Coaching Internship!

We had a great week working with coaches from Arab, Albertville City, Boaz, Dekalb and Fort Payne Schools!!! Here are a few reflections from their learning experiences: 

 "The planning phase requires being very proactive and thoughtful. It is very important to know your teachers and focus on student data. Using fine grain evidence and being very specific about the details you observed is essential. You should always reflect and focus on the 3, 2, 1 debriefing protocol so your thoughts and questioning will flow and lead you and the teacher where you need to go. Feedback should focus on student learning and provide next steps."

"I have learned so much about communication between the coach and teacher. I will take back the importance of questioning. Reflection is an important time to organize thoughts independently. The feedback between coach and teacher is where so much learning takes place."

Writing Notes Helps Recall Concepts, Ability To Understand

In this world there are two types of people: those who insist on handwriting and those who insist on typing to take notes. Note-taking is a practical way to acquire and retain information while saving time and effort. However, with the advancement in modern technology, note-taking is changing, and for many, brings up the question over which medium to use to take notes.

Here are two pieces that take a closer look at the advantages to writing in the classroom.  One relates to a recent study of college students while the other is one educator's take on the impact writing plays in the area of science. 

Ink on Paper: Some Notes on Note Taking

The Lowdown on Longhand: How Writing by Hand Benefits the Brain



Feeling overwhelmed with all the new data?  

Try using an inquiry based approach. This initiative can be powerful and help all those involved really think about the data and look at it from different angles. We are supporting schools throughout Region 3 on applying this inquiry process with their faculty.

One system in Region 3 is implementing this approach within all schools. They are taking data and analyzing it with their administration, instructional coaches, and teachers! This process, adapted from Harvard, is helping them truly impact student achievement and sustain this growth over time.

Read more about the process at: http://hepg.org/hel-home/issues/22_1/helarticle/the-data-wise%E2%80%9D-improvement-process_297

 

Does Oral Reading Fluency Matter?

YES! Slow, halted reading is linked to poor comprehension. This leads students to read less, which in turn results in their making slower progress in reading than more fluent readers.   More fluent readers focus their attention on making connections among the ideas in a text and between these ideas and their background knowledge. Fluent reading allows readers to concentrate more on comprehension. Less fluent readers must focus their attention primarily on decoding individual words. Spending cognitive energy to decode words leaves readers with little attention left for comprehending text. As a result, comprehension suffers.

Normed oral reading fluency rates are milestones for reading development.  Meeting these normed rates along the way will keep students on track for long-term academic success.

 http://www.readingrockets.org/content/pdfs/Hasbrouck-Tindal_chart.pdf 

Promoting Fluency 

http://www.teacher2teacherhelp.com/reading-strategies/promoting-fluency/

Happy Reading!

10 Inspiring Quotations to Help You Differentiate Your Instruction

I found this on the ASCD website.  Some really powerful ones when it comes to why we do what we do for students!!!

inservice.ascd.org/education-resources/10-inspiring-quotations-to-help-you-differentiate-your-instruction

Topic of the Month-Reading Automaticity and Fluency

The biggest obstacle to proficient reading for many students

is their lack of automaticity, or speed, in understanding words.

Most students, even those in the lowest quartile, can recognize

frequent words…eventually. The problem lies in the length of time

that it takes them to recognize even common words. Struggling

readers devote their energies to recognizing words, thus not attending

to the content of what they are reading. TextProject was started to

address this problem. Over the past decade, we have developed

a set of solutions aimed at increasing automaticity 

that includes student texts, word lists, webinars, and research.

Visit our Pinterest board on Reading Automaticity & Fluency 

for an overview of our resources.

A Focus on Fluency [Research Digest]

Fluency from the first:  What works with first graders.

Close Reading with First Graders!