WAHS Wisdom

10 Ways to Connect and Engage with Students  All of us miss classroom interaction with our students. The smiles, the laughter, and the engaging back-and-forth between students. The connections. In our current learning environment, the social-emotional connections will never match those when we're in person. Instead, we must find ways to connect academically and through our content. In talking with students, families, teachers and through my own observations, here are 10 ways to connect and engage with our students academically.  Be Prepared . We're all nailing this one. Careful planning provides clarity and maximizes time on task and the accompanying daily agenda prepares and sets the stage for student learning.  Being enthusiastic, passionate and professional.  I've shared with many of you that I don't like having my camera on, but when I was participating in conference a couple of week's ago, I found myself much more comfortable when I was standing and talking. Wh...

Harnessing the Power of Cold Call   I'll start off with this. I am a fan of cold calling--calling on students to answer questions at random, not only calling on volunteers.  In online learning, I believe it's an even more effective strategy. As we know many students keep their cameras off. It's easy for students to feel anonymous and for students to even question "Would it make a difference if I logged off?" Conversely, we're wondering, "Is that student still online?" I've seen several teachers using Cold Call in online learning and I think their tweaks may help all use Cold Call.  Be positive. "John, I'd love to hear from you and your thoughts about this..." "Juan, you do a great job of explaining, how would you explain this?" A method. Instead of using cold call as a means to catching students who are not paying attention or have left their computers, I've seen teachers go down their rosters, use popsicle sticks and ...

We cannot be perfect, great, or even above average As an administrator during these times, I struggle to find the balance between being positive and overdoing it to the point of being positively toxic. In an  article about toxic positivity, psychiatrist Gayani DeSilva described toxic positivity "as insincere positivity that leads to harm, needless suffering or misunderstanding." Personally, I know since March there was a month or two where I slammed the door on negative emotions, ignoring how I really felt. But I also wonder, "As an education leader, have I spread toxic positivity?" During my fifth and sixth years of teaching, the teaching environment was awful.  Our principal was like a ping pong ball, caught in an acrimonious and untenable relationship between district administrators and teachers. On multiple occasions he told us, "be glad you have a job."  He meant well. He encouraged us to work hard but to also take time for themselves. Unfortunately, ...

Using Student Teams I'm amazed by your adaptability and the learning opportunities that have been created for our students. It's no surprise that our parents and students are using phrases like, "much better than I thought it was going to be," "been a good experience," and "I've been impressed watching over my kids' shoulders."  One of the questions I've posed in conversations with many of you is, "What has been most helpful?" and "How are you helping your creating opportunities for student connection?" Many mentioned learning teams and cohorts.  Why teams?  They allow students to build connections and relationships. Students support each other's academic growth by asking questions and offering help. It frees me up to be more strategic with how I use my time.  They can be used flexibly and organically. One week it may simply be contact groups where they ask each other for help when needed, but for some classes th...