How many emails do you  receive about webinars that pique your interest, but only happen to be offered during the day when you are teaching or in the evening when you are focusing on your family? Are you aware that if you register for a webinar, you usually are emailed the recording even if you are unable to attend the live event?  Webinars are a great resource for professional learning and an avenue to explore new options for your students.

Here are a few places you can go to explore webinar opportunities or archives:

https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/webinars

https://www.edweek.org/ew/marketplace/webinars/webinars.htm

https://achievethecore.org/category/421/professional-development

http://www.ascd.org/professional-development/webinars.aspx

Education Week recently hosted a webinar on Sparking Questions: Engaging All Students in Critical Thinking.  What I loved most about this webinar is that the ideas presented were 10 minute techniques to engage students. Examples provided were very valuable in transferring ownership to students and allowing them to design quality questions for a multitude of purposes in your classroom.  The ideas stem from a book titled Critical Thinking in the Classroom.

The few strategies that were shared reminded me of QFT (Question Formulation Technique), a session that was at our IgKnight professional development day, but were more simplified and time efficient.  If you are interested in trying some of these strategies in your classroom, don’t hesitate to request to work with a coach.

Here are a few quick ideas from the webinar:

Think, Pair, Square

What?

Collaboration to create questions

How?

Students work with a partner to draft one set of two or more questions on a designated topic.

Student pairs connect with another pair of students and share questions by both partners groups.

The four person team selects the most thought-provoking question to use in research, a discussion or a socratic seminar.

Why?

All students have a voice in this option, they practice collaboration, and finally have to think critically about the value of the questions presented.

 

10 by 10

What?

Students draft 10 questions in 10 minutes. (This can also be scaled down, of course).

How?

Use a visual cue, statement, paragraph that is thought provoking to prompt a discussion. Students draft their questions in the allotted time.  They each select their best question for a discussion. From there you can use your discretion on how to determine which questions will be used for discussion, depending on the age and collaborative stages your students are in to select one overall question.

Why?

It allows for close reading and evaluation of key ideas and details.  The prioritization of personal questions promotes critical thinking and can be a very useful formative assessment.  Students working together to select one overall question promotes 21st Century communication and collaboration skills.

 

Variation  of 10 by 10 that allows choice:

Provide a visual cue, such as this one presented in the webinar.

Students have choice in which picture they would like to question.

Students prioritize their own questions and get in groups to share with other students who selected the same image. Together they prioritize their top three.

Top three questions are shared per visual cue, and then teacher reveals what the picture is about.

What a great way to introduce a unit!

 

This link is the webinar I attended and will be live for a few weeks for viewing.  

Welcome back!  We hope you have had a fantastic start to your school year!  We are looking forward to working alongside you this year. Please use the Coaching Request Form to initiate working together.  You can click on the hyperlink here or find the link in your Faculty Resource Manual (FRM). Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.  These resources have also been added to the coach resource tab on this blog so that you can always access them easily.

We have a lot of new staff this year, so we wanted to take some time to introduce ourselves and get more acquainted with you all.  This information is also visible on the Your Coaches tab of this blog.

Lauren Vaclavik

Hi all!  I am very excited to be jumping into my 14th year in education and my fourth year as an instructional coach!  I have had the advantage of teaching and coaching in multiple districts in my educational career. I began my journey in education at St. Joseph’s High School in Westchester, IL for two years as an English teacher and then headed out to Sandwich High School, where I taught for another eight years.  At that point, life threw our family a twist. Just as I thought my career path was changing to a stay at home mom, I received a call to come be an instructional coach at Plano High School. I spent two years at Plano figuring out what it meant to be a coach and how to define my role. Last year I joined the Kaneland family as I was looking for my forever home as an instructional coach at the high school.  This year has brought about some shifts and I am very excited to learn and grow as a coach at the elementary level. I hope to be able to add a new perspective to the team and help Kaneland develop. I can’t wait begin to work and learn with you!

On a more personal note, I currently live in Yorkville with my husband and three kiddos. Kevin, my husband, and I have been married for 9 years and he works as a detective for Kendall County.  My oldest kiddo is five years old and just entered kindergarten in the dual language program. My middle child, by one minute, is my three year old son Caleb. He fits the mold as Mommy’s little guy and spends a majority of his time wrestling his older sister.  My youngest, also three, is Harper. She is my old soul that can also be classified as serial cuddler. Our home life can be pretty crazy between the chaos of the kids and my husband’s ever changing schedule. When I do take some time for myself, I am an avid nonfiction reader and try to remain as active as possible.  Last year I was able to finish 1st place for women (with over 500 people running) in a 5K to celebrate my birthday and ended the school year running on an Ultra Ragnar team (team of 6 people ran from Chicago to Madison, WI over 20 hours, I ran 32 miles). If you need a teammate I am in!

Dan Rutter

Hello All! I am very excited about starting up another school year in the Kaneland school district. I have been affiliated with the district for over 35 years, as a resident, student, parent, and educator in 302! This is my 10th year as an educator at Kaneland and second year as an Instructional Coach. I previously worked as a 5th grade teacher and STEM teacher with the KPASS structure. Recently I obtained my Masters in Education Admin from Northern Illinois University and have previously received a Masters in Education from Aurora University in 2009. Prior to my work in education, I worked in business industry, throughout the Midwest, as a manager trainer for Foot Locker and then operated a local sporting goods store while beginning a family.

More about me- I have been married to my wife Julie for over 22 years and reside in Sugar Grove. Julie is a mortgage lender in the banking industry. We have twin, 21 year old, daughters that are entering their final year of college. Rachel, the “oldest” as she deems herself is a forensic science/chemistry major at West Virginia University. She spent the summer as an intern investigating various crime scenes. Hopefully she gets her dream job in the forensic field. My daughter Riley attends Western Illinois University and is majoring in Special Education. She is currently doing her block teaching in Macomb this fall and will be student teaching somewhere closer to home in January. My youngest is Cole, a 20 year old sophomore at Waubonsee. He is an avid baseball fan and is currently pursuing a degree in Physical Therapy. Now that you know more about me, I’m looking forward to learning so much more about you. Best of luck to each of you this year!

Nancy Meisenger

I am so excited to kick off this school year with you! I have been a member of the Kaneland family since 2006.  This is my second year as an instructional coach. Prior to this role, I served KSS and KST as a STEM coach for two years. I also worked as the Literacy special teacher at John Shields for 9 years.  During my time at Kaneland, I acquired my Teacher Leadership Endorsement at Aurora University. My earlier experiences in education were as a reading interventionist and fourth grade teacher in California. There I earned my Master’s Degree in Math, and Science, and Educational Technology. My initial teaching experience was as a bilingual teacher in District 87, here in Illinois.

On a personal note, my husband Jeff and I recently celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary and have two adult sons who are launching their careers.  John is starting his first teaching job in Milwaukee where he is a Physical Education teacher. Michael just finished an internship with the US Forestry Service in Colorado and will be completing his senior year at Carthage with a major in environmental science.  While I grew up in Illinois, my family lived in Virginia, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Florida and California during my husband’s 12 years of active duty in the Marine Corps. That experience definitely taught me to roll with the punches and adapt to new situations. I also learned during that time was that there is no place like home.  The values and community feel of the midwest is like no other region. For that reason we came back home to the midwest. I believe our district is the perfect place to exemplify and appreciate those values through education and partnership. In our spare time, I am learning all about home renovation.  Ask me about cutting drywall or caulking door frames.  I am learning things that I never thought I would or could do. I am trying my best to have a growth mindset! I hope your year is filled with learning, adventure, support, and plenty of laughs. I look forward to working with all of you!

Anne Olsen

Greetings to all.  Hope everyone had a great restful summer. Summer was a busy time of travel for me.  Europe was my destination,specifically the motherland, Ireland, England and Scotland.  From navigating on what I call the wrong side of the road, to castles, to friendly people to learning how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness, it was a memorable trip.

As we calibrate into school mode, I wanted to reintroduce myself to everyone. A little bit about my Kaneland life — this will be my second year as an Instructional Coach.  Prior to this assignment I was a STEM Coach at KBK and KME for two years. I called KME my home 9 years from 2006 until 2015 in fourth grade. Joliet School District in 6th grade at Washington Junior High was my first teaching assignment. I received my masters degree in Teaching  from Aurora University. Additionally, I have a Masters Certificate from Penn State University in Children’s Literature and many classes in technology from NIU.

On the personal side — I have lived in Geneva for the past 24 years.  And as most of you know from when I start to talk I do not come from Illinois.  I am a true blue New Yorker – – New York Yankee and New York Jet fan. I grew up in the borough of Queens which is part an intricate part of NYC. I am married to my husband John for a long time and we have with three children and one granddaughter.  We moved to the midwest from NYC because of a job transfer in the toy industry. My daughter Ali is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design with a degree in painting. And we all know how far that will get you. She has taken on a role of a Project Manager in the healthcare industry.  My son Ryan lives in Chicago and is a senior analyst in the healthcare industry.. He received his Masters in Public Administration from DePaul University. My youngest, Colin lives in New York City and works for the Hearst Corporation as their Senior Production Manager for all their digital work.

I look forward to an exciting to school year for our students.

 

Students in 2nd grade and 5th grade take a digital citizenship assessment each year to show growth. The assessment began last year and evaluates growth throughout the year, but will continue until we can see the growth from last years’ cohort of second graders  through their 5th grade year.

For this assessment to be valid in showing growth from the original second grade cohort through fifth grade, questions can not be altered.  We thought it is important to note the following observations based on questions that have arisen from the staff.

There are three questions on the assessment that have the phrasing, “which is NOT” in order to select the answers.  Teachers have expressed concern about the level of difficulty in comprehending the question. At both the second and fifth grade levels, this does not reflect as an issue in their performance.  Students scored well in two of the three questions that were formatted in this manner.

 

Results

This year’s results are posted below with some overall trends from each grade level.  

 

The second graders across the district excelled (above 93%) on the post test in the area of cyberbullying. The assessment reflects that reinforcement of staying safe on the internet is a priority for second graders. It is important to note that the second graders have yet to understand the concept of citations and the use of other’s work as well as the concept of their own digital footprint.

The fifth graders excelled in multiple areas.  They need to continue to consider when and how it is appropriate to use someone else’s work as well as staying safe on the internet.

The Twitter chat #20QPL  by Natalie Smith and Nancy Meisenger wrapped up this week.  There were so many valuable ideas, quotes, reflections and resources shared throughout this online discussion.  We thought it would be beneficial to share for those of you who missed it!

One of our favorite questions was what resources people used in their personalized learning journey.  We were amazed at the plethora of books, people, and other resources shared by educators from all over the country.  We created a resource list to share with all of you, regardless of whether you were in our chat or not.

Here you will see the questions we asked.  If you search the hastag and the answer number on Twitter, you will see how people responded to that question.  Some questions were definitely more popular than others, but we valued all responses.

Here is an example of the answers for Question 8: What’s the biggest myth or misconception you’ve faced w PL?  Search: #20QPL A8

 

One of the sessions on our April 2nd SIP day focused on various structures for conferences.  We wanted to share with you the  resources from this session so that your team can explore together your options for conferences moving forward.  Here is a link to our resources from this session.

Since the April 2nd session, we have found a video example of a teacher preparing her students for a student-led conference.  We thought this may be a valuable resource for those of you who are considering this option for next year.  It is a Facebook link, so you many need an account to access it.

There is a difference between not knowing and not knowing yet!

It is key to carry growth mindset from your classroom approach to your assessment approach.  So many of us have taken the time to explain to our students what growth mindset is and how to push oneself in a learning environment.  However, this chapter emphasizes how critical it is for teachers to support a growth mindset in the way that we assess our students. Currently, there tends to be a mismatch between how we approach the growth mindset in the process of learning and how we assess students on a single performance (fixed mindset).

We commonly give summative assessments at the end of a unit.  However, these assessment methods support a fixed mindset in nature and assign a grade upon completion.  They give a snapshot of how a student performed in a fixed moment of time on a particular task. This approach generally does not create an accurate view of the student.  While there is a purpose for these assessments, such as data collection and the ability to show growth, students should have more of an opportunity to be assessed when they reach a level of mastery, or be able to recognize where they fall on a continuum of mastery.  This concept aligns beautifully with proficiency-based progress. Please keep this in mind as you attend PL 2.0 in August.

Dweck asserts that, “Formative assessment also doesn’t have to be –and shouldn’t be–retaking the same test over and over again, but students who need more opportunities to demonstrate progress can show that in other ways like correcting the test, teaching material to another student or teacher, writing a new version of the test and answering it, or completing other student-generated forms of assessment.” (p. 163)

 

This chapter has many key points about formative and summative assessments, but what resonated the most was the difference between creating knowledgeable students vs. students who are knowledge-able.  With information at their fingertips, students should be pushed beyond remembering information. Their thinking should shift to learning how to generate quality questions and findanswers. Assessments can include demonstrating mastery. Here are a few examples of how you can alter your assessment formats to consider an approach that allows students to apply their knowledge.

 

Many of the examples shown above in the right column reflect problem based learning.  If you are looking to learn more about PBL, you may want to explore the following resources.

• The Buck Institute for Education  
• Education World Article 
• Blog on Edutopia 
• Hacking Project Based Learning by Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy–Be on the lookout for a summer reading opportunity for this book!

 

 

Another key practice for our students that supports growth mindset and our learner profile, is reflection.  Dweck proposed some sentence stems to be sure to consider using when prompting reflection.

• I’m still wondering..
• I understand…
• I can apply my learning…
• A confusing part was…
• I think I’ll understand better if…
• If I don’t grasp a concept, I can…

Mistakes Are Opportunities for Learning

“How often I found out where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.”

-R. Buckminster Fuller

 

Albert Einstein has said:  “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

“Failure is success in progress.”

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

“The only sure way to avoid making mistakes is to have no new ideas.”

First

Attempt

In

Learning

Learning is messy!  The learning process is filled with mistakes and setbacks; it can be stifled by preconceived notions and interrupted by environmental challenges.  Real learning in your classroom with twenty, maybe twenty five different kids and twenty five different brains and twenty five different perspectives is messy, loud, and unpredictable. Perhaps the only constant is that your students will make mistakes, but you can plan how you’ll help students navigate those inevitable mistakes.  Here’s a strategy for harnessing the power of mistakes in the classroom:

• Normalize mistakes

Inform students at the beginning of the year that they will make mistakes and those mistakes will help them learn.  Together create a mistake language. The teacher and students can both use phrases like “Great mistake!” when they encounter a mistake that shows learning.  Another way would be to ask for a “mistake rationale” to get students to engage in metacognition. Having a consistent practice for tackling mistakes makes them feel routine and expected, not embarrassing or uncommon.

• Value mistakes as learning opportunities

Check out this popular video on TeachingChannel.org titled, “My Favorite No,” in which a middle school math teacher discusses a strategy she uses to demonstrate the value of mistakes.  

• Coach students through setbacks

When students hit a snag in their learning that they cannot resolve, the teacher has the opportunity to step in and coach them through it.  However, it is important that you do not fix the problem for the student; to benefit from the mistake, a student has to work through it. Here are a few go-to strategies that can work:  Ask 3 Then Ask Me, open-ended questions, reflection journal, pre-reflective activities, and use the mistake as part of the learning.

 Next – Level Mistakes:  Game NOT Over

The cultural obsession with video games shows us that kids have the capacity to continually try for a goal even in the face of repeated failures, and yet many of the same children willing to spend hours mastering a level in a video game give up at the first sign of failure in school.  Mind researcher Lisa Blackwell writes, “In a video game, students are motivated by earning points, but they don’t get discouraged when they fail. The video games involve skill, challenge, and incremental progress – without the threat of permanent failure or negative judgement from others.”

Try out some of these gaming-inspired strategies:

1. Provide examples.  If you are curious how to conquer any level on any video game, all you need is Youtube.  Similarly, when teachers ask students to produce a piece of work, they should be able to offer examples of what an end product might look like. ie – rubric, past student work, tutorials, etc.
2. Nonthreatening.  In gaming, players often wear the amount of effort devoted to mastering a level or game like a badge of honor.  Similarly, students should be celebrated for how hard they work to master a concept. There is little to no consequence for failing a level in a video game:  if you die, you just start again. Similarly, students should have room to fail without consequence. If they mess up, allow them to start again where they are.
3. Student input.  In video games there is some element of choice.  Students should have voice and choice when it comes to school.  Allow students input on the work they will be doing and how it will be assessed.  
4. Embrace differences.  Just as there are different strategies for mastering a video game, teachers should give students space to strategize ways to master a challenge.  Let them try multiple paths and figure out on their own what works and what doesn’t. The process of discovery will be much more meaningful than trying once and giving up.
5. Intrinsic motivation.  Kids are self-motivated to play video games.  There is no reward at the end; they are in it purely for fun and challenge.  Students must be self-motivated in their school work. Teachers who try to motivate students with external rewards are never as successful as teachers who discover what motivates them intrinsically.
6. Cheats.  Yes, it is a dirty word in education, but there are all sorts of cheats and codes kids can use in video games to give themselves a boost.  We are not suggesting that you encourage cheating, but rather giving them tips and tricks to use as strategies.
7. Constant feedback.  In a video game, the player is constantly receiving feedback. Dings, bells, organ tones are informing the player of everything good and bad happening along the way.  Students need a stream of feedback from teachers and peers offering valuable advice and information that can enhance their learning. Feedback given throughout the process is more valuable than some notes on a test handed back a week later, long after the student has moved on.
8. Scaffolding.  Video games build on one challenge after the other, increasing in difficutly.  The sequencing creates a clear path to mastery: First, you have to get the sword.  Then you have to get through the forbidden forest. Then you rescue the enchanted fairy.  Many times teachers present concepts in isolation without giving students a roadmap of where they are going or why.  
9. Create healthy competition.  Not all students are intrinsically motivated by competition, but many are.  Using gamification strategies, teachers can use video games or other types of games to create camaraderie, increase engagement and promote learning through game playing.  Be cautious to promote cooperation as an essential component of competition.

 

Productive Failure

Some call it “Failing up” or “Failing forward.”  Productive failure is the idea that mistakes and setbacks can be transitioned into valuable learning opportunities.  Manu Kapur’s research indicates that when students are given time to struggle with solving a problem, as opposed to receiving explicit instruction on how to solve it, they will be able to better access and apply the information they learn in the struggle later on.

“Hidden efficacy” is how Kapur identifies this idea that struggle can propel students to deeper thinking about the nature of problems, which can be far more valuable than figuring correct sums.  This productive struggle, while uncomfortable in the moment, helps students develop the better understanding about learning and problem solving. Teachers can incorporate six features in a lesson that will help create an environment ripe for productive struggle.

1. The problems are challendging, but not to the point of frustration.
2. Tasks must have multiple solutions so students can generate many ideas.  There cannot be only one way to get the right answer.
3. Productive failure design must activate students’ prior knowledge, but students should not be able to solve the problems using only prior knowledge.  It should include new challenges.
4. Students have opportunities to explain and elaborate on their thinking and strategies.
5. Students have a chance to examine both good and bad solutions to the problems.
6. The task should be relavent and engaging to students.’

 

The Great Mistake List

What do all of these items below have in common?  They were all accidental inventions!  In the case of Play-Doh, it was originally used to wipe soot off of walls in the days when homes ran on coal stoves.  When people stopped heating their homes with coal, the company was going out of business until the owner found out that his sister, who was a teacher, was using it as a sort of modeling clay in her classroom.  By the next year, Kutol Products turned into Rainbow Crafts, and has been marketing Play-Doh as a children’s toy ever since.

Sometimes in the course of our work we get a wrong answer or stumble upon a different strategy, or way of doing something, and these moments can be great learning opportunities!

 

Potato Chips	Super Glue	Popsicles
Microwave	Post-its	Chocolate Chip Cookies
X-ray images	Silly Putty	Velcro
Plastic	Penicillin
Teflon	Liquid Paper	Ice Cream Cones
Saccharin	Slinky	Frisbee