Empowering Gen Z... Leading and Learning in the 21st Century

 Big Ideas and Mindsets This year, we will focus on our School Improvement Plan through The Illustrated Guide to Visible Learning:   * One definition of realize is “ to make real or make happen”. Implementation is still key! :)  For our first week, please read Chapters 1 and 2, then complete this short form before you leave on Friday.

 The Science of Learning....  Emotions Drive Learning! What do you think about this statement: Elementary: Young learners are highly sensitive to emotions, and their ability to self-regulate is still developing. A positive emotional climate is crucial for building confidence, curiosity, and motivation to learn . Middle School: Middle schoolers undergo rapid brain development , particularly in areas related to emotions and social interactions. They are highly sensitive to peer approval, self-identity, and fairness , which impacts their learning experiences. How could these impact learning?  I am researching to find out! Rebecca Minerd

 Let's learn together! I am continuing my journey to learn about the Science of Learning!  I gave you the seven principles last week.  This week I dove deeper into the first one, Attention matters. Here are the four types of attention relevant to the classroom: Types of Attention Relevant to the Classroom: Sustained Attention: The ability to focus on a task over an extended period (e.g., listening to a lecture, reading a book). Selective Attention: The ability to focus on relevant information while ignoring distractions (e.g., working on an assignment in a noisy classroom). Divided Attention: The ability to multitask effectively (e.g., taking notes while listening to a teacher). Alternating Attention: The ability to shift focus between different tasks (e.g., moving from independent work to group discussion). It made me think..... What about you?  What is "making you think" this week? Rebecca Minerd

 Greetings, What have you learned this week?  I have been reading about the Science of Learning! Here are the key principles: Attention is the Gateway to Learning Emotions are the Fire under Cognition Retrieve to Remember  Effortful Learning Leads to Stronger Memory Too Much Too Fast overload the Brain Effective Feedback Drives Improvement Look at what is said about attention Learning starts with focus. If attention isn’t captured, information doesn’t make it into memory. Minimizing distractions and using engaging strategies (such as storytelling, questioning, and novelty) enhances attention. Anyway, it's something that I am interested in learning more about.  What about you?  What are you learning??

 It's February! This is a great time to ramp up our student engagement!  What are some innovative tools that can be used to engage students?   Even if you think you have nothing new to add.... I bet you do!  Even a new way to use an old tool....... 

  What did you learn over the Holiday Break that you would like to share?  We all learn so much from each other!  Let's see what we will learn this week!

  What can you teach others this week? What would be a quick tip to make school life easier for them? Share!

What did you learn at GAETC? Let's blog about that! So let’s continue to share, expand, and learn from each other by responding to (through Blog OR Vlog) any one of the following prompts: What have you learned this month that promotes the Empowerment of our students? How are you applying it?  What have you learned that you are curious about but presents challenges in practical application? What are the obstacles?  In what ways have you integrated technology or AI tools into your classroom to enhance student empowerment ? What successes or challenges have you encountered? How are you balancing the implementation of new learning strategies or materials with maintaining consistency for your students? What advice would you give to colleagues struggling with this balance? What aspect of recent professional learning has challenged your previous assumptions about teaching or learning? How has this shift in perspective affecte d your approach to student empowerment ?

 October 28th- November 8th It's time to start our second round of blogging! What are you learning about?   Between HMH , CCSS Content Based Training , GaETC , AI , and all our individualized research for “ EMPOWERing Students for School and Life ”, we are being inundated with Professional Learning!  So let’s continue to share, expand, and learn from each other by responding to (through Blog OR Vlog) any one of the following prompts: What have you learned this month that promotes the Empowerment of our students? How are you applying it?  What have you learned that you are curious about but presents challenges in practical application? What are the obstacles?  In what ways have you integrated technology or AI tools into your classroom to enhance student empowerment ? What successes or challenges have you encountered? How are you balancing the implementation of new learning strategies or materials with maintaining consistency for your students? What advice wou...

  Between HMH , CCSS Content Based Training , GaETC , AI , and all our individualized research for “ EMPOWERing Students for School and Life ”, we are being inundated with Professional Learning!  So let’s continue to share, expand, and learn from each other by responding to (through Blog OR Vlog) any one of the following prompts: What have you learned this month that promotes the Empowerment of our students? How are you applying it?  What have you learned that you are curious about but presents challenges in practical application? What are the obstacles?  In what ways have you integrated technology or AI tools into your classroom to enhance student empowerment ? What successes or challenges have you encountered? How are you balancing the implementation of new learning strategies or materials with maintaining consistency for your students? What advice would you give to colleagues struggling with this balance? What aspect of recent professional learning has challen...

  Our Literacy Crisis.... We have discussed the following topics for empowering our students with deep reading skills: Oral Language Early Literacy Systematic & Explicit Phonics Meaningful Read Alouds Vocabulary Instruction Reading Fluency Reading Comprehension Teaching Writing Response to Intervention Assessing Our Students According to Cox Campus, there is a national illiteracy crisis with only 37% of 4th grade students entering with grade-level reading skills. Additionally, “we know that people with better literacy tend to have better social outcomes in terms of things like finding employment, being paid well, and being able to afford better food and housing. Not being able to read or write holds a person back throughout their life and they often become trapped in poverty or more likely to commit crime. We also know that lower literacy is related to poorer health, chronic diseases and shorter life expectancy.” PROMPT: With reducing those percentages of negative outcomes for ...

   RTI Why It Matters Response to Intervention (RTI) is a prevention framework for implementing data-driven decision-making. It’s important because it provides necessary stakeholders with timely and specific information about children so that they can improve learning and increase student performance. Middle School: Please review this article . Then, respond to the prompt below. Elementary: After watching Lessons 1-3 and completing your Assessment, please respond to the following prompt : Prompt : Refer to this RTI Reflection Questions Resource . Glance over the questions and identify one area you would like to improve at Empower. Tell us what you selected and why.  Monelle Dalman and Rebecca Minerd

Let's Talk About Writing... Why It Matters Three-quarters of both 12th and 8th graders lack proficiency in writing, according to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2017). Writing is a critical skill for our students’ self-expression and self-actualization. We know from decades of research how students learn to write and what and how to teach so that the majority of our students can be successful.  Middle School: Please listen to this podcast . Then, respond to the prompt below. Elementary: After watching Lessons 1-3 please respond to the following prompt : Prompt : Writing has a heavy cognitive load, and keeping students motivated is difficult and critical. What are your ideas for giving students opportunities to explore their interests, choices and voices in writing while still developing the writing skills they need AND showing learning of content area? How do you balance these important factors? Monelle Dalman and Rebecca Minerd

  Empowered Teachers Empower Students Middle School: Good news! During effective Reading Comprehension Instruction, your lesson should only target the specific comprehension processes required for students to meet their lesson objectives or purpose. While there are many aspects of language and new concepts to address, only those that further the purpose should be included in the lesson plan. This ensures you maximize the instructional time of your lesson. Please: watch this 4-minute video ; review this framework ; and, this example . Then, respond to the prompt below. Elementary: After watching Lesson 8 and completing your Assessment, please respond to the following prompt : Prompt : These lessons describe a shift to a more in-depth approach to lesson planning that highlights the complex processes readers engage in during a reading of text, instead of reading a text from beginning to end and then hoping for a meaningful product at the end.   Reflect on your own lessons. After...

  Comprehension Continued:) Middle School: As students get older most of the content they read in school is non-fiction text, therefore it is crucial that we expose students to nonfiction texts to improve their reading comprehension. This is perfect for middle school content! :) Please read this and this article, and then respond to the prompt below. Elementary: After watching Lessons 6-7, please respond to the following prompt : Prompt : Review these best practices . Are you currently using any of these practices in your classroom to plan for comprehension instruction? Based on what you’ve learned so far, will you be making any changes? If so, what will you change? Rebecca Minerd and Monelle Dalman

  The Active View of Reading We know about the Reading Rope but did you know there was an Active View or Reading.... And that this Active View of Reading expands the basic concepts of our reading rope for Language Comprehension...... Middle School: Please read this article . Elementary AND Middle School: Please watch this 3 minute video . In order to truly empower students we must consider the holes we have in our own instruction. Fortunately, many strategies for bolstering language comprehension will also improve comprehension in content areas, as well. Which aspects of the Active View of Reading or Scarborough’s Language Comprehension (part of the rope) is not currently facilitated in your classroom? Given your content area and/or grade level, how could you incorporate that into your lessons to bolster reading and academic comprehension?

  Let's continue our conversation from last week... With last week’s assessments and observations of one student in mind, please read the following article: Fluency: Instructional Guidelines and Student Activities . What strategies could you implement for the student that would best support the student’s needs? Monelle Dalman and Rebecca Minerd

  Comprehension.... Our Goal!  Reading Fluency is integral to Reading Comprehension. Assessment is integral to action planning. HOWEVER, when assessing fluency it is IMPERATIVE that you explain to the student the difference between reading rapidly and reading fluently. Think of fluently as reading to others, so that the reader and the listener can understand what is being read . This week, please choose 1 student to assess as follow Have a student cold read a grade-level, content-based passage for one (timed) minute. (Be sure to have your own paper copy so you can record mistakes and mark the last word the student reads when the minute ends.)  1- Provide the Words Correct Per Minute and the number of errors, using the format shown in the Example above;  2- Complete these rubrics for Prosody; and lastly,   3- Have the student complete (or complete together with “young-uns”) this self-reflection on their reading.  Provide this information on your ...