January

Vocabulary is Where It's At!

One of the key indicators of students' success in school, on tests, and certainly in life, is their vocabulary.  There are many ways to approach the teaching of vocabulary. Check out this ReadWriteThink collection for ideas at every level, including concept sorts and Word Walls. 

     Professional Development in 2016! 

BLiC-  Blended Learning in the Classroom 

*One face-to-face meeting January 20th 4:30-7:30, followed by 15 weeks online.

 This free Blended Learning in the Classroom course is led by a highly trained instructor and will prepare participants to effectively create their own blended environment. Through active and timely praxis, participants will engage in learning, application, review, and revision of their own blended environment. This course is for classroom teachers of students of all ages, covering the theory, pedagogy, and technical elements of online work in the blended classroom. Please see the informational video here.

*SCHECHS available 

 Register HERE 

Reading Apprenticeship Training:5 Day Cross Content 

This training is a full five days: February 22, 23, 24 AND March 22, 23  REGISTER HERE 

This updated training includes five full days of content with three trained facilitators, a binder of materials to use during and after the training, and a copy of the best-selling and newly updated book, Reading for Understanding, which describes the Reading Apprenticeship framework with examples from many subject area classrooms, ranging from middle school through community college.

 Reading Apprenticeship® is a research-based and research-proven instructional framework for improving the academic literacy of middle school, high school, and college students.

Three recent randomized controlled studies found that students in Reading Apprenticeship classrooms made significant gains in literacy and disciplinary knowledge. They also developed more positive academic identities and dispositions for reading and learning.

$250     SCHECHS Available  

Assessing Student Metacognition

     This professional development course is for teachers who would like to teach their students to demonstrate metacognitive thought processes through text annotation. This one day class is divided into three parts: first, we consider what metacognition is by looking at the brain science behind the concepts of short term memory and executive function; then we share classroom practices for direct teaching of specific metacognitive reading and writing strategies through text annotation; and finally, we practice how to assess students’ annotations with tools like the Curriculum Embedded Reading Assessment.  $40.00

Register HERE

The 4T Virtual Conference: May 21-23, 2016

Apply to present

Register to Attend

December

The IDLL Network

The Inquiry into Disciplinary Literacy and Learning met November 19 on the topic of disciplinary writing.  Our article for that day was Teaching with a Disciplinary Stance, examining the difference between content area literacy and disciplinary literacy. This will prepare the group for the Disciplinary Literacy Showcase on January 14, 2016 at EMU with professors and students.   

Teachers have SOEL! 

Classroom Snapshot #1: Study of Early Literacy elements of Vocabulary, Authentic Purposes for Literacy, & Integration

Text Set

In a collaboration between a K and a 1st grade SOEL teacher, their combined classroom spent time on a very intentional, and relevant project of campaigning and the election process.  Students learned to read, write, and speak about the election process using specific vocabulary words such as campaign, polling booth, debate, election, registration, and ballot, all collected in a journal.  The teachers acted as candidates themselves, modeling slogans and announcement speeches in their running for best Pumpkin Baker. After learning about the election and campaign process through modeling, text sets, and real world examples, students were able to sign up for specific jobs to run a campaign and election process, such as debate team, registration team, and being in charge of ballots. 

   At the end of the project, students created brochures to explain the election process which were then made available to voters on election day, since their school was used as a polling location.  This is purposeful and authentic literacy in action with our youngest learners!

Winter 2016 Professional Development 

BLiC-  Blended Learning in the Classroom 

*One face-to-face meeting January 20th 4:30-7:30, followed by 15 weeks online.

 This free Blended Learning in the Classroom course is led by a highly trained instructor and will prepare participants to effectively create their own blended environment. Through active and timely praxis, participants will engage in learning, application, review, and revision of their own blended environment. This course is for classroom teachers of students of all ages, covering the theory, pedagogy, and technical elements of online work in the blended classroom. Please see the informational video here.

*SCHECHS available 

 Register HERE 

Reading Apprenticeship Training:5 Day Cross Content 

This training is a full five days: February 22, 23, 24 AND March 22, 23  REGISTER HERE 

This updated training includes five full days of content with three trained facilitators, a binder of materials to use during and after the training, and a copy of the best-selling and newly updated book, Reading for Understanding, which describes the Reading Apprenticeship framework with examples from many subject area classrooms, ranging from middle school through community college.

 Reading Apprenticeship® is a research-based and research-proven instructional framework for improving the academic literacy of middle school, high school, and college students.

Three recent randomized controlled studies found that students in Reading Apprenticeship classrooms made significant gains in literacy and disciplinary knowledge. They also developed more positive academic identities and dispositions for reading and learning.

$250     SCHECHS Available  

November

Connected Reading

  On October 8th, Dr. Troy Hicks led a workshop on approaches for digital texts. As we adopt smartphones and tablets for 1:1 instruction, we need to review our efforts at comprehension instruction for all kinds of digital texts. Based on a survey of over 800 adolescents, Troy and participants discussed principles of "Connected Reading" and how we can adapt existing comprehension strategies in digital spaces, and explored new opportunities for finding, managing, and reflecting on digital texts. See our whole day documented on the companion Wikispace.

The SAT Essay  

4T Virtual Conference Needs Presenters!

     We are seeking motivated, imaginative, and forward-thinking educators to present at our 4T (Teachers Teaching Teachers about Technology) Virtual Conference in May 2016. These K-12 teachers and administrators use technology to enhance communication and learning in their classrooms and schools. Read more and apply HERE!

     Upcoming Professional Development