Happy Holidays!

Wow...our year is coming to an end, how did this happen so fast? The first half of the school year is over. This is an exciting and sad time of year. We remember all the memories that we made and look forward to the new ones we will experience in 2018. We are already thinking about new goals and resolutions. My wish is that you spend this last week enjoying your students. Spend some quality time with one another. They will remember these moments the most, I promise! We have four days left with our students- even better they are dress up days! It's time to breathe, cherish these moments, and enjoy the holiday cheer we all bring one another. It has been an exciting, adventurous, and an inspirational year. As a school, we have alot to be thankful for- one being our students and the relationships we built with one another, which is also a blessing. I am leaving this year thankful and blessed. I hope you each take a second to reflect on your year. This may be a great conversation to have with your students as well. How can we be even more successful in the upcoming new year? They look up to each and every one of you. You are a blessing in their life, and they are thankful to have a strong, willing, and heart-filled teacher that provides an education so that they will be be successful. I am very excited for 2018 to begin. I know this year will be even better than 2017. 

Just a few reminders:
No WMM
No Thursday team meeting
Enjoy your found time :)

Monday- Red, White and Green day
Tuesday- Hilarious Hat day
Wednesday- Tacky shirt/sweater day
Thursday- PJ Day, Pot luck, Movie, Twas Night before Christmas

As always, thank you for EVERYTHING you do! Enjoy this last week. Happy Holidays and may you have a Happy New Year! Please take some time over break to relax and spend time with family and friends. 

Examining Errors in Reasoning

Examining Errors in Reasoning Element #18

Examining errors in reasoning is one of the more challenging instructional practices for educators.  It is difficult to teach students how to examine and self-regulate their own thinking processes as well as evaluate the logic of information that is presented to them.  In a recent study of the frequency of various observed content strategies, fewer than 2% of observed instructional episodes contained opportunities for students to engage with new content by either learning how to think more logically and critically from direct instruction about reasoning or applying reasoning to content texts and discussions (Marzano & Toth, 2014). 

Here are some teacher actions or behaviors that have been associated with an effective implementation of examining reasoning:

• ·         Identify critical content for examination by students
• ·         Teach students how to examine and analyze information for errors-or informal fallacies in content or in their own reasoning-through directly instructing, modeling, and facilitating
• ·         Provide ongoing opportunities for students to identify common errors in logic
• ·         Teaching students how to state and support a claim with grounds, backing, and qualifiers through directly instructing, modeling, and facilitating
• ·         Provide ongoing opportunities for students to state and support a claim with grounds, backing, and qualifiers
• ·         Teach students how to examine and analyze the strength of support presented for a claim in content or in their own reasoning through directly instructing, modeling, and facilitating
• ·         Teach students how to analyze errors so they can identify more efficient ways to execute processes through directly instructing, modeling, and facilitating
• ·         Provide ongoing opportunities for students to learn how to support claims and assertions for those claims in relationship to the evidence

There are many common mistakes that can take teaching and therefore learning off course:

• ·         Failing to identify and utilize appropriate materials
• ·         Failing to connect to related instructional strategies
• ·         Failing to provide the necessary instruction
• ·         Failing to show rather than tell
• ·         Failing to provide ongoing opportunities
• ·         Failing to allow students the time to process and deepen understanding

Examining reasoning cannot be rushed, especially when students are first learning how to stop and think about what they have said or heard.  Time is needed for reflection, and when you fail to provide appropriate wait times during which students can process and deepen their understanding of a response or claim, you deprive them of an opportunity to consider the appropriateness of that claim and how it relates to what they have learned. 

Please take time to review the desired result and rubrics that accompany this element.  The following link has more in depth information related to this element.  There is also a video at the bottom of the document that will show you element 18 in action in a kindergarten classroom.  There are also a few pdf’s linked to that document that you may find helpful. 

https://graniteschools.instructure.com/courses/1118234/pages/examining-errors-in-reasoning

 

Identifying Critical Information

Highlighting critical information strategies involves the teacher pointing out what IS important and what is LESS important based on the information he/she is presenting that day. Students are bombarded with information daily, they need to know what is extremely important so they can focus on it and make the instant connection. Students hear the teacher talking, and other students talking about the content. They also read about the content, examine pictures and observe demonstrations, but they do know what they need to take away each day? Not all of the information is equally important. You will see remarkable changes in your student’s ability to process and understand new content once they are able to identify which content is critical and understand how learned content scaffolds into complexity.

Table 6.2 suggest using these strategies.

Repeating the most important content- Repeating not only identifies which information is critical but it helps students remember that information.

Asking questions that focus on critical information- The teacher ask questions that remind students of previous content and highlight what is important in the current content.

Using visual activities- The teacher uses storyboards, TM’s, and pictures to highlight critical information, help students create mental pictures of the information, and promote comprehension and recall.

Using narrative activities- the teacher uses stories to anchor information and signal to students that certain information is important.

Using tone of voice, gestures, and body position- The teacher uses tone of voice, gestures, and body position to emphasize important information.

Use pause time- teacher pauses during the presentation of new content to highlight important points. It gives students the opportunity to take in and process content.

Identifying critical-input experiences- These introduce important new content to students and are vital to enhancing student learning. Teacher take special care in planning for these experiences.

Using explicit instruction to convey critical content- Dramatic activities- skits, role playing, other body movements.

Providing advance organizers to cue critical content- Thinking maps, verbal cues to a classroom chart.

Using what students already know to cue critical content- Teacher uses what they already know to explain critical content. Provides students with a link to old knowledge for every critical aspect of the new knowledge.

When the strategies in this element produce the desired effects, teachers will observe the following behaviors in students:

Students can describe the level of importance of specific information, can explain why specific content is important to know, and visibly adjust their level of attention when teachers present information content.

For further information regarding any of the above strategies you may check out the Identifying Critical Content book-classroom techniques to help students know what is important. 

Here is a link to the book: 
https://www.learningsciences.com/media/catalog/product//i/c/icc_lookinside.pdf