Thank you... (46)

Thank you.

Thank you for choosing to take time to read the Monday Morning Memo.

You've made the conscious choice to read this memo knowing full well that you won't get a large sum of money or any special tangible gifts as a result.

You've decided to utilize your limited and valuable time to read something because you hopefully believe it either inspires you, or gives you an idea of something to use in your classroom.

For your professionalism and commitment to taking the time out of your busy schedule, we thank you.

We thank you because you are making the ultimate sacrifice and giving up your most precious commodity... your time.

There's no link, video, or image that we want to share this week with the memo.

We just want to say that we appreciate your hard work and we appreciate all that you do to ensure the best possible learning environment for our students.

This job is tough, and it's definitely not for the faint of heart.

We need your very best and we have no doubt that you are willing and committed to giving your best.

Again, we thank you, and more importantly (though they may not say it), your kids thank you too.

Have a great week and remember what an awesome opportunity you have on any given day to positively impact the life of a child.

Pictures and thoughts... (45)

We are a globally connected society and have been for a while...

 

Nick Saban after the Alabama vs. Auburn game...

Instilling a love of reading is perhaps the most important thing we can do...

Technology sure is making us antisocial... #eduhumor

Seriously... smiling is also healthy: 15 health benefits of smiling

The great homework (assignment) debate... (44)

Homework is only a tool. It’s how we use (or misuse) homework that makes the difference. The three questions below can be helpful guides to determine if your homework is a force for good or evil:

• AUTHENTIC: Would a student be required to do this task on personal time in real life?

All homework assignments should be authentic, or related to the requirements of real life. Some professions, such as general dentistry, don’t require any “take-home” work. However, orthodontists, architects, and editors have quite a bit of “take-home” work. Consider the professions related to the task you’re assigning. Would this task be done on personal time? If so, go ahead and assign it. If not, think twice. Be sure to communicate these connections to students; it will help them make more informed choices about their careers!

• DELIBERATE: Does this task encourage students to engage in deliberate practice?

Deliberate practice requires you to design tasks that require specific and sustained efforts on individual areas of weakness. Have you identified a particular student’s weakness and targeted it through the assignment of the task? If so, go ahead and assign it. If your homework is monolithic and one-size-fits-all, then think twice.

• ENGAGING: Would YOU be excited to complete this task?

Completing 50 rote math problems that look exactly the same doesn’t exactly inspire passion. Defining an arbitrary list of words doesn’t correlate with a love of reading and writing. Put simply, would you have the forbearance to complete the task you’ve just assigned? If not, don’t expect your students to be enthralled either! (Check out Nick Provenzano’s attempt to complete all the homework he assigned to students HERE.)

If your homework is authentic, deliberate, and engaging, then it’s likely a worthy tool within the educational program you’ve designed for students. Extending learning in safe, meaningful ways can help students accelerate their progress.

However, if you’re homework is arbitrary, a source of “grades,” or a way to penalize children, just skip it.

Posted via +Kristen Swanson :http://goo.gl/8z8soU

Kid President's 20 things we should say more often...

10 self-reflection questions for all educators... (43)

Our beliefs about teaching, learning, and education in general, make us who we are. These beliefs are a culmination of life experiences, professional experiences, and lots of trial and error. Over time it's possible and quite likely that our beliefs will evolve and adjust. Having said that, spend a few minutes reading the ten questions below. Then, more importantly, spend some time trying to answer these questions.

BONUS: Spend some time speaking with your students about these questions and get some feedback from them...

5 ways to make your classroom more student-centered... (42)

A student-centered classroom allows students to be an integral part of the assessment development process. This doesn't necessarily mean every assessment is created and designed by students, but it does mean there is a collaborative and joint venture of teachers and students in the planning and implementation stages of assessments. Students who help to design and create their assessments will find the assessments to be more meaningful, and typically students end up creating assessments that are more rigorous than what teachers would have created anyway...

A student-centered classroom focuses on finding solutions to real-world problems. Too often our classroom focus is on solving problems that lack relevance and purpose in the eyes of students. The student-centered classroom addresses real-world problems that affect or will affect students. This in turn will provide meaning and context to student-driven learning, which then will increase levels of engagement and overall student involvement.

A student-centered classroom is not about what the teacher is doing or what the teacher has done; it's about what the students are doing and what the students can do in the future. We all have experienced the teacher observation model that focuses just on what the teacher is doing, but more and more models are now focusing on what the students are doing. Obviously what the teacher does affects and impacts what the students are doing, but the most important piece is what the students are doing or are able to do as a result of what the teacher is doing.

A student-centered classroom embraces the notion that there are multiple ways to accomplish an individual task. When we limit and confine students to following a certain and specific path, we ultimately end up limiting their levels of ownership, innovation, and creativity. A student-centered classroom allows, encourages, and embraces the multitude of paths one can take to solve a given problem. This also allows for students to follow their strengths and their interests when completing a task.

A student-centered classroom firmly believes that there is a partnership and a strong level of trust between educators and students. The teacher no longer is and hasn't been for a while the 'smartest' person in the room. Because of this we need to continue forging a partnership between the teachers and the students and accept an equal playing field when it comes to learning, exploration, and discovery. This partnership is built on trust, and trust happens when we are vulnerable and open to learning with and from others...