UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr

Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference

Hope you’re planning to attend your state association’s annual conference.  I realize for some of you that was much earlier in the year and if that is your case, I hope you went.  This year the Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference will be in Saginaw, MI.

Links:

Association:  www.mamse.org

Site:  http://www.stcs.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectionid=2

MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson, ,

Podcast #65: “Somewhere, A Place For Us . . . “: What Grade Are You?

Items, Events, and Other:

  1. Book sale!  Clearance prices!
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009.
  3. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis,  IN Conference.
  4. NMSA ’08 Technology Focus Video.
  5. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission calendar:
    1. “March 4, 2009 Coolidge Auditorium, Jefferson Building
      Library of Congress
      Join the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James Billington, and Lincoln scholars Harold Holzer, James McPherson and Douglas Wilson as we commemorate Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

      Full details of the symposium can be found here.
      _______________
    2. ALBC Commemorative Coin:
      The ALBC Commemorative Coin is on sale now. Available for order on the U.S. Mint Web site, the pure silver coin is available as a proof coin (which has a mirror-like background) and as an uncirculated coin (featuring a more satiny background).
      For the first 30 days after the coin goes on sale (beginning Feb. 12, 2009), they can be purchased for $37.95 (proof) and $31.95 (uncirculated) each. A $10.00 surcharge on each coin, which is included in the cost quoted, benefits the ALBC.  After the first 30 days, the coin’s regular price of $41.95 will take effect.
      For details and to purchase the coin, visit the Mint’s website here.

      _______________

    3. Visit the ALBC Calendar detailing all Lincoln events throughout 2009 —
      http://www.abrahamlincoln200.org/calendar/default.aspxisit the ALBC Calendar detailing all Lincoln events throughout 2009″

  6. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting.
  7. North Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Pinehurst, NC.  Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli.  Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year.    
  8. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  9. Free Professional Development through Webinars! NMSA is offering previously recorded webinars for free from their website.
  10. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  11. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Ning in the classroom.  Archived content is available.
  13. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
  14. From the Twitterverse:

Websites:

  1. Twiddla :  Its like Elluminate, just without all the expense. (Thanks to Jenny for the heads up on this one!)
  2. Forward Thinking Museum : A  virtual museum worth checking out.

“Letters from our Listeners”:

Shawn and Troy

I’ve spent some time in 5-8, 6-8 and K-8 school environments. Sometimes 5th graders were self-contained while older students moved from teacher to teacher. In other circumstances, 5th grade was used as a transition with single-teacher classrooms and locker access during passing time. I’m currently in a New Jersey K-8 school with no passing time, no lockers and 6-8th graders changing classes.

Knowing all too well the challenges of adolescent behavior and academic performance, I wonder what thoughts you had on the appropriate breakdown of grade levels for elementary vs. middle school. At what grade level should middle school begin (beside the legal requirements for teacher certifications)? Can a single administrator effectively manage a staff who work with students from kindergarten age to their teens, or should different principals handle different grade ranges? What impact does the proximity of 7th and 8th graders to elementary aged students have on academics and/or behavior? How about 5th and 6th graders? In my search for answers on this topic, I found a study done by Duke University in 2007 entitled “Should Sixth Grade be in Elementary or Middle School? An Analysis of Grade Configuration and  Student Behavior.”

Is there such a thing as either an elementary or middle school mentality? Can a teacher have both? Can a principal?
What are your thoughts on this topic?

NMSA Teacher Preparation Standards.

News:

Public Schools Outperform Private Schools in Math Instruction

In another “Freakonomics”-style study that turns conventional wisdom about public- versus private-school education on its head, a team of University of Illinois education professors has found that public-school students outperform their private-school classmates on standardized math tests, thanks to two key factors: certified math teachers, and a modern, reform-oriented math curriculum.“According to our results, schools that hired more certified teachers and had a curriculum that de-emphasized learning by rote tended to do better on standardized math tests,” Lubienski said. “And public schools had more of both.”

Of the five factors, school size and parental involvement “didn’t seem to matter all that much,” Lubienski said, citing a weak correlation between the two factors as “mixed or marginally significant predictors” of student achievement.

They also discovered that smaller class sizes, which are more prevalent in private schools than in public schools, significantly correlate with achievement.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090226093423.htm

Bridging the Character Education Achievement Gap

Throughout his now-famous “Last Lecture,” the late Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science Randy Pausch talked about what he called the “head fake.” It is the idea that learning and education work best when they work on the personal and general levels simultaneously.
We miss one of the most important aspects of character education, the cognitive head fake, when our obsession with advanced coursework becomes myopic and overshadows the strength both areas could have if working to complement each other in high schools.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/02/26/23sutton-com.h28.html?tmp=804479676

Bridging the Character Education Achievement Gap

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/02/26/23sutton-com.h28.html?tmp=804479676

As James Traub, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, has noted: “[T]he issue is not whether we will have character education, but instead, what kind we will have and what relationship it will bear to the ongoing campaign to improve children’s academic skills.” Indeed, character education’s very survival depends on its quantifiably improving students’ academic skills.

A new character education model should be developed around principles that encourage college-level critical thinking and service to community. It should include the following elements:

1. We should teach dialogue and deliberation through Socratic seminars and consensus-building, so that students learn how to communicate with each other in a democratic setting and the ability to judge ideas on the strength of evidentiary support, not misinformed opinion.

2. We should teach core values and beliefs, so that students identify universal truths they are willing to speak for and work from that will guide the decisions they make as leaders and citizens of their communities.

3. We should teach historical models of leadership, so that students will understand that all great leaders are merely standing on the shoulders of others, and that the values of integrity and compassion don’t come easily. Figures taught could range from Gandhi and Lincoln, to the Bible’s King David, to the explorer Ernest Shackleton.

4. We should provide thoughtful teaching of inequity and inequality as they relate to race, gender, and class, so that students can learn how to speak to one another about diversity in a way that creates progress and does not reinforce stereotypes or systems of power and privilege. Students should be introduced to the writings of authors such as Peggy McIntosh, Cornel West, and James A. Banks.

5. We should teach democratic citizenship and leadership, so that students can learn how to use democratic systems to empower and give voice to all participants in a society to make communities more equal and just. Students should be introduced to scholars such as Walter Parker and historical documents such as the Federalist Papers and Washington’s Newburgh Address.

6. Since moral reasoning is integral to these pursuits, students should be taught to think their way through ethical and moral dilemmas and how to make choices that benefit all and that foster the strength of character to persevere through failures. Lawrence Kohlberg’s “stages of moral development” is a great place to start.

7. We should teach ethical and collaborative decision making and problem-solving, to empower students to change dysfunctional systems and communities. This should teach them that problem-solving is not the sole responsibility of one leader or group, but of a whole community working together.

8. We should give students opportunities for practical application of these precepts and practices, so they can test their new knowledge within the community and attempt to make positive improvements. These opportunities could be through schoolwide community-service projects, school philanthropy projects, and various other school improvement projects that encourage all students to participate.

advisory, NMSA08, PodcastBy Troy Patterson, ,

Podcast #64 – We’re excited about reviews, advisory and NMSA08!

Items, Events, and Other:

  1. Book sale!  Clearance prices!
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  3. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  4. New NMSA resource:  http://www.nmsa.org/u_rd/022009/gradNation.htm  NMSA has partnered with America’s Promise to disseminate a resource to middle schools about the dropout crisis in today’s high schools.      National Middle School Association

    “Dear NMSA Member,

    One-third of all students and half of minority youth—a startling 1.2 million kids—fail to graduate high school each year. Many of those who do graduate lack the basic skills needed to succeed in college, work, and life. With this many children at risk, our nation is at risk. We need your help to stem this tide.

    As part of America’s Promise Alliance, National Middle School Association is pleased to present you with Grad Nation, an evidence-based guidebook to help you increase the high school graduation rate in your community.

    We invite you to use this first-of-its-kind “road map” that has the latest data, best practices, and tools for meeting your specific high school dropout challenges. In addition to the research-based guidance for addressing the crisis, Grad Nation also includes ready-to-print tools and links to additional online resources. Available to all free of charge, this online resource can be found at: www.americaspromise.org/gradnation.

    Authored by Robert Balfanz, Ph.D. and Joanna Honig Fox from the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, and John M. Bridgeland and Mary McNaught of Civic Enterprises, Grad Nation presents a compelling case for a broad cross-section of all organizations and individuals to get involved.

    Although there is no silver bullet for reducing the dropout rate, we know which approaches work, and this guidebook is the first ‘one stop shop’ for anyone who wants to assemble the best set of approaches that will impact the problem, including information on public policies proven to help reduce the dropout rate.

    As leaders of middle grades education, we must continue to set an example and inspire others to take action to strengthen our schools and keep our young people on the path to success. The Alliance formally unveiled this tool on February 10, 2009. Please join me in supporting Grad Nation as a valuable new resource.

    Sincerely,

    Betty Edwards, Ed.D.
    Executive Director
    National Middle School Association”

  5. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting.
  6. North Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Pinehurst, NC.  Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli.  Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year.    
  7. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  8. Free Professional Development through Webinars! NMSA is offering previously recorded webinars for free from their website.
  9. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  10. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Skype in the classroom.  Archived content is available.
  12. Second Life:
  2. From the Twitterverse:

Why I didn’t turn in my homework…

  • I lost it fighting this kid you said you weren’t the best teacher in the school.
  • I was mugged on the way to school and the mugger took everything I had.
  • Our furnace stopped working and we had to burn it to stop ourselves from freezing.
  • I didn’t do it because I didn’t want to add to your already heavy workload.
  • My father had a nervous breakdown and he cut it up to make paper dolls.
  • I didn’t do it, because I didn’t want the other kids in the class to look bad.
  • ET stopped by my house and he accidentally took it home with him.

Shout outs:

  1. C-O Connections bloggers .
  2. Will Richardson, thanks for getting us all excited about your impending visit to Jackson . . . MS! not MI . . .

  3. “I have just started listening to the MSM Podcasts. I download them from iTunes U and listen to them on the way to work. Today I am home with a sick child and I am listening to a marathon of MSM, spending my day with Shawn and Troy. lol.

    I am a special education teacher at the secondary level and have shared the MSM link and iTunes U info on the podcast with the tech department for my school to distribute to the school, because MSM highlights and covers content that isn’t limited soley to the middle school level.

    MSM is an incredible resource for newbies to the tech world. . . like me. . . because Troy and Shawn provide a thorough and comprehensive review of current education, technology, pedagogy and its practice information available from a variety of sources.

    Listening to Shawn and Troy at MSM has “elevated the level of my game” so to speak. They are thoughtful and thought provoking in their content and coverage of material. . . all provided with a good dose of . . . humor!”

    Thanks Jenny!  We appreciate your spreading the word!

Webspotlight:

History Before and After Humans
Shows an overview of the development of Homosapiens and the potential future of humans.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7348103/

Grad Nation: A Guidebook to Help Communities Tackle The Dropout Crisis

It is a guidebook that provides a road map to help communities tackle the dropout crisis. It is designed to help communities develop tailored plans for keeping students on track to graduate from high school, prepared for college, work and life. Grad Nation is a natural outgrowth of our local summit work to ensure that solutions are developed to put our youth on a path to success.

Grad Nation also includes ready-to-print tools and links to additional online resources, in addition to research-based guidance. It provides information and tools for developing and implementing a customized program that’s right for individual communities.

http://www.americaspromise.org/APAPage.aspx?id=11796

News:

Project Management Keeps Learning on Track

Like other teachers spearheading ambitious collaborative units, Smith’s two-pronged approach to managing the Monster Project — developing his students into self-directed learners while also harnessing technology tools to help keep things on track — has allowed him to smoothly complete complex projects while maximizing student learning opportunities. “Teachers are only successful if they understand how to manage the project cycle,” notes Bernie Trilling, global director for education strategy and partnerships for the Oracle Education Foundation, which emphasizes project learning.

http://www.edutopia.org/project-learning-classroom-management

San Jose dad in jail — and mom’s on the way — for 13-year-old girl’s chronic truancy

It started back in third grade with polite letters from the school principal to the East San Jose couple: Your daughter has had a series of unexcused absences; please contact us. Back then, Carol Reynoso and Jayvee Geronimo’s youngest attended school about 80 percent of the time. Now, Vanessa said she’s willing to do anything if only the court would spare her mother from jail, including face her worst fear — school. “I’m willing to really try this time, to go to school,” said Vanessa, whose family says she was mercilessly teased about her weight. “I know I’ve said that before, but I mean it.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_11743743?source=rss

Why All Teachers Must Learn How to Teach Online

Patrick says that public education has struggled to incorporate technology into schools and just adding computers piecemeal is not enough to engage students. Educators properly trained to use the Internet and digital tools can teach in a traditional manner and have unlimited resources at their fingertips. Online learning can also help create more personalized learning plans for each student.
http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2009/02/patrick-speaker-spotlight.html

NMSA ’08 Conference Sessions

Lion Taming 101 by Dr. Debbie Silver
Selected notes from Drumming to the Beat of Different Marchers
Lion Taming 101 by Dr. Debbie Silver

The Teacher
“Concerning a teacher’s influence, I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive  element in the classroom.  It’s my personal approach that creates and climate.  It’s my daily mood that makes the weather.  As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to mae a child’s life miserable or joyous.  I can e a tool of torture or an instrumnt of inspiration.  I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.  In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or deescalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.”  – Haim Ginott
Dress Code – Music by Monte Selby
Lion Taming 101
Be Proactive!
Seating charts
We want teaching to be seamless.  No child or teacher should stop the learning process.
Decide what battles you’re going to fight.
Things that are nitpick level, shouldn’t be at the “rule” level.
Practice procedures and routines.
Establish non-negotiables
Lee Cantor’s method can escalate this to an impossible situation.
Don’t get into it with a child in front of the other students.
Stay on your feet and move around the room.
Find your own “rhythm for management”
RESPECT the students.
Taking Inventory
Please answer the question.  There are no right or wrong answers.  What you write will be held in confidence.
1.  What is your full name?  What do you like to be called?  Why?
2.  List 5 words that describe you.
3.  List the people that live in your home(s) and put 2 describing words after each name.
4.  What is your favorite thing to do at school?
7.  Do you like to read? Why or why not?
10.  Write your own question and answer it.
Tips for Successful Communication With Students
Do not begin instruction until all students are focused and attentive.
Be sure your voice and body language are consistent with your words.
Use direct eye contact and simple hand gestures to redirect off-task or inappropriate behavior.
Use clos proximity and a quiet voice to make reminders and censures personal and private
Be warm and friendly, and be firm.
Idea:  Hall Moms & Pops:  Folks in the hall during passing that talk to the students.  Some have erasers, pencils, etc.
Offer choices of behavior so that you control the direction they go.  It also helps them because they can’t come up with choices on their own.
Write notes or emails to students to let them know how much you appreciate them.
Why Students Misbehave
To gain power.
To get attention.
To seek revenge.
To avoid failure
Adapted from Catherine Neale Watson, Middle Ground
They are bored.
You as the teacher are obligated to be engaging, not necessarily to be entertaining.
Things to consider before you react to a disruptive student
Does the student feel the he is not being respected or losing face?
Is it possible that this student really ..
Could this be about your own need to win?
Could have you misinterpreted the situation?
Have you confronted the one who wasn’t the primary instigator?
Behavioral Journal Sheet
Student’s Name ___________________
Class/Period ____________________
I violated our class code by :
I chose to do this because:
A more appropriate choice would have been:
This is how I feel about whathappened:
This is what I plant o do in the future to prevent a recurrence of y actions
This is how my teacher can help me implement my plan:
Student signature and teacher comments:
Individual Behavior plan
Student name, etc.
long-Range goals for the student:
Short-Range goal for the student:
What student will do to meet target goal:
What teacher will do to help student meet that goal:
What Parent ill do to hel reach that goal
What are the consequences?
Positive recognition will be made with _____ of successful behavior.
Rose poem:
When we plant a rose seed in the earth … -Timothy Gallaway.
Secret Password:  iamateacher  www.debbiesilver.com
CEU:  FB3
Selected notes from Drumming to the Beat of Different Marchers

Cooperative Learning
Businesses are moving to this model because together they remember more and can do more than alone.
Students can utilize their own strengths

UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr

From Facebook . . .

“I have just started listening to the MSM Podcasts. I download them from iTunes U and listen to them on the way to work. Today I am home with a sick child and I am listening to a marathon of MSM, spending my day with Shawn and Troy. lol.

I am a special education teacher at the secondary level and have shared the MSM link and iTunes U info on the podcast with the tech department for my school to distribute to the school, because MSM highlights and covers content that isn’t limited soley to the middle school level.

MSM is an incredible resource for newbies to the tech world. . . like me. . . because Troy and Shawn provide a thorough and comprehensive review of current education, technology, pedagogy and its practice information available from a variety of sources.

Listening to Shawn and Troy at MSM matters has “elevated the level of my game” so to speak. They are thoughtful and thought provoking in their content and coverage of material. . . all provided with a good dose of . . . humor!”

Thanks Jenny!  We appreciate your spreading the word!

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson, , ,

MSM Podcast #63 This discussion is anything but Academic

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. Book sale!  Clearance prices!
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  3. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  4. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount.
  5. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  6. North Carolina Middle School Association‘s Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Pinehurst, NC.  Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli.  Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year.    
  7. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  8. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA.
  9. Free Professional Development through Webinars! NMSA is offering previously recorded webinars for free from their website.
  10. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  11. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  12. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  13. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  “The topic this Saturday (February 7th) is “Using Tags” with special guest Jennifer Dorman, author of the blog “Cliotech”, will join us to talk about using tags to save links and resources in Diigo and why it is so important to do so. More information and log-on details at http://live.classroom20.com.”  Archived content is available.
  14. From the Twitterverse:
  15. Second Life:
    • 1/31 Basic Skills Workshop:  Appearance (ISTE Island 3)
    • 2/10   ISTE Speaker Series (TBA) (Watch the board on the island for the Thursday Socials)
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life

Shout outs:

  1. Paul Nichols, a great for twitterverse links.
  2. Gardenglen
  3. Scott Merrick
  4. The Library of Congress

10 Bad Signs for Good Teachers…

Teachers are trained to watch for signs: signs that the students are learning something, that the students aren’t learning anything, that the students are onto something, that the students are up to something. There are some signs that teachers have not been taught to watch for: signs that could spell disaster. Here is a list of 10 such bad signs – if you happen to see one of them, beware!

1. The principal smiles at you. This is a very bad sign. It means the principal is up to something, and that something somehow involves you. It could mean the principal is about to ask you to volunteer to be the new coach for the girls’ soccer team, or to write his two-hour speech for the Mothers’ Club, or to accept three new students from the local home for delinquent children. If the principal not only smiles but asks, “How are you doing?” that’s even worse. And if he or she then adds, “Could I please see you in my office for a minute at your convenience?” – run for your life!
2. Things are going well for you in the classroom. Many inexperienced teachers take this for a good sign, but more seasoned educators know it means things are going to go bad for you-very bad and very soon. Maybe you are about to change to another class, or smitten by a rare tropical disease, or your classroom is about to be invaded by a herd of wild plastic-eating termites. I know several teachers who believe in this bad omen so firmly that they have peace only when things are going horribly in the classroom.
3. Your classroom is completely equipped with audio-visual aids. If you walk into your room and see a record player, an overhead projector, a tape recorder, and a movie projector-that’s bad. It’s a sure sign that none work-because if they did, they would have been “borrowed” long before this. Just in case you test the equipment and discover that everything does work (you realize, of course, that the chances of this happening are one in a million), that’s still a bad sign. It means that you have just been put in charge of maintaining all the audio-visual equipment for the entire school.
4. Your students tell you that you’re their favorite teacher. If this happens, brace yourself. It means the kids want something. That something could be something relatively small: “Let’s not talk about colons and semicolons today. Let’s talk about football.” Or your students could be bargaining for something bigger: “Let’s not have any homework this year, okay?”
5. You are prepared for all your classes for the coming week. Any teacher who does this is only asking for trouble. You cannot tempt Fate so blatantly without expecting dire consequences. And what could some of those consequences be? Maybe you will be struck with the five-day flu on Sunday evening, or there will be a battery of psychological tests this entire week.
6. You have all your report cards finished a day ahead of schedule. This sign, closely related to #5, simply means that the administration has just introduced a new kind of report card, and the old kind (127 of which you have just finished filling out) is now obsolete.
7. Your students do poorly on your test. This is a bad sign- or at least the administration interprets it as a bad sign-which makes it so for you. It means you are an incompetent teacher who ought to be booted out of the classroom as soon as possible. If your students do poorly on a test sh-h-h!-don’t tell anyone, not even your students. Destroy the tests, give a retest, and hope and pray that the kids do better-but not too much better. (See the next sign.)
8. Your students do very well on your test. This too is a bad sign. in fact, it’s a worse sign than #7. It can only mean one of three things: 1) the test was too easy; 2) you are a stupid teacher; or 3) the kids cheated.
9. You have a few free minutes to yourself after school. If this happens, one of the following events is bound to occur: 1) another teacher will report you to the principal for not having enough to do; 2) some kid will come in and ask if he or she could talk to you for a minute and stay 2 hours; or 3) the principal will ask if you could give the janitor a hand with cleaning the bathrooms after school.
10. You receive positive feedback from a parent. Although this sign rarely occurs, it portends trouble. You can be sure that if one parent is praising you, another one is already initiating legal proceedings to have you removed from the classroom. When all is said and done, it’s a better sign to receive no parental feedback than any kind at all.

WebSpotlight:

http://www.nmsa.org/Advocacy/AdvocacyToolstoUse/FundamentalsPresentation/tabid/793/Default.aspx

News:

Powerhouse School District Reaches Beyond the Elite

After decades of grooming a handful of high school students in an exclusive research class to succeed in the elite national Intel Science Talent Search, school administrators this year, for the first time, required every seventh grader to do original research. With similar goals in mind, the district has added honor societies in English, art and music — for a total of seven — to recognize students whose overall grades may keep them out of the National Honor Society. Since 2003, it has expanded its menu of Advanced Placement courses to 25 subjects and opened them to students who previously would not have qualified. And it instituted a policy prohibiting students from being cut from the orchestra, band and most sports, adding “junior varsity 2” teams to accommodate extra players. The district’s unusual focus on these average students in recent years has pleased many but has also drawn criticism that A.P. classes have become less rigorous, students have been coddled, and music groups and sports teams saddled with marginal players.

Students in A.P. classes say that some teachers, now required to accept students who did not pass a qualifying exam or get a teacher’s recommendation, have been known to weed out the weak with heavy reading loads, daily pop quizzes, and zeros on biology labs.

Joe Barrett, 17, a senior, said his United States history teacher went to the opposite extreme in the 2007-8 school year, presenting “elaborate PowerPoints with music videos to keep people interested.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/nyregion/06middle.html?_r=1

Palo Alto superintendent: Achievement gap can’t be eliminated

When it comes to closing the achievement gap, Palo Alto schools Superintendent Kevin Skelly says educators are deluding themselves. And he dares to say what’s become almost unspeakable publicly:

“It’s just not possible for the average kid who comes to this country in seventh or eighth grade, or even third grade, without a word of English and parents with little formal education, to match the achievement levels of kids whose mom has a Ph.D. in English from Stanford and can afford to stay home and spend time supplementing the education of her kids.”

Yet totally eliminating the gap would be “the triumph of hope over experience,” said Skelly, who came from San Diego 19 months ago to take the helm of Palo Alto’s 17 schools. When educators set that lofty goal, “we’re not being honest, and it’s to our detriment,” he said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_11613034?source=rss

‘Capturing Kids Hearts’ is goal of more West Michigan school districts

by Beth Loechler | The Grand Rapids Press

Bobbie Fletcher, a science teacher at Chandler Woods Charter Academy in Belmont, is part of a growing trend at area districts where teachers and other school staff put an emphasis on “Capturing Kids’ Hearts.”

Fletcher believes that even the greatest teachers won’t get through to students unless they establish a personal connection with each and every one.

“It’s not just what we teach, it’s how we teach,” she said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/02/bobbie_fletcher_a_science_teac.html

Academic debates fall short on Twitter

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3601/on-twitter-academic-debates-fall-short
Remember how we were always told that the three things to remember in Real Estate were location, location, location?  Well evidently in the Twitterverse its more about timing than anything when it comes to having an academic discussion on a topic.

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson

Podcast #62 Twitter This! Once Upon A Podcast . . .

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. North Carolina Middle School Association‘s Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Greensboro, NC.  Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli.  Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year.    
  6. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  7. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA.
  8. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.  The deadline has been extended to February 8, 2009.  Applications can be made online.
  9. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  10. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  11. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  “The topic this Saturday (January 31) is “Classroom Blogging” with guest speaker Kathy Cassidy, author of blog “Primary Preoccupation”. Kathy will discuss classroom blogging platforms, the pros/cons of blogging platforms and how she uses her classroom blog with her students. Our Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a blog and how do I find good blogs to read?”  Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  13. Second Life notices:

Shout outs:

  1. Paul Nichols, thanks for letting us know you’re listening!
  2. Ron Miller, thanks for the email.
  3. Jenny McAvoy-Anteau, congrats on your SL presentation!

Follow us on Twitter.

Web Spotlight:

Once Upon a School
This site is an online initiative developed in response to author and philanthropist Dave Eggers’ 2008 TED Prize wish to inspire and collect the stories of private citizens engaged in their local public schools. Each year, three individuals are granted the TED Prize, which provides winners with a wish to change the world, $100,000 in seed money, and the support of the TED community in making the wish come true. Dave looked to the community to build a website that would collect these stories. 826 National, Hot Studio, and Carbon Five stepped up and created Once Upon a School.
Check out some of the Stories for ideas.
http://www.onceuponaschool.org/

News:

Challenging Assumptions About Online Predators

Sunday, January 25, 2009; Page F01- The Washington Post
The study, released by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, finds that it’s far more likely that children will be bullied by their peers than approached by an adult predator online.

Alas, there’s no easy fix for the risks that children face on the Web, according to the group that authored the report. The Berkman Center’s Internet Safety Technical Task Force reviewed 40 technologies designed to protect children online, but none won an endorsement.

Parents’ concerns about Internet predators are sometimes overblown, said Parry Aftab of WiredSafety.org, but it’s nearly impossible to tell how overblown they are; when quizzed about online activity, kids don’t usually tell the truth if their parents are around, she said.

“One stupid little form just needs a checkbox,” Aftab said. Without better data, “we might as well hang up our hats and go fishing.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012400182.html?hpid=topnews

Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?

As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games.
“No one medium is good for everything,” Greenfield said. “If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops.”

“By using more visual media, students will process information better,” she said. “However, most visual media are real-time media that do not allow time for reflection, analysis or imagination — those do not get developed by real-time media such as television or video games. Technology is not a panacea in education, because of the skills that are being lost.

“Studies show that reading develops imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary,” Greenfield said. “Reading for pleasure is the key to developing these skills. Students today have more visual literacy and less print literacy. Many students do not read for pleasure and have not for decades.”

These and other studies show that multi-tasking “prevents people from getting a deeper understanding of information,” Greenfield said.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm

Gates Foundation to show excellent teaching

Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates says his foundation hopes to post online videos of exemplary teachers plying their craft as a way to inspire other educators and help students learn. “It is amazing how big a difference a great teacher makes versus an ineffective one. Research shows there is only half as much variation in student achievement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school,” he wrote.
“Whenever I talk to teachers, it is clear that they want to be great, but they need better tools so they can measure their progress and keep improving. So our new strategy focuses on learning why some teachers are so much more effective than others and how best practices can be spread throughout the education system so the average quality goes up.”
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=56948

Listeners who Write:

Fellow technology advocates

I love technology. There is no doubt. With my iPhone in hand, Macbook in lap, and hardware graveyard in my attic, no one would accuse me of supporting the luddite movement any time soon. My belief in the use of technology in education is sacrosanct.

Therefore, when a book came to my attention entitled “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future,” I was compelled to digest the studies and inevitable conclusions within its pages. In summary, author Mark Bauerlein makes the point that our youth, who have vastly more available to them than previous generations thanks to technology, are an ill-informed and time-wasting group of individuals whose cavalier digital lifestyle threatens the very core of our american heritage.

Compelling statistical data from various studies seem to show that the vast digital resources available to our youth are wasted on video games, chat, uploads and downloads, texting and social networking instead of thoughtful reading and study or civic responsibilities.

At the very least, this book is an eye-opening tale of how careful we must be in the facilitation of technology to our students in school and children at home. I recommend it as a alternate perspective to the belief that students always benefit from their immersion in all things digital.

Happy reading!

MSM, NMSA08, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

Podcast #61 Middle School Good News Week!

Today’s Quiz:
Teaacher: Can anyone give me the name of a liquid that won’t freeze?
Teacher: Does anyone know which month has 28 days?
Why was the head teacher worried?
Teacher: I told you to stand at the end of the line?
Teacher: I said to draw a cow eating some grass but you’ve only drawn the cow?
Teacher: Why are you standing on your head?
Teacher: That’s quite a cough you have there, what are you taking for it?
*For answers, listen to the podcast.

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  6. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  10. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  11. Saturday, January 17th, 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm GMT: “Google Forms.” The Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a feedreader and why do I need one?” Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  12. Thing To Try This Week:  Create a flash mob of faculty at the corner of one of your hallways.  Ideas for the flash mob can be posted here at www.middleschoolmatters.com.
  13. From Steve Hargadon’s Classroom 2.0:  “Looking for Lincoln: Changing Views of History, Changing Views of Race” with speaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

    The time for this event is 8:00pm Eastern (USA) / 5:00pm Pacific (USA). A link for international times is HERE.
    PBS Teachers® and Classroom 2.0 are partnering on a series of free monthly webinars designed to help preK-12 educators learn new ways to integrate online instructional resources in the classroom and engage students in curriculum lessons. The webinar series features leading education experts, authors, and PBS producers who will discuss timely and relevant curriculum-related topics, and share their knowledge and ideas on using digital media to create rich learning experiences for students
    Dr. Gates will discuss how Americans’ understanding of President Lincoln and African American history and culture continues to evolve, and ways to approach this topic with students. Dr. Gates is the host of the documentary “Looking for Lincoln,” which premieres in February. The program addresses the controversies surrounding Lincoln about race, equality, religion, politics, and depression by carefully interpreting the evidence from those who knew him and those who study him today.
    A recorded version of the event will be available soon afterwards at http://live.classroom20.com in the archive section.

  14. Second Life notices:
    • 1/25 ISTE Island Tours
    • 1/27 ISTE Seminar:  Virtual Renaissance & Education – Virtual Harlem’s role as a learning community.
    • 1/29 Data Visualization around the Campfire on ISTE island.
    • 1/31 Basic Skills Workshop:  Appearance (ISTE Island 3)
    • 2/3   ISTE Speaker Series (TBA)

News:
Hernando School Board says administrators should get raise, despite what they say

BROOKSVILLE — Four out of five School Board members agreed Tuesday that Hernando County administrators deserve a raise this year.

But at least 16 principals and other senior officials are saying just the opposite, that hard times are not the time for senior staff to be taking extra public money.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article969147.ece

Suit filed over longer middle school day
The Pinellas teachers union filed a lawsuit Tuesday hoping to force the School District to abandon a seven-period middle school schedule that the union claims violates the teachers’ contract.  District officials have maintained for months that reverting to the old schedule would be too disruptive for about 22,000 middle school students and that some would be forced to drop electives they need to get into special high school programs. The standoff began in June, when the School Board voted to lengthen the school day by 14 minutes and add an additional period as a means of cutting $2.2-million from the budget. Officials said the change also would make room for elective courses aimed at getting students more engaged in academics before they reach high school.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article969259.ece

Standards Help Minn. Vie With Top Nations
Thirteen years ago, Minnesota was a state with no academic standards in mathematics and science and what some observers said was a mixed record in grounding students in crucial academic content, such as number skills and algebra.  As one of only two U.S. states to participate in a prominent international measurement of academic skill, Minnesota is scoring at or near the level of many of the highest-performing countries on that exam, and its scores in some categories have jumped significantly since it first took part in 1995.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/01/21/18minnesota.h28.html?tmp=472824768

Web Spotlight:

Flashcards

  1. Find data to study or add your own data.
  2. Study and play with data online as flashcards, hangman game, crossword puzzle, matching, word search, or word scramble.
  3. Study anytime/anywhere by printing data or exporting flash cards to your cell phone, PDA, or iPod.

http://www.studystack.com/

Journal Article:
An Early Warning System:  by promptly reacting to student distress signals, schools can redirect potential dropouts onto the path to graduation.

  • A final grade of F in mathematics.
  • A final grade of F in English.
  • Attendance below 80 percent for the year.
  • A final “unsatisfactory” behavior mark in at least one class.

Solutions:

  • Whole-school interventions:  Weekly or monthly attendance parties, one individual who intervenes at the first absence, placing or creating a school culture that rewards intrinsically or extrinsically good attendance.
  • Targeted interventions
  • Intensive interventions

http://www.jhsph.edu/preventyouthviolence/Test/An_early_warning_system.pdf

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson, ,

Podcast #60: Team Building, Online, and Socratic Circles (NMSA08)

Math Problem:
If your father gets $300 and gives your mother half, what does she have?
Why did the student tell his parents that low grades in January weren’t a problem?
What did Paul Revere say at the end of his ride?
The plural of man is men. What is the plural of child?
What is a synonym?  (It’s like the Rats of Nymh … The Sin O’Nym … ?)

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.
  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. MIT Vocab Contest!:  Have your students produce a video defining standard SAT vocabulary words.  For every 5 videos uploaded one iTunes download will be awarded up to 1000 downloads per the event in total.  In other words, get ‘am in early and often if you’re looking for the iTunes motivator.  Only 1000 available for the entire WORLD!  Oh, and check out the website.
  6. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  10. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  11. Saturday, January 17th, 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm GMT: “Google Forms.” The Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a feedreader and why do I need one?” Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  12. Second Life notices:
    • 1/22 ISTE Island Social:  Data Visualization- using graphs in SL to visualize data.
    • 1/25 ISTE Island Tours.  Travel with ISTE and see the SL world.

Web Spotlight
http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

News:
Pasco schools say virtual ed’s a real budget breaker
As Pasco schools look to the future of education, online courses for kindergarten through eighth grade rate high on the priority list. “I’m not being funded to do it. I’m just being told I have to do it,” said Fiorentino, who is leading a statewide effort to get a reprieve. “We just can’t afford doing it this year.” She said her staff has estimated the startup costs for the program — including such things as curriculum development and infrastructure — could run as high as $1-million. Although over time it would be expected to become self-sufficient, the school’s initial price tag looks too steep when the district can’t even afford employee raises, she added.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article967362.ece

Hard times cut state cyber school enrollments
The state’s 11 cyber charter schools — online, at-home alternatives to traditional public schools — are the latest victims of the recession. Facing the threat of layoffs or mortgage foreclosures, some parents are sending their children back to brick-and-mortar public schools because a stay-at-home spouse had to get a job, said Joe Lyons, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School in Norristown, second-largest in the state.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_606700.html

Davis sixth-grader’s science experiment breaks new ground
By Niesha Lofing

University of California, Davis, scientists are redirecting their research after a professor’s son discovered that a major agricultural pest prefers pistachios over other nuts.

The sixth-grader’s experiment showed that female navel orangeworms preferred to lay their eggs in pistachios rather than almonds or walnuts, and researchers now are trying to use the information to better control the pests, according to the California Farm Bureau.

http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/1530953.html

Economy brings reprieve to teacher shortage
http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_11408218?source=rss

Fair Isn’t Always Equal
http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=8982&r=sb090112b&REFERER=
First Chapter Free

Net threat to minors less than feared.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10142096-238.html?tag=mncol

Unexpected Twist: Fiction Reading Is Up
Survey Shows Reversal Of Longstanding Trend
For the first time since the NEA began surveying American reading habits in 1982 — and less than five years after it issued its famously gloomy “Reading at Risk” report — the percentage of American adults who report reading “novels, short stories, poems or plays” has risen instead of declining: from 46.7 percent in 2002 to 50.2 percent in 2008.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011102337.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Socratic Circles presentation (Ballroom 3)
Mary Dooms, Marge Strand of Lake Zurich Middle School South, Lake Zurich, Illinois
email:  marge.strand@lz95.org  and  mary.dooms@lz95.org
Book:  Socratic Circles by Matt Copeland
Overview
Rooted in Socrates’ philosophy that critical thinking and reason skills ar enhanced when the learneer begins to question.
Questioning continues the though process while answers stop it.
Purpose
Develop critical thinking skills
Construct meaning
Deepen understanding
Shift responsibility for group discussion from the teacher to the student
Practice reading strategies
Build vocabulary
Improve verbal and written expression
Enhance listening skills
Practice civility and respect.
Socratic Circle Process Overview
Step One:  Text selection is read and critically annotated.
Step Two:  Students question reading based on:
Fact
Interpretation
Evaluation
Step Three:  Students meet in two concentric circles.
Inner circle discusses text.
Outer circle observes dialogue.
Step Four:  Concentric circles are reversed.
Debrief:  What did you notice here?
What was the best question asked here?
What was the best answer here?
Step Five:  Written reflection pieces are completed.
Keys to a successful circle
Teacher preparation – assume nothing!
Select the reading/media for analysis
Determine the essential question(s)
Determine the behaviors to be assessed (rubric here)
Find a good video of a Socratic circle to teach them how to behave and how to make it work.
Who looks engaged and who looks on task?
Who looks at others?
Prepare the students
Model process of annotating text and developing insightful questions.
Discuss assessment criteria and expectations using Looks Like/Sounds Like T-Chart (Frayer Model)
Inner Circle Engaged/On Task
Looks Like
Eyes focused on speaker
Leaning In
Pens moving
Pages turning to refer to text
Sounds like
“Based on what you said, I’m not thinking …”
“I had trouble understanding why …”
“I agree/disagree with what you say because …”
Put it on chart paper and pull it out during the year.
Teach the behaviors that allow them to engage in conversation with each other respectfully.
Inner Circle Encourages Participation – Let’s complete a T-chart
Looks Like:
Turn towards the person
nonverbal cues
Hand touching arm of another student
Eyes on a non-participant as verbal invitation to participate is given
Gentle smile of encouragement
Sounds Like:
“Looks like Joe has something to say …”
Do you want to add something?
Outer Circle Observation Mode
Looks Like:
Pens moving on paper
Eyes on group
Leaning in
Sounds Like
Pens moving across the page
Silent voices.
Outer Circle Feedback Mode
Looks Like
Eyes on ourter circle speaker
Patiently witing turn by sitting still.
Sounds Like:
“When Ben asked the question …., the discussion shifted from … to …”
“Claire’s pen tapping was a bit much.”
“The group compared … to, and that made the reading easier to understand. ”
A Socratic Circle on the novel The Book Theif:  A group of 7th graders meet to gain a deeper understanding of the book.  (Emmit Till:  the book)
Always stop it short of completely talking about the topic.
Lets run a Socratic Circle
… on the Pledge of Allegiance.
Handout:
The Pledge of Allegiance:  “I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
This pledge is something that we say every day in school.  Yet, it is something we do not analyze very often.  Consider the following:
Choice of words
What exactly is being said?
Why is there controversy about saying this in school?
Do students have the right not to say the pledge?
Wy would someone object to saying the pledge?
Mock Circle Debriefing
Observations and feedback from the outer circle
Audience critique (+/-)
Assessments
Rubric
Scorecard
Reflection on Content form
Reflection on Performance form
Socratic Circle Feedback form.
Suggestion
Use Kagan gambit chips to engage in conversation and regulate the number of times a student participates
Examples for the Teaching Process
Pledge of Allegiance
“Born in the U.S.A.” lyrics
The Gettysburg Address