Teacher+Talk

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MRA 2014 Saturday, March 15 Keynote: R.J. Palacio Marzano DQ1 Connection: Celebrating Success Author of __Wonder__ R.J. Palacio told us the background for writing her book about a boy with a severe facial anomaly who has been home-schooled until the fifth grade. The book focuses on Auggie’s relationships when he begins to attend school with other children. The story was inspired by a time in the author’s own life when she missed a teaching moment with her own children and suffered a “failure of kindness" . She encountered a little girl with a facial anomaly while visiting an ice cream store with her own children and quickly and awkwardly removed her children from the situation. We became aware of a national movement called “Choose Kind” celebrated on October 10 each year (Auggie’s birthday). Children celebrate by stating how they choose kindness and by composing personal precepts such as: “When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.”  The lesson from __Wonder__ and this amazing author as it applies to DQ1 is that we must always remember to celebrate the success of each child even though that success will look different for different kids. Especially true at Forest, with our very diverse population and special ed immersion. __ Wonder __ is also a great book for teaching empathy to fourth grade students. Saturday, March 15 Edmodo Social Learning Platform Marzano DQ1 Connection: Tracking Student Progress Also closely related to DQ2, DQ3, and DQ4 in dealing with the ways students acquire and process new information Edmodo is a social learning platform extremely useful in checking for student understanding. It can be used to create polls and quizzes for individual rubrics and responsibility. Edmodo is an innovative way to enhance instruction for all students. Assignments can be received through Google Docs and turned in through Edmodo. Can also use discussion threads with students. Great tool for formative assessment, performance assessment, and ELL students and their families. Can be accessed on iPads, iPods, other tablets, and cell phones. Very user-friendly. Saturday, March 15 Bring on The Books! (Donalyn Miller) Marzano Connection: DQ1 and DQ5 Thinking about engaging students, helping students to select books that they are motivated to read, and how to hold them accountable for reading without turning that accountability into a burden that will interfere with finding the joy in reading. Saturday, March 15 Creating a Culture of Passion and Creativity Marzano Connection: DQ1, DQ2, DQ3, and DQ5 This was by far the best session I have ever attended at a conference. A teacher named Colby Sharp convinced three phenomenal authors raised in Michigan schools to hold a panel discussion with two of his students and himself to discuss reading, writing, and what they love about both. Authors: Katherine Applegate (__The One and Only Ivan)__, Linda Urban__(A Crooked Kind of Perfect)__, and Lisa McMann (__The Unwanteds__). Learned that these and other authors are often available to Skype into your classroom for book discussions or followup projects after using their books. I was able to get a couple of video clips from this session as the authors offered so much motivation and encouragement to the student authors, which I have shared with our fourth graders (who already love their books - 2 of them were our read-alouds for this year.) Sunday, March 16 Keynote: Chris Tovani Harnessing Literacy Instruction to Meet the Demands of the CCSS Marzano Connection: DQ1, 2,3,4,5,and 9 Some notes from this session: Kids need the learning target before they can reflect. Feedback given too late is useless. 80% of learning is unmonitored. Tovani’s three components: a) attempt and completion b) improvement and growth c) mastery Assessing to adjust  Knowing the end  This session was just a validation to me of so many things that we already have in place.  Sunday, March 16  Global Inquiry Book Clubs Bring Lit. Circles into the Digital Age  Marzano Connection:DQ1, 2, 3, 4  Online book clubs and student-driven inquiry projects take learning beyond the classroom walls. Authentic way to get students interested in reading and interacting with new knowledge. Also provide a way to track student progress and celebrate success.  We saw examples of online discussions from cross-district book clubs from Birmingham and Fenton.  Sunday, March 16  Kid Bloggers: Writing for the World to See!  Marzano Connection: DQ1, 2, 3, 4  Much evidence was provided that writing quantity and quality improves as students gain an authentic audience. We viewed blog posts and videos created by FIRST GRADERS who are blogging! Three different platforms were presented, along with pros and cons of each. Memorable quote: “In the past, we were students of media. Now we are students and producers of media.” Kidblogs appears to be the most user-friendly. Blogging would be a great addition to our writing curriculum for all students!