Learning for Life

Check out this great examples of authentic learning in action here at TMS!

Six graders as TV Metereologists!  These small groups of students are researching weather patterns to make weekend predictions.  Stay tuned to hear more from these forcasters.

Taking a walk through the halls of TMS, you can see examples of authentic work.  Whether it's student art for all to enjoy and interpret or it's a reminder of the digital "tatoo" we create, good stuff is happening here at TMS!

Students in Digital Literacy created awareness posters to help other students identify the "dangers" of online use.

Math Lab students identified real world integers:  negative, zero, and positive.  This is how math is real!

This is How We Do It

As we begin to finalize MAP testing schedules, I feel the increase in anxiety.  But, in reality, there's no reason to worry because "this is how we do it" all year long.  Instead, use that anxiety (it's a natural adrenaline rush) to propel you in the final stretch.  Look at these great resources to help you.

Students in the above pictures explored SBAC's practice test to get a feel for the types of questions they would be asked on the upcoming MAP test.  As they reviewed the test, they charted "What do you notice?," "I got this," and "I might struggle with..." to engage with the assessment.

There are many resources that can support us as we continue to transition to these new standards because ultimately that's our purpose:  ensure that students have the grade-level skills they need to be successful as they progress through their educational career and beyone.  It's still true that test scores and data are a symptom of good teaching.

Here's a resource that you may find helpful as you search for innovative ideas to connect new standards to your instruction. The Digital Library can be accessed with my username (tsparks@lindberghschools.ws) and password (truman1), and you can design filters for your content, grade, and so much more to find resources.  I've favorited some that are a natural fit for some curricular areas (not just ELA and math).  To help narrow that field, you can also check out my Pinterest page to see where some of these lessons fit within our curriculum.

Another Station Blog: A Clear Purpose for Stations

As you know it takes a lot of work to design effective stations.  Not only do you need to pull together the instructional resources to make stations relevant, effective, and enriching, but you also need to write clear directions to ensure students can work independently.

To help determine if the time you invest is worth the outcome, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do students need the opportunity to collaborate in small groups for a specific purpose?
2. Do I need to divide resources (i.e., computers or any other limited instructional material)?
3. Do I need to conference with small groups of students on a specific topic?

One of these questions should be a yes in order to validate your time and keep the use of stations a fresh learning experience for kids.

In the below stations, students needed to both conference with their teacher and have access to limited resources.  Check them out...

Students are writing a review of their novel.

Students are watching a video and practicing their use of ellipses...

Students are watching a presentation to help them begin the writing process.

Students are practicing the answering questions online from the SBAC site, providing feedback on the process.

Students are conferencing with their teacher and setting personalized writing goals based on the rubric.

In this next series of pictures, students have specific collaborative roles as they review primary documents.

Students are either the fact finder or write from the perspective of those in favor or against internment.

Primary resources are analyzed based on the student's role.

Students take notes and share their findings with the group.

When discussing, they learn about the various perspectives of history.

There's more than one way to skin a cat

I spend time in our classrooms, I'm continually impressed with the lesson design that engages kids and demonstrates our collaborative spirit.  In the below pictures, you see 2 different teachers who have co-designed a station activity to build understanding and application of pronoun usage.  Notice, however, that despite the same stations, the implementation is unique to each teacher and all of the methods engage students in learning this necessary skill.

Classroom One:  teacher facilitates students to identify pronouns in their current book.

Classroom One:  Students apply their knowledge of pronouns with Post-It notes.

Classroom Two:  With the teacher, students read sections of the book and break down pronouns in each sentence, predicting before getting the answers.

Classroom One:  Students roll the dice to find out which pronouns to use.  One student creates a sentence while the group evaluates it.

Classroom Two:  Each student writes sentences before they each share and evaluate.

Classroom One:  Students divide pronouns and sort them based on their usage.

Classroom Two:  Students sort the pronouns and time themselves to build fluency of skill.

Both Classrooms:  Send an email with online links to practice pronoun use.

Both Classrooms:  Finding alternative resources.