2nd Week of October

DOK in our Instruction

Jennifer Liles - Head Start
Kids at DOK 2 & 3

High level questioning is a great instructional strategy, but when students are the ones asking the great questions, learning becomes exponential.  Check out Bill Ferriter's reflections (Click Here for Post) on getting students to pose the high-level questions.

Getting a Head Start on DOK

Every day in Jennifer Liles' HeadStart class instruction always begins with a DOK 2 or 3 question.  Here is what she does.

 Each day since the first day we arrived at school we have been counting the days we are in school. This year I am using not only the 100's chart but also a puzzle that has 100 pieces. Every morning we add a puzzle piece to the board. Students will then predict what the puzzle is going to be. With each day that goes by, the puzzle is revealed and their predictions change. 

Deadline for 2nd 6 Weeks Formative Assessment Checklists is Friday, October 24

• Submit completed FA Checklist to your principal. (Link to FA Checklist Here)
• Enter formative assessments into Eduphoria (Video Link Here)

Writing and Reading Strategies

This is a great video where Kelly Gallagher tells teachers why kids must write far more than we can read and why they must read more than we can physically assess.  http://ow.ly/CdxXK 

College Readiness - Agriculture Science & FFA

Josh NcNeil working in
the greenhouse

Mac Amick working FFA
Alumni Concession Stand

9th Gr FFA Members at Waskom Leadership Summit

The FFA and classroom instruction are both parts of the 3-part Ag Education model. The Agricultural Education model is made up of Supervised Agricultural Experiences, FFA Leadership, and Classroom excersises. When combined, we create students prepared for jobs that don't even exist yet, with work ethic and real life experiences in their chosen career paths.



The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

We have a junior FFA program that allows students to begin their supervised agricultural experience programs earlier, starting in the 3rd grade. 

Contact Jessica Rymel or Chris Tondre at THS for more information on this great College & Career Readiness program. They are our new Agriculture teachers and are doing a fantastic job getting kids plugged in.

TIP - Tech Integration Pic of the Week

Mrs. Carr's students on
iStation

One of the greatest challenges for teachers, particularly at the Primary is the structure and organization of the class.  Much of our day is spent in small group instruction. As a result, planning lessons becomes challenging because you must have a learning activity for each child that reflects their Independent academic, maturity, and interest levels.  Mrs. Carr has excelled at integrating technology into her class while she spends time in small group instruction. Students are spending time on Istation, reading apps such as Booksy, whiteboard app to practice sight words and formation of the letters. I applaud her for her willingness to put the technology into the students hand for independent work, but also for the time she puts into the planning of making sure the students' time spent with technology enhances learning and is not just playtime. Making the most of every academic moment of the day!

Thank you to Veronica Wilkerson for sharing this excellent example of tech integration from the primary.

Blog Post of the Week

Using Descriptive Feedback as a Part of Formative Assessment by Sally l'Anson (CLICK HERE)

Tweet of the Week

mary jane burke‏@burkemaryjane

11 ways to use technology in the classroom via @edutopia ”