Memo Minutes are News Briefs and Highlights of Inspirational, Professional Development, and School Improvement News with “Quote for the Minute.”
August 2021
Students’ brains are designed to
respond to environmental stimuli when introduced (environmental: of or relating
to the external conditions or surroundings; environmental factors). Therefore,
the “hook” part of your lesson or the “anticipatory set” is so important. This
is when you can introduce the lesson by using multi-sensory, inquiry and
project-based approaches.
You can do this by integrating technology with
relatable current events; using real- time examples from a recent field trip; or
teaching sight words using cereal boxes. There are a host of examples of
multi-sensory, inquiry and project-based approaches to introduce new stimuli.
In
the past, one of my first-grade teachers used a pumpkin from a field trip as her
“hook.” She had her students predict how many seeds were inside the pumpkin
before they scooped the seeds out of the gourd. Then her students counted how
many seeds were actually on the pumpkin and subtracted that number from their
estimate.
Once when I was teaching third grade, I wanted students to learn about
Kwanzaa, so I came to school dressed as Mrs. Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) For the entire
day, I told the students I was Mrs. Kuumba. I had symbols for them to touch,
taste and smell (multi-sensory) and I had stations for them to write, define,
and question (inquiry and project-based approach). By the end of the day, my
students had memorized the seven core principles of Kwanzaa as well as their
meanings. They asked me if Mrs. Burlock was returning the next day!😀
Our brains
are designed to pick up countless social, physical and linguistic cues within
our surroundings. Take advantage of this when you are teaching new concepts and
see how the “learning trajectory” of an unmotivated student steadily becomes
motivated to achieve!
Teaching the achievement mindset also increases the effect
size of a student’s academic gain.
Effect sizes are a common research-based way
to measure the impact of a strategy. A .50 effect size is the same as a “one”
grade leap in academic gain. An effect size of 1.0 is associated with improving
students’ achievement by a “two” grade leap and advancing a student’s learning
achievement by one year or improving the rate of learning by 50%. Teachers must
help students catch up from starting school one to two years behind. Therefore,
if everything we did over a single school year averaged at least .50 effect size
we would bring up students who started a year behind to grade level by the year
end. An effect size of .50 is clearly effective and attainable!
Effect Sizes in a School’s
Learning Community:
- Collective teacher efficacy | 1.57
- Teacher estimates of achievement | 1.29
- Student self-efficacy | .92
- Positive peer influences | .53
- Teacher-student relationships | .52
- Positive self-concept | .41
- Decreasing disruptive behavior | .34
The highest Effect Size is Collective
Teacher Efficacy.
Collective Teacher Efficacy is a shared group that is
motivated by a common issue or interest or a group that works together to
achieve a common objective with efficacy. Efficacy is the ability to get a job
done well with effectiveness and the power to produce an effect. So, in other
words, when teachers work well together to achieve a common purpose with the
effective power to accomplish and produce a sustaining effect, this has the
greatest Effect Size on promoting a student’s ability to learn.
What is the most
common way teachers collaborate?
The answer:
A PLC (Professional Learning
Community)!
A vibrant, motivated, and powerful PLC makes an awesome impact on
your students’ learning because it is during the PLC that teachers collaborate
on STEM instructional approaches such as project and inquiry-based learning.
Continue to keep your PLC relevant.
You are focused on learning.
You are
building a collaborative culture.
You are results-oriented.
You are teaching the
Achievement Mindset!
Stay the course!
by Shelia F. Burlock
Principal * Educator
* Supervisor * Developer
"Inspiring adults to become agents of change, hope, and
influence in the lives of children."©
This first-grade class predicted how many
seeds were inside the pumpkin and created math equation problems. The students
also scooped out the pumpkin seeds to touch, count, and later taste them (after
the teacher roasted the seeds).
