The Use of Scaffolds for Teaching High-Level Cognitive Strategies by Rosenshine & Meister

Teaching higher-order thinking continues to be a hot topic in education. This is no different in CISD. This year we have introduced Instructional Rounds. After our first site visit, the CHS leadership team developed a Momentum Plan. Part of this plan requires a "study." We chose the article entitled The Use of Scaffolds for Teaching High-Level Cognitive Strategies by Rosenshine and Meister.

In this article, the authors note that higher-level questions do not occur naturally in the process of instruction. Therefore, higher-level questions must be purposefully plan. At CHS, we have found that planning questions does not ensure the execution or delivery of questions written and documented in lesson plans. Therefore, we have developed questions stems to help teachers move a question at the lower level of Blooms to a higher-level - scaffolding of questions. Each department generate a list to best fit the content area.

After reading this article, teacher were asked to bring 5 keys learnings from the article to discuss within their PLCs.

Red Ribbon Week: October 27-31

Red Ribbon Week is scheduled for October 27-31 at Castleberry High School. Red Ribbon Week is a nation-wide drug prevention campaign and serves as a vehicle for communities, schools and individuals to take a stand for the hopes and dreams of our children/students through a commitment to drug prevention and education. In addition, Red Ribbon Week gives students at CHS an opportunity to make a personal commitment to live drug free lives.
Red Ribbon Week commemorates the sacrifice made by DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena, who died in Mexico while fighting the battle against drugs to keep our country and children safe. In honor of Camarena's memory, friends and neighbors began to wear red badges of satin. For more about the story behind the symbol and Enrique Camarena, please access the link below.

http://www.defense.gov/specials/drugawareness/rrstory.html

Strategies to Extend Student Thinking in the Classroom

Teachers informally check for understanding throughout the class period by asking questions of students. Below are strategies to add to your teacher "toolkit" to extend student thinking in the classroom.

Utilize "think-pair-share" - 30 seconds of think time; one minute of discussion with partner; open up the class to discussion

Remember "wait time" - 10 to 20 seconds following a higher-level question

Ask "follow-ups" - Why do you think...? Do you agree? Can you elaborate ...? What evidence supports...?

Survey the class - How many people agree...? Thumbs up; thumbs down.

Ask for a summary - Could you please summarize ____'s point/answer? (promote active listening).

Updates at CHS

Castleberry High School has been undergoing several updates this summer - phones, wireless access, bells, PA system and digital clocks. In addition, the media center (library) is undergoing a massive remodel. The phone system and wireless access are almost complete. The system to control bells, PA, and digital clocks should be complete by the end of this week. The media center is scheduled to be complete by mid-October.

Digital Portfolios

Recently, I began creating a digital portfolio using Weebly.com as part of our Digital Leadership initiative in Castleberry ISD. So, you may ask "why create a digital portfolio?" Digital portfolios provide a platform for pulling together information which provides more detail or greater explanation. Our digital portfolios in CISD include a home page "About Me" and the five ISTE Standards for Administrators - Visionary Leadership, Digital-Age Learning Culture, Excellence in Professional Practice, Systemic Improvement, and Digital Citizenship. In addition to providing a platform for pulling together information, digital portfolios have several benefits:

Benefits of creating a portfolio 

• demonstrates effort, progress, and achievement
• makes connections between theory and practice
• documents your learning progress over time
• provides evidence of meeting professional standards
• enhances communication and organizational skills
• greater awareness of strengths and weaknesses
• encourages reflective self-inquiry
• illustrates good teaching
• supports professional growth
• leads to goal planning
• visible collection of skills to present to a prospective employer
• celebrate accomplishments
• improves teaching
• often considered authentic assessment

Benefits of electronic format

• develops and demonstrates technology skills
• ability to include a greater range of artifacts
• can better capture the dynamic process of teaching and learning
• easier to revise and maintain
• enables connections within the portfolio
• reusability of artifacts in different contexts or multiple portfolios
• greater ease of distribution to interested parties
• accessible from anywhere and to a wide audience
• highly portable
• simpler to receive feedback on
• more opportunities to display creativity
• creates technological self-confidence
• can build community
• supports integration of technology into the classroom

(retrieved from https://ella.mtholyoke.edu/wiki/site/ab69aa44-4139-4f71-b19f-a5d2360dffb8/why%20create%20an%20e-portfolio%3F.html.)

As noted above, a digital portfolio "documents your learning progress over time." This to say that while my digital portfolio will be an on-going process, I have shared the link with you below.

http://juliedavisphd.weebly.com

Digital Leadership

CISD administrators are engaged in a book study this summer - Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Time by Eric Sheninger. The administrative team and librarian at Castleberry High School focused on Chapter 10: Rethinking Learning Environments and Spaces. In this chapter, Sheninger shares about the over crowding of schools in his school district and the challenge the district faced in finding more space for high school students. The community was against opening a second high school, so a vision of a new learning center emerged as a result of input from key-stakeholders. Their vision became a reality; the district launched the Clark Hall project.
To meet the needs of learners and to prepare for their transformative building, the district first had to address current network problems - the inability to handle digital technology for today's teachers and students. The system was upgraded to support the expectation for technology use in lessons.
Clark Hall was not structured to resemble of traditional school. Instead, it provided open and flexible spaces for learning and promoted interdisciplinary projects. Along with a flexible space came flexible scheduling allowing teacher more time to interact with individual students. This facility houses fourteen classrooms, each with its own conference room for small-group work. To offset the expense of this state of the art three story structure, the first floor is leased to help pay the mortgage.
Strategic partnerships were formed with organizations, such as YMCA and a local career center. The YMCA provided exercise equipment which is used to provide evening classes for its members and some of the school's physical education classes.
As leaders, we need to reflect on how our learning spaces are utilized. Do they provide what today's digital classrooms need, not only to engage students but to also prepare them for success in today's society? To learn more, check out Sheninger's book.

Instructional Rounds

The last two days I have been attending a training on Instructional Rounds. Here are some of the main ideas of Instructional Rounds I have learned so far. The model provides a basic framework for how to intervene in the instructional process. This in turn has shown to improve the quality and level of student learning. There are seven principles described in the first chapter of Instructional Rounds in Education by Elizabeth City, Richard F. Elmore, Sarah E. Fairman, and Lee Teitel (2010) which guide in work with the instructional core. The instructional core consists of the student, teacher, and content. The authors note that when teacher level of knowledge and skill are increased, the level and complexity of content students received is increased, and we change to role of the student in the instructional process, student learning is improved. All three pieces are instrumental.
The goal of Instructional Rounds is not to provide feedback or evaluative data to teachers. Rather, the purpose is to compare instructional practices and to improve instruction. Rounds are conducted in groups (4-6) and focus areas are identified in advance. The members of the team record what the see/hear in 20 minute sessions per classroom. It is recommended the members go to four different classrooms during a campus visit. After observations, the team meets to debrief on recorded data. During the debrief, the members write analysis statements and short term targets and suggests next level of work to support short term targets or address future goals. This information is left with the campus principal to work with campus leadership to improve the instructional process on campus.