Student Engagement: Contribute in a Meaningful Way

RSI4Edu.com & #studentengagement.  Making sure your students know how (and when) to contribute in class.

Increasing student engagement during instruction is crucial for increasing interest, unlocking motivation, and impacting student achievement.  In Doug Lemov’s (2015) Teach Like a Champion 2.0 text he reminds us through a discussion on ‘ratio’ that students should do, “...as much of the cognitive work - the writing, the thinking, the analyzing, the talking - as possible.” (p.234).  To accomplish this we have to take the time to teach our student how (and when) to contribute in a meaningful way in our classrooms.

We have all been in a Classroom H, kids calling out, the teacher talking over students, boys in the back row eventually getting yelled at ~ seemingly chaos.  Of course this is not the intent of the teacher of Classroom H, in fact the teacher was excited to teach students about finding evidence in the text to support comprehension of characterization.  One could argue the students were excited as well ~ just a little over excited!

The teacher of Classroom H failed to take the time to teach her students how (and when) to contribute in a meaningful way.  How to engage in learning in a manner that would foster acceleration and generate excitement in the learning process.  At RSI4Edu.com we provide our partners in education professional development and follow up in-class coaching on how to increase student engagement through questioning, writing, and discussion.  If you or your school is interested in more information begin by looking into Teach Like A Champion 2.0 Techniques 33: Cold Call and 34: Call & Response and contact RSI4Edu.com to schedule an informational meeting to discuss how we can support your educational team.

References

Lemov, D., (2015). Teach like a champion 2.0 : 62 techniques that put students on the path to college. San Francisco :Jossey-Bass,

Data-Driven Culture: Student Data

RSI4Edu.com & #studentdata.  Setting goals and measuring progress.

Teacher-student relationships are reported as having an impressive effect-size on student achievement, d=0.72 (Hattie, 2009).  When we demonstrate to our students that we care about their individual learning, they begin to invest in us as teachers and themselves.  We can accomplish this by helping students set goals based on where they are instructionally and where they want to be.  Then through the use of formative assessment we can measure when instruction meets the needs of our students ~ and when it does not.  The feedback loop that is created (from teacher-student & student-teacher) becomes invaluable and data becomes the driving factor in what and how curriculum is planned and delivered.  This process unlocks motivation for both the teacher and the student as progress towards goals is carefully measured and success is celebrated ~ while error is treated as information from which to increase focus.  Suddenly, learning becomes exciting and accelerated.

 

Bandura (1994) reminds us that it is the acquisition of [academic] skills that builds self-esteem.  For support on building Teacher-student relationships, unlocking motivation, and establishing a data-driven culture visit www.RSI4Edu.com and request an informational meeting at your school.

References:

Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). New York: Academic Press. (Reprinted in H. Friedman [Ed.], Encyclopedia of mental health. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998).

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York, NY: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Summer Training Series - Classroom Tone

RSI4Edu.com & #BeginningTeacher train on the importance of classroom tone.

Starting the school year by setting high expectations, establishing rules, and practicing routines is always more fun when teachers are conscious of their classroom tone.  The tone of any classroom should be efficient, respectful, and positive.  When we work with teachers on classroom environment and efficiency we talk about the “economy of language.”  The goal is to avoid diluting important information by reducing unnecessary teacher talk.  A respectful classroom remembers that children aren’t born with a built-in sense of respect - hence, we have a need to model and teach students how to be respectful.  Teach basic social interaction skills, set expectations for students on how and when to argue versus talking back, and assume the best - most behaviors are not intentionally targeted toward making your life worse.  Finally, a positive classroom adheres to TLAC (2015) Technique 58: Positive Framing; “Guide students to do better work while motivating and inspiring them by using a positive tone to deliver constructive feedback.”  Try narrating the positive in the classroom by telling students what they should be doing, rather than fussing about what they shouldn’t be doing.

For more information on establishing a positive classroom environment and classroom tone contact us at RSI4Edu.com.  Professional development inclusive of in-class coaching increases the power of teaching!

Summer Training Series - Relationships, Rules, & Routines

RSI4Edu.com & #BeginningTeachers focus on classroom environment.

If you ask any teacher what their focus should be in the beginning of the school year the answer should always be the same; relationships, rules, and routines.  Taking/making the time to establish your classroom environment and climate is an investment that will payoff in the long run - but many teachers are not sure where to begin.  Our training recommendation is to Begin with the End in Mind:

• Begin with the End in Mind:  What do you want your classroom culture to look like, sound like, (5th grade) smell like… Get this picture in your mind and identify critical elements that you can teach your students to make the picture a reality.  Start with Teach Like a Champion’s technique 45 Threshold and 46 Strong Start.  Meet your students as they enter the classroom - build that relationship on the way into the classroom and set expectations immediately.  Establish a routine for what students should do from the moment you greet them until you formally begin instruction.  Describe the routine, model, practice, release to evaluate, practice some more, release to evaluate, and praise successful engagement in the routine ~ “rinse and repeat” until the students own the routine.
• When planning your routine make sure that your take the time to identify the following:
• What is the criteria for success
• What materials or preparation are needed
• What is the teacher doing
• What are the students doing (name the steps)
• What happens immediately if a student doesn’t comply

Visit RSI4edu.com/services and scroll to Classroom Culture for a sample routine.  Contact us at RSI4Edu.com for more information on how we can support your educational initiatives.

Summer Training Series - Alphabetic Principle

RSI4EDU.com trained teachers this summer in the Alphabetic Principle - Increasing understanding in #phonics and #beginningreaders.

A primary goal of beginning reading instruction is to prepare students to read texts fluently so they are able to construct meaning as they read.  Increasing students’ understanding and use of the Alphabetic Principle is crucial to facilitating the process of learning to read.  

Alphabetic Principle Defined:

The ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words.  The understanding that words in spoken language are represented in print.  Sounds in words relate to the letters that represent them (Liberman & Liberman, 1990).

The Alphabetic Principle includes such skills as; letter-sound correspondence, regular word reading, reading in texts, irregular word reading, and advanced word analysis skills.  One of the greatest areas of the Alphabetic Principle that students struggle with is vocalizing each sound within a word and blending it to a whole word.  Students need overt (explicit) instruction in applying the phonological strategy of saying words slowly then saying them fast - when engaged in whole word reading.  Below is a progression of regular word reading as provided by Harn, Simmons, & Kame’enui (2003).

Want to increase your teacher’s knowledge and instructional capacity in teaching beginning reading? Contact RSI4EDU.com to inquire how our experts can support your school initiatives.

References

Harn, Simmons, & Kame’enue (2003). Institute on Beginning Reading. Retrieved from http://reading.uoregon.edu/.

Liberman, I. Y., & Liberman, A. M. (1990). Whole language vs. code emphasis: Underlying assumptions and their implications for reading instruction. Annals of Dyslexia, 40, 51-76.

Summer Training Series - Phonemic Awareness

RSI4EDU.com trained teachers in #beginningreaders during Summer PD sessions.  Do your teachers know #phonemicawareness and #phonics.

We all agree that comprehension is the essence of reading; the complex cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between the reader and text to extract meaning.  However, The greatest predictor of reading comprehension is fluency.  Fluency is the ability to read words with no noticeable cognitive or mental effort ~ fluent reading frees resources to process meaning.  To build reading fluency beginning readers must acquire and apply the alphabetic principle - which is contingent on the strategic integration of phonemic awareness skills & strategies.  To often in early education we fail to grasp the essential knowledge of why we teach phonemic awareness.  More importantly, we struggle to integrate the skills and strategies taught during phonemic awareness instruction when teaching the alphabetic principle.  Want to increase your teacher’s knowledge and instructional capacity in beginning reading?  Contact RSI4EDU.com to inquire how our experts can support your school initiatives.

Summer Training Series ~ Routines & Procedures

RSI4EDU.com opened its summer training series this year with a focus on Developing Essential Routines & Procedures and Strong Start.  Do your teachers #TeachLikeAChampion?

Excellence in education includes a healthy sense of urgency.  The sense that there is a lot of content to cover with little precious time.  When we consider that every minute matters in the classroom it is critically important to take advantage of teaching routines and procedures.  As we begin each new school year we often only recall what our scholars “looked like” and “acted like” at the end of the previous year - after we had them in our classrooms for 180 days.  We accidentally project these memories onto our new scholars and forget to schedule time to teach, practice, and evaluate classroom routines and procedures.  We become frustrated as the thought creeps in, “They are in ___ grade, they should know how to ___.”

To overcome this entanglement of potential frustration remember to carefully and explicitly design procedures that satisfy four criteria: Simplicity, Quick Is King, Little Narration Required, and Planned to the Detail.  Pick up your copy of Teach Like A Champion 2.0 and contact www.RSI4Edu.com for more information, training and coaching.