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    September Resource of the Month: Get Started With Small Groups!

    Get Started With Small Groups!

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    The first day of school has come and gone, and you are undoubtedly in the depths of getting to know your students. If you are like most teachers, you are noticing that your students are all over the map.  How can you even begin to meet their needs???  

    ​We say leverage small groups in your classroom! This gives you a chance to work with rotating small groups of students and target their needs    .  
    But where do you start? Buy-in and student ownership are critical to engaging and productive small groups.  Group roles help to promote organization and accountability in small groups. 
    Check out this great new webpage, “Give every student a stake in group work”.  Common Sense Education has created this webpage to provide several resources to promote shared ownership as students own their roles in their small group settings.  Don’t miss the free download of “Group Work Roles That Promote Shared Ownership” - it's an excellent resource to begin conversations with students about group work expectations.
    The image below from Education Week can help you to get the big picture of making small groups work in your classroom     (Visit Education Week article here)
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    August Resource of the Month: Authentic and Active Learning: Start The Year On A Creative Note

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    A new school year- a blank slate! Whether your mind is inching into Back To School mode or still completely in denial (It's OK), this month's resource is meant to get the creative juices flowing. In our March 2022 Resource of the Month, we highlighted Authentic and Active Learning (with a unit planning resource). This month we bring this topic back into the spotlight. 

    We know that effective lessons help students ​1"make authentic connections, allow them to actively learn, and are personalized to their needs and interests." Without authentic and active work, we have compliance-based learning where students march through sequenced steps of disconnected content, skills, and activities leaving little room for understanding, retention, interest, or joy. For many reasons, we’re often willing to take on creative projects at the end of the year. But this year, why not take a creative risk and START the year off with an authentic project? This month we share John Spencer's
    Overview: In his article, Mr. Spencer challenges us to ask, "What is a creative risk I can make as an educator?" and "What is a creative risk my students can make?" Spencer's Starting the Semester On A Creative Note  shares ten innovative, yet simple ways to take a creative risk as we START the new school year (something here for everyone K-12). His ideas include everything from implementing Genius Hour, Design Thinking, Divergent Thinking and Maker Projects! Intrigued? We were. Check it out, make your adaptations and take your creative risk! Share your ideas for starting the year off with an authentic project this school year in the comments below!

    Don't Forget!! 
    1. If this makes you a little nervous, remember just because you start the school year this way doesn't mean you are committing to the entire year. Sometimes just trying it out, stepping out of your comfort zone for a short trial period is better than never starting!
    2. You can still (and should) co-create beginning-of-year norms, routines, and procedures with your students - creativity does not equal "free for all."
    3. Everything is always more fun with a friend. Do you have a colleague (any grade level) you could enlist to join you?
    4. Take time to reflect at the end of this experience - What went well and why? What didn't and why? What changes would I make? 

    1. https://authenticlearningllc.com/trifecta-of-learning