"Wait Time" and "Think Time"

I have some very exciting news to share...our Instructional Rounds 2nd visit revealed that what we are doing as a campus is not only working, it's working BIG TIME!  All of the short term and long term goals that were initially set have been exceeded.  I have to give credit to our district administrators for leading us into this endeavor no matter how painful it might be, the evidence is overwhelmingly positive and for me it means that our students are the ones who are receiving the benefits.  Most specifically, higher level learning through planned questions is occurring across the campus, student responses are justified and expanded through a wide variety of personalized techniques that teachers have internalized in their classrooms.  So, for our campus, we will continue to go the course.  One area that could improve that was recognized during our visit, was to increase "wait time" for students to respond, and to provide additional "think time" for students to process.  I searched for relevant information to share with staff on this area and I found several informative articles.
"Wait time" is the period of time that takes place when a teacher provides a question to students and the teacher interrupts or calls on a student.  On average this time is 1.5 seconds in a typical classroom, noted by a study by Mary Budd Rowe (1972).  Her study discovered if teachers allowed at least 3 seconds of "wait time", many positive things happened to students' AND teachers' behaviors and attitudes.  To attain these benefits, teachers were urged to "wait" in silence for 3 seconds or more after their questions, and AFTER students completed their responses.  Further, the teacher should ensure that all students preserve the disturbance-free silence so that both the students and teacher can process the relevant information.  When this occurs, the teacher can claim to be skilled at using "think time."  The skillful use of "think-time" contributes significantly to improved teaching and learning in the classroom.
I eagerly look forward to seeing these continued improvements that our talented teachers are utilizing to increase our students' learning.  Our next Instructional Rounds will take place on January 22nd when we will look forward to our new results.
#ceohgo #castleberryisd

Test S T R E S S !!!!!

It seems like we're always giving a test, taking a test, or grading a test!!!!  No wonder we're all going crazy and stressed out!!!!!
This week at school, we administered our fall semester benchmarks.  No, they were not our first round of tests by any means, BUT these are the BIG ones that everyone looks at.  Not only are the kids stressed out, but the teachers as well.
As a principal, I don't even have to address a staff member about their results before the teacher comes in with tears in their eyes and a big apology about their scores.  I always say, it's just something to give you concrete feedback about your students, use and go forward with it.  And just for fun, we'll do it again in the spring semester!!!
But seriously, there are a lot of de - stressers for students and staff alike!  For example, take a look at http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/teststress/
Take a deep breath and try not to stress!  Good luck!

Lesson Objectives

In reading Chapter 3 of The Fundamental 5:  The Formula for Quality Instruction the subject of lesson objectives is addressed.  In walkthroughs of classrooms, I see a wide-variety of ways and uses of instructional objectives being utilized for student reflection.  I see a lot of "I can..." and a lot of straight technical verbatim from TEA.  I'm not sure how much is actually written for the teacher to reference or the students.  So, when I came across Chapter 3, I found my happy place.  In Chapter 3, objectives are written as "We will..." and in a statement form that is student friendly.  When beginning the lesson, the teacher actually references the statement and how it will be accomplished.  After the lesson, the students and teacher reflect on if they actually accomplished the objective or if reteaching or further addressing of objectives needs to occur.  It actually makes sense and is a useful tool in measuring success!  I hope that you find this a useful in leading your students to success!

Blended Learning

I am proud of the direction that our district and campus is moving toward blended learning.  The pathway of integrating technology into teaching lends itself to helping our students meet their goals and see success.
I was impressed when I recently read an article about the various districts across the country utilizing Blended Learning to help their students.  What I found was that our district is much like those illustrated.  We too use a variety of tools that others are accessing.  Our superintendent shared this vision of Blended Learning several years ago and shared a similar philosophy that others possess in that to increase student achievement and reach our academic goals, technology is key.  Blended learning allows teachers to target instruction in small groups.  If students are to be college and career ready then we need to have our classrooms look like those.  I'm thankful our superintendent and district is moving in the right direction to help our students!

Digital Resources and Goals

Today I shared our Instructional Rounds data and momentum plan with my entire staff.  I had just held a faculty meeting and shared how the ISTE standards require us to seek alternative resources for professional development and growth.  We reflected on the numerous resources from reliable sources that are available via Twitter, and other media.  So, in Instructional Rounds we found that we needed to find resources that would help us focus on improvement in our two target goal areas of higher levels of Blooms Taxonomy for teacher questions, and in increasing the levels of student discourse.  Put the two together (resources and goals) and we have found that there are numerous ways to help ourselves professionally and in turn, help our students achieve more and at higher levels.  We found videos, articles, anchor charts, and on and on that can help us master our goals and in turn help our students.  There are numerous professional websites, educational tools, and research based writers over the web that provide the resources that cannot be located through the typical print method.  I encourage our staff to seek resources and share them with their colleagues.  I look forward to seeing what we will find.

"I don't know"

I noticed today while reviewing the numerous topics that educators were discussing, was an interesting topic entitled, "I don't know."  It happens to fall right in line with what I'm looking for in regards to the feedback our campus received from our first "Instructional Rounds" visit.  One area that we will be focusing on as improvement will be in the area of student questioning or discourse.
In the article published by Heather Walport-Gawron she states that teachers need to realize the critical importance of using the statement, "I don't know," and that it is okay to make that statement to your students.  The power is in what you do with it.  She suggests the following:
Make sure your students know that no one knows the answer to everything, but there are ways to find the answers to the questions we have.  She also encourages you to teach the mindset that "I don't know" means "Wait, let's find out."  First, use Google and teach students the tricks to finding particular information and customize your toolbar to help you.  Second, offer students an opportunity to collaborate when seeing information i.e. Google and make it fun, such as a timed scavenger hunt.  Third, teach students to seek more than source so that your evidence is verified.  In closing, no matter how you teach your students to seek information, the power of "I don't know" can be used to honor confusion and help clear it up.

Assessment Myths

Educators, both teachers and administrators alike are not happy that assessment demands are intruding on day-to-day teaching and learning.  There are a few practical and constructive strategies that can help them (and their students) cope with this new reality.
The three biggest testing myths and what teachers can do about them are as follows:

1.  They've got to learn it all; it's on the test!
      All teachers are understandably overwhelmed by the huge task of helping students master the content necessary to succeed on standardized tests.  Teachers can resolve this by sticking firmly to good pedagogy and effective practice.  Showing students how to connect the dots in smaller ways through concept mapping, allows students to visualize how ideas are related to one another.

2.  You are what they score.
      When scores are published, schools are often labeled with a ranking.  The atmosphere in which a teacher's value is equal to the test results of the school.  Instead, teachers should let go of the scores and focus on student growth.  Teachers should ask and reflect on how their own teaching contributed to the students' success or lack of.

3.  I am powerless over the test.
     Teachers have an overwhelming long list of duties including teaching.  This list includes bookkeeper, technology expert, data analyst, librarian, nurse, defendant, and more.  Teachers must pick their battles and accept what they cannot control.  This acceptance is empowering.

The accountability factor is as choppy as ever, but teachers needn't be overwhelmed.  Teachers must stand firm in the belief that their decisions are based on what they believe to be in the best interest of their students.  Teachers must build on what they know works.