Teambuilder “Scrambler”
Let’s get started!
If people are missing they can join in when they arrive.
This is a team activity.
Each person will have a copy of the puzzle, but
please work on this collaboratively for four
minutes.
All words deal with discipline and management
concepts!
Let’s recap last week’s topic
and look at your questions
0 Liability – being
sued – who do you
go to?
0 How can I deal with
the students who do
not participate and
disrupt class?
Any KWL charts to turn in from week 1?
Maximizing Use of
Instructional Time
Objective:
Topic: Maximizing Instructional Time
Do: Discuss ways to use
instructional time most effectively
L.O.T.: Understanding
4
Greet your students at the door!
0 Invite them to sit
0 Give any
expectations for
what you want
them to get
working on doing
5
Time Management – over plan!!
It’s better to have more to do and not
enough time to do it than to have students
with extra time on their hands!
Kids “cook up trouble” when they are not
constructively engaged
6
Provide Concrete Deadlines
Be tight with the timeline for assignment
completion!
Create a sense of urgency for students to
complete the assigned task
Adjust as necessary
7
Educational “Time Terms”
0 Instructional Time –
0 Time used for actual instruction (excluding record
keeping, dealing with discipline, disruptions, etc.)
0 Academic Learning Time, Time on Task, or Engaged
Time–
0 Time that the students are actually learning; they are
paying attention, receiving instruction, and are actively
engaged in learning tasks
(This involves emotional commitment on the student’s part
to their learning)
8
The typical high school student’s
attention span is 8-14 minutes
Here’s what a class period looks like:
(Reference: Hartley J and Davies I “Note taking: A critical review” Programmed
Learning and Educational technology, 1978,15, 207-224).
Educational “Time Terms”
(continued)
0 Golden rule of 15
minutes – Teachers
should limit themselves
to no more than 15
minutes at a time at the
board, showing a
PowerPoint, or
lecturing
10
Bell to Bell Instruction
0 Focuses on maximizing all available instructional time!
0 Does NOT mean that the teacher lectures from “bell to
bell”
0 Lessons should be chunked into different activities
involving as much student action as is appropriate for
the objective!
FOR EVERY TEACHER ACTION THERE SHOULD
BE A STUDENT ACTION!
0 Students need to be given the opportunity to process
all information that is provided in lectures, Power
Points, videos, etc.
11
Task:
0 Read through the Time-on-Task: A Strategy that Accelerates
Learning article, annotating as you wish
0 On the cardstock provided, create a table and jot down a
few key ideas about each of the steps related to effective
student learning – Be sure to title your table!
Explanation
Modeling
Guided Practice
Independent
Practice
12
In order for you to be
ABLE to use all class
time, you must have
clearly defined and
communicated
expectations for
behavior
Classroom Non-negotiables
What will YOU not budge
about??
Your classroom/lab
expectations must be:
0 Fair
0 Consistent
0 Respectful to students
0 Understood by your students
0 Workable/Realistic to execute
Now, independently on the handout provided write 3-5
“non-negotiables” for your class or lab. Be prepared to
share and discuss!
Time for a break!
Creating Effective Grading
and Student Grouping Policies
The handout
provided, write down
the categories that
you enter into your
gradebook
Objectives:
Topic: Grading and grouping policies
Do:
0 Examine effective ways to group students, and how to
independently assess group work
0 Identify the categories and weights of headings in
grade records
L.O.T.: Understanding
4 ways to group students:
0
0
0
0
Randomly
Teacher-selected
By seat proximity
Student-selected
Consider surveying your students’
attitudes prior to setting groups
Which of the following best describes your experience of
group work?
A. I like group work because my group helps me learn.
B. I question the value of group work because in the past
I've ended up doing all the work.
C. I have little or no experience working in groups.
D. I have different experience of group work than the
choices above. (Please explain.)
Those who check “B” can be put into a group of their own.
They might find this to be the first time they are really
challenged and satisfied by group work
What about grading group
work?
0 Each student should be graded independently
0 Students should understand the criteria prior to starting to
work on the project
0 When grouping students the process used to determine
who works together should be matched to what the goals
of the project are
0 When the teacher selects the group, “A” students work well
with “C” students, and “B” students are helpful to “D”
students
0 Consider having set groups that rotate if you use group
work regularly (see handout)
Grading Must Reflect
Mastery of Course Concepts
and Skills
0 When determining how much an assignment, project
or assessment would be worth, always think, “How
critical is this to understanding what students need to
know about ____________ “ (fill in your course)
0 Be VERY cautious with “participation points” – if you
use them, have how they can be earned/lost in writing
and make sure they align with school policies
0 “Extra credit” for non- academic things (like turning in
papers with parent signatures) should not be
common, if used at all
The district has very general
guidelines for grading
0 Let’s look at the official MPS Administrative
Regulation for grading secondary students (green)
0 Ed Tech has prepared a variety of resources for
gradebook help with the system we use within
Synergy
http://www.mpsaz.org/gradebook/secondary/secon
darysupport2 (pink handout)
Grading:
0
0
Policies need to be clearly communicated to
students in writing
Use rubrics whenever appropriate to do so, and
give students the rubrics prior to the assignment
or project
Rubrics created by other teachers are available and
customizable if you search the web. A good website to
use is Rubistar: www. http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
Let’s look at the writing rubrics that we are suggesting
that PLCs use as an example that everyone should be
able to relate to.
Stretch break with a task!
Please get a laptop and log on to the MPS
website.
You can share a machine with one other
person or do the activity independently.
If you have an iPad you are welcome to
use it, but a smartphone would be too
small for what we’re doing.
Send your written grading policies
home for parent signatures
Let’s look at some examples…
www.mpsaz.org
0
Go onto the MPS website and type in
“Grading Policies” in the search box –
Complete the table using at least
three examples you view
Article: High School Grading
Policies
Take a highlighter, identifying what you find most significant
Wrapping grades
up…
Go back to your
Gimme an A handout –
0 Add any categories you
might have missed
0 Change any that aren’t
working for you
0 Put percentages next to
each for weight
Closure
0 On the “Week 3” portion of the
backside of your name tent,
write one thing that you plan to
do differently as a result of what
we covered today. If there is
nothing, write a summary
describing why using
instructional time wisely is
critical!
If you are doing this for ADE credit, email Ann a
suggested date and time for a visit following
spring break. Also – don’t forget KWL charts
about your students if you don’t have them in!