WAHS Wisdom

The Microlab Protocol The microlab protocol is designed to ensure students have time to process, speak, hear and be heard. It is a useful process to engage students in discussion, whether it’s online or in person.    Recently I participated in a professional learning session where the facilitators broke us into group to discuss a specific prompt. Our facilitators were excellent and I know they felt pressured to cover everything during this session. We were given the prompt, placed into groups and the discussion began. Without the time to process and internalize my thoughts, I quickly became lost in the weeds. One person dominated the conversation and what was supposed to be interactive turned more into a soliloquy. After ten minutes, I felt left-out, exhausted, perturbed and disengaged.   The microlab protocol is intended to prevent these problems and teach listening skills and to help foster independent thought. Here’s how it works:  Planning. Determine how lon...

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...

We've Got This We are meeting the challenge of online teaching and learning. There's no doubt about that.  Over the past three weeks, we've seen engaging lessons and teaching strategies that demonstrate your professionalism, dedication and flexibility, thus making the transition to online learning smooth and worthwhile for our students.    Have you noticed that students are still showing up to your classes? This is proof that they are interested and engaged!  Below are nine strategies that I've seen used that engage students in their learning and have tremendous instructional value whether we're online, blended or in-person. Using Flipgrid to allow discussions outside of the classroom and to check-in with students on a weekly basis.  Prioritizing longer, student-driven assignments where students have more autonomy but include clear checkpoints, deadlines and ways to connect with students to ensure that they are engaged in their learning and meeting the checkpoin...

Text Rendering Text rendering is an instructional strategy that maximizes live learning time by incorporating individual responsibility, collaborative work and reading. Prior to class, students are assigned a reading to complete individually. They will render the text during class. This protocol can be used for all sorts of readings from introductions of topics, reviews or a deep dive. It works well with both fiction and non-fiction reading.  Individually and prior to live class: Students read and identify an important sentence, phrase, and word. They can answer "Why did you find this significant?" Have students record their words and insights on to a teacher-shared document. On this same document, share the learning intentions and the steps to the protocol to ensure clarity.  During the live meeting: Teacher provides directions and students are placed into groups. The first scribe is assigned.  Round 1: Students shares their sentences and explain why they chose it. ...