Welcome to the South Fork Blog.
I hope this will be a good way to have discussions about the various topics we are discussing in our learning team meetings and staff developments.
The first item for discussion is: Please describe some of the activities you have done incorporating the similarities and differences component of the Marzano study. What organizers have you used with your students? What are some ways to extend the activities to be more student driven?
What else can we add to our discussions that will help enhance your instruction in this area? What have you tried and failed at with this? What did you learn from it? How will you make it better?
What would you have done differently this morning in the staff development to make it more meaningful?
I look forward to your posts.
Trish
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I am very excited about the blog! If I could have changed one thing, it would have been to have an afternoon staff development versus a morning. There were some great discussions this morning about the video and what is working in our classrooms with using Identifying Similariites & Differences. Even though we only mentioned a few teachers this morning a number of teachers are using the strategies and having great success!
ReplyDeleteI agree. I would have liked more time to sit in our vertical groups and discuss the different ways we have used this strategy in our classes. I wish we had about an hour longer...a few of us stayed and discussed it further...this is where this idea of a blog for us came from.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you have done differently this morning in the staff development to make it more meaningful?
ReplyDelete--BREAKFAST!!! Just kidding...
I agree with many that commented this morning that the expectations from above are not matching the funds from the same origination.
Also, it seems that we have great ideas and great opportunities to implement them, yet lack the ability to do so because of the lack of funding.
Ideally, it would be beneficial to have someone answer why (central office/NC/US) expect us to do these things, yet do not give us the resources to do so?!
Breakfast would be a good idea- I will see what I can do for the next one.
ReplyDeleteYou raise good questions and are correct in that we do lack funding but need to use these new ideas to keep up. We will have to be creative in our funding, write grants, and ask for funds or have fundraisers. It is a conversation we need to continue to have with various groups of stakeholders in education. I do think that if this is something we feel strongly about- as a staff- and we try to implement these ideas with what we have- it will be noticed and funding may slide our way...kind of like the squeaky wheel gets the oil...same principle.
Trish
Similarities and differences: This week I have used the sentence frames from the similarities and differences handout to model for students *exactly* how to compare two things. ("A and B are similar because they both have ______." "A and B are different because A is ____ but B is _____.")I find sentence frames very useful because students not only hear the proper way to use language for different functions, but they also have a visual reference and reminder for these different functions. Sometimes I write the appropriate sentence
ReplyDeleteframe(s) on the board, sometimes on sentence strips. Younger children often need visuals right under their noses, so individual index cards work well for them.
I also like to make T-charts on tables in the room or even on the floor with strips of masking tape. It takes seconds and is easy to remove. Students then sort words on index cards into two categories. I also give each pair or group two blank index cards and ask them to work together to name each category and place these cards at the top. It's fun to encourage them to re-shuffle the cards and sort a different way with new heading cards naming the categories. One stipulation is that they have to talk to each other and explain what they are thinking!
I finally made it here. I wish we had more time for conversation between the grade levels. I hope this will be an outlet to do that without time constraints.
ReplyDeleteI have also been using the sentence frames during instruction and they really do help kids see the structure of the language, and it also helps them use the vocabulary in context. I also implemented an online student survey for my class this week. I asked questions about strengths/weaknesses, class policies, etc. I really feel great about the amount of feedback from them! It makes me feel better to know that they are enjoying what we are doing OR lets me know where I need to "tweak" my instruction or policies. I used surveymonkey.com it is pretty simple to do.
ReplyDeleteLack of funding will always be an issue. We need to make sure that we are using the technology that we already have. The smartboards are being used more this year as opposed to gathering dust in the lab the previous 3 or 4 years. There are still teachers not using calculators enough because some children do not know how to use them to help them on assignments, EOQ's, etc. We have a clicker set that has sat in the lab for 2 or 3 years waiting for an innovative teacher to use it. I'm encouraged to see some teachers using the laptops in their classes. I guess we need to have a plan where every teacher uses the smartboard for a lesson.....
ReplyDeleteI did a lesson just before fall break where the kids made Venn Diagrams comparing McCain and Obama after reading a selection about both of them. We started a big one on the board where we did a few examples together. Then they got into pairs and they filled in the rest of the diagram themselves. They enjoyed this activity.
ReplyDeleteCreativity was the challenge for Fourth grade. From PBL (Problem-Base Learning) "Create a Meal". They needed to create a healty, tasty, atractive meal to sale to the country. They had to consider budget and marketing. The final product will be display on posters. "A stroll made of candy" It's a sweet idea!
ReplyDeleteA group of Fifth Graders traveled with Cristobal Colombus. They visited some countries in South America and they practiced the target language.
I can't resist!! PC, please tell me that you're the 2nd grade teacher whose emabarking on additional technology adventures this year. If noone has told you recently, let me be the one to say that I'm soooo proud of you!
ReplyDeleteCube1994, thank you. I've been discovered with my whiteboard and my earbuds listening to my Ipod! Seriously, I think stepping out of your comfort zone can add enthusiasm to your outlook and I am enjoying a change of pace--like blogging. I have discovered there are many powerpoint presentations all set to use out there on the web. Why reinvent the wheel? Today, (technology was on hold for today due to snow)I had the students illustrate a Thanksgiving word on one side of a sticky note and their class partner had to guess and write the word for the illustration on the back of the sticky note. It was well received by the class and we plan to do this again--it made vocabulary and spelling fun! I am thoroughly enjoying hearing what is working for everyone in their classrooms that I can use in my classroom too.
ReplyDeleteWhy reinvent the wheel?
ReplyDeleteNo, hardly ever in this day and time. That's what the world wide web is for....it's been there sitting for me to gather information by someone who has plenty of time to post. When you've got one of those rainy day what should I do feelings...search the web for resources (technology wise or other) to use with your students. There are many mind grabbing, challenging, and motivating activities and resources that can be found to be used in our classrooms.
Are there any particular search engines that are specific for educators? Where would be a good place to start to look for the mind grabbing, motivating activities?
ReplyDelete