Suddenly an Expert
by Curtis Cunningham, Professional Learning Specialist

At a recent gathering with friends I found myself in a surprising situation.  While making small talk two friends with a background in business asked me what I think about Common Core.  They had developed some opinions based on reports from the news media, but they were interested in what I think as an educator in the public school system.  Suddenly, my opinion mattered to someone.  I am not sure that I persuaded my friends to change their views about Common Core and honestly that was not my goal.  As I walked away from that conversation I was reminded of the responsibility I have to make sure my opinions are well informed, particularly when it comes of matters related to public education.  Friends and family trust us.  Our opinions carry significant weight in the community.  With this in mind, I would like to highlight a resource found in the SPS Common Core wiki.

You might find the following resource useful as you consider what talking point to have available in the event you suddenly become the expert on Common Core. http://www.corestandards.org/resources/myths-vs-facts.  We hope you enjoy your exploration of the Common Core Wiki.  Perhaps the link above will be a good place to start.

When Collaborating, Remember the Brain-based Social Needs of your Colleagues by Dr. Brady Quirk, SPS Coordinator of Professional Learning

     When utilizing the Seven Norms of Collaboration in faculty meetings, team meetings, or collaborative learning groups, being conscious about our brain-based social needs will help everyone be more successful. Paying Attention to Self and Others (norm #6) pertains to your level of consciousness about what you are thinking, feeling and saying and what others are thinking, feeling and saying.  Sometimes it is not obvious, even to ourselves, how/why we react to what we see and hear.

     As school-based collaborative groups continually refine their craftsmanship, having a raised awareness of the brain-based social needs of your colleagues is a real advantage.  In Your Brain at Work, author David Rock explores the theory that the brain responds to all stimuli in two ways: the need to minimize danger, which creates the “away responses” of anxiety, fear, and sadness, and the need to maximize rewards, which create the “toward responses” of happiness, curiosity and contentment. These needs of minimizing danger and maximizing rewards at the most basic level, can cause shifts in our brain during collaboration time that directly affect the outcomes of that collaboration. Rock further elaborates on these critical social needs of the brain through his S.C.A.R.F. acronym:

STATUS: Status refers to our natural brain-based need to be accepted, liked and respected by others.  Threats to one’s status cause an immediate “away response”, whereas experiencing a sense of importance or recognition within an organization causes reward circuits in our brain to fire.  What might be you be doing, through body language, tone of voice, or the words you choose (or don’t choose) that may threaten your colleagues’ status?  Status threats shut down collaboration more quickly than anything.

CERTAINTY: We are all programmed for certainty – we need to know what to expect in order to access collaborative, higher-order thinking.  The human brain has a basic need to know what is coming next. A primary function of the brain’s neo-cortex is to predict, and whether we realize it or not, we are constantly making conscious and subconscious predictions about everything.  When in a meeting or small collaborative group, a higher level of discourse and critical thinking will be achieved when the group knows what to expect.  Using meeting norms and/or sticking to your agenda is a way to achieve this.

AUTONOMY: The brain’s need for autonomy is strong.  We all need to feel a sense of control and to use self determination to make decisions in our work.  When our sense of control and our sense of efficacy is low, the “away response” kicks in and people shut down. Knowing that people need to feel free to make choices, or at least choose among some options, what are some strategies that could be incorporated into your regular collaboration?

RELATEDNESS: Making connections is as critical to our brain as food and water are to our bodies.  We are constantly making connections among variables and developing and refining relationships with our colleagues.  We quickly size up others as either a friend or a foe, and foes are met with the brain’s threat response.  When relatedness is strong, our brain releases oxytocin, causing an increase in trust.  When relatedness is weak, the brain releases cortisol, increasing our stress (and decreasing the quality of our collaboration).

FAIRNESS: A sense of fairness may be the strongest brain need of all. Feeling that you are being treated fairly is critical in keeping our thinking from shutting down.  A perception of fairness and/or justice has been shown to be even more important than the need for food and water in some research studies.  Fairness is a source of threat or reward, and when it is out of balance, quality collaboration is impossible.

    Think about an example when you have been highly aware of others’ social needs in a collaborative setting.  What was the outcome? The S.C.A.R.F. model helps us remember these important social needs of the brain in order to better empathize and understand our colleagues, and ultimately maximize our collaboration.

SOURCE: Rock, D. (2009). Your brain at work. New York: Harper-Collins

 

 

Turning to Tables by Alicia Moore, Professional Learning Specialist

 

          The summer after my first year of teaching, I attended two Kagan Cooperative Learning workshops. From that time on, Cooperative Learning became essential in my approach to teaching. The biggest challenge for me, though, was the decision to seat my students in teams full time.

I finally took a leap of faith at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year: I traded my desks for tables. I started this venture with some doubts and fear but was convinced that it was in my students’ best interest. Within a few months, I was sold on tables, and based on my students’ feedback, so were they. Here are the pros and cons we observed:

BENEFITS

Management: Once the physical space was set up for cooperative learning, I spent much less time in transition between teacher talk, solo work, and structured interaction. Also, because students knew their team number and their individual numbers on each team, it was easy to give efficient instructions to assign roles and delegate tasks.

 

Community: Students who were seated at the same table built relationships that made the class a better learning environment. Because I had my students grouped heterogeneously, they were also a great academic support system for each other.

 

Neatness: One unexpected benefit was the cleanliness of my classroom. With nowhere for students to stash trash or leave papers, my room looked as neat at the end of each day as it did at the beginning.

 

CHALLENGES

Talking: Students looking at peers across the table made them want to talk.

TIP: Begin the year with clear guidelines about when it’s okay to talk and when it’s not, and remind students of your expectations frequently.  Still, this is no easy-to-solve problem. As with any other behavioral issue, hold your students accountable to the standards you’ve set, and be prepared to make a few phone calls home if needed.

 

Lone Rangers: Some students just preferred working alone—tables were a stretch for them.

TIP: Build in social skills to help them learn how to collaborate with peers, but honor their need for solo time by letting them move to a quiet spot on occasion.

For me, making the change to tables was the final step in creating a cooperative classroom. The payoff was exactly what I had hoped it would be: closer knit classes of engaged students.

Classroom Management Tips for the Final Lap

by Marcia Hansen, Professional Learning Specialist
The end of the year can be challenging for everyone, students, staff and teachers alike.  The end is near, yet there is still so much to accomplish!  Here are some “beginning of the year” tips that might make “end of the year” go smoother.

Student /Teacher Relationships
-Don’t let the year end without sharing something positive you have noticed in each of your students.
-Infuse novelty and humor into the day.

Classroom Standards and Procedures
-Use the guide of “if it is driving you crazy, develop a procedure!"
-Explain, rehearse and reinforce your procedures and standards.

Classroom Environment
-Use proximity
-Use classbuilders, teambuilders and other Cooperative Learning structures when possible.

Maintain your healthy mental-set
-Demonstrate inner authority
-Do not engage in backtalk

Provide Effective Instruction
-Clear learning goals and success criteria
-Specific feedback
-Include games and friendly competition in instruction
-Time for processing

Differentiation 2.0 by Kathy Wimberley

Members of the Educational Services team are excited to invite teachers to be a part of an exciting three-day interactive workshop event that will have a threefold purpose.  First of all this will provide a follow up opportunity for teachers who have previously attended the DI workshop.  Secondly, in an effort to sustain the philosophy of differentiation in our district, this event will continue the dialogue about DI and support teachers in their differentiation journey.  And finally, the outcome of this event will be the beginnings of a lesson bank from which all Springfield teachers can benefit.  

The content of these lessons will be as diverse as the teachers who attend, but all lessons will contain the elements of differentiation, our district’s Learning Model and our district’s curriculum. Through this event teachers will have an avenue for creating quality lessons and contributing to a website of lesson plans.

The goal of the workshop will be for participants to examine the components of a quality, differentiated lesson. In doing so, teachers will work collaboratively and independently to create lessons, present their work to and receive feedback from the group, and then upload those lessons to a website designed to be a resource for other teachers.

Intended Audience 

Limited size:  As a pilot for a future workshop model, the number for this first workshop will be held to 20 participants.

Prerequisite: This workshop will serve as a follow up for teachers who have attended the Differentiated Instruction Workshop in the previous eight years.  Therefore having “Differentiated Instruction” in your training record of Employee Self Service will be a prerequisite to being accepted for this event.  To check, go to “My Training.”

Additional Professional Learning Follow up Opportunities:  Follow up will require teachers to use the lesson they created.  Teachers will then reflect on the results.  They will also have opportunities for posting pictures of their lesson in action and receive feedback from other teachers who use the lesson.

Specifics:
- June 18 – 20, 2013
- Informational Literacy Training Room at GSC
- 8:30 to 3:30
- Registration is available through this Employee Self-Service link.
- Teachers will receive a $225.00 stipend upon completion of the 3 full day session.

 

Cooperative Learning Summer Opportunities Expanded
by Debbie Yonke, Coordinator of Professional Learning Integration and Alicia Moore, Professional Learning Specialist

It seems to come with the seasons—during the long winter months, we long for spring and just a little sunshine.  When spring comes (and along with it a much needed spring break) our thoughts then begin to wander to summer.  Here in the Professional Learning Department, our thoughts have already headed to summer and we are excited to be able to offer some expanded learning opportunities in the area of Cooperative Learning. 

Cooperative Learning Modules have been available for Year 2 STEP UP teachers for the past several years.  During this past year, we heard from many veteran teachers that they would like to be able to participate in this learning as well.   For this reason, and due to available funding, any teacher who has never attended the 3-day training is invited to participate in one of this summer’s sessions.

During this 3-day workshop you will learn…
   -the difference between Cooperative Learning and group work.
   -many of the 36 basic structures to take back and immediately use in your classroom.
   -how Cooperative Learning can positively impact areas such as classroom management and social skills.

Implementation of Cooperative Learning allows our focus to be driven by our content and provides a framework for our students to practice critical thinking, collaboration, and communication—all key components of 21^st Century Skills.  This alignment to the SPS Learning Model is an additional reason we are expanding our sessions this summer.

If you have not yet experienced the three-day session of Cooperative Learning, we welcome you to join us this summer!  Consider talking to others at your school and coming together with your grade level or content area team to learn and plan implementation together.   Please see details below and contact Cara Burch in the Professional Learning Department at 523-5537 if you have any additional questions. 

Summer 2013 Cooperative Learning Sessions
Session #1	June 18, 19, 20	8:30am - 3:30pm	Tefft Ctr. for Learning
Session #2	June 25, 26, 27	8:30am - 3:30pm	Tefft Ctr. for Learning
Session #3	July  09, 10, 11	8:30am - 3:30pm	Tefft Ctr. for Learning

-Register online through this Employee Self-Service link.

-Registration will show commitment to attend all three days of the training session selected.

-All sessions will be held at the Tefft Center for Learning in the auditorium from 8:30am to 3:30pm each day.

-Participation is limited to 60 per session due to space and budget limitations.

-All participants will receive the Kagan Cooperative Learning text and binder.

-Completion of a session (3 full days) will meet the Year-2 module requirement for STEP UP teachers.

-Non-STEP UP teachers who have never attended a 3-Day Cooperative Learning Workshop at SPS are eligible to register and will receive a stipend of $225.00 upon completion of the 3-day session.

Seeing is Believing by Sarah Logan

   Have you ever found yourself wondering how many times you have to remind students to follow certain classroom procedures?  Have you ever grown weary of hearing students ask questions like, “What are we supposed to do again?”  Have you ever been bothered by finding that the materials that you spent hours organizing have been carelessly tossed back on the shelves?  If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, take heart. You’re not alone. And there’s good news: there’s an approach you can use that’s even better than having a magic wand to make these frustrations disappear!
   Classroom management experts Rick Smith, Grace Dearborn, and Mary Lambert suggest that the use of visual cues and rubrics are just what you’ve been looking for. In fact, their book Picture This! (2011, Conscious Teaching) is based on the premise that visuals create a link between classroom behaviors and how the brain processes and stores information.    

   Seeing the value of this strategy will likely get you believing these principles:

1.    Pictures are worth a thousand words (or more). Brain researchers have found that the use of visual cues greatly aid memory and understanding. When students can see what you’re talking about, they are more likely to meet your expectations. For example, a photograph of a textbook, binder, pencil, and eraser neatly arranged on a desk top shows students precisely what you mean by “Have your supplies ready when class begins.”  

2.    Something visible can enhance some things that are invisible. When teachers use visuals that incorporate authentic classroom items and photographs that feature members of the school community (students and staff), there is a sense of ownership and identity created. The message sent is “This is how we do things in our classroom.” These visual cues present opportunities for students to self-assess and adjust accordingly. For example, by posting a “Room Checklist” of photographs depicting how the tables, chairs, shelves, floor, etc., should look at the end of the day, students can take responsibility for meeting the expectations on their own. 

3.    Limitless possibilities for you and your students are just snapshots away. Perhaps the greatest benefit of incorporating visual cues is that there is no end to the number of ways a teacher can implement them. Certainly they can be used for any type of classroom procedure—readiness to learn, transition time, efficient management of time and materials….and on it goes. Teachers may introduce visual cues for whole-class purposes, but there may also be times when individual students could benefit from visuals created for specific needs. Teachers may even find value in visual cues for themselves. For example, at the beginning of a school year or semester, a teacher could create a seating chart with pictures of each student next to their names to help him learn their names quickly.

   So, what are you waiting for? Give this strategy a try and see for yourself what a difference a picture can make!