This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
This page is maintained by Dr. Alexander Wyeth, Assistant Superintendent for the Norwood Public Schools. Suggestions for improvement are always welcome.
For more information on Homework and Grading Best Practices, NPS educators should have access to the following shared Google Folder: "Homework, Grading, and Reporting"
Link to Articles and Tools shared folder.
12 Things Kids Want from Their Teachers by Angela Maiers. Educators & Staff: You Matter!...Especially when you help each student believe that s/he matters, counts, is important, and has something special to offer others and the world.
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” Mark Van Doren
"I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized." --Haim G. Ginott
"We don't want students to regurgitate the information we present; we want them to invent new ways of putting facts together. Besides invention and innovation, students need to demonstrate problem solving, creative and critical thinking, leadership and collaboration, and global awareness and communication. Students who exhibit these skills are empowered to take control of their own learning. They are creators, not simply absorbers." -- Hertz and Aungst, Educational Leadership, February 2011. A related article: "Rigor Redefined" by Tony Wagner, Educational Leadership, October 2008.
7 Principles of Effective Instruction. Click on the link.
1. What am I teaching? What do students need to know and be able to do by the end of this lesson, class, unit, term, and year? What is essential for students to master; what is nice to know? Have I selected "must know" content from the curriculum frameworks (the State's Common Core/Learning Standards) in a way that allows me to go deep with the learning? Have I clearly and repeatedly communicated these expectations to all my students so that they know them?
2. Why am I teaching it? Do students understand why the lesson's content is important to learn? Do I have an authentic, convincing reason (not "Because you will be graded on this" or "You need it for next thing we do.")?
3. How am I teaching it? Are students actively engaged in the learning process? Who is the primary worker/learner: me or the students? Where possible and appropriate, do students have some choice or control over what they learning (This builds buy in, supports internal motivation)? Why am I teaching it that way? Is there a different, more effective way to reach students?
4. How will I know my students are getting it? Am I checking for understanding often enough to make corrections in time? Do my assessments measure what is most important for students to understand and master?
5. How will my students know they are getting it, or not? Am I providing frequent and concrete (actionable) feedback (without penalty)(formative) to students so they can make corrections in time?
6. What will I do differently if they are not getting it, succeeding, learning?
An Essential Question for us all (teachers, administrators, parents, coaches, etc.): How are you/we helping students develop these "habits of mind," these essential outcomes of effective teaching and learning, human growth and development? Here's a one page list of the habits. And here is another resource for teachers: Teaching the Habits of Mind.
To see some best practices in action, search the Teaching Channel, a great resource!
Thousands of Online Lessons: You must check out this Khan Academy site for some excellent subject matter content videos that you can use with students to introduce or reinforce a lesson. You could assign a video for homework or have a substitute show a video or two if you are out.
Another Great Source of Well Designed Lessons with Multimedia Resource Links: Teachers' Domain by PBS LearningMedia. You can filter by grade and subject matter! Check it out.
Characteristics of Gifted Students
Mindsteps. It's Free. Seven Principles of Effective Instruction
TeacherVision. Lesson plans, printables, and more. Working with Emotionally and Behaviorally Challenged Students
Tips for Managing Student Behavior
Studying the science and biology behind student thinking, or pedagogy, is the key to understanding why students' confidence biologically stimulates their thinking.
When students feel confident, the brain releases endorphins that trigger faster neurological connections. The increased cognition speed helps students think clearly and logically, which leads to improved problem-solving abilities.
On the other hand, when students feel stress, their brains undergo neurological inhibition, placing mental blocks. This slows down their thought processes and is the root of anxiety and frustration. When this inhibition occurs, students are unable to think clearly and will generally give up on a specific task (from ASCD Education Update, July 2013).
Also see this short video on "How the Brain Learns"
What can we do here in Norwood to replicate some of these powerful learning practices? Who is willing to take the risk and give it a go? Ask your principal and Dr. Wyeth for support.
Edutopia: Schools That Work and Project-Based Learning and Technology Integration
Coalition of Essential Schools and CES Resources
Harvard School of Education: Active Learning Practices for Schools (ALPS) and What It Looks Like
National School Reform Faculty. This site has many excellent protocols for looking at teacher and student work among others!
This is an essential read for all involved in educating others: Understanding the Keys to Motivation to Learn, by Barbara L. McCombs.
This is a two pager about how kids view their intelligence and its impact on their learning. Having a "growth mindset" vs. a "fixed mindset" makes a huge difference! (Carol Dweck's book Mindset is well worth reading):
Education and the Role of the Educator in the Future -- Phi Delta Kappan, December 2010/January 2011 (V92 N4). Speaks to how the teacher's role needs to change to prepare students for 21st century.
20 (Self-)Critical Things I Will Do to Be a More Equitable Educator. Identify several of these powerful suggestions to keep in front of you or to use as personal goals.
Best Practices Website (with a content literacy and math focus): This short weekly professional development site is worth subscribing to. Check it out!
The Skillful Teacher: Building Your Teaching Skills, by Jon Saphier, Mary An Haley-Speca & Robert Gower, Research for Better Teaching, 2008.
Instruction For All Students, by Paula Rutherford, Just ASK Publications & Professional Development, 2008.
Why Didn't I Learn This in College? Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century, by Paula Rutherford, Just ASK Publications & Professional Development, 2009.
Teach like your hair is on fire! (A motivating book by this title on teaching by Rafe Esquith, Viking Press, 2007). It's about teaching 5th graders in an impoverished Los Angeles school. The message: If you care, you can engage and reach hard to reach kids. It is filled with good ideas for hooking students into learning.