Joan Moser
October 16, 2015
Issue #378
I find just as much joy in working with teachers as I do teaching children. In particular I have a passion for supporting brand new teachers. It's their unbridled enthusiasm, energy, and perhaps most of all, their lack of ego that greatly inspires me.
This fall, as the newness of the school year began to wear off and a nasty cold virus took hold, Sean started to show signs of beginning-of-the-year fatigue. Daily 5 was being launched and the fall assessment window opened. Like many new teachers, he was feeling overwhelmed and less successful than he had hoped. A beginning teacher, Sean wanted to prove to himself, his students, their families, and the staff that they hadn't made a mistake when they hired him over the more experienced educators who had also applied for the job.
He might have closed the classroom door and struggled along, doing his best with limited experience. Instead of hiding behind his ego, Sean opened his door and became transparent with his challenges. He made visible his struggles and asked for help and support to manage the behaviors of a couple of tricky kids, and to interpret and make decisions based on assessments that were new to him. Sean wasn’t concerned about how he would look to the other teachers. Instead, he left his ego at the door, focusing only on reaching out to learn ways that would best serve his class and, as he said, "expand his bag of tricks."
No matter what our level of experience, sometimes we are stymied by student behaviors or by interpreting the results of a reading assessment. What would happen if every teacher, administrator, or supporting staff member followed Sean’s lead and left egos at the door? In John Hattie’s book, Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning, author John Hattie shares that microteaching, or engaging in conducting lessons and then having post-discussions about the lessons, has a very high effect size. This means the research resoundingly supports the act of working together, talking about lessons, observing each other, and learning with our colleagues. It has a positive effect on students' level of achievement and is something we all should be doing. If we were all to leave our egos at the door as Sean did, we would be able to make our teaching and learning visible, supporting and refining our teaching with each other. Think of the powerful effect this would have on student learning and achievement, not to mention the support for each other.
Sean, it has been a pleasure and an honor to support you. Thank you so much for the valuable modeling you've provided for us all.
News from The Daily CAFE
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Questions Answered . . .
How do you explain Daily 5 to parents?
Daily 5 often looks very different from how the parents of our students learned. A letter home will help explain why we do what we do.
Purposeful Practice . . .
Here are three great options for helping students of all ages remember their goals and strategies.
1 Promise Cards*
2 Desk Holder and Reminder Cards*
3 I Can Bookmarks*
Assessment Matters . . .
Practice Chunking and Assess Progress*
Kelly Yahr teaches her students that many words have little words or readable chunks in them.
Try Today . . .
Student-Produced Strategy Cards
Learning sticks, and students take ownership when they write the cards and refer to them frequently on the CAFE Menu.
Focus on Health . . .
The Power of Play
Play is just as important for adults as it is for children.
*Available to members
Professional Development Opportunities
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Live Workshops/Online Seminars Where will we be next? |
Graduate Course (3 credits)
Courses are filled on a first come,
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We plan to join you for workshops in ten U.S. cities in 2016. Stay tuned for an update in late October.