Set High Expectations (pp 27-56)
This is by no means a new idea. In fact, we’ve all heard this at some rousing PD at which a dynamic speaker has us thinking in hashtags, but it is easier said than done when students come to us with low academic confidence and possibly skill. The thing is, we project our biases and feelings onto our students, whether consciously or not. When you’re mad, they know it. When you’re sad, they know it. When you believe in them, THEY KNOW IT, even if no one has ever believed in them before. So, dig deep and recommit to your belief that ALL students have the potential to learn and succeed academically. Do not accept opting out, stretch learning past the “right answer”, and do it without apologizing for the complexity and challenge in your classroom.
Plan to Ensure Academic Achievement (pp 57-70)
Because this tends to be a difficult time of year for teachers, the intentional planning we are all so good at in the summer and fall can go right out the window. However, academic achievement can only happen as a matter of luck if there is no clear plan to get there. We can’t leave this to luck, friends, we just can’t. Lives are at stake! Begin with the end in mind by starting with the assessment and desired outcomes. Be sure that your objectives are manageable, measurable, made first, and most important. Post your objectives in a highly visible place and refer to them often, and choose the shortest path to gaining the deepest understandings (for which your students will definitely thank you). Don’t forget to plan what the students will do, not just what you will do, and draw the map of what this classroom looks like, making adjustments to physical space as needed to cultivate and maintain an environment conducive to learning.
Structure & Deliver Lessons (pp 71-109)
Guide your students to academic independence and autonomy by using the I/We/You method of instructional practice. Share the essential content briefly (notice I didn’t say stand at the podium and lecture for an hour), model this and practice with students, and turn them loose to individually practice. You MUST turn them loose. When times get tough, teachers lecture. It is comfortable to be in a position of power at the front of the room, but you know this isn’t best practice, friends. Write with them, read with them, create with them. It will pay off and bonus: your days will fly by because you’ll be learning, too.
Engage Students in Lessons (pp 111-144)
Again, not a novel idea, but one that we also tend to forget when it is hard to get up in the morning. We are not entertainers, though we may feel that we need to be sometimes, but it is essential that students be engaged in your lessons to reap any benefits. Be consistent with “cold calling”, or using random questioning methods, to ensure that all students know they are expected to answer and share on a regular basis. Check out Random Name Picker for a fun way to do this that requires no Popsicle sticks. Try call and response to make sure students are with you. Be comfortable with the uncomfortable silence of wait time. Give your students opportunities to think first, write and reflect, then speak. Last, bring a little Vegas into the room now and then with brain breaks, funny videos related to content, or a quick dance move. Levity is priceless.
Create a Strong Classroom Culture (pp 145-165)
While I have focused on the importance of relationships in teaching before, I haven’t really addressed the need for basic control of the classroom to build and maintain a positive, strong, SAFE classroom culture. In this chapter, Lemov reminds us that if we lack discipline, management, control, influence, and/or engagement, the classroom can hardly be a place for learning. This doesn’t mean students are in straight rows facing forward with their hands folded on the desks at all times. This does mean that teachers must develop clear expectations for behavior and learning with the students, display them prominently, refer to them often, and consistently enforce them. This doesn’t mean you kick kids out immediately when they don’t “behave”. It does mean that since students helped you develop the “rules”, they should also help you maintain order in a way that makes learning possible and probable. We all know what it feels like to be in a classroom in which the teacher has not done these things; as a learner, frustrations run high and explosive behavior often occurs as a result.
Set & Maintain High Behavioral Expectations (pp 167-202)
In line with the previous chapter, this one is focused on practical steps to creating and maintaining that strong classroom culture. Part of that is defining what acceptable behavior looks and feels like. Do this with the students and convey to them that as a class, teacher and students alike, you all should require 100% adherence to the policy you co-create. This way, students know what’s expected, there isn’t a problem with interpretation or assumption, and students can have ownership in the process and know the potential consequences. Use a strong voice, but not a loud voice when reminding students of their behavioral expectations. Create a signal to use when drawing students to attention and do this consistently; don’t be the teacher that gives 99 warnings and never follows through. Partner with your administrative and security staff by including school expectations in your class expectations. Last, do not engage in verbal warfare; no one wins.
Build Character & Trust (pp 203-223)
The chapter starts with a line that I like: “Make corrections consistently and positively. Narrate the world you want your students to see, even while you are relentlessly improving it” (205). Many students, especially students of poverty, are defensive and hurt when they are corrected for any reason at all. It triggers a fight or flight response in them that is wildly uncontrollable in some cases. Positive framing is, therefore, extremely important, even when you have a difficult time finding something positive in a student’s work, behavior, or performance. You might be the only person in that student’s world who cares enough to correct and instruct kindly and this can set the tone, for better or worse, for the rest of this student’s academic life. No pressure! So, give precise praise (you’ll be more authentic and trustworthy), differentiation acknowledgement and praise, don’t excuse, but explain, and don’t forget the “J-factor”: Joy. Teach with joy, fun, and humor as much as you can because this breaks down barriers of trust more quickly than any other technique.
Improve Pacing (pp 225-234)
This chapter is full of fun ideas for improving your pacing. Ryan Hill, principal of a successful Newark school called TEAM Academy, is referenced because he is kind of famous for the “nothing more than 10 minutes” rule when it comes to instructional content. This is a big challenge for high school, especially, since there is such an emphasis on test-prep and improving students’ stamina in this arena, but there is a time and place for that type of prep. Daily instructional lessons are going to suck the life out of you and the kids if you don’t work on pacing. Try “brightening lines” by drawing an actual start and finish line on the board in a bright color at the beginning of a lesson and mark progress through it with tick marks until the end, making progress visible. Keep a bank of quick, 2-minute review activities handy for any opportunities that open unexpectedly in class. Always post an updated agenda and actually check things off as you go through them. All of these things help make learning visible, which is a big win.
Challenge Students to Think Critically (pp 235-245)
A final thought in this series is to recommit yourself to quality questioning and response techniques. I talk about this a lot because it is so incredibly important. Ask one question at a time, as provide ample opportunity for students to think, reflect, and then speak. They have enough demands on their time with standardized testing; we must provide more time for deeper learning in the classroom because they might not get it anywhere else. Ask questions that vary in complexity, especially on assessments of learning. Repeat the question verbatim, don’t “bait and switch”, as Lemov reminds us. Changing the rules of the game in the middle of the first half is awfully confusing to a student who’s trying to think through a critical question or task. Be clear and concise as possible and reflect on your “hit rate”, or the rate at which students correctly answer questions. If it is 100% all the time, you need to add some complexity and challenge.
The Hardy Boys Series by Franklin Dixon
5th grader Hayden T. can't get enough of the Hardy Boys Series. An oldie but goody, Hayden recommends these books because he loves how the boys work with their dad to solve mysteries. Their dad used to a NYC police officer and works undercover with the boys. These books are freely available at the library and there are 66 in the complete set. Plenty of reading and adventure!
Coyote Peterson's Brave Adventures
4th grader Aubrie and 6th grader Andrue both recommend Coyote Peterson's Brave Adventures. This brother and sister duo says that between the detail about the animals and the sketches throughout, it allows them to really picture the adventure in their minds. Sounds like a winner to me! Check them out on Amazon and Twitter @COYOTEPETERSON
Kristie Hofelich Ennis, NBCT
In an effort to systematically study relevant research and stay connected to the teachers I greatly respect and with whom I have worked for years to successfully implement independent reading, this newsletter came about. It will offer research and practical ideas for quick implementation and may prompt further discussion or study with your colleagues. I hope you'll find it useful and thought-provoking; I also hope you will stay in touch if you implement any of the ideas with your students. They are, after all, why I do what I do!
Email: kennis@murraystate.edu
Location: Dublin, OH, United States
Facebook: facebook.com/kristie.hofelich
Twitter: @KristieHEnnis
