Students and teachers reflect on how their Literature Circles are progressing and identify ways they can
make classroom conversations more effective.
I suspect it's because jargon
makes classroom conversation feel more sophisticated than it actually is; it pleases teachers to hear their terms of art parroted back.
Not exact matches
While there's a place for small activities that allow teachers to gauge understanding, it's more crucial to
make conversations with students a core element of
classroom practice.
After years of experimentation with student - led discussions, I've honed three approaches that have
made almost all
conversations in my
classroom both complex and enlightening.
There is an expectation among the school staff that they practice a culture of continuous improvement and risk - taking based on a cycle of
conversations,
classroom observations, constructive feedback, and planning and implementing strategies that aim to directly
make a difference to
classroom practices in line with the priorities identified for school improvement.
By
making classrooms places where real - world work and thinking happen, we encourage inquiry,
conversation, and conflict in hopes of creating something better for our students.
By
making classrooms places where real - world work and thinking happen, we encourage inquiry,
conversation, and conflict in the hope of creating something better.
The new evaluation systems have forced principals to prioritize
classrooms over cafeterias and custodians (and have exposed how poorly prepared many principals are to be instructional leaders) and they have sparked
conversations about effective teaching that often simply didn't happen in the past in many schools — developments that teachers say
makes their work more appealing.
These
conversations can shed some light on how your entire
classroom runs, or
make you aware of a small part of your class that could use a tweak.
Plenty of schools adapt to new requirements, more and more educators
make use of edtech in their
classrooms, and the needs of the 21st Century learner is something that almost every
conversation about education gravitates towards.
Developmental psychologist Richard Weissbourd, the co-director of
Making Caring Common and a senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, offers advice on setting the kind of
classroom norms that can create a respectful environment for rich
conversations about even the most challenging topics.
Here's what this approach looks like: Administrators
make frequent short, unannounced
classrooms visits (at least once a month), followed promptly by face - to - face listening / coaching
conversations; teacher teams meet regularly to discuss planning, pedagogy, and assessment results; and teacher assessment is saved till the end of the school year, pulling together observations, other points of contact, and teachers» self - assessments.
Now we need to move to a new
conversation about implementation: If I'm a teacher, how do I
make these standards real in my
classroom?
Since the law was signed January 8, 2002, we have had countless
conversations at virtually every level of education decision -
making in this country — from state to local to
classroom, with state officials, local officials, parents, teachers, and students.
Instead, educators need to find a way of
making mentoring part of the national educational
conversation, as well as ensuring that it is happening at the grass roots level, because if educational reform is not taking place in the
classroom, then it's not really happening.
All teachers are experts, so when you enter into
conversation with another teacher about PBL,
make a specific effort to learn something about how this teacher runs his or her
classroom.
The Second Step curriculum emphasizes impulse control (the ability to control and manage thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, including listening, focusing attention, following directions, using self - talk, being assertive, identifying and understanding feelings, respecting similarities and differences), empathy (
conversation skills, joining groups,
making friends), anger and emotional management (calming down strong feelings, managing anger, managing accusations, disappointment, anxious and hurt feelings, handling put downs, managing test anxiety, resisting revenge, and avoiding jumping to conclusions), and problem - solving (playing fairly, taking responsibility, solving
classroom problems, solving peer exclusion problems, handling name calling, dealing with peer pressure, dealing with gossip, seeking help when you need it).
Without having opportunities to engage in
conversation about what
makes a
classroom effective, how such
classrooms need to operate to be effective, and how they can contribute to that, it's likely that many students would feel uncomfortable because of uncertainty about how things work.
In a student - centered
classroom, founded on collaboration, project - based learning and the use of the Web and mobile tools, learning becomes a constant, often virtual,
conversation, and students are given the opportunity to learn from mistakes, revisit prior lessons and models and
make changes to demonstrate mastery.
Almost every presentation or speech or
conversation about educational reform inevitably includes some reference to the amount of support and training teachers and administrators will need in order to
make key reforms real and effective in
classrooms.
«One of the most important things that teachers can do is
make a space in their
classrooms for adolescents to be able to have
conversations and recognize that there are differences,» she says.
We found that the teachers who
made the most gains in their
classroom practice (as measured by the CLASS ™ observation tool) focused their
conversations with mentors on
classroom practice — following a cycle in which mentors observed teachers and collected data, interpreted the data with mentees in post-observation meetings, planned next steps together and kept in touch between monthly visits.
When we do,
classroom management becomes a
conversation about strategies to support learners, rather than a way to
make them «follow the rules» in a one - size - fits - all model.
Doug Reeves suggests that leaders start the
conversation with a discussion of the principles on which all stakeholders can agree;
make clear what will not change under the new grading policy; be accurate in their risk analysis; and engage in systems thinking to reframe the grading debate from «my grading policies for my
classroom» to a collegial responsibility for the decisions of every teacher and administrator in the system.
He has provided professional development for teachers and administrators, including Data Teams / Decision
Making for Results, Leadership Performance Coaching, and monitoring curriculum and instruction through
classroom walk through observations and follow up
conversations.
Allowing students to participate in mathematical discussions and
conversations in the
classrooms can help students
make sense of the mathematics they are learning.
Easy to read and logically organized, this book supports educators in deepening their general knowledge of assessment and
classroom assessment literacy and strengthens
conversations about
making assessment a support for learning.»
In this exclusive Times Insider
conversation, Nikole Hannah - Jones, an award - winning domestic correspondent and the author of the National Magazine Award — winning story «Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City,» is joined by Ritchie Torres, a Bronx City Council member, and two parents whose children attend New York City segregated schools to discuss the crisis in the
classroom — and how to
make education equitable for all.
The videoing of classes
makes the coaching
conversation so much more powerful and efficient for the simple fact that teachers can actually see what is occurring in their
classroom.
In this
conversation, Tran Templeton and Professor Genishi discuss the importance of play in the early childhood
classroom, and
making space for play in the midst of the implementation of Universal Pre-K in the New York City public school system.
These photos
make great writing prompts,
conversation starters, and can spur on so many ideas in the
classroom.
Classroom Connections is a series of lesson plans and educator resources for using the How to Be An Artist podcast in the
classroom to spark
conversation and art
making centered around contemporary artists.
Pre - and postobservation
conversations provide an opportunity for a teacher to talk in depth about his or her logic in
making classroom decisions, Frisinger says.
When I began
making almost all of my literacy assignments open - ended and had students do them on the computer, I saw two important benefits: (1) Students» completed assignments told me a lot about them as individuals; and (2) While each learner worked at his or her own computer, I was able to move around the
classroom and have one - to - one and small - group
conversations.
All of which
makes me think about North Shore Animal League America's amazing Mutt - i - grees ® Curriculum, an internationally recognized program that brings shelter pets into
classrooms, both literally and through books, activities, and
conversation.
Like our Youth Development programs and Spanish - speaking Promotores de Salud program, the work of peer educators isn't limited to
classrooms — presentations to community groups, at events, and in one - on - one
conversations are part of what
make this approach so impactful in our communities.
How should the results from informal and formal assessments inform their
classroom environment, planning and lessons,
conversations with families, and school - wide decision
making?
The Second Step curriculum emphasizes impulse control (the ability to control and manage thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, including listening, focusing attention, following directions, using self - talk, being assertive, identifying and understanding feelings, respecting similarities and differences), empathy (
conversation skills, joining groups,
making friends), anger and emotional management (calming down strong feelings, managing anger, managing accusations, disappointment, anxious and hurt feelings, handling put downs, managing test anxiety, resisting revenge, and avoiding jumping to conclusions), and problem - solving (playing fairly, taking responsibility, solving
classroom problems, solving peer exclusion problems, handling name calling, dealing with peer pressure, dealing with gossip, seeking help when you need it).