Professional Learning Alert! Use your tuition reimbursement to take a course through VHEC.

Traditional Discipline Meets Restorative Practice 

A Two Part Hybrid Workshop Series
with T. Elijah Hawkes

Click here to register. 

Series Overview: People appropriately critique traditional school discipline because it can result in devaluing and excluding marginalized students. Restorative justice is often framed as the opposing alternative. But these two systems of responding to harm or infractions of norms don’t need to be seen in opposition. This series will combine theory, practice, and reflection among peers with common visions for how restorative practice can inform both our daily work and our intensive responses to harm.  Part 1: Keeping Order While Creating Belonging This 2-day series is for educators with beginning understanding in how restorative values can intertwine with traditional school practices to help reduce and repair harm, contributing to school cultures characterized by mutual understanding and belonging. Participants will learn how to bring restorative values into traditional disciplinary interventions, such as suspensions, and how such values can live in our classrooms.  Prior to the first workshop, participants will be asked to complete a needs assessment that will inform tailoring the workshop to meet the needs and goals of participants.   Part 2: Problems of Practice and Signs of Success This 2-day series offers participants opportunities to share problems of practice, network with each other, and learn from examples of what the work looks like in various settings. Participants should be actively working to strengthen restorative values in their settings.  Prior to the first workshop, participants will be asked to complete a needs assessment that will inform tailoring the workshop to meet the needs and goals of participants.

Series 1: Jan 18 & Feb 15, 2024 Series 2: Mar 14 & Apr 11, 2024 8:30–3:30 $410 / 12 Professional Learning Hours / Series Attend virtually or in-person at Delta Hotel in S. Burlington

T. Elijah Hawkes, M.S.Ed, is the Director of School Leadership Programs at the Upper Valley Educators Institute (UVEI). He is an advisor to the Polarization and Extremism Research Lab at American University, and a contributing editor with the University of Chicago Press “Schools: Studies in Education.” Prior to joining UVEI, Elijah was a middle/high school principal for 16 years, including ten years at Randolph Union Middle/ High School in Vermont. He has written for Rethinking Schools and Learning for Justice and is the author of two books on school reform.

 

Free Professional Learning Alert- Elementary Math!

The All Learners Network is offering more than a dozen workshops and conferences focused on K-8 mathematics. The offerings are listed here https://alllearnersnetwork.corsizio.com/. 

Any events that list "VT AOE" in the title are free of charge to all Vermont educators. There are a couple of events without this tag, and those do have a cost.

Culturally Responsive Teaching Puts Rigor at the Center

My anti-racist instruction goal for this year is to better understand and support culturally responsive teaching.  As part of this learning journey, I started with what culturally responsive teaching is and isn't.  One helpful resource was this cartoon of the misconceptions of culturally responsive teaching  (I'm choosing not to include a screenshot, and instead linking to Zaretta Hammond's website, in order to honor her intellectual property). 

And I highly recommend the Q and A with Zaretta Hammond that was published by Learning Forward, a professional development resource for educators, linked below. It helped me to think about rigor as an anchor for culturally responsive, anti-racist instruction.

Here's that quick read: Culturally Responsive Teaching Puts Rigor at the Center

Looking for more? 

- Ask your principal or instructional coach to borrow a copy  of Zaretta Hammond's 2014 book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. This was a BSD book club read a couple of years ago. 

- Check out the Anti-Racist Instruction resources at the BSD Teaching and Learning Playbook. 

Middle Level Texts

A guest post by James Moore, the instructional coach at Hunt Middle School. 

Discussing War and Conflict

Consider this resource from Learning for Justice on discussing war and conflict in the classroom.  There are several links which may help as you plan lessons around current events or as you facilitate conversations that come up in the classroom naturally.  There are several resources, including a pocket guide to speaking up again bias and harm.

Using IXL for Diagnosing Learning & Targeted Practice

It’s progress monitoring season. The state requires it: three times a year, we have to collect data on how our students are doing in math and literacy. But progress monitoring also makes sense. The fall progress monitoring data is our starting place; it's a snapshot of how all our students in each grade are doing. And while this data - whether it’s a Lexile score or a “pinpoint” number that IXL generates - is neither perfect nor showing us the whole story, it does provide a gateway to asking more questions about what is working and not working for our students. 

This year, we’re using IXL for progress monitoring in math. Last spring and summer, a group of teachers, instructional coaches, tech interventionists, and district leaders met with people from IXL to develop a plan for how to most effectively use IXL for progress monitoring as well as recommendations for its use as part of teaching and intervention. The group decided to use a function called "Snapshot" as our progress monitoring tool. As its name implies, Snapshot gives us information on a student's overall math level at one moment in time. This is a broad strokes assessment, and therefore, helpful for progress monitoring.

IXL also provides tools that can be helpful to teachers in identifying specific areas that students need more support and targeted practice.  The Real Time Diagnostic (RTD) is a second IXL assessment tool, which we'll explore a bit more here.

The RTD as a Diagnostic Tool

Earlier this week, I talked with Jim Monahan of Edmunds Middle about his experience using IXL. He had his students spend up to 45 minutes initially answering questions in the RTD, so that IXL can get a clear picture of what their strengths and math gaps are. Thereafter, he has students students spend 10 minutes a week answering questions in the RTD, and 10-15 minutes working on one of the areas of targeted practice that IXL provides based on the student’s demonstrated gaps. Note that the program recommends a goal of 15 questions per week; our recommendation is based on time not number of questions. The time students spend in the RTD keeps the program's profile of the student current; having students return to the “diagnostic arena" weekly ensures that the practice sessions better reflect current student skill. Providing specific time for the student to practice one skill area helps keep the intervention practice manageable for students.  Jim also found that the Snapshot (our progress monitoring tool) took very little time for students who had consistently been “entering the diagnostic arena” - the IXL term for using the RTD -- once a week. 

Here it's important to underscore that no computer program is a substitute for high-quality, culturally responsive grade-level instruction that is differentiated with multiple access points for learners who are known well by their teacher. And we don't want students to continue to practice math that they don't understand, no matter how "targeted" that practice is. The data that IXL provides must be monitored and analyzed by the student's teacher. Which students could benefit from a 1:1 or small group re-teaching? Which students continue to practice the same skill without seeing any improvement? That's a flag for a teacher intervention.

All this is to say that IXL can be a useful supplement to daily instruction, practice and feedback in the classroom. In a future post, I’ll highlight some of the ways that IXL can be used as formative assessment in order to tailor classroom-based interventions for grade-level math.

Do's and Don'ts of using Newsela to Accelerate Literacy Skills

I had a serious oh nooooo moment last week at a training. I've been doing it all wrong. Consistently, intentionally, and over more than a decade: wrong. We have all been there - the moment when you realize that the thing you have been doing for students is not actually best practice. So, as teachers and lifelong learners, what do we do? We take a moment to throw our hands in the air and scream "Why didn't I know?", we take a deep breath, and then we figure out how to make it better for the students in front of us right now.

It was a two-day conference on adolescent literacy intervention. I was there with Brent Truchon and James Moore, the middle school instructional coaches, and Cera Putney-Crane, the literacy interventionist at HMS. This was my second time attending a conference led by Dr. Sarah Lupo, who specializes in adolescent literacy. James, Brent, Cera and I had many takeaways from this experience, including some specific things that we can stop doing and start doing instead.

Just before attending the conference, many middle school teachers celebrated at the news that we have secured the funding to renew our Newsela subscription. Teachers, myself included, love Newsela for the easy, searchable access to articles about diverse current, scientific and historical topics. The online program allows us to change the Lexile level of the text with the click of a button to meet different readers where they are. So when Dr. Lupo started talking about Newsela, our ears perked up. She had some very specific recommendations for how to use Newsela effectively as a differentiation tool for readers at diverse levels, as well as some specific ways that are not effective.

First, a couple of the highlights of what I learned from Dr. Lupo about research on adolescent literacy intervention: 

• Supports, differentiation, reading strategies and reading instruction all need to be in service of meaning-making.  

• Adolescent readers of all skills levels need access to and experiences with complex, grade-level texts. 

• Teaching vocabulary is essential, and also needs to be in service of meaning. Focus on building the vocabulary that students need to understand rich texts you have chosen, and provide regular
  opportunities for students to say, use, and write the words. 

As a middle and high school teacher, my routines for using Newsela went something like this: choose a topic or a concept that I want students to read and learn about, find 3-4 related articles, and choose different Lexile scores for each one. Group 1 gets an article with Lexile of 700, Group 2 reads an article at 1100, and Group 3’s article is at 850. My goal was for students to learn about the content with reading that was “just right” for them. 

Sound familiar?

It turns out this approach does not help students learn to read and it does not even help them learn the content better. According to Dr. Lupo, in Tier 1 secondary instruction,  we need to chuck the idea of “just right reading”. Students need access to and practice reading grade level text as often as possible in Science, Social Studies, Health, and Language Arts classes.  And they need supports for that: vocabulary supports, meaning-making supports, reading guides that help them activate prior knowledge and make connections, partner reading and turn-and-talk with good prompts. 

Ohhhhhh. My approach with Newsela was meeting students where they are, but it wasn’t doing anything to move them forward. 

So here are some do’s and don’t of using Newsela to accelerate the reading of our students who most need it. 

Do 

• Use Newsela to find and select readings on high-interest topics that relate to the content you’re teaching. 
• Keep the Lexile level at grade level or higher whenever possible. 
• Look carefully at the rich, complex text you have chosen and identify what will be challenging for readers. Then plan for how you will actively support students for those challenges. 
• Give everyone access to the same text.
• Choose 1-2 short, supplemental readings  with a lower Lexile (easier reading level) in order to build background knowledge or understanding in service of being able to access the complex, grade-level or higher text. You might also choose a short video or two for this purpose: to increase students capacity to access the hard text. 
• Provide lots of ‘touches’ with the text, with opportunities for students to interact, build meaning, learn, practice and use the complex vocabulary associated with the content.

Don’t 

• Don't each articles in isolation, unconnected to bigger, deeper learning that is part of an existing theme or unit of study. 
• Don’t choose a Lexile so low that the article no longer resembles “real” text. For example, if you choose the lowest possible Lexile that the program provides, you’ll notice that the text is so stripped down it barely resembles the original. 
• Don't give different students different texts, or texts with different Lexiles.

In the next few weeks, we'll share more of our learning from this conference, particularly about the implications for core instruction.

The Inspiration Project

 Check out these virtual teacher "field trips" offered throughout the year.  

https://www.theinspirationproject.org/

Teaching About September 11th

 Check out this curriculum from UPenn Graduate School of Education on the "ongoing global impact of 9/11".

Rest & Recharge Opportunity from Nellie Mae Education Foundation

 

As back-to-school season launches, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and HealHaus @School are continuing our partnership together in providing 100 deserving K-12 public school educators and administrators (principals, counselors, teachers, etc.), in New England, with HealHaus @Home online memberships. Educators will gain access to classes and workshops live online 7 days a week including yoga, meditation, sound baths, and so much more.  We recognize that educators always deserve healing and rest as a lifestyle and not just an experience, so it is our hope that this year-long membership will build supportive tools and practices. In recent years especially, the classroom has become a contested battleground, often leaving educators and students caught in the crossfire of ideological battles. From book bans to attacks on curricula, the politics of education is steadily creeping out of legislative halls, and into the halls of our schools. This has put immense strain on educators who want to be able to focus on their jobs — educating and caring for students. Knowing this, Nellie Mae is committed to offering support for educators in and out of the classroom.    With that in mind, the Foundation welcomes deserving New England educators who are interested in joining a healing and wellness-centered community, to apply for a free, year-long online membership with HealHaus.  Apply Today About Us Grants Resources Contact Us 1250 Hancock Street Suite 701N Quincy MA 02169 (781) 348-4200  ‌  ‌  ‌  ‌

Guest post: How will I know if my students learned what I taught?

A guest post by Brent Truchon, Instructional Coach at Edmunds Middle School

Our PLC discussions focus on four primary questions:

1. "What do we want our students to learn?"

2. "How will I know if they've learned it?"

3. "What will we do if they don't learn it?"

4. "What will we do if they already know it?"

Like many, I am currently participating in a book club offered by the district. The book is called "A Teacher's Guide to Flexible Grouping and Collaborative Learning" by Brulless and Brown. Chapter 3, titled "Assessment and Flexible Grouping", has been particularly helpful to my thinking about the second PLC question: "How will I know if they've learned it?"

The chapter includes over 30 different strategies for assessing student understanding. Some of these were familiar to me, while others provided new ways of having students share what they've learned that can readily inform instruction.

Here are a few of my favorites: 

1. Minute Papers: used at the end of class to check for understanding. Students are asked to share their most important takeaway from the day's lesson in a minute or less. Data can be used to inform next steps, create groups, and/or confirm understandings/misconceptions.

2. Five Words: students are asked to select five words that they would use to describe their learning. They can take it in so many ways. It forces them to think critically and occasionally make creative connections between skills and content.

3. One Word Journals: Students must select one word to summarize their learning then justify their choice in a paragraph. As a teacher, this is a great window into student takeaways- what did students learn? Does it align with your intentions?

4. Whiteboard Checks: Students share their learning visually. Again, this is a window into takeaways and misconceptions and can be a great segue from a warm-up into the lesson. Designed for individual whiteboards, but obviously can be done on paper, too.

Looking for more formative assessment strategies?  Check out a copy of the book, email me or Nadya Bech-Conger from the Teaching and Learning office for a copy of the chapter, or read last week’s Edutopia Article called “13 Formative Assessment Strategies That Inspire Creativity” 

Registration is Open for the We All Belong Vermont Statewide Conference on the education of Immigrant and Refugee Students K-12

We All Belong Conference Registration

Authentic Purpose & Audience @BCL

"Social Justice is one of Burlington City & Lake Semester’s core themes, 

and once students see it, it’s suddenly visible everywhere." 

- BCL Blog: Intersections

Building Real-World Context at UVM Archives

In November, a blog post on the Teacher & Learning site explored how how the Burlington City & Lake Semester program uses "Purpose and Audience" to amplify deeper learning.  A recent post illustrates a project that features authentic purpose and audience, dozens of community partners, and a through-line of equity and social justice. If you read to the end, however, you’ll also see that even as successful as this particular project was, BCL co-founder Dov Stucker also reflects on questions about student-centeredness, facilitation, impact, tone, and more. 

Do you want more information on the Burlington City & Lake Semester?  You can find their website here, contact them to schedule an observation, or follow them on instagram.