Are You a Whole Teacher? Looking to include more 21st Century Skills and Attributes into your classroom? Take this educator self-assessment to find out how you’re doing. http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/whole-teaching-whole-teacher-self-assessment-educator-assessment/
We hope you have enjoyed the Reuther Lit Bit this school year. The feedback from staff has been very positive and was truly appreciated. Expectations & Opportunities: This Passive vs. Active learning pyramid displays activities and the outcomes they produce. Don’t miss the information inside the pyramid… ideas for active learning in your classroom.
Missed out on the Twitter chat (#8CulChat)about Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools by Ron Ritchhart? A new book study is beginning on June 8. See http://www.mathcoachscorner.com/2015/05/16/book-study-monday-creating-cultures-of-thinking/ for more details. Ready for your classroom to go from information to transformational? Check out this article, 4 Big Things Transformational Teachers Do to get you started. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/big-things-transformational-teachers-do-todd-finley Don’t forget to check out the updates on the Think from the Middle website… new additions and changes are being made weekly. http://www.rcsthinkfromthemiddle.com/index.html All 8 Cultural Forces: 27 Ways to Help Your Students Be Innovative ties in with all eight of the cultural forces. While you read through the list, see if you can connect all 27 ideas to one of the 8 Cultural Forces!
Routines: Check out this article by Katrina Schwartz (found from : http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/12/08/how-dissecting-a-pencil-can-ignite-curiosity-and-wonderment/ ) about how dissecting a pencil can ignite curiosity. The idea is from a program called Agency by Design and uses thinking routines designed by the Harvard researches on thinking routines. The Innovator's Mindset: While thinking about helping our students to be innovative… a list of 8 Characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset.  Are you on Twitter? If not… Twitter is a great resource for sharing CoT ideas and resources. Check out#rcstfm (Our Think from the Middle website) or #8CulChat (a professional learning community dedicated to discussing Ritchhart’s new book, Creating Cultures of Thinking, and led by local Oakland Schools’ teachers)
Environment: Check out this article http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/07/14/this-is-what-a-student-designed-school-looks-like/ about what a student-designed school looks like. The article is about a pilot school (The Independent Project) that eight students helped to develop in 2010 and is still going strong. Time & Opportunities: Ever wonder what happens to your brain when you have a brilliant idea? Check out this infographic from Vivian Giang from http://www.edutopia.org/
Student Survey - On his website, Ron Ritchhart has a student survey (and survey breakdown) on classroom perceptions. This is a great idea to give to your students at the end of this school year and use for personal reflection for improvement for next year. The constructs being surveyed include: Teacher Goals (work vs. learning), Academic Press or Thinking, Learning as Collaboration, Building a Community of Learners, and Academic Efficacy. You can then use the breakdown to look at each type of question and what the response say about your classroom. I have also attached these documents.
Maker Spaces - Nicholas Provenzano and Suzie Boss highlight some of the positive influences maker spaces are having in schools across our country. Stop by our own maker space to see what’s happening here at Reuther! Food for thought: "Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think." - Albert Einstein http://www.teachthought.com/ this is a blog devoted to supporting educators in evolving learning for a 21st century audience. They offer tons of ideas for incorporating technology into your classroom. Their mission from the website: “Our mission is illuminate and actuate optimal learning for everyone, everywhere. This starts with helping smart teachers teach smart, and it extends to work with like-minded organizations to bring visibility and traction to their ideas.” Check it out! This infographic reminds us that interactions through opportunities with others in class help us to remember up to 90% of what we say and do. We only remember 10% of what we read, but incorporating a routine through which we can discuss our reading, and we will remember much more!
Positive Mindset - Check out this video of Harvard researcher David Perkins on positive mindset. He shares some wisdom about teacher interactions and the impact it has on a student’s mindset. Bring on the Learning Revolution! Check out this Ted Talk by creativity expert Ken Robinson about personalizing learning for our students. http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution You can also find the link on our TFM Lifelong Learners page.
Friday, March 20- the Reuther/Brandon Science Action Research project meets for the final time this school year. Teachers from Brandon Middle School will be back at Reuther to discuss their personal artifacts from data point 3 using the Student Thinking Continuum. |
