Family Connect

Monday, August 18, 2014

5 Terms You'll Be Hearing this Year

With one week of school under our belts, you may already have received communication from your child's teacher containing terms you'd like to know a little more about. Each of these will be central to the learning that takes place this year:

4Cs: These are the 21st century skills considered most important for K-12 education and for a student's future in the world of college, career, and citizenship. They are:
  • critical thinking
  • communication
  • collaboration
  • creativity
DOK (Depth of Knowledge): Depth of Knowledge represents the comparison of the cognitive demand of the Standards and the cognitive demand of Assessments given to determine student mastery. Explore the DOK levels here: http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/M1-Slide_19_DOK_Wheel_Slide.pdf
 
Performance Task: Performance-based assessment is an approach to the monitoring of students' progress in relationship to identified learner outcomes. This method of assessment requires the student to create answers or products which demonstrate his/her knowledge or skills. This differs from traditional testing methods which require a student to select a single correct answer or to fill in the blank. 

Experts in the field emphasize that any effective performance assessment task should have the following features:
  • Students should be active participants, not passive “selectors of the single right answer."
  • Intended outcomes should be clearly identified and should guide the design of a performance task.
  • Students should be expected to demonstrate mastery of those intended outcomes when responding to all facets of the task.
  • Students must demonstrate their ability to apply their knowledge and skills to reality-based situations and scenarios.
  • A clear, logical set of performance-based activities that students are expected to follow should be evident.
  • A clearly presented set of criteria should be available to help judge the degree of proficiency in a student response.
Transfer Goals: Transfer goals highlight the effective uses of understanding, knowledge, and skill that we seek in the long run; i.e., what we want students to be able to do when they confront new challenges – both in and outside of school. In every case, the ability to transfer learning manifests itself in not just one setting but varied real-world situations. 


Transfer goals have several distinguishing characteristics:

  • They require application (not simply recognition or recall).
  • The application occurs in new situations (not ones previously taught or encountered; i.e., the task cannot be accomplished as a result of rote ‘plugging in’).
  • The transfer requires a thoughtful assessment of which prior learning applies here – i.e. some strategic thinking is required (not simply following a recipe that is insensitive to context).
  • The learners must apply their learning autonomously (on their own, without teacher prompting or support).
  • Transfer calls for the use of habits of mind (i.e., good judgment, self regulation, persistence) along with academic understanding, knowledge and skill.

PBL (Project/Problem Based Learning): Project-based learning is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning, students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they're studying. Watch a video on PBL here: http://www.edutopia.org/video/five-keys-rigorous-project-based-learning

In a problem-based learning (PBL) model, students engage complex, challenging problems and collaboratively work toward their resolution. PBL is about students connecting disciplinary knowledge to real-world problems—the motivation to solve a problem becomes the motivation to learn.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Wondering how to get some real information about what went on at school today? Hoping for answers more in depth than "fine" and "good"? 

Improve upon the standard "What did you do in school today?" and change the dialog with your children.


Five Phrases to Use to Engage Your Child and Reinforce Learning at Home

1. Tell me about...
2. Show me...
3. Teach me what you learned today...
4. Explain the difference...
5. How do you get...

These sentence and question prefixes help create all new dialog about school.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Many teachers returned to their classrooms today to prepare for students. 2014 National Teacher of the Year Sean McComb says involved parents are key in helping students succeed.

"While a great education can help put a child on the path to success, parents play an important role, too."

 

5 Ways to Foster Positive Relationships with Your Child's Teachers

1. Be proactive. Tell the teacher everything he/she should know about your child and how he/she learns best.
2. Help the teacher help your child. Share the methods that work for you in motivating and encouraging your child so that the teacher can implement them as well.
3. Be open to constructive criticism. Partner with the teacher to strengthen your child's performance by discussing areas that need extra reinforcement.
4. Stay connected. Check the teacher's website, subscribe to newsletters, participate in school activities - be present and engaged as much and as often as possible.
5. Support your teacher. Donate supplies or your time to help the teacher's efforts to make this year's school experience the best your child has had.