and weaknesses, like most teachers, we shared an overarching desire to ensure the success of our students. The experience of collaborating with these teachers, strengthened me as a teacher. I focused more energy on building relationships with every student. I became a better listener and asked questions that I didn’t have the answer to. I learned that when we isolate ourselves, we limit our success. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the next ten years, many teachers cycled through the freshman transition program. The success of our teaching--and ultimately, our students--hinged on our ability to lean on each other and share ideas. Through teamwork and collaboration, we build meaningful connections, reducing our stress and improving student outcomes. Only once we establish an expectation of teamwork and connectedness, will each staff member view themselves as something larger and greater. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>“Coming together is a beginning. </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Keeping together is progress. </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Working together is success.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>” </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~Henry Ford</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I’d be remiss, if I didn’t give a shout-out to some of the high functioning, highly successful teams I’ve been part of including administration teams to our RTI team to the School Improvement team, and many of the teams I coached. </i></span></div>
<br />Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-73717280357096141322015-10-04T09:47:00.001-07:002015-10-04T09:47:51.240-07:00Reflections from EdLeader21 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiaWR9D5mm81F-QASX2Lueta0XMc4j0E447u6yPc11xazkVCLbK1tDCxNrosP503FSfoMOxw4R5xL4ibujkYw9PZMpeGviiJtqXQAR7BKmGGggMs2PRZ1c5Igr38hnIcTQVJMo7OfP7JG/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BK6BvoDaUggOMD87o8x9Zz8mdZrEwuEToWPfeNa6l9vx_6Yyaew3H89iZQRJXLZMFE6P7DCILtEIxzk9Ukmfd0UftG99GfqGwOWGxilUP85gXNbCddfIsPseK50ruy2B7ZMhs5df07xl/s1600/FullSizeRender%255B2%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BK6BvoDaUggOMD87o8x9Zz8mdZrEwuEToWPfeNa6l9vx_6Yyaew3H89iZQRJXLZMFE6P7DCILtEIxzk9Ukmfd0UftG99GfqGwOWGxilUP85gXNbCddfIsPseK50ruy2B7ZMhs5df07xl/s200/FullSizeRender%255B2%255D.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the EdLeader21 Conference in Dallas, Texas. Whenever, an educator attends a conference--at least one that's halfway decent--it's tempting to go back to school the next day and try to implement anything and everything. Of course, this leads to failure. Fortunately, Ken Kay and the EdLeaders seem to understand that as they challenged us to grab low-hanging fruits and to plant seeds.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">As a new assistant principal, I've already made some small tweaks, but I'm still seeking to understand my new school, so I surely won't be very aggressive when I return to school on Monday.</span><br />
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<b>Low-hanging fruit</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6RikZ_bIjybJoIkNRQ055HIItnSkUExlNlVstt1uMdNB1FK10xQ70mxhXUcVRh9t50VVM6v9MQH6a9Jag2YfQl1DhgX9GXQW2I2a1NYUywu1p1Wpc1UTBlhk7Nty52j2sE0uthyphenhyphenMCBr3/s1600/low+hanging+fruit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6RikZ_bIjybJoIkNRQ055HIItnSkUExlNlVstt1uMdNB1FK10xQ70mxhXUcVRh9t50VVM6v9MQH6a9Jag2YfQl1DhgX9GXQW2I2a1NYUywu1p1Wpc1UTBlhk7Nty52j2sE0uthyphenhyphenMCBr3/s200/low+hanging+fruit.jpg" width="200" /></a>I oversee our school's SBIT (School-based Intervention Team, part of our RTI process) and want to ensure we do a better job of understanding the needs of students referred to this team. So, I've developed a quick survey that students can complete online or on paper to better understand their needs. This will help us personalize learning experiences and increase student learning.<br />
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<b>Harder to reach fruit</b></div>
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Our PLC's are at different places for a variety of reasons, so these goals will be differentiated. </div>
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<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6R-jxyElx74QV6GZKcUXiJ4v7ErPwyU3VMhf2obI8aqYMW05vxDSu85-I2F3ivSQnGzCtZ0pXiW1U6ckwBHsG__Pi1QOcdyQ-daFXeIG6qVKz6khdBnWNxaW-lTuH5j_miitGg_DEexql/s1600/high+hanging+fruit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6R-jxyElx74QV6GZKcUXiJ4v7ErPwyU3VMhf2obI8aqYMW05vxDSu85-I2F3ivSQnGzCtZ0pXiW1U6ckwBHsG__Pi1QOcdyQ-daFXeIG6qVKz6khdBnWNxaW-lTuH5j_miitGg_DEexql/s200/high+hanging+fruit.jpg" width="150" /></a>
<li>Use PLC's to answer, <i>To what extent does our teaching emphasize the 4 C's (Communication, Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking)? What percentage of our assessments require the 4 C's? </i></li>
<li>Challenge PLC's to ensure we make the shift from acquisition of knowledge to a deeper understanding and application of skills and knowledge?</li>
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At the EdLeader21 Conference Tony Wagner stated, "Isolation is the killer of innovation." From the teacher side, we must provide time and resources for our PLCs to innovate. Additionally, our teachers are doing some great things within their classrooms, but too often they're doing things in isolation. I'd love to see our teachers publicize these great things and open their classrooms to their peers. In addition, I hope teachers will open their classrooms to their peers, so that we can continue to learn from each other. </div>
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Examine how we can turn professional learning opportunities into a collaborative and creative process by providing teachers with choices but ensuring it is student-driven and research-based. I'm exploring use of badges and a monthly challenge. </div>
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<b>Planting seeds</b></div>
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Explore ways to develop project-based learning to ensure our students receive a coherent, viable and guaranteed curriculum that engages them in the 4 C's. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEDn2xALQVfqZ1X_A8Z3PLXC7Tqxf2h0SZu-2-EaLRkSq3Nc5xB4Ffq9jUWx0wkicP2xHG59AN2pA5ezaiMeRYbrE56X9muCbgUJRkE9Vj9agd8pAdNFKDPXBZpmNfzTpWvQK07fqdFLo/s1600/planting-seeds+jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEDn2xALQVfqZ1X_A8Z3PLXC7Tqxf2h0SZu-2-EaLRkSq3Nc5xB4Ffq9jUWx0wkicP2xHG59AN2pA5ezaiMeRYbrE56X9muCbgUJRkE9Vj9agd8pAdNFKDPXBZpmNfzTpWvQK07fqdFLo/s200/planting-seeds+jpg.jpg" width="200" /></a>Give students more control over their learning so students are engaged in their learning rather than merely complying with school, district and state requirements?</div>
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Challenge PLCs to develop means of increasing student choice and examine how we assess our students with a move towards project-based learning, portfolios, and culminating assessments. </div>
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Explore ways that we can expand our internship and individual research programs </div>
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I challenge myself to constantly evaluate <i>How students experience learning at Monticello High School? Is the teaching and learning aligned with our standards and the 4 C's? </i><br />
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<b>Conclusion </b><br />
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Of course, none of this will be possible without the dedication and hard work of our committed and forward-thinking faculty and staff. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by educators who understand we can't continue to use test scores as the major means of assessment, whether they be state end of course tests or classroom tests, and we will not be able to refocus ourselves unless we focus on the 4 C's because they are what really matter.<br />
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While state standards and their corresponding tests represent hurdles, as educators if we follow the 4 C's (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking) we will<b> Embrace Students, Inspire Learning and Innovate Opportunities. </b><br />
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<b><br /></b>Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-50142357571355332982015-08-08T09:01:00.002-07:002015-08-09T16:19:17.882-07:00At the Heart of Every Great Administrator...<h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">For me August 19 marks not just the beginning of a new school year but an entirely new adventure as I begin my journey as an assistant principal at a new school in a new district. While I have specific goals, like improving general education-special education teacher collaboration, my ultimate goal is to build relationships with students, teachers, staff and the community. I strive to be visible, make myself accessible to everyone and, most importantly to listen and learn from everyone. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Building Relationships with Students</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">As an administrator, one of my favorite times of the day has always been lunch because it affords me the opportunity to interact and converse with students, but building relationships extends way beyond the 30 minute lunch period. It begins by greeting students as they enter the building, whether it's as they get off the buses or saying hello in the hallways and it doesn't end until my head hits the pillow. Student relationships are at the heart of everything we do. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Of course, all administrators aim to spend time in classrooms to provide critical feedback for teachers, but it also presents a great opportunity to build relationships with students. Instead of simply observing the teacher and learning, I use this time to interact with students by asking pointed questions, participating in class, and taking pictures. Classroom observations are also a great leaping point for future conversations."What did you do after I left?" "How'd the rest of the class go?" "Tell me what happened after I left." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">I view any and every interaction, whether it's a disciplinary referral, running into them at the grocery story or even a brief interaction on Twitter, as an opportunity to forge relationships. But I also believe it's important to be create deliberate occasions to interact with students. There are many ways to do this, whether it is through <a href="http://reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2012/12/positive-referrals.html" target="_blank">positive referrals</a>, attending extra-curricular activities or applauding a student's effort or accomplishment with a hand-written note, a phone call or just a pat on the back. Through it all, I strive to create relationships and an environment that's positive and supportive, where above all else, students know I care about them. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Teachers Deserve Feedback and So Much More </b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">As an administrator, I understand that I can convey my values explicitly through observations and, more importantly, with the conversations that follow. I want teachers to see that I care about what they do; that I see the big picture and it's not just about grades, test scores and other data points. Of course at times I'll provide constructive criticism. At other times, it'll be necessary to provide training or support. But most of the time, it means applauding their great effort and simply getting out of their way. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">For the past couple of years, I've tried to hand-write five notes per week to recognize excellence and effort and I'll be sure to do so again this year. Ultimately, I want teachers to know I believe in them; that I have confidence in them and it's my job to ensure that they can do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible. </span><br />
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<b>Can't Forget about Families and the Community </b><br />
With all that we do for our students and staff, it's often easy to forget about or put off building relationships with families and the community. My new school, Monticello High School, places a great importance on fostering these relationships with various community events and we've had several conversations about home visits and expanding our efforts. I'm fortunate to live minutes from school, so I'll have countless opportunities for informal interactions with community members and families, but again, I know I must do more. I'll continue with my <a href="http://reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2013/01/friday-five.html" target="_blank">Friday Five</a>, in which I randomly call five families on Fridays to seek their input and feedback, and I'll continually seek ways to engage families.</div>
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As an administrator, I'm blessed to have the opportunity every single day to build relationships with students, staff and families. When I began my administrative career five years ago, I feared that I wouldn't be able to have the same kind of relationship with students as I did as a teacher. While in many ways the relationships are different, the opportunity to watch students grow from freshmen to seniors is perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of my job. By reaching out and embracing students, staff and families, I hope the message is clear:<b> "We're all in this together. Our commitment to our children/students is evident in everything that we do." </b></div>
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Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-16914796724010046292015-03-08T07:23:00.000-07:002015-03-08T07:23:44.563-07:00Digital Tools for Digital Leaders Digital learning Day is March 13, so I wanted to use this opportunity to share several digital tools that I use a school leader and a one that I hope to make more use of. School leaders must be willing to integrate digital tools to meet the needs of today's teachers and students.<br />
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Six years ago I created a Twitter account for my classroom. I tweeted the homework assignments, a summary of class and occasionally posted an question for students. This was one of the few times that I was ahead of the students in regards to technology and digital tools as the account never gained more than ten followers. <br />
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Since then, and corresponding to my switch from teacher to administrator, Twitter has exploded. Twitter allows me to connect to other educators, who like me are reflective and are constantly seeking improvement. I routinely participate in several Twitter chats and host #vachat (Mondays at 8ET). Twitter has been a game-changer! <br />
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When asked about my favorite tech tools, I tend to overlook Google Drive; perhaps because it's so ubiquitous, I don't even realize how often I use it. Google Docs allow me to share and, more importantly, collaborate with colleagues. Google Forms allows me to collect classroom observation data, conduct surveys and recently I've created forms to monitor to behavior and academic progress for select students. <br />
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Remind allows me to send blast text messages to our students and parents. We have six remind accounts (1 for each of our classes, 1 for faculty and 1 for our student mentors). We use Remind to send out information about schedule changes--recently our Remind account has gotten a lot of work because of all the snow days and delay. We'll also use it to remind students and families of important dates, deadlines and events. With the Remind app, it's a quick, easy--and free--way to send out information. <br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/wxRrsWd0p88sQ_Cvb9fnshBGzYHRjpEfI8mn7qK85mYvzbjQBhrme3KASD6WEOAP6Q=w300" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://iserotope.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Flipboard-Icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://iserotope.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Flipboard-Icon.jpg" height="200" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><br />
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Zite and Flipboard (Zite was recently bought by Flipboard) both learn your interests and tailor articles from across the web to my unique interests.<br />
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Although I've had a Voxer account for more than a year, I'm just know beginning to actually make use of it. Like Twitter, Voxer is another digital tool that allows for communication and collaboration. Voxer allows me to "chat" with others through text or voice messages either one-to-one or as a member of a group chat. I have joined a couple of groups and in the future I look to start a couple of groups of my own. What separates Voxer from Twitter is the ability to hear a person's voice, which makes it more personal, and you're not limited to 140 characters. <br />
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<br />Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-51067483765417358552015-02-18T06:44:00.000-08:002015-02-18T06:44:01.772-08:00Tough Love<div>
As a freshman in high school, I was shy, timid and extremely introverted. Fortunately, I had several teachers who believed in me and helped me mature and break out of my shell (I blogged about them <a href="http://reedgillespie.blogspot.com/2014/03/helping-student-me-break-out-of-my-shell.html" target="_blank">here</a>), but it was my health teacher who made a lasting impact on my life. </div>
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As a freshman, I was grade-centric--unfortunately I became less focused on academic progress as a sophomore, but that's for another blog. My GPA stood right around 4.0, my teachers loved me, and my classmates looked at me as a top student (i.e. they viewed me as a nerd). But, I was still inordinately shy. </div>
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My health teacher, Coach Smith, saw both my strengths and weaknesses as a student, and more importantly, as a whole person. One day, after countless attempts to engage me in class discussions, Mr. Smith had seen enough of my quietness. Perhaps my incessant "I don't know" answers to questions that had no wrong answers or ones where I clearly knew the answer, caused him to snap, "Reed, see me after class." </div>
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As a bespectacled ninth grader, I barely tipped the scales at 90lbs; Coach Smith, on the other hand, was the prototypical coach, built like barrel with a no nonsense demeanor. For the rest of the class, I sweated bullets. Never before had a teacher demanded that I stick around after class. Right before class dismissed, Mr. Smith pointed to me and motioned for me to come into the hallway. I don't ever recall being so nervous. </div>
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In his typical direct manner he pointed his finger at me, "You're too smart to act so stupid. When I call on you, I expect you to answer and not with 'I don't know.' Class participation is a big part of your grade in this class and if you don't get it together, you're going to fail. Do I make myself clear?" </div>
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I stammered out a timid, "Yes, sir." </div>
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While I didn't change overnight, Coach Smith's tough love approach forced me to participate. In time I actually became comfortable participating in class. Over the next three years, my relationship with Coach Smith grew stronger. By my senior year, I recognized that his hallway "talk" with me was nothing more than a veiled threat--there was no way he was going to fail me--but at the time I was clueless to that. Coach took advantage of my gullibility and recognized the best way to change me was to scare me. His tough love talk took only thirty seconds, but it made a lifetime of a difference. </div>
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Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-19629996191454769692014-11-09T14:42:00.000-08:002014-11-16T13:08:16.805-08:00Do We Need Parent-Teacher Conferences? A Better Alternative <style>
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We just wrapped up our most recent round of parent-teacher
conferences. Attendance was dismal. </div>
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The poor attendance caused me to reflect, “Why was
attendance so low?” </div>
<ul>
<li>With student grades being updated regularly online, parents know
how their children are doing. </li>
<li>Our teachers and counselors regularly communicate with
families, sharing positive news, student progress, and student challenges.
They’ve reached out to parents of struggling students, so phone calls and
conferences with many parents have already been held prior to Parent-Teacher
Conference night. </li>
<li>By high school, many parents have heard the same thing for
years about their child. </li>
</ul>
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The idea behind parent-teacher conferences—to support
student success through engaging parents—is commendable, but if parents aren’t
attending, we must look at other ways to create shared school-family
responsibility to support student learning and development. </div>
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So what if, instead of parent-teacher conferences, we used
the allotted and required parent-teacher conference days to plan for and
conduct Student Showcases? </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXY-Ox8ZAY6RWNPXWulcwsD3bjbdLn4lZMYkEhVXY8PFg9smJlDy0MwafO7JUNoM9wtcgJaHkdgDIXXDXQaVKGQtXzptOT3bM5dgfHlWWKy_WfPjhlb3ZPxmnycE4eZoZbC3QmhMGiQWbZ/s1600/classroom+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXY-Ox8ZAY6RWNPXWulcwsD3bjbdLn4lZMYkEhVXY8PFg9smJlDy0MwafO7JUNoM9wtcgJaHkdgDIXXDXQaVKGQtXzptOT3bM5dgfHlWWKy_WfPjhlb3ZPxmnycE4eZoZbC3QmhMGiQWbZ/s1600/classroom+.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many classrooms sat empty during our most recent parent-teacher conferences. Maybe it's time we look for alternatives</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b>What’s a Student Showcase?</b></div>
<ul>
<li>An annual event where families, community members and others
are invited</li>
<li>An experiences that highlights student work, creativity,
discovery, ingenuity, research, innovation, 21<sup>st</sup>-century skills, and
more </li>
<li>A forum that engages students, families and community </li>
<li>A means of communicating all the wonderful work our
students/children and teachers do </li>
<li>Opportunities for students to present their work, interact
with the public and gain valuable experiences that extend beyond the classroom </li>
<li>A way for students to connect with members of the community,
potentially leading to jobs or other opportunities </li>
</ul>
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<b>Possible Student Showcase Ideas: </b></div>
<ul>
<li>Culinary students perform cooking demonstrations. </li>
<li>Choir, orchestra and band
classes give small, intimate concerts. </li>
<li>Senior capstone students share their projects with
community members. </li>
<li>Students in floral design hold workshops for families,
allowing families to learn the tricks-of-the-trade. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></li>
<li>English, foreign language, and social studies
classes present projects, make speeches, conduct Socratic Seminars,
recite poetry, etc. with families in attendance.</li>
<li>Students in Career-Technical Education classes present and
demonstrate their projects. </li>
<li>Art students display their works.</li>
<li>Science students conduct and explain labs or projects to
community members. </li>
<li>Students in health and PE teach some of the unique games
they play to their families or present some of their health projects to
families. </li>
<li>Students in film analysis showcase their films. </li>
<li>Computer programming students share their programs and games.
</li>
</ul>
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I know a school-wide event like this requires immense planning and time, things that educators don't exactly have a lot of, so it would require
some tweaking to our school calendar and some other minor changes. But, I also
view the <b>Student Showcase as an opportunity to celebrate student growth and
excellence</b>, things that we can never do enough of. </div>
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As a parent, I know I’d be excited and eager to attend an
event like this. </div>
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Maybe it’s time we scrap, the traditional parent-teacher
conferences for something different, something better. Let me know your
thoughts below.</div>
Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-46405308400173609512014-10-19T09:38:00.000-07:002014-11-16T13:14:10.791-08:0010 Ways Being a Connected Educator Transformed MeLike many educators, becoming a connected educator transformed my professional life. Prior to becoming a connected educator my professional network was quite limited. Limited, in fact, to a handful of teachers with whom I ate lunch or talked to as we ran off copies. Becoming a connected educator exposed me to a network of peers and experts who are committed to improving teaching and learning, each willing to share their favorite strategies, resources, and more.<br />
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My Top 10<br />
<ol>
<li><b>#Edfocus</b> One of the first twitter chats I was exposed to @MrBernia, @mccoyderek, @BurkheadBill and others showed me the power of Twitter. My journey into becoming a Connected Educator had begun. </li>
<li><b>Reading blogs </b>Out of fear of not including several blogs that I routinely read, I'll quote Will Richardson, "The ability to share and connect with many, many others of like minds and interests" has transformed my learning and my own professional experiences. Of course, Will's quote applies to all "things connected" from Twitter to webinars to Voxer, but the depth associated with blogs has clearly transformed me. </li>
<li><b>My own blogs </b>This blog, my far too sporadic entries on <a href="http://www.brilliant-insane.com/" target="_blank">Brilliant or Insane</a>, and my Cougar Communication blog all require<b> </b>reflection and greater understanding. Through my own blogging, I've been connected to more educators, leading to increased communication and collaboration and ultimately I've become better because of it. </li>
<li><b>#ptchat</b> I'm proud to say that I've been a regular participant in #ptchat from the beginning. @Joe_Mazza is an inspirational lead learner and someone I've learned so much from. Conversations on #ptchat have ranged from Bully Prevention to Using Technology to Engage Parents to Back to School Nights. </li>
<li><b>#satchat </b>No other chat has taken off quite like #satchat. Moderators @bradmcurrie @ScottRRocco have created a platform for superintendents, central office personnel, school-based administrators, teachers and anyone else interested in improving education. I've heard Brad describe #satchat as a one-stop place for administrators to share and learn from each other. I wholeheartedly agree! </li>
<li>#<b>iaedchat</b> and #<b>edchatri </b>The inspiration behind #vachat (see #7) </li>
<li><b>#vachat</b> Along with @philgriffins, I co-host #vachat every Monday at 8ET (Shameless plug). But seriously, inspired by the likes of all the previously mentioned twitter chats, we--along with @Dr_TravisBurns--saw the need for a twitter chat for Virginia educators. Of course, like all the aforementioned chats, our chat has become much more global. Serving as a moderator surely isn't easy (coming up with a topic and questions is much more daunting than I ever would've imagined). The topics I choose are often ones that I'm struggling with, so I'm able to take what I learn and immediately apply it. </li>
<li><b>#sblchat </b>Like #ptchat, standards-based learning chat meets every Wednesday at 9ET and I'm proud to say I've been part of it since its launching. No other chat includes so many experts (@RickWormeli2, @kenoc7, @myrondueck, and others are regular participants). Personally, before going into administration I had slowly been making the shift to standards-based grading, and I don't think anything transformed my teaching and instruction as much as my shift to SBG. I continue to learn from the #sblchat (I wish it had been around when I was still in the classroom!) </li>
<li><b>Edcamps</b> If I wasn't connected, I never would have experienced an edcamp, the best professional development conferences ever! </li>
<li><b>Exposure to New Technologies </b>As an educator, it's important that we not only teach our content, we must also teach and expose our students to technologies that they will use outside of school and that will enhance their learning. Of course, the only way to do so, is to be a connected educator. We can't simply sit on the sidelines; we must be innovative practitioners.</li>
</ol>
Being a connected educator has enabled me to take full advantage of the above opportunities. Being a connected has stimulated my development as an educator. Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-4747508356645490522014-10-06T17:32:00.000-07:002014-10-06T17:32:14.581-07:00Instead of Seeking to Control...Many teachers don't understand the difference between being in control and controlling. As a novice teacher, I clearly didn't know the difference resulting in poor classroom management, student-teacher conflict, and student learning suffered. Seeking to control, I became controlling. <br />
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During my first year teaching, I had one particularly challenging class, one that consisted of some of the school's best and brightest students. Yet every day represented increasing conflict, so I sought my administrator's advice. Failing to see the root of the problem--students weren't challenged and I was over-controlling--we developed a system to monitor and hopefully change their behaviors.<br />
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I created a spreadsheet with each of their names and various symbols. Every day they earned or lost points based on their effort, behavior, preparedness, etc. After all, I needed to show the class who was in charge.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZt-TqocghmN0DbByVf6a1eU4Vz4cQJLRRgUTYoYg-G3JUodM-PYuiIRSv4CMr0QFytA_Mu8lf6pG2wam1C1-w-WBSLf5VMfYGijYRHLHmvHEq-G7OjCxtM4svORD7H_waSAl8g0x439J/s1600/student+tracker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZt-TqocghmN0DbByVf6a1eU4Vz4cQJLRRgUTYoYg-G3JUodM-PYuiIRSv4CMr0QFytA_Mu8lf6pG2wam1C1-w-WBSLf5VMfYGijYRHLHmvHEq-G7OjCxtM4svORD7H_waSAl8g0x439J/s1600/student+tracker.JPG" height="183" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An example of my ineffective classroom management tracking tool. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i></i><br />
For a day or two it worked beautifully. Slowly though, power struggles materialized. Then total combustion.<br />
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A student, I'll call him Devin, approached me at the start of class and asked to go to his locker for his textbook. But since the bell had rung, I told him he would be marked tardy or unprepared. The eighth-grader judiciously offered a reason for not having his textbook, but I stood firm. <i>Rules are rules. I'm in control. </i><br />
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Begrudgingly, he took his seat while mumbling under his breath. I turned to him and told him that he was being disruptive and duly noted such on my spreadsheet. More points off.<br />
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<i>I was winning, right? </i><br />
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About halfway into class, I directed students to get their textbooks out and begin an assignment. A conscientious student, Devin began working with a classmate, so in no uncertain terms, I told him that partner work was not permitted. <i>After all I needed to control this situation and teach him responsibility. </i><br />
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Devin quipped, "Well how am I supposed to learn then?"<br />
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I countered, "That's not <b>my</b> problem. <b>YOU</b> need to come prepared. That's <b>your</b> problem."<br />
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Sensing the opportunity to escalate the situation and make his point, Devin immediately retorted sarcastically, "You're the teacher and it's not <b>your</b> problem that I'm not learning?!"<br />
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The power struggle was on. I felt 25 pairs of eyes on me. I picked up the clipboard and deliberately added another mark next to Devin's name to which he bluntly stated, "You've already taken away all of my points for the day, so what? I'll just sit here for the rest of the class."<br />
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<i>He was right, but I couldn't cede control with the entire class bearing down on me. </i>We went back-and-forth, each seeking the last word. After exchanging a couple of quips and barbs, I'd had enough--<i>meaning I'd lost control and was backed into a corner</i>--wrote a referral for Devin and sent him to the office. <i>I had gotten in the last word. I was in control. </i><br />
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But in actuality, I had lost and I had lost control long before sending Devin to the office. Sure, Devin demonstrated some disrespectful behaviors, but much of the escalation was caused by me<i>. </i>Everything from poor lesson planning to not listening to him to seeking to control Devin. Along the way, I humiliated and degraded Devin in front of his peers. My actions placed my needs ahead of Devin's. I escalated a simple situation (Devin not having his book) and attempted to control the situation using grades, embarrassment and punishment.<br />
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So let's rewind. What should I have done? What should all teachers aim for? <br />
<ul>
<li>Treat students with respect</li>
<li>Always consider the student's perspective. In the above scenario, I shut Devin off by not allowing him to get his book. We've all forgotten something, had I simply allowed him--trusted him--to go get his book, none of this would have transpired.</li>
<li>Avoid systems, like the demerit system in the above, that lead to power struggles. </li>
<li>Give students options and allow them to make choices. The students in this class were high-achievers. They had a desire to learn and succeed, but I sought control. My lessons and their assignments--sadly, lots of worksheets--were highly scripted. </li>
<li>Allow students to work with each other. We can't expect students to sit quietly at their desks for an entire class period and if I had simply trusted Devin and his friend to work together, the situation wouldn't have escalated. </li>
<li>Instead of grading students, provide feedback and allow them to assess their own learning</li>
<li>Celebrate students for their differences and their strengths. </li>
<li>Provide students with a challenging curriculum, but ensure each student can be successful by providing the necessary support through individualization, personalization, and differentiation.</li>
</ul>
As educators we toe a thin line between being in control and controlling; let's aim to "merely" be in control. <br />
<ul>
</ul>
Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6700494564030709252.post-9386189213341579132014-09-21T07:18:00.003-07:002014-09-21T07:18:58.282-07:00Deflating My Desire To Learn My high school had a somewhat archaic English assignment. Freshman were required to memorize and recite a 40-line poem twice a year, sophomores memorized 50 lines, juniors 60 and seniors 70. <i>Fortunately by the time I was a senior, they had canned this assignment. </i><br />
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During the fall semester of my freshman year, I bombed the assignment. I waited far too long to begin the memorization. Disappointed with myself, I made an honest effort during the second semester. I chose a poem of high interest; I planned ahead and pledged to memorize five lines each night. Most importantly, I felt confident in my abilities.<br />
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But then, as I began memorizing, I stumbled. The first five lines came relatively easily. The next five proved a little more challenging. Lines 11-15 posed significant problems; lines 20+ seemed impossible. I continued to study, but I began to doubt myself and I lowered my own expectations; instead of aiming for mastery of all forty lines, I became content to just memorize thirty. Soon, with the due date upon me, I knew thirty might be a stretch.<br />
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Sure enough, when it came time for me to recite my poem I floundered. While I was highly frustrated, I tried not to let the teacher know. I brushed it off as a stupid assignment (too this day I still believe that) that I didn't care about and didn't prepare for. That was surely easier than showing and admitting a weakness.<br />
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As my sophomore year rolled around, I dreaded the assignment--and having an additional ten lines. But I committed myself to acing it. I began preparing almost as soon as the school year began. Things didn't improve, however. For whatever the reason, I couldn't get past twenty or thirty lines. On the day of the recitation, I imploded. I did worse than ever. My well-meaning teacher, tried to boost my morale with generic statements like "you'll do better next time," "keep trying," "I'm sure you can..."<br />
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<i>Didn't she get it? I truly had poured everything I had into this assignment. What else could I do?</i><br />
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I contemplated, "Why bother trying to memorize the 50 lines for the spring term?"<br />
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Seeing little value and possessing no confidence, I completely rejected
the assignment. I felt helpless. My self-efficacy hit an all-time low; one that
extended beyond my English classes. My own negative beliefs about my
abilities presented a huge barrier to my own success. I withdrew from
my classes and became increasingly sarcastic and began to
brush-off my poor grades. <br />
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After a summer of testing, I learned I had a learning disability, one that greatly influenced my ability to learn and memorize. <br />
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While I eventually regained my confidence and regained my self-efficacy, the the assignment forever turned me off of memorization and poetry. <br />
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Twenty-five years later that assignment still leaves a bitter taste, but while I never learned any tricks to memorizing poetry, it did give me a unique perspective on what it's like to struggle as a learner. <b>Sadly, too much of what we do in school further alienates struggling students from school and learning. </b><br />
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<b>Let's never forget, it's difficult for students--for that matter anyone--to remain motivated when one is consistently unable to meet the expectations of others, especially when it's not your fault. </b>Reed Gillespiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15706133962933251976noreply@blogger.com4