As promised, we have begun a FisherandFrey channel on YouTube! We have several videos from our presentations posted, and will be adding more over the next few weeks. We hope this will assist you in your own professional development. You can visit the channel at www.youtube.com/user/fisherandfrey, and subscribe to see the latest postings!
Analyzing student writing can be an effective means for monitoring their progress, especially for students participating in response to intervention efforts. Visit our Resources page for a tool for analyzing their writing.
Getting productive group work can be a challenge, but taking 20 days (a month) to purposefully build your students’ stamina and skills can make all the difference. Look in the “Resources” tab for Routines useful for productive group work. Look under “Journal Publications” for an article and calendar on doing so.
We’re traveling to San Francisco later this week and we’re excited to be using new (for us) technology channels. On Sunday, March 27 from 1:15-2:45 PM (PDT), we’ll be livestreaming our session called “Responding When Students Don’t Get It.” The focus of this session is on guided instruction through questions, prompts, and cues, as described in our ASCD book, Guided Instruction: How To Develop Confident and Successful Learners. ASCD will be livestreaming the event on the Internet, and we’ll also be hosting a virtual chat at the same time–an interactive experience for both the in-house and virtual audiences. For more information, click on the image or follow this link: http://edge.ascd.org/page/2011-ascd-annual-conference-live-stream-doug-fisher-nancy-frey.html
We’ve been working on a rubric this morning that addresses, in part, the issue of relevance. The purpose for the rubric is in looking at how a lesson’s purpose is established in the classroom. Our work with a group of administrators is causing us to consider how, why, and to what extent perceived relevance is important to the learner. Is it linking it to out-of-classroom applications, such as how a math concept is used in a career? Or is it the other way around: does relevance begin with the learner’s experiences? What advice do you have for us?
We had the unexpected pleasure of meeting President Obama last week when he dined at the restaurant we were at while in Chicago for the ASCD Professional Development Institute. After finishing his dinner, the President visited each table and graciously chatted with each of us. When he learned that we were teachers, he said, “Teachers are so important to our future,” and shook our hands. In a few moments he was gone, but we talked about it for days. We had fun at school telling students about what had happened, and they loved seeing the picture of Doug and the President. Many of them asked what Dr. Fisher was advising Mr. Obama about! It suggests an interesting question: If you had a minute with the President of the United States, what would you want to tell him about education?
We’re going to be participating in an innovative format for professional development in a few weeks–the National Council of Teachers of English is hosting a Virtual Conference. This will be a three-day event spread out over several weeks: April 15, April 20, and May 10. We’re looking forward to it, but also are thinking about ways to make this useful. As more low-cost online solutions pop up–webinars, webcasts, and e-learning–we’re thinking about what makes for good and bad presentations in digital environments. What advice do you have for us? How do these translate to student learning in similar formats?
Without doubt, we have been inundated with information over the last two decades from the business sector on how to make schools better. Some of it has been helpful; other advice has not been. Critics have pointed out that schools are not factories, and that learners cannot (and should not) be regarded as widgets. But we couldn’t help but think of our own students as we read an article from the Harvard Business Review on what motivates workers. Although surveyed managers said recognition for good work was the chief motivational tool, workers overwhelmingly said that it was making progress in their work tasks and receiving the necessary support for it that was the most motivating factor. This quote really leap out at us:
” On days when workers have the sense they’re making headway in their jobs, or when they receive support that helps them overcome obstacles, their emotions are most positive and their drive to succeed is at its peak. On days when they feel they are spinning their wheels or encountering roadblocks to meaningful accomplishment, their moods and motivation are lowest.”
At our high school, students benefit from Academic Recovery (our name for homework assistance, RtI, and tutoring), as well as lunch time and after school tutorials. We know from other measures of progress (grade point average, test scores, and progress monitoring) that it works. But does it have an effect on their perceptions of the work they do? Does making progress motivate? We’d like to hear from you about your thoughts regarding this topic.
Our school has been revisiting five pillars (understandings) that comprise our mission statement. One of them, “It’s never too late to learn,” has been dominating conversations this past week. We have just completed two days of midterm exams and the students (as well as the teachers) are worn out from the effort. It’s been great for attendance, with almost no absences during those two days. This weekend both of us have been writing letters of congratulation to the many students who earned A’s on their competency exams. In addition, a number of others are getting congratulatory notes on the “grit” they have demonstrated in working hard, even if it didn’t result in an A. It’s been remarkable to see the reaction of students and families since we began this practice at the beginning of the previous school year. We’ve heard reports of how the congratulatory cards are displayed at home, and students comment when they receive one. Who knew that for the cost of a postage stamp and a few minutes writing a card, that students would have such a positive reaction? The ones that are responsible, of course, are the teachers who make sure this happens. It really is “never too late to learn!”
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