Start of School!

For those new faculty and staff, I typically email every Friday a summary of an article that is particularly appropriate for the moment  (It’s a summary in that I remove the extraneous parts of the article so it can be read quickly.)

For this week the ‘moment’ is the start of the school year.

The article below--5 Lessons Effective Teachers Teach--Without Explicit Instruction--is about the first days of school and the responsibility we as teachers have in creating a safe, warm, and inclusive classroom and school. 

The article begins with Haim Ginott’s iconic quote—that is both inspiring and frightening.

In my first year of teaching, I taught middle school English/Language Arts: 3 sections of 6th and 2 sections of 7th.

I still remember my first few days as a teacher, trying out different classroom management systems somewhere between drill-sergeant and push-over (the humiliate or heal of Ginott’s quote or the firm and kind of Positive Discipline).

My first year was tough from a classroom management standpoint—I vacillated between the extremes and stumbled and bumbled with how to control a classroom. We talked a lot this week about student learning and I must admit that I learned more than students in my first year of teaching.

Back then (1980), grade-level teams (let alone team teaching) didn’t exist, morning meeting was nothing more than basic attendance taking (think Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), and there was little discussion in faculty meetings of “getting to know the kids as individuals” and attending to their social-emotional needs. Advice from veteran teachers was in the vein of “Don’t smile until Christmas."

Fortunately, education, schools, and classrooms have come a long way since then—with the first days of school devoted to creating a positive, safe, cooperative, honest but respectful classroom culture. (Studies show that devoting time at the beginning of the year to develop communal rules, norms, and procedures with student input leads to greater academic focus during the remainder of the year--although post winter vacation reminder is needed.)

The article below is a reminder of some vital qualities we all need to model and demonstrate to our students every day, so we can can ensure, a la Ginott, that “in all situations a child is always humanized."

Thanks to all for a great first week of pre-planning—inspiring presentations, provocative discussions, and focused attention!

Joe

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Here are five classroom practices that make the biggest difference to student learning:

Clarity of purpose: At the beginning of a curriculum unit or project, students need to see why they’re doing it, the learning goals, the criteria for success, and models of high-quality end products.

Classroom discussion: Teachers need to frequently step offstage and facilitate entire-class discussion. This allows students to learn from each other. It’s also a great opportunity for teachers to formatively assess (through observation) how well students are grasping new content and concepts.

Feedback: Students need to know how they’re doing as individuals and as a class. They also need opportunities to give their teachers feedback to allow for adjustments in pedagogy and materials.

Formative assessments: Minute-by-minute, day-by-day, and week-by-week checks for understanding are essential to students knowing how they are doing with respect to the ultimate learning goals.

Metacognitive strategies: Students need opportunities to plan, organize, direct, and monitor their own work – and to reflect as they proceed. When we provide students with time and space to be aware of their own knowledge and their own thinking, student ownership increases. Research shows that metacognition can be taught.