Thursday 6-15 notes

6-15 notes BWP

Boys versus Girls learning styles and reading preferences. Kelly shared an article and we discussed the differences and how that impacts our teaching.

America the Beautiful
Read aloud and writing response.

Peter Elbow
Writing Without Teachers- Strategy
Pointing to the words that stick out during a reading. You can do this by writing the words down also as you listen.
For example: the teacher uses the pointing techniques with student writing to discuss voice with his/her students. (Theresa)

Idea: As I listened to everyone sharing their writing responses I heard several recurrent words; global vs. individual (America), supporting war vs. not supporting war does not equal anti-American, plus a lot of questions. This would be a great way to collect themes generated by the students to build an activity on. You may write a persuasive, gather survey info, synthesize information, etc.


Working Toward Equity assignments

Broke into partners to read and respond to Teacher Research articles

Topic
Better Serve African American students p43
Some results:
Focus on student strengths
Collaborate with teachers to support the students
Involve students in lessons
Ask students what they need to succeed in class


Shaping and Owning Teacher Research p145
What happens when teacher research becomes the professional growth at a small school?
Researcher worked with a group of teachers in her school to use teacher research to address classroom specific needs. She used surveys, meetings, reflection, and collaboration to gather and share information.
She concluded that teacher ownership makes the difference in successful teacher research for professional growth.


Partners in Inquiry focused on Literacy p159
School in San Francisco wanted to address why student achievement had fallen.
Received a school reform grant to improve student achievement.
School partnered with Bay area NWP. Teacher Inquiry Group
TIG conducted a research into the strengths and weaknesses of literacy instruction. TIG observed, documented, and presented to faculty. Results: teacher education increased, drop out rate decreased, state test passing rate improved.
Teachers need to be reflective with their teaching practices.



Developing a Culture of Inquiry for Equity p120
Small school of 17 teachers and an instructional leader formed a strong community to improve
Used self-examination to discover biases before working with students.
Teachers met with individual students to find out what wasn’t working. Teachers observed each other to look for strengths and weaknesses.
Teachers were more receptive to peer feedback.


Learning to Listen p101
What would be the most effective strategies to help students who are failing reading in a phonics-based program?
Researcher used her collaborative group to help her work with the teachers in her school to improve reading achievement.
She learned that she needed to change her approach to working with teachers.
· Listen to the teacher
· Approach teachers with a partner mind set
· Encourage teacher/student collaboration
· Work as a team for the students
She became a team teacher rather than a person coming in to tell the teacher what is being done wrong and how to correct it.

Baloney by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Writing response to music

Visit the Planetarium. Awesome!

klb