Instructional Coach Newsletter

Carrie has been with the Maquoketa School District for 19 years. She graduated with a degree in Elementary Ed and endorsement in 7-12 math from Wartburg College and has a Masters in Math Education from Western Illinois. At the middle school Carrie taught 7th and 8th grade math. Carrie and her husband Jeff live on the family farm outside of Clarence, where they feed cattle. Their 4 children attend the North Cedar School district. In her spare time she is busy chasing after the kids' activities. Carrie is looking forward to collaborating with teachers in her new role.

There is no doubt that we have invested valuable time in establishing teacher-student relationships with the start of the new school year. As the year progresses, it is important to stay focused on fostering relationships with our students. Hattie’s work points to quality relationships having an effect size of .72 which is nearly two years worth of learning growth. Here are three ideas to consider in developing relationships with students:

Get to know your students beyond their academic ability. You can learn so much about student interests by engaging them in journaling activities, posing questions on exit tickets, or having the student complete a survey about their interests. Attend a sporting event or extra-curricular activity and then complement their efforts.

Communicate frequently that ALL students can be successful in your class. You can model this through your actions and word choice. Students want to know that you believe in them and their abilities.

Arrange to have one-on-one interactions. This can be especially beneficial for students who are more reserved or those who may present some behavior challenges. It can be as simple as greeting the student by name at the door and engaging in a short positive exchange or checking in with individuals during work time.

Hattie, J., & Zierer, K. (2018). 10 Mindframes for visible learning: teaching for success. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

A great way to incorporate social-emotional learning into your content is through the use of books, short stories, and articles related to your content area. Here are several options for teaching emotions, grit, perseverance, and other aspects of SEL.

The Color Monster: This book promotes talking about feelings amongst young children. Some of the emotions addressed are confusion, happiness, sadness, anger, and fear

Author: Anna Llenas

Grades PK-1 Literacy, Health, Psychology

Drum Chavi, Drum!: This elementary age book is a story of a young girl who loved to drum. Playing the drums was reserved for boys only, so the main character must persevere in order to fulfil her dream of becoming a drummer.

Author: Mayra Dole

Grades K-3 Literacy and Social Studies

George Crum and the Saratoga Chip: George Crum overcomes obstacles such as being bullied and made fun of due to the color of his skin.

Author: Gaylia Taylor

Grades 2-4 Literacy, Social Studies, and Science

Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer: Overcoming racism and resistance from his colleagues, Vivien Thomas ushered in a new era of medicine: children’s heart surgery. Tiny Stitches is the compelling story of this incredible pioneer in medicine

Author: Gwendolyn Hooks

Grades 3-6 Literacy, Social Studies, and Science

Mustaches for Maddie: Based on a true story, the central message within this book includes how Maddie perseveres through using humor, human connection, and using her imagination to conquer her fears throughout her battle with cancer.

Authors: Chad Morris and Shelly Brown

Grades 4-7 Literacy and Health

The Many Worlds of Albie Bright: This novel is about Albie’s journey in searching for his deceased mother in a parallel universe. Along the way he learns a great deal about science, happiness, and himself.

Author:Christopher Edge

Grades: 5-9 Literacy and Science

Colors of Rain: This novel is a story about a young boy that battling desegregation, loss, and dark family secrets in the 1970’s in Texas.

Author: RL Toalson

Grades 5-8 Literacy and Social Studies

The Same Stuff as Stars: Main character Angel is abandoned by her parents and is stuck living with her very old and poor great-grandmother. The bright spot in Angel’s day is her mysterious visits with a stranger that appears on clear nights to teach her about astrology and astronomy.

Author: Katherine Paterson

Grades 7-10 Literacy and Science

Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story: A narrative work of nonfiction, this book details how then six year old, Sachiko survived the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki and the life-long aftermath.

Author: Caren Stelson

Grades 8-12 Literacy and Social Studies

What I Leave Behind: This is a story of a young man named Will and how he uses his grief from his father’s suicide for good by secretly helping those around him.

Author: Alison McGee

Grades 8-12 Literacy, Health, Psychology

Amina’s Voice: This story inspires empathy for a young Pakistani-American girls as she struggles between her two cultures: home and school.

Author: Hena Khan

Grades 7-10 Literacy and Social Studies

In Sight of Stars: This novel details the importance of mental health awareness as the protagonist deals with issues such as suicide, loss, and severe anxiety, while trying to put himself back together again.

Author: Gae Polisher

Grades 9-12 Literacy, Health, and Psychology

It is fairly common to hear a parent comment that they weren't good at math so they don’t expect their child to do well at math either. Growth Mindset is a valuable trait for students to develop and there are many things that teachers can do to positively impact student mindset. One tool for math teachers to consider implementing is Jo Boaler's site youcubed.org. The tasks within her Week of Inspirational Math can be powerful at moving students to more of a growth mindset. Different tasks are designed for various age levels and can be used each day of the week or you can customize and pick your favorites. Videos are included to support the tasks. Mindset isn't something we talk about only at the the start of the school year. If we are truly going to impact student mindset we must be purposeful about it all year long. Youcubed is full of great resources for math teachers but Week of Inspirational Math is a great place to start.

Check out the video that can be shared with students emphasizing that everyone can do well in math.

A Number Sense routine is an engaging, accessible, purposeful routine used at the beginning of math instruction that promotes a community of positive mathematics discussion and thinking.

It is important to start each class period together as a whole group. This promotes a sense of community. Students should be encouraged to talk in the first five minutes of the class period, be engaged in the learning, and have a positive experience.

There are many number sense routines that can be used as a way to begin math class. Look for something that is engaging, purposeful, and accessible to all students.The Number Sense Routine should last 5-15 minutes during the opening of math time. This should be a short lesson alongside (but not necessarily directly related to) the ongoing math curriculum. A good number sense routine should provide students with meaningful ongoing practice with:

• Number Sense

• Place Value

• Computational Fluency Properties of Operations

• Fractions

• Standards for Mathematical Practice

• Listening to others’ strategies

Here are some tips and resources to assist with Number Sense Routines:

Tips for Learning from Each other

Math/Number Talk Resources