Marshall Memo 769

A Weekly Round-up of Important Ideas and Research in K-12 Education

January 14, 2019

 

 

 

In This Issue:

1. An array of response options for school leaders

2. Efficient and effective ways to deal with a busy boss

3. “Trauma-informed” management of student behavior

4. Improving students’ assertiveness about consent

5. High-involvement teaching needn’t burn out teachers

6. Classroom moves that boost learning for students with disabilities

7. Getting maximum value from literacy computer games

8. The impact of eyeglass-wearing on Baltimore elementary students

9. Jennifer Gonzalez on the best classroom tech tools

10. Listening 101

 

Quotes of the Week

“96% believe they are good listeners and that’s baloney.”

Dan Rockwell (see item #10)

 

“The message you intended to send is not necessarily the message received.”

            David Perlmutter (see item #1)

 

“Head jailer.”

            The title conferred on a disciplinarian principal by a sardonic colleague (see item #3)

 

“In many classrooms and computer labs, students are expected to ‘sit still’ and ‘pay attention’ for an entire class period or for several hours in a row. For some with disabilities or learning differences, this can be an impossible task.”

            Shannon Gilfeather (see item #6)

 

“There’s the pressure to do test prep, whereas the best test prep in the world is reading. You can spend all kinds of time with list-based vocabulary instruction, but how did you learn all the words you know? Not with flashcards, but simply through meeting those words again and again in different contexts as you read.”

            Carol Jago in “Q&A” with Michelle Healy in American School Board Journal

February 2019 (Vol. 206, #1, p. 50), https://bit.ly/2RFiDw4

 

“Of course.”

            The best response to a request from a superior (see item #2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. An Array of Response Options for School Leaders

            “Once you become an academic administrator, one of the most valuable skills you should cultivate is the ability to repeat yourself and still sound fresh and sincere,” says David Perlmutter (Texas Tech University) in this Chronicle of Higher Educationarticle. “Sometimes that’s a relief. It means you need not flail about searching for an entirely new response every time. Similar questions to a similar audience result in similar answers.” Some examples:

            •“Thank you for telling me about this. Let me get back to you after looking into it.”The reality is that a conversation or e-mail rarely provides all the facts needed to make a decision, and people sometimes don’t lay all the cards on the table. If the matter doesn’t have an immediate, urgent deadline, take the time to gather information and make a thoughtful decision.

            •“We have to follow operating procedure.”This sounds bureaucratic, but with sensitive decisions about hiring, promotion, and dismissal, for example, process matters. “Obviously,” says Perlmutter, “you open yourself up to charges of incompetence, unfairness, and even illegality if you don’t follow your own procedures to the letter.”

            •“Let me clarify and confirm.”Perlmutter, a communication professor, says the research in his field is definitive on one thing: The message you intended to send is not necessarily the message received.Smart people can take part in a meeting and walk out with completely different impressions of what was discussed and decided. It’s a good idea to end conversations and meetings with something like, “So, wrapping up, I will do X and you will do Y. Sound good to you?” and then follow up with an e-mail along these lines: “Just to clarify: We covered the following points ---. And just to confirm, I will do X and you will do Y.” 

            •“What is the outcome you are seeking?”When colleagues ask for something, there is often a hidden agenda, or an ideé fixeabout how things should be done. Asking a few more questions, digging a little deeper about proposed goals and ways of achieving them, can reduce angst later on. “Your job as an academic leader is to solve problems,” says Perlmutter, “but not necessarily in the way people want them solved.”

            •“Thanks to everyone for your contributions. Not it’s time to make a decision.”It’s possible to get bogged down discussing an issue – paralysis by analysis – and waste valuable time. One of the leader’s most important jobs is knowing when to bring closure, either by calling for a vote or announcing a decision. “The key,” says Perlmutter, “is to satisfy both yourself and the people involved (or at least a majority) that there was a reasonable process of fact-finding and deliberation leading to your decision.” 

 

“5 Phrases Every Academic Leader Should Know” by David Perlmutter in The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 11, 2019 (Vol. LXV, #17, p. 44-45), https://bit.ly/2FudIYe; Perlmutter can be reached at [email protected].

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2. Efficient and Effective Ways to Work With a Busy Boss

            In this article in The Cut, Catie L’Heureux suggests some savvy strategies for interacting with a harried superior:

• Start every e-mail with a question and then, if necessary, quickly explain the context. A manager scrolling through scores of e-mails sees only the first few words before moving on, deleting, or responding. Initial words like “Do you think…” “Could we…” “Is it correct that…” or “Will you please confirm…” signal that this is an easy e-mail that can be answered with a Yes or No, greatly increasing the chances of a quick response.

            • Replace words like “can you…” or “will you…” with “could you please…” or “would you consider…” “Big-name fashion publicists do this,” says L’Heureux, “and I think it’s one of the reasons they’re on top.” 

            • With an important, action-forcing matter, front-load urgency in the e-mail, perhaps like this: “Something urgent has come up that I need to discuss with you before Friday. Could we talk tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.?” (this after checking the master calendar to make sure 2:00 p.m. is available). 

            • If your boss requests that you do a report, here’s an ideal response: “Of course. I can e-mail it to you by 3:00 p.m., a single page focusing on X, Y, and Z. Does that sound right?” Because you’ve said how you’ll do the task and what time you’ll finish it, all the boss has to say is “Yes” or quickly suggest a different approach or timeline.

            • When asked to do something by a superior, always respond with “Of course” rather than “No problem” or “Sure.” The first response, says L’Heureux, “makes it sound as if you were already planning to do it.” 

 

“There’s Only One Good Way to E-Mail Your Boss” by Catie L’Heureux in The Cut, November 13, 2018, https://bit.ly/2zdqlDa; L’Heureux is at [email protected]

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3. “Trauma-Informed” Management of Student Behavior

            In this Virginia Journal of Educationarticle, Lauren Dotson (Emory and Henry College) says that as a school leader, she dealt with so many discipline problems that a colleague jokingly called her the “head jailer.” Disturbed by this appellation, Dotson explored the literature on alternative approaches and began to look at disruptive behavior in a different way. Sometimes she and a misbehaving student took a walk around the campus problem-solving together. Sometimes she had students practice “five-finger breathing” or sit for peer mediation. Dotson started asking students what she could do to make their days better. In some cases, questioning revealed that a student had been in an altercation with a family member before school. “My office became a ‘cool-down spot’ rather than a place of punishment,” she says, “a place where students could vent, cry, draw, or simply sit in silence until they were in a better state to process their emotions.” 

In extreme cases, the school’s trauma team (a social worker, guidance counselor, therapist, teacher, and administrator) took over, writing a behavior plan and setting up a series of meetings with a counselor or therapist. Some students were referred to other mental health professionals, physicians, or the district’s therapeutic classroom. “During the intervention process,” says Dotson, “either in a regular education or therapeutic classroom setting, students were taught about their brain’s response to stressful triggers, how to calm the brain from a state of survival to one where higher-level learning can occur, and emotion-regulation strategies.” If interventions were effective, students were gradually transitioned back to regular classrooms, sometimes with a one-on-one aide, and teachers and administrators were briefed on strategies that seemed to work with each student. 

“Using this approach,” says Dotson, “we saw a noticeable decline in discipline referrals, fewer outbursts from traumatized students, and more students using their strategies… Teachers became so invested in the idea of trauma-informed care that they started a ‘secret mentor’ program, in which each teacher would choose an at-risk student with whom to develop a positive relationship. As a result, more students had a ‘safe’ adult advocate they could reach out to in the building. Our school climate grew much calmer and happier, and adults became more proactive than reactive.” 

Dotson goes on to describe a 2011-2016 study of a trauma-informed program implemented in the Buncombe County Schools in North Carolina. The district saw a marked decline in discipline problems and a significant improvement in student achievement. 

 

“How I Stopped Being ‘Head Jailer’” by Lauren Dotson in Virginia Journal of Education, June 2018 (Volume 111, #6, p. 14-17), http://www.veanea.org/home/2942.htm(spotted in Education Digest, January 2019)

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4. Improving Students’ Assertiveness About Consent

            In this article in Education Week, Monica Rivera says that teaching children about consent should happen at every level from K-12. Some suggestions:

            • Disentangle consent from the topic of sex. “Teaching students to respect physical boundaries comes before (and should extend beyond) sex,” says Rivera. “Similar to teaching about sharing, taking turns, or respecting property, helping young people understand physical boundaries is an important life skill.” 

            • Treat students as experts on their bodily sensations. When a teacher responds to a student’s request to visit the bathroom or see the nurse with, “You don’t really have to go,” or “You don’t have a headache,” that undermines “body integrity,” says Rivera. It can also contribute to “body shaming” for students with disabilities or students who are menstruating. While a handful of students take advantage of trips out of the classroom, the vast majority have genuine needs and should be taken seriously. 

            • Teach body literacy. Using anatomically correct words is helpful for several reasons: minimizing stigma of functions like menstruation; pushing back on teasing; and helping students speak up if boundaries are violated (details are important when reporting sexual abuse). A teacher might say, “We don’t laugh about other people’s bodies” or “Everyone’s body is different and belongs to them.” 

            • Narrate non-verbal cues and model what consent looks like. This is especially important for students who have difficulty reading body language and facial cues. It also teaches that consent is more than not speaking the word No. A teacher might say, “Look at Cory’s face. It doesn’t look like he wants that.” 

            • Pay attention to dynamics around power and identity. It’s more difficult for students to assert boundaries with an authority figure, says Rivera. And some students have lots of uncomfortable interactions with insensitive peers – wheelchair users being patted on the head, students of color having their hair touched, Muslim girls’ hijabs being pulled off, and transgender students fending off intrusive questions about their bodies. A teacher might say, “I heard Dalia say stop three times. Please listen to her words.” 

 

“A Practical Guide for a Difficult Topic” by Monica Rivera in Education Week, January 9, 2019, https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/01/09/were-teaching-consent-all-wrong.html

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5. High-Involvement Teaching Needn’t Burn Out Teachers 

            In this Chronicle of Higher Educationarticle, Jane Halonen (University of West Florida) and Dana Dunn (Moravian College) say that high-involvement classroom strategies are beneficial for students, but they’re also labor-intensive and potentially exhausting for instructors. Some examples:

-  Giving students multiple opportunities to revise their work (which means reviewing all those drafts);

-  Giving students detailed feedback on their writing (which may be ignored by students interested only in their grade);

-  Group projects (should “loafers” get the same grade as those who really did the work?);

-  Internships where students lose interest and don’t put in the requisite effort (creating extra work for faculty advisers);

-  Seminars for newbie students who need lots of acculturation (“Remembering what it is like to be a novice and what specific advice may be useful to new students adds a dimension of effort well beyond course content,” say the authors.) 

But Halonen and Dunn believe such classroom strategies don’t have to result in burnout. Here’s how:

            • Start small. It’s wise to try out feedback-intensive strategies in one course. “A simple cost-benefit analysis may be useful in trying to determine whether the high-impact practice path is worth undertaking in a given course,” say the authors.

            • Advocate for additional grading support. Because giving feedback on student writing is so important – and so time-consuming – extra person-power should be provided. 

            • Be judicious giving detailed feedback. Students can get a lot from a course without getting copious comments on everything they do.

            • Triage. Ascertain which students will really put detailed comments to work and spend time on their work; for those who signal that they just want a grade, minimize comments.

            • Use rubrics. Creating clear grading criteria up front saves lots of time down the road, and giving the rubric to students clarifies expectations and improves the caliber of work (and, of course, higher-quality work is easier to grade). 

            • Use digital shortcuts. This might include pasting in stock comments on papers that contain similar shortcomings.

            • Consider using audio feedback. This is efficient since most of us can speak faster than we can write.

            • Stagger deadlines. “Nothing can gut your enthusiasm for teaching like facing a large stack of papers that must be read and evaluated at the end of the semester,” say Halonen and Dunn. “Encourage students to sign up for different submission times.”

            • Poll groups on individual contributions. To discourage freeloaders, ask students to indicate anonymously how much each member contributed, and factor that into grades.

            • Get students’ feedback on the course. “If the high-impact practices produce the transformative effects claimed by the experts,” say Halonen and Dunn, “then the positive reports you hear from students might make the long hours you’ve put in seem worthwhile.”

            • Make sure you get credit. First-rate teaching practices, as compared to delivering the same lectures year after year, should be recognized in teacher evaluations and commendations.

 

“Does ‘High-Impact’ Teaching Cause High-Impact Fatigue?” by Jane Halonen and Dana Dunn in The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 11, 2019 (Vol. LXV, #17, p. A34-35), 

https://www.chronicle.com/article/Does-High-Impact-/245159; the authors can be reached at [email protected]and [email protected]

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6. Classroom Moves That Boost Learning for Students with Disabilities

            “In many classrooms and computer labs, students are expected to ‘sit still’ and ‘pay attention’ for an entire class period or for several hours in a row,” says middle-school teacher Shannon Gilfeather (Spokane Public Schools) in this article in Education Drive. “For some with disabilities or learning differences, this can be an impossible task.” Gilfeather uses five strategies to get all her students “ready, willing, and able to learn”:

            • Begin with a mindful minute. When students enter a classroom from the excitement and disruption of a transition, they are not primed to listen and learn. Gilfeather dims the lights, has students sit up straight, put their feet flat on the floor, rest their hands on their legs, close their eyes, and focus on their breathing. “Research shows that when we calm the nervous system,” says Gilfeather, “we move oxygen into the brain, which reduces anxiety and stress. I have found that the mindful minute is the best 60 seconds I spend to help students maximize the amount of learning possible each day.” 

            • Incorporate movement. Gilfeather uses yoga balls, wiggle seat cushions, and bouncy bands, all of which let students move without making a sound. She’s not a fan of fidget spinners, which can be noisy and distract classmates. 

            • Take sensory breaks. For some students, a little movement isn’t enough, and they may express anxiety, fear, or depression by becoming aggressive and noncompliant. A good way to prevent such disruptions is to encourage students to take short breaks with a coloring book, a pocket Etch A Sketch, water beads, or a white noise sound machine. “Instead of becoming frustrated and giving up on an activity or lesson,” says Gilfeather, “students learn that by taking a quick break, they can refresh, reset, and return to their seat ready to learn.” 

            • Build foundational cognitive skills. For some students, an important barrier to attention and focus is gaps in their language and reading skills. These students need intensive, individual practice in target literacy and math skills, perhaps aided by programs like Fast ForWord https://bit.ly/2RMR97M

            • Create a growth-mindset classroom. Gilfeather sets weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals with students, tracks progress in individual student binders, and celebrates successes, naming the work, perseverance, and strategies that were effective and changed their brains. 

 

“Five Strategies to Help Students with Learning Differences” by Shannon Gilfeather in Education Drive, April 20, 2018, https://bit.ly/2HaVc9L; Gilfeather can be reached at 

[email protected](spotted in Education Digest, January 2019)

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7. Getting Maximum Value from Literacy Computer Games 

            In this article in The Reading Teacher, Erin McTigue and Per Henning Uppstad (University of Stavanger, Norway) debunk six myths about elementary literacy computer games and suggest how they can be used well:

            •Myth #1: Computer games are more motivating than pencil-and-paper activities. “Probably not,” say McTigue and Uppstad, “and beware high initial interest!” Students’ early fascination can quickly wane, and some international studies show lower reading achievement when students play computer games. According to one theory, motivation is driven by three components: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Computer games give students plenty of autonomy, but do less well on competence (students seeing growth and understanding that putting forth effort yields results). Unless teachers are explicit on the learning goals of computer games, students tend to see fun as the goal. As for relatedness, computer games are often a solo, monastic activity, and to prevent this, teachers need to encourage playing with partners and sharing successes with others. 

            •Myth #2: Students are digital natives and can play games with little instruction. “No, generational status does not ensure technological competence,” say McTighe and Uppstad. “As in most learning situations, a gradual release of framework is optimal.” A good sequence might be introducing a literacy concept without technology, teaching how to use the same, making connections to the literacy skill, and then using the game for practice and reinforcement. 

            •Myth #3: Computer games are inherently interactive. While there may be some opportunities for interactivity, researchers have found that students tend to play games at warp speed and not use many of their features. What’s more, there’s often little interaction and sharing with other human beings. “Modeling how to interact mindfully with serious games is essential for learning,” say McTigue and Uppstad. “Therefore, the most essential step is coaching students to slow down during play and reflect on their choices. Rushing is kryptonite for even the most robust games.” Teacher thinkalouds are a good way to model deliberate play.

            •Myth #4: Students will readily transfer learning from games to reading and writing. Transfer cannot be assumed, say the authors. In fact, it’s one of the biggest challenges for game-based learning. Why is it so difficult for students to transfer learning from a game to reading? One theory is that computer games involve “inert knowledge” – students know something only in the context of a game. “Students can even show growth on tasks with the game,” say McTigue and Uppstad, “but such knowledge stays stuck in that situation and cannot be applied to a new one (e.g., a book).” Another theory is that games are intuitive and students can’t verbalize their learning. To overcome these built-in problems, teachers have to have a good understanding of exactly what type of learning tasks are involved in the computer game – which means playing the game themselves. Second, teachers should embed instructionally substantive games into their overall plan, versus having students play the games parallel to mainstream classroom activities.

            •Myth #5: When students play games, teachers are freed up to work with other students. Yes, computer games can serve a classroom management function, but teachers need to take an active role in what students do with games: choosing the right ones, planning, modeling, goal-setting, tracking, and integrating instruction. All this ensures that classes get a real instructional bang for the buck. If tutors, paraprofessionals, or volunteers are available, they can also work with students as they play computer games, which adds instructional value.

            •Myth #6: Computer games provide individualized instruction for struggling readers. “No,” say McTigue and Uppstad, “teachers provide instruction, and games provide practice opportunities… Unfortunately, learning games can be overused with below-grade-level readers.” The worst-case scenario is where struggling students end up having less face-to-face interaction with their teachers. 

 

“Getting Serious About Serious Games: Best Practices for Computer Games in Reading Classrooms” by Erin McTigue and Per Henning Uppstad in The Reading Teacher, January/February 2019 (Vol. 72, #4, p. 453-461), 

https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/trtr.1737; the authors can be reached at [email protected]and [email protected]

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8. The Impact of Eyeglass-Wearing on Baltimore Elementary Students

            In this article in Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk(JESPAR), Robert Slavin (Johns Hopkins University) and six colleagues report that many disadvantaged students with myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness) don’t wear glasses, and this has a negative impact on their reading progress. The researchers believe this is a hidden reason for economic and racial achievement gaps. “Teachers and parents may not be surprised if a disadvantaged child fails to read well,” say Slavin et al., “and may not investigate to find out whether vision problems could be involved in a child’s reading difficulties. In contrast, parents with more financial resources and time may be more likely to make certain their children’s vision has been tested, provide them with glasses if necessary, and encourage their use.”

There are a number of reasons disadvantaged students who need glasses aren’t using them on a regular basis:

-  School vision screenings are conducted at only a few grade levels (for example, kindergarten, first, and eighth grade in Maryland), which means that many students are missed.

-  School screeners often put the burden on parents to arrange for a complete vision assessment with an eye care provider; for economic or logistical reasons, that doesn’t always happen.

-  Students who do get glasses often lose or break them, and getting replacements can be time-consuming for working parents.

-  Replacing lost glasses can be expensive (Medicaid typically covers only one instance). 

Surprisingly, report Slavin et al., the only study of the effect of giving students glasses on reading achievement was conducted in China in 2011. 

To fill this gap, Slavin and colleagues conducted a study in 12 Baltimore City elementary schools. Of 317 second and third graders who had their vision checked, 182 needed glasses (of those, 40% said they had been given glasses in the past, but only 6 percent had their glasses with them). The researchers took the following steps to ensure that all students who needed glasses would wear them on a regular basis:

-  Each student was given two pairs (free), one for school and one for home.

-  Glasses were stored safely at school.

-  Broken or lost glasses were replaced.

-  School staff were prompted to made sure students wore their glasses.

The results of the study? “Among all students who were prescribed and given eyeglasses, reading performance improved significantly more than those students who did not need glasses,” say Slavin et al. The effect size was +0.16, with greater effects for students with myopia than for those with hyperopia. (The study in China had similar findings.)

Why didn’t the researchers compare the reading performance of students wearing new glasses with students who needed glasses but didn’t receive them? Because, they say, it would have been unethical to withhold glasses from students with a diagnosed need. 

“In principle,” conclude Slavin et al., “the school, in partnership with parents, is a logical institution to ensure that children have and use needed eyeglasses. Yet school staff do not have the resources or the authority to deal with vision problems, so if parents are unable to follow through, school staff may watch helplessly as capable children fail due to correctable vision problems.” The ideal solution: “replicable, efficient systems administered in partnership with vision care professionals by front-line staff closest to the children: teachers and school leadership.” 

 

“In Plain Sight: Reading Outcomes of Providing Eyeglasses to Disadvantaged Students” by Robert Slavin, Megan Collins, Michael Repka, David Friedman, Lucy Mudie, Josephine Owoeye, and Nancy Madden in Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, July-September 2018 (Vol. 23, #3, p. 250-258), https://bit.ly/2FnMCTq; Slavin can be reached at [email protected]

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9. Jennifer Gonzalez On the Best Classroom Tech Tools

            In this Cult of Pedagogyarticle, Jennifer Gonzalez updates her list of the six most helpful classroom technology tools, plus two honorable mentions. “I don’t think technology is the end-all be-all,” says Gonzalez, “and of course it brings new problems into our lives, but just watching the creativity behind these tools makes me so excited to live in a time when so many ordinary people can actually bring their ideas to life and watch those ideas impact the world.”

            • Equity Mapshttp://www.equitymaps.com– This iPad app helps figure out which students participate in class discussions, how often, and for how long. Having entered a seating chart into the computer, the teacher taps each student’s icon as he or she starts talking, and the app keeps track of each student’s contribution time and displays a summary at the end, including a breakdown by gender. The teacher can also tap for periods of silence, pair-shares, small groups, and even “chaos” – when general discussion gives way to many smaller conversations. In addition, the app can audio-record the whole discussion for later review. 

            • Pro Writing Aidhttps://prowritingaid.com– This program does a deep dive into the quality of writing. The writer composes within the tool, copies and pastes or uploads the text, and gets a summary report with statistics on strengths and weaknesses, plus suggestions for changes when you hover over highlighted places within the text. Reports include readability (on four different reading scales), the number of times certain words were used, passive voice, overused words, use of clichés, sentence variety, unique words in the piece, average sentence length, the placement of different sentences by length, and adverb frequency. There’s a paid version of this software, but Gonzalez says you can get a lot of mileage from the free version.

            • Google Tour Creator https://vr.google.com/tourcreator/– This new feature in Google Expeditions allows students to create their own tours using imagery from Google Street View and publish them into the Poly 3-D platform https://poly.google.com. These could be used as part of a research project, reflecting after a field trip, a tour of the neighborhood or the school, or a supplement to a creative writing project. 

            • Great Big Story https://www.greatbigstory.comhas short, professionally produced, positively themed videos about people and phenomena around the world – for example, a 12-year-old who took on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, the accidental invention of the best snack food, and America’s oldest female BMX racer. Teachers should preview material because some may not be appropriate for younger students. 

            • Geoguessr https://geoguessr.com– “This one is my absolute favorite,” says Gonzalez. “This would be a fantastic option for early finishers, lame duck days, or even as a reward for good behavior – it’s that fun.” Players are plunked down somewhere in the world using Google Street View and have to navigate around and figure out where they are. Players get points for how successful they are at pinpointing their location on a map. 

            • Webjets http://webjets.io– Users create what looks like a bulletin board on which they post items on cards, which can contain an image, an embedded video, a live Google Doc, an attached file, or a table with a variety of elements organized in columns. Students can keep multiple folders on one board, and all cards can be collapsed or expanded. This is a good tool for group projects. 

            • Yoteach! https://yoteachapp.com– This backchannel tool allows a teacher to set up a free, password-protected “room,” give students the URL, and they can come in and chat, adding pictures or drawings. 

            • Classroomq https://classroomq.com– Students who need help or have a question can add themselves to an electronic queue and get help in order (and then get checked off by the teacher with one click).

 

“6 Ed Tech Tools to Try in 2019” by Jennifer Gonzalez in The Cult of Pedagogy, January 6, 2019, https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/ed-tech-tools-2019/

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10. Listening 101

            “96% believe they are good listeners and that’s baloney,” says Dan Rockwell in this Leadership Freakarticle. He quotes Stephen Covey: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” 

Being a good listener conveys respect and appreciation, says Rockwell. To be a better listener, we need to interrupt less, talk less, and listen to ask a question. The unspoken questions in a good listener’s mind: What do you wish I understood better? What are you glad that I understand about you? What are you thinking and feeling right now?“Take people seriously and they’ll think before they speak,” Rockwell concludes. 

 

“96% Believe They Are Good Listeners and That’s Baloney” by Dan Rockwell in Leadership Freak, January 14, 2019, https://leadershipfreak.blog/2019/01/14/96-believe-they-are-good-listeners-and-thats-baloney/

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About the Marshall Memo

 

 

Mission and focus:

This weekly memo is designed to keep principals, teachers, superintendents, and other educators very well-informed on current research and effective practices in K-12 education. Kim Marshall, drawing on 48 years’ experience as a teacher, principal, central office administrator, writer, and consultant lightens the load of busy educators by serving as their “designated reader.”

 

To produce the Marshall Memo, Kim subscribes to 60 carefully-chosen publications (see list to the right), sifts through more than a hundred articles each week, and selects 5-10 that have the greatest potential to improve teaching, leadership, and learning. He then writes a brief summary of each article, pulls out several striking quotes, provides e-links to full articles when available, and e-mails the Memo to subscribers every Monday evening (with occasional breaks; there are 50 issues a year). Every week there’s a podcast and HTML version as well.

 

Subscriptions:

Individual subscriptions are $50 for a year. Rates decline steeply for multiple readers within the same organization. See the website for these rates and how to pay by check, credit card, or purchase order. 

 

Website:

If you go to http://www.marshallmemo.comyou will find detailed information on:

• How to subscribe or renew

• A detailed rationale for the Marshall Memo

• Publications (with a count of articles from each)

• Article selection criteria

• Topics (with a running count of articles)

• Headlines for all issues 

• Reader opinions

• About Kim Marshall (bio, writings, consulting)

• A free sample issue

 

Subscribers have access to the Members’ Area of the website, which has:

• The current issue (in Word and PDF)

• All back issues (Word and PDF) and podcasts

• An easily searchable archive of all articles so far

• The “classic” articles from all 14+ years

Core list of publications covered

Those read this week are underlined.

All Things PLC

American Educational Research Journal

American Educator

American Journal of Education

American School Board Journal

AMLE Magazine

ASCA School Counselor

District Management Journal

Ed. Magazine

Education Digest

Education Next

Education Update

Education Week

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

Educational Horizons

Educational Leadership

Educational Researcher
Edutopia

Elementary School Journal

English Journal

Essential Teacher

Exceptional Children

Go Teach

Harvard Business Review

Harvard Educational Review

Independent School

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy

Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk (JESPAR)

Kappa Delta Pi Record

Knowledge Quest

Language Arts

Literacy Today (formerly Reading Today)

Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School

Middle School Journal

Peabody Journal of Education

Phi Delta Kappan

Principal

Principal Leadership

Reading Research Quarterly

Responsive Classroom Newsletter

Rethinking Schools

Review of Educational Research

School Administrator

School Library Journal

Social Education

Social Studies and the Young Learner

Teachers College Record

Teaching Children Mathematics

Teaching Exceptional Children

The Atlantic

The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Education Gadfly

The Journal of the Learning Sciences

The Language Educator

The Learning Professional (formerly Journal of Staff Development)

The New York Times

The New Yorker

The Reading Teacher

Theory Into Practice

Time Magazine