I'm a rule breaker...

I confess that this summer I've been breaking the rules....wait for it....

I've been entering the TMS parking lot the wrong way!  What? For Shame! It's true.  So, now I'm feeling rebellious and want to challenge you to break some "rules."  Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for you to do anything that will result in orange as the new black, but what can you do differently this year?

Break your mindset:  Learning isn't about being the first to the finish line; it's a journey of ups and downs that ends with gained knowledge and skills that weren't previously present.  Break the rules by helping kids appreciate the learning struggle; this helps students learn resilience and perseverance.

Break the tradition of efforts and achievement being the same thing:  Learning and effort are not synonymous.  Some kids put in a lot of effort, but in the end, they still struggle with mastering the content.  Other kids pick up the content right away and find the need to "show" effort through ongoing assignments a waste of time.  Break the pattern by focusing your classroom grades on learning; let effort be scored using the effort scale only.

Break away from one size fits all:  Many kids get to the "finish line" first because they already learned the content.  How do you enrich their experience and develop their passion for deeper learning of that content?  Break through this slump by pre-assessing students and developing tiered assignments to engage all kids.

Break down the walls:  Learning doesn't just happen in the school environment.  Rich learning happens in authentic settings where kids have a clear purpose and relevance for learning.  Break out into the community for learning opportunities so that kids can be motivated to develop their skills and knowledge.

These are just a few ideas about how you can break the rules -- you know that I'm always open for additional thoughts, so share some ways you've "broken rules" in your classroom structure in the comments section below!

An Epiphany

How often do we involve parents in their children's learning?  Let's be honest, is it once a year at Student-Led Conferences?  Do we include Open House and Curriculum Nights and say that it's three times per year?  Now, ask yourself this --- is it enough?

I don't think so...

In Educational Leadership's article "Parents as Writing Partners," they offer great suggestions for engaging parents in the writing process.

Consider how many of our parents would take a more active role if they had questions suggested to them, questions such as...

• What do you want your reader to know right away?
• How are you going to tailor this piece to your audience?
• What will be the tricky part -- where it might get confusing?  Let me know when you're at that part, and we can talk it out if you want.  (Ehrenworth, April 2014, pg. 24)

But, this shouldn't be limited to writing.  Consider the implications for all content areas:  the rich dinnertime conversations that could be had about science, technology, arts, and history.

Part of our back-to-school PD will be focused on engaging parents in student learning.  To help you prepare, begin thinking of dinnertime conversation starters that you can send home at the beginning of units, or on a quarterly basis.

We have so much to gain by expanding the classroom into the home!