ZEN

Volume 6, Issue 6-----September 17, 2020

Level Up: Exemplars, Internalization, Pacing

Do the Work of the Student (Create the Exemplar)

One of the side effects of providing so much of the planning work for teachers is that they sometimes "rest" on what is created for them. As we observed in classrooms this week, we noticed that teachers MUST do the work of the student to really understand the lesson (and standard) fully. Do not let this part of planning be neglected--it is vital to the success of the execution of a lesson! Level up!!

Internalize, Internalize, Internalize (and still have your script next to you)

The curriculum cohort has essentially written a starter script for your teachers. It is intentionally planned to include thoughtful and scaffolded questions, academic vocabulary, targeted misconceptions, etc. Use it (or make it stronger)! We are finding lessons are sometimes heavily weighted with teacher talk (which is NOT in the script) and lasting twice as long as intended. Stick to the script. Stick to the script. Stick to the script. As you observe, follow along with the script and find these moments to help when you coach your teachers. Economy of language (many of you have this as a life-long action step) and stamping the understanding are two action steps I could have given in 80% of the observations I conducted this week. Level up!!

Pacing of Lessons

Timing is everything in virtual lessons. Be sure your teachers are timestamping their lesson plans and sticking to it! Some of the issues are noted above in terms of excessive language, not sticking to the script, heavy teacher talk, etc. By adding timestamps, they are giving themselves guidelines to keep on pace during their synchronous lessons. This will also help them to get to the important asynchronous time reserved for small group intervention, time for virtual AgMo, etc. Level up!!

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Semi-Asynchronous Time

As I visit Class Notebooks with leaders, there is a common concern around the amount and quality of work being accomplished in asynchronous time. Thanks to Carver, I'm sharing their brilliant idea of "Semi-Asynchronous" time. They just started it yesterday, but here's the low down:

Teachers release students to work on their independent practice in Class Notebook.
Teacher & Students stay on Teams (can turn cameras and mics off).
Teacher monitors work through "Review Student Work"
Teacher provides feedback as s/he monitors the work (there are stickers and emojis to help in Teams)
If students finish the work to mastery level, teacher can release the student from the class. If students require reteach, they remain with the other students and the teacher has his/his small group right there for additional help.

Benefits: student accountability, real time feedback, ability to address tech concerns, IP is able to be done during class instead of as homework (or not at all), teacher can monitor mastery toward standards, mimics regular school expectations, reteach in the moment, etc.

Negatives: NONE!

Winning Examples from Day 1 at Carver:

4th grade at Carver had 3 students submit asynchronous work initially, but 24 submit during semi-asynchronous work time
2nd grade math had all but one student complete all of the independent practice before being released to related arts. Each student had their work checked by the teacher with feedback. Some students were released from the time 12 minutes early and some just one minute early.

There you have it! Start it tomorrow (or now)!!!! Wish we had started last week?!?!?

Level up!

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Do the Stuff that Only You Can Do

In a 2012 commencement speech at The University of the Arts, Neil Gaiman said, "Do the stuff that only you can do."

These words really stuck with me this week for several reasons:

teachers are leading sessions for other teachers to share their expertise in Teams
principals and APs are conducting official evaluations in a virtual format for the first time ever
we have "all hands on deck" to administer STAR assessments
students are teaching other students (and sometimes teachers) how to get work done in Teams
everyone, and I mean everyone, at school sites is helping with tech issues
we find ourselves reaching out to one another more often than ever for assistance with everything!

What I am also finding, and pleasantly so, is that we are building skill sets in so many people--our teams are growing stronger and larger--we are reaching out wider and deeper. It really is amazing how we are coming together to get the work done. The Gaiman quote has a different meaning in our current times.

Thousands of learners...one heartbeat!

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Online Tidbits

Did you know students can only see a max of 9 people on their iPads at one time? This means they NEVER see their whole class at one time! What's the fix?? The teacher could set their screen to large gallery view and share his/her screen at the beginning or end of class each day so that the students can see the entire class and say hi!!! We take it for granted on our computers...
When screen sharing, make your cursor larger and colorful so it's easy for students to see. On your laptop: Windows-->Settings-->Ease of Access-->Change the size/color of your mouse cursor
"Plant" a student to let you know if your screen share/sound is working (a simple thumbs up or silent signal you agree upon will let you know)
When using Nearpod, there's no reason for the teacher to share his/her screen. The only exception is when sharing a "Draw It" activity to be able to see student responses.
Teach students to "pin" the teacher during instruction. There's really no need for the students to see each other unless they are in discussion. Pinning the teacher allows them to see the teacher large--this is great for experiments, non-digital white board sharing, etc. On iPads, students touch person they want to pin and select "pin."
Teachers must use a waiting room (lobby). This prevents those not to be in the meeting from being there. It also allows them to know when an administrator is in the room, because they would have admitted you.
To use Teams to call out like a phone, do the following: Go to meet now, join now, put in a phone #. It will then voice call from Teams (the other user does not need Teams)
Want to keep student attention, turn on live captions. This also increases the amount of reading students will engage with each day!!
To run meeting attendance, before the teacher leaves the meeting, s/he clicks the 3 dots by participants and downloads the attendance list. It will save the list in the computer's "downloads"
To end the meeting fully and prevent students from reentering the meeting, teachers need to click the down arrow next to "leave" and then click "end meeting". This will also end the recording; otherwise, students can rejoin AND it keeps recording.
Please be sure your teachers are recording their meetings. Unfortunately, it is not an automatic setting; therefore, they will need to start recording at the beginning of each session.

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Great job on Mullanphy’s SMORE to Tonya and Kimberly! Strategies teachers can really use to lesson plan and engage their students to make virtual classrooms more engaging and every minute count! Thank you for making our team so great! (The laughs don’t hurt either, even though they are often directed my way!) (nominated by Kelli Casper)
Thanks to Tonya Marrocco for the great Class Notebook PD and for giving us the heads up on sending audio messages through CN. It became our saving grace as Chat was disabled during testing. (nominated by Jill Toney)
212 to Jill Toney for not only making me dinner, but also delivering it to me. (nominated by Julia Kaiser)

212 to Chad and Shaimeka for checking-in with their scholars enrolled in Hodgen's ISC. (nominated by Julia Kaiser)