Finals are coming! We assume students have the skills and tools they need to make connections and deepen their learning independently, but many times freshmen have never been exposed to skills and strategies to use.  Creating a study plan is a first step students can take to help them experience greater success. 

Creating a study schedule is a time management method that can reduce a student's level of stress by teaching them how to set aside the necessary amount of time for studying, and also how to use that time wisely.

When reading about ways to help our students begin to get organized I came across a blog written by a student at the time in Portugal. She shares from a student's perspective 10 Essential Steps to Creating a Study Schedule.   Students love to hear and learn from other students! 

A study plan can be created on paper or electronically. Need a template or a place to start? Below are templates you can make a copy of. Feel free to use as is or edit.

• Starting with your hardest course, work backwards from the exam date and assign study chunks to individual blocks in the schedule (If using a paper schedule use a pencil because you may need to revise!)
• Schedule your peak learning times for your hardest studying. 
• There is no perfect plan: try to spread your studying over a period of 5 days or more, and reach your targeted number of study blocks.
• Be sure and schedule breaks and things to look forward to doing. 

Encourage students to create a study plan that is reasonable  Keeping in mind the amount of time they need to study and review each day, students also need to realize that, blocking off four hours, for example, with no break will set them up for failure. 

Develop a plan to communicate and share information with parents also. As we began to post our Finals schedule we also began to push out information to our parents through our weekly eNews.  We also have a Study Skills and Resources section available on the Cardinal's Nest our Freshman website. 
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Once a student has their study plan in place, some helpful reminders are:

• Place the calendar or printed schedule in a visible location so that it is easy to see or if the schedule is electronic have it bookmarked and easily accessible. 
• It is important to review, study, and self-test. First, spend a few minutes reviewing the material you studied during the previous study block; then spend most of your time reviewing the current chunk of material; then spend some time testing yourself on that material.
• Take the breaks that they have scheduled into their study time. 
• Find a place or environment that is right and comfortable to study and concentrate. 
• Include exercise and healthy snacks in your break schedule. 

Creating a plan is the first step. If you have additional suggestions or resources for students to use, please share them below so that we can all learn and help students draft a study plan that will help them be successful.  Next post I'll focus on Retrieval Practice and how it plays such an important part in making learning stick.

One of the many things that I love about Google is that they are constantly seeking feedback and looking at ways they can get better. Here is a simple improvement that made them better. Whenever you want to create a new Google doc, slidedeck, form, sheet or site.  Simply go to your browser's address bar and type in the type of Google app you would like to create followed by dot and "new". So for a Google doc you would type "doc.new" and press enter. A new Google doc will appear and you will be ready to get to work.

Better is better....and this is better!  

The assessments listed above are tools that educators have to use and administer at the classroom level.  The first type of assessment, formative is a term commonly referred to in education. The use of formative data to alter instruction and to scaffold next steps forward in instruction varies from classroom to classroom. There are times that the formative data is being used to create a grade as an indicator to the student of their level of understanding. When the formative data is simply a grade to the teacher and instruction continues as planned the power of using a formative assessment is lost. (In other words.....I have taught it and you have either learned it or not and I am moving on.)  In defense of many teachers, the pressure to move forward to keep up with a pacing calendar encourages this practice at many schools.  

The next three types of assessments: the screener, diagnostic and progress monitoring assessments are tools that are not as commonly referred to or used in many classrooms.  In my experience, they are tools that can help identify where a student is performing at in overall literacy and numeracy. These types of assessments help educators know where to adjust the basic point at which instruction is going to begin.  I think of it in terms of someone setting out to climb a mountain.  

Using the data from a screener and a diagnostic report allows a teacher to decide a starting point, for example reading level for the students they currently are teaching. The use of progress monitoring allows educators to see in a snapshot if the strategies and instruction they are using are helping students show growth. 

When looking at the list above, summative assessments are used often in our classrooms to assess over-all learning.  Creating summative assessments prior to instruction is critical. Summative assessments should be created by a PLC. When the PLC creates a common assessment it allows for every teacher to know what learners will need to know and at what rigor level they'll need to be able to perform at.  My question, and it is a question because I don't know what the answer is, how do our summative assessments address the various starting points of our learners? 

Bringing all of these assessments together into one big picture takes a team, planning, brainstorming, and constant change.  What it looks like and how instruction is affected cannot be scripted by pacing guides, and it is going to look different depending on the group of students. The challenge here is that the learning goals identified for students may be different than the standards identified by the student's grade level and course. This is where traditional classrooms and data hit a roadblock.  Teachers need to be encouraged and supported throughout the process as it is complicated and hard work.  Asking questions along the way as to the use of data, instructional adjustments and student progress should be at the center of our conversations.  

I believe we have learning to do around the implementation of interventions and varied instructional groupings, especially at the secondary level.  Identifying technology tools that help differentiate and scaffold instruction is key to meeting more students needs.  Realizing the need to learn is the first step forward to improvement.   

If you have insights on the use of assessments to drive learning and adjust instruction, I would love to hear your thoughts.  ​

I need to be around people who have ideas and who are excited about creating learning opportunities for others. Having felt the power of a tribe early in my career, I have continually sought out communities where I felt connected. Looking back, I have been connected to a tribe at each school that I have worked at over the years.

Seth Godin wrote a book titled “Tribes.” Those who know me well know that Seth Godin is one of my favorite people to read, listen to and watch. I find wisdom and encouragement in his work. I have this AWESOME book that compiles much of his writing. (I just have to show you how huge it is!)​
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The orange Quickchecks button leads to a list of instructional strategies that a teacher or PLC can chose to use.

Teachers can simply click on a strategy and the app guides them through the use of the strategy in a very simple format that can be applied to any learning environment and offers suggestions to extend thinking past the quickcheck. In the example below, I clicked on the 3-2-1 summary strategy. 

The blue Think It Up button leads to a list of strategies that can extend a students thoughts and lead to deeper understanding of the standard. 

The purple button Resources and Content Builders leads to resources that support Texas TEKS and STAAR testing data. There is good content here for Texas educators, but educators outside of Texas will not utilize this section of the app.  The green button Professional development provides information and links to Lead4ward PD opportunities.

There is a timer at the bottom of the app that teachers can use in instruction. Timers are easy to find on youtube etc., but it's nice to have it accessible in the app.  A teacher can have it open a Quickcheck or Think It Up once time expires. 

In addition to the App the Lead4ward website offers valuable information to Texas teachers regarding standards. The website has resources that vertically align standards. When planning, teachers can quickly see which standards students have covered in previous grade levels.  Using formative assessment teachers can assess if those standards have been mastered and scaffold instruction for students.  Below is an example from English 1, however the website has content available in all core areas.  The standard below is Figure 19 -reflect on understanding to monitor comprehension (e. g., asking questions, summarizing and synthesizing, making connections, creating sensory images). Take a look at how Lead4ward identifies the supporting standards from previous grade levels for a teacher.  

In addition to the content from the app and website Lead4ward offers paid features with additional support for teachers.  Having a solid list of strategies at a teacher's fingertips can facilitate conversations during planning within PLC's  and lead to different paths for instruction. I am looking forward to using and sharing these resources with teachers on my campus.  

What other apps have you found that organize strategies or help teachers when planning instruction?

*I attended TASSP in Austin and spent time in several sessions that focused on checkpoints and questioning. I am sharing some of the takeaways from my learning.

I believe as educators we have to ask better questions, so that our students in turn can learn to ask better questions. Questions are powerful in our classrooms. When crafting a question a teacher must decide if is the question is to pre-assess, lead learning, check for understanding, or for reflection?

Developing and planting purposeful questions takes time and is not necessarily easy. Time spent brainstorming and generating questions as a PLC will pay off. We must remember that the timing of questions is also important, and to get the timing right questions should be generated in the planning stage of instruction. Different levels and types of questions are needed depending on where students are in their learning. When planning there instruction there are three categories questions can fall within to bring out students' thinking.

Prediction/Pre-lesson/Background Knowledge - These questions are asked before a concept is taught. They will give you an idea of students’ background knowledge or opinion on a concept. They might start with these sentence stems:​​

Checks of understanding
These questions are designed to give you information on students’ level of understanding of a concept. For these questions, you want to make student thinking visible. Avoid yes/no, multiple choice, or a simple recall of information. Instead ask students to elaborate in their explanation. Think about starting the questions with words such as:

 Reflection
Reflection questions are designed to get students to think about the lesson or make a connection with the learning or content. I believe that reflection questions are what drive students to connect information and push their own learning further. Some ideas for reflection questions are:

As educators focusing on generating and asking good questions models the power of questioning for our students. Ultimately we want learners to leave our classrooms being experts at asking questions, as it will be the questions that they generate that continue to drive and push their learning.
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If you haven’t read A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger, I highly recommend it. The books focuses on the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. (Below is the book trailer.)

I would love for anyone to share their journey in questioning or any learning that they have been involved in that has helped them craft stronger questions that guide inquiry.

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Teach your students how to do this so that when you share slide decks that work off a template they can quickly add to them and create a collaborative slide deck.  Here is a slide deck that I created that students can use to introduce themselves to each other.

Subtract something that you do, take something off your plate and add in something you haven't tried before. Ask you students to help you figure out a different or better way.

Check out some of the resources below to change things up and learn while you are teaching in May!

Finals are coming, what does the latest brain research say about how we learn and retain information. Content knowledge is the first step in being able to take what we know and go deeper and create something new or move to DOK levels 3 and 4. Here are 6 specific strategies you can use with content.  It's pretty darn interesting.  How might you use this and other resources to help your students with metacognition and the process of learning?
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Struggling with students addiction to their cell phones? Grab a great lesson idea to embark on with your students from Ms. Tomlinson's post "Millennials in the Workplace".  (Ms. Tomlinson is one of our English 1 teachers that blogs!)

Challenge yourself to give students choices in the products they create to show mastery! Create a video, have fun adding sound effects and too, learn alongside your students. There are free great video editors available.  Many of these editors have pro versions but their free versions work well and produce great products with no watermarks. A summary of some Free Video Editors by Christopher Barnatt from Explaining Computers can be viewed here.  The BBC recently made available over 16,000 sound effect clips that are BBC copyright, but they may be used for personal, educational or research purposes, as detailed in the license. These sound effects can be used in student videos. Listen to a few! http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/.  

Using a video in class? Technology can make using that video so much more effective. Edpuzzle and Playposit are great tools to integrate. “Using Video-What happens after they hit play” gives you an overview of these tools. They are similar tools but there are some differences. Another interesting strategy to use with video is to show a short clip with no sound and have students discuss what they saw and make predictions. Then watch the video with sound and then watch again with a targeted question.

Formative assessment is a game changer! Make a conscious effort to add additional checks throughout your class period.  Digital tools can help you a do this quickly and efficiently. Take time in May to try some new ones out. Kathy Dyer wrote “The Ultimate List - 65 Digital Tools and Apps to Support Formative Assessment Practices”. There are some tried and true tools listed and also some new ones to try out too. I have found that with must digital tools there are some that work very efficiently for my personal style, while others only slow me down. Dig in and see if you can become comfortable with a new tool.

Haven't tried Google Classroom yet? 
Jump in and try it! Aside from the great workflow that Google Classroom establishes, the ability to comment both to your whole class and 1:1 with students can be powerful. What do you learn from this type of feedback? How does your relationship change with students? Comments invite conversations. And follow Alice Keeler you'll learn more about all the Google Apps and how they integrate with Google Classroom. 

Grab a partner or your whole team and take on something new. Think about what you might learn that could make learning in your classroom better now and help you grow as you prepare for next August. I find myself sometimes putting an idea on my list for next year, when in reality I don’t have to wait.

Personally, I have wanted to work on reaching teachers that I work alongside and connecting new ideas, people, tools. It’s something that was on my list as a goal to add for next year. I am taking my own advice and working to create “Learning Connections; A Virtual Learning Lounge” a collaborative learning space for our faculty to learn in.  I'll share as soon as it is finished.  I need to collaborate and get some input from others! 

That #LastBell will be ringing before we know it, how will you challenge yourself to grow in May? Encouraging everyone to finish strong!