Curriculum Corner

"How do I know what they all know?" This was a key question in last year's Core Instruction PD and is an essential component to effective planning. In any type of classroom setting, frequent checks for understanding and increased opportunities to respond will not only inform the pace of the lesson and revise teaching in direct response to student learning but will also increase the level of student engagement. While keeping in mind the idea that "practice makes permanent," it is critical to add checks for understanding throughout the lesson to measure and monitor learning in real time.

Monitoring student progress in a hybrid or virtual world can be more difficult, but not impossible. In synchronous sessions, techniques used in the traditional classroom can be modified to fit in a virtual setting. Breakout rooms (see more information below about Breakout rooms) and applications like Flipgrid and Seesaw can be digital tools to check for understanding and monitor learning in both synchronous and asynchronous sessions.

Need some fresh ideas? Check out the links below for more strategies.

• The Teacher Toolkit : This site provides ideas for engaging techniques for the traditional classroom. Many can be modified to work in the digital world. Explanations for how and when to use each tool or activity, student templates, and videos are included with the strategies.
• 7 Ways to Do Formative Assessment in Your Virtual Classroom: This article provides ideas on how to modify your traditional formative assessment strategies to work in the virtual setting.

Rubrics used to score ILearn Writing Performance Tasks are developed by Smarter Balanced. SmART is a new tool available to Indiana educators to dive deeper into ELA Performance Task responses. This interactive tool highlights at least one writing prompt from each grade level. A quick tour video of a few of the features can be viewed below.

• More information about SmART can be found here.
• To access SmART click here.

Breakout Rooms is a new feature in Google Meet that allows teachers to split Meet participants into smaller Meets where they can work on group projects, have small group discussions, and work collaboratively to complete tasks.

Moderators must start the breakout rooms. Anyone who schedules or starts a meeting will be the moderator of that meeting and there can only be one moderator per meeting.

Once you begin a Meet, you should see the shapes icon near the top right corner. After clicking the icon, choose "breakout rooms."

If you do not see the breakout rooms option, please fill out a technology work order. Here are two places to find out more about using breakout rooms. Click on the links below.

• Control Alt Achieve: Article with Video Tutorial
• Google Help Center Information

• Have a long commute or need something to listen to while you exercise? Check out a new podcast from the Education Podcast Network.
• Be on the lookout for more information about Strengthening Core Instruction PD and Follow Up Booster Sessions from your principal.
• Middle and High School Virtual Content Town Halls: Please join us for an informal hour to share, brainstorm, and learn with your colleagues. Come prepared to share your successes, hear what has worked for others, support your colleagues, and gain new ideas and strategies to implement. After attendance you will receive a certificate for 1 PGP point. See the flyer from your principal for joining information. Middle School Dates: 1/11 Math, 1/12 ELA, 1/13 Social Studies, 1/14 Science. High School Dates: 1/19 Math, 1/20 ELA, 1/21 Social Studies, 1/25 Science

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Check out www.doe.in.gov/SEBW for more social, emotional, and behavior wellness ideas.

Email: estallings@warrick.k12.in.us
Website: www.warrick.k12.in.us
Location: 300 East Gum Street, Boonville, IN, USA
Phone: (812)897-6037