Student Led Parent-Teacher Conferences Increase Student Confidence Student Led Conferences facilitate student articulation of learning, student-engaged assessment through review and reflection, and parent engagement. As parent-teacher conferences transition to parent-teacher-student conferences, students become a part of the conversation and become involved in the process of reflecting on their progress. After parents and students understand that both […]
Category: 2015 Showcase
Sensory Circuits
Bringing a School Together to Increase Motor Ability in Students Upon a new assignment to this elementary building, the Occupational Therapist quickly became aware that there were options to help the teachers. The Occupational Therapy strategies needed to be developed and planned with administration support and teacher input. A program was developed for the […]
Golden Beads: A Golden Ticket for Teaching Math
Use of Beads Helps to Introduce Mathematical Concepts The Golden Beads are used to give a concrete introduction to the decimal system. The Golden Beads, like all Montessori materials, are very tactile, attractive, and easy to understand. The material consists of: “unit” beads, which are just individual bead “tens” bars, which are made of 10“unit” […]
Student Led Book Clubs
Book Club Allows Students to Take Ownership for Their Reading Book Club was originally created through collaboration with a third grade teacher(me) and fifth grade teacher who were seeking a way to empower students to have meaningful discussions on complex texts that were being read in class. When Book Club was first created, the whole […]
Intervention for All: Encouraging Growth of Language Arts Mastery
English Enrichment Program Allows Students the Opportunity to Experience in Depth Exploration of Class Standards At Northside Middle School, we knew a key component to achieving success in the mastery of language arts would be to encourage growth from all of our students. While many intervention programs are aimed at only the bottom or top […]
7th Grade Honors Capstone Project
Students are Given a Chance to Make the Community Better An inquiry-based investigation based on the idea, “Any community has the potential to grow, to serve better its members, become safer, or present a more enjoyable environment. How can you make your community better?” The project included the four stages of proposal, research, presentation, and […]
Co-Teaching
Use of Two Teachers in the Classroom Creates a Calm Environment for Children to Learn Co-Teaching is not easy and for some can be uncomfortable. Once you have the right two individuals come together, they form a bond that is beneficial to the learning and development of young children. Co-Teaching is a practice that has […]
Growing a STEM program with Rube Goldberg Machines
After School Program Allows Students to Excel in an International Event to Promote the STEM Field The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest originally began as a competition against Purdue engineering organization. Today, it has grown into an international event that inspires all students to design, build, problem solve, and present. In recent years, Science, Technology, Engineering, […]
Brain Breaks with GoNoodle
Implementation of Break Breaks Develops Students Memory and Fluency in Common Core Subjects GoNoodle is a free website that can be found at www.GoNoodle.com and can be accessed from any classroom or home. GoNoodle works with Common Core subject experts to create brain breaks that develop memory and fluency in math, spelling, and vocabulary in the form of […]
Co-Teaching
Implementation of a Co-teaching Model Enhances Small Group and Individualized Instruction for Students From 2013-2015 the first grade team at Burris Laboratory School implemented a co-teaching model. All first grade students are taught together using differentiated teaching methods. Teachers use whole group, flexible small group, and one-on-one instruction. Groups are identified through the use of […]
Best “Cs” in the Classroom
Use of the 5 C’s in the Classroom Helps to Engage Students Project Based Learning: In choosing rubric design and criteria to guide students as they research, analyze, and present topics, remembering the best “Cs” in the classroom leads to learning, interesting discussion, and creative and affective product development. The Best “Cs”: Choice; Collaboration; Communication; […]
Engaging At-Risk Students for Complex Learning
Training Staff to Respond to the Mental States of At-Risk Students Leads to Increased Academic Performance At-Risk students have faced challenges in education over time, but with the progression into college and career readiness skills and more complex learning, the challenges are even greater. By training staff to understand and respond to the mental states […]
Using the Spanish Subjunctive Mood in the Real World
Students Get the Opportunity to See the Spanish Subjunctive Mood Applied to the Realities of Their World After a thorough introduction to and MANY practice activities with the uses of the Spanish Subjunctive Mood in Noun Clauses, students then read a cultural unit on Central America and watch a video about the growth of tourism in […]
The Heart of Alternative Education: Understanding the Individualized Service Plan
Ways to Help Students Who Have an Individualized Service Plan (ISP) Options Charter Schools currently run two full-school alternative programs in Hamilton County. In order for our schools to qualify for alternative education funding we must service students that fall under one of the five categories of eligible students: (1) Intend to withdraw or have withdrawn from […]
WIDA English Learner Standards and School-wide Professional Development
Staff Meetings Increased Teachers’ Knowledge of the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Rhoades Elementary, in the MSD of Wayne Township, Indianapolis, is a Title I building with approximately 25% of our students identified as English learners. With Indiana’s adoption of the College & Career Ready and WIDA ELD* Standards, it became increasingly important to build […]
Results with Readers Workshop in First Grade
Reading Workshop Helps Develop Life-Long Passionate Readers Readers Workshop in our classroom is an extended period of time during our Language Arts Block devoted to reading and responding to literature. A mini lesson begins the workshop everyday. Children are then released to their “book nook” to read literary and informational text at their level and […]
Have You TITHED?…Taught In The Hallway Every Day?
Math Students More Successful as Teacher Utilizes Instructional Activities During Transitional Times Throughout the School Day My students deserve the best education opportunities they can get. A lot of my students have been in need of more instructional time to practice and master math skills so that they can be successful in the classroom, on state […]
Black History Month Essay Contest
Essay Contest Brings Local Students and Their Community Together Anderson High School actively sought community participation in sponsoring a Black History Month Essay Contest taking place during the month of February. This was a school-wide initiative implemented during our 8-Step Process Success Period. Writing skills are constantly practiced and reinforced across all content areas at […]
Use of Quarter Courses to Increase Curriculum Diversity for High Ability High School Students
Quarter Length Courses Allow Students the Choice Between Multiple Narrowly Focused Subject Matters Throughout the Semester Quarter courses were developed to increase the diversity of courses available to high ability students. Courses last for half a semester and are usually developed in pairs taught by the same instructor. Topics for quarter courses are usually more narrowly […]
Integrating Science into Physical Education
Teaching Students About the Connections Between Physical Education and Science Helps Them to be Actively Engaged I focused on integrating science into our physical education program throughout the year. My goal is for students to be actively engaged in physical activity while learning about science. This year, the students had a chance to learn how […]
Turning Caps/Lids into Tables
Children’s Involvement in Collecting Plastic Caps and Creating Tables Enhances Environmental Awareness We first became aware of Green Tree Plastics, Inc. and their ABC Partnership program when two former CUMNS Kids students asked for help in gathering plastic caps and lids for their elementary school’s bench project. As we got involved in helping them, our […]
Authentic Assessment in Early Childhood Education
Gathering Information About Children Through a Variety of Ways Latin derivative of the word “assessment” is “to sit beside and get to know”…Let’s get to know our children by using an ongoing process of gathering information through observation & regular documentation then sharing & requesting input from a variety of professionals. We will look at […]
The 10 Day Push
Last Minute Review Helps More Students Pass the English 10 ECA Kay Winter, former AHS instructional/ data coach, heard about The 10 Day Push used at another high school with incredible results. They reported that 60% of their students who participated in The Push passed the English 10 ECA. Kay brought the idea to AHS, […]
The Shot Heard Round the Town: Engaging Young Children in the Work of Social Justice
Students Concerns Spark Community Involvement When students became concerned with gunshots they were hearing in their neighborhood, we were called into action. Leaving this teachable moment as just a classroom discussion left us feeling unsatisfied. As early childhood educators, we were not able to give our students the answers they desired on gun violence. We sought […]
Classroom Engagement
Professional Development Session Helps Teachers to Improve Student Engagement After thoroughly reading Dr. Robert Marzano’s “The Art and Science of Teaching,” Storer staff members conducted a professional development session where we analyzed each chapter and provided each other with examples on how we can use this information throughout the school building. After this session, each staff […]
Cultural Literacy in English Enrichment
Enrichment Course Enhances Students Knowledge of Cultural Experiences The English Enrichment courses at Muncie Community Schools were designed to provide students with extra exposure and practice in key English/Language Arts skills. As an entirely new class, this meant developing a course from nothing. I hired on to teach this course last year, and decided immediately to turn […]
Community Inclusion: Bringing a Novel to Life
Using Classic Literature to Inspire Student Success Through Inclusion So many great works of literature connect to universal themes experienced by our students. Students in high school with functional reading levels significantly below their peers need assistance in accessing the literature their peers study in general education high school English classes. Finding time to collaborate […]
Making the Reading and Writing Connection
After School Program Helps Students with Reading and Writing Wes-Del Elementary Comp Camp was begun several years ago by Shirley Thacker. Comp Camp is held in the spring, fall, and in the summer as an after school program. Mrs. Thacker is a certified presenter with the Indiana Writing Project and has presented her information in Washington […]
Hands-On Projects in AP Physics
Students Apply Concepts Learned in Class to a Real World Environment Each project was implemented to provide students opportunities to directly test physics concepts in a real world environment. Egg-Drop Ships – This is a first semester project given to students after a discussion on kinematics and forces. Students are given a specific material list […]
Celebrating Me, Celebrating You: We Are Alike and Different
Students Learn About Culture and Diversity This unit is literacy based, integrating culture and diversity. A center-based, hands-on approach is used to facilitate instruction and differentiation, while promoting tolerance, diversity, and acceptance. Children move from center to center in heterogonous groups. A class library is also available for self-selected reading of fiction and nonfiction texts […]
Student Literacy Projects in the Virtual Setting
Literacy Projects Helps Virtual Learning Students The virtual learning world is still a new one. Many projects, and project ideas, begin in the brick and mortar setting. Teachers in the virtual world are always looking for ways to translate those projects into the virtual setting, especially when thinking of literacy projects for our elementary students. […]
Interactive Science Notebooks
Use of Interactive Science Notebooks Enhance Students Organizational Skills A study source to enable you to be a creative, independent thinker and learner! Your Interactive Science Notebook (INB) will increase your understanding of science by: Using writing as a process for discovery and synthesis of inquiry; Modeling many enduring functions of scientists- recording information, data, […]
Simple & Compound Machines
Using Science in Daily Life Through our unit on simple & compound machines students will “explore the significance of science in their lives”, have “hands-on inquiry that involves a series of steps with Questioning, Observation, Organizing Data, Explanation, Reflection, Taking Action,” and they will “integrate reading, writing, speaking, and math.” These objectives are listed as […]
Directions in Disney World
Creating Disney World Directions in Spanish Helps Students Learn Second year Spanish students have a unit on giving formal commands. Giving directions to a stranger at Disney World makes the exercise more realistic, so I collected maps in Spanish at Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios. I created 4 stations, one for each […]
Article of the Week
News Articles Help Students Develop Reading Skills The Article of the Week is based on a concept developed by educator Kelly Gallagher. Gallagher recognized that the chief reason his students were struggling with reading comprehension was due to their lack of prior knowledge. His solution was “Article of the Week.” Students are assigned a current […]
Literature Circles
Students Read Novels and Look at a Variety of Literary Elements Students pick a novel based on a variety of characteristics. The students are then separated into groups and read the novel with this group of peers. Each night the students are given a task to complete in order to help the group see the novel through […]