October's Focus: Student ChoiceThis month we wanted to focus on something that was near and dear to our hearts, and that is providing more choice in the classroom. This could be choice in how student's were delivered content, type of homework assigned, choice in seating, or assessment. We wanted to provide our teachers with a variety of choice as well, and model how it can be handled in a classroom. The teachers were provided with a choice board. They were then given 45 minutes to self-pace through 3 of the 9 choices on their board. Most of our work as presenters was done prior to the meeting. We set up each station, explained to the teachers why we felt student choice was important, and then allowed them time to explore. As always, we did wrap up with time for the teachers to create some lesson plan ideas and share out those ideas before leaving. You will find the short presentation that we used attached below. There are also screenshots of our OneNote pages that are used to create the stations and then saved for those who participate later on.
Choice #1: Homework
Choice #2: Choice Board Structures
Choice #3: Creating a Digital Choice Board
Choice #4: Choice Board Gallery Walk
Choice #5: Video Resources
Choice #6: Alternative Options for Choice
Choice #7: Content Delivery
Choice #8: Practicing Content
Choice #9: Assessment
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For the month of September, our Vision 21 meeting focused on critical vocabulary strategies. We chose this topic because no matter the grade level or subject, the understanding of vocabulary is going to be critical to student's learning. Many of the strategies presented come from Marzano's research. We used a station-rotation model to practice each vocabulary strategy. Groups of 4-5 rotated through the 6 stations. They each had 5 minutes to complete the strategy. Three of the stations were manned by myself, @J_Bimmerle and @AlcornMeghan. This helped us explain some of the stations that needed more specific directions. After each group had a chance to go through each station, we took time to reflect on the strategies presented. We think this is one of the most critical parts of the PD. Teachers can share out what strategies they think will work for their students, parts of the strategies they think won't work, or other variations of the strategy. The teachers are then given an adequate amount of time to look at their curriculum documents to see if there is a place to work some of the new strategies into their lesson plans. Strategy #1: Frayer Model
STRATEGY #2: Slap Card
STRATEGY #3: Word Clouds
STRATEGY #5: NON-LINGUISTIC Representation
STRATEGY #6: Odd One out
As part of our professional development offerings, the Instructional Tech Team at Sulphur Springs ISD provides a once a month training called Vision 21. The idea behind this training is to provide PD in what we believe are important 21st Century skills; such as; communication, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. But most importantly, we want the focus of our PD to be on student-centered instructional strategies.
While instructional technology is our role in the district, we have become very aware that integrating technology without first concentrating on strategies is counterproductive. We can teach how to use OneNote or our Online Office tools, but without strong student-centered teaching strategies, those programs just become banks for the digital worksheet. A look at our month's so far: September: Vocabulary Strategies October: Student Choice November: Summarization December: Student Voice January: Collaboration January: Vision 21 Recap January: Vision 21 for History Teachers February: Engaging Strategies for Review March: Playing Games in the Classroom What I believe is most important about these sessions is the modeling of strategies and time to reflect on how those strategies can be used in the classroom. These are NOT your typical sit-and-get PD sessions. They are tailored to the teachers who attend. The strategies that are chosen, are done so because they work well for any subject level or grade level. I am excited to share those sessions with you. Keep checking back, as I will link each blog post to the month where it belongs. |
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