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The Week Ahead at DMHS.

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Mon. Jan 20th, 2014:

HOLIDAY! NO School Teacher Workday Teacher Workday 1st day of 2nd semester

Tues. Jan. 21st: :

Wed. Jan. 22nd:

Thurs. Jan. 23rd:

Dalton l. mcmichael high school

Fri. Jan. 24th: Upcoming Events: Jan. 27th: NO STAFF meeting: Report Card Pickup night: 5:00-7:00pm Grade Level Meetings: Jan. 27th: 8:308:30-9:00am: Freshmen Jan. 27th: 9:159:15-9:40am: Sophomores Jan. 28th: 10:00am10:00am-10:30am: Juniors Jan. 28th: 10:5010:50-11:20am: Seniors **We will make an announcement when we want you to send the students to the auditorium.

Feb. 5th: Early Release day Feb. 10th: SLT meeting Feb. 13th: Progress Reports GO HOME Feb. 17th: Teacher Workday

Lets bring the scientific method i n to e v e ry c l a s s ro o m It starts with a question sometimes its simple and sometimes complex. Then a hypothesis about the answer to that question and then experiments of different kinds with well thought out steps. After action has been taken to test the theory to answer the question, there are reported on results and then conclusions. Not all conclusions are the ones we expect. As a matter of fact, most arent, but we keep trying. Thomas Edison said, I have not failed. Ive just found 10,000 ways that wont work. And we know what he was able to accomplish. As teachers, it is less important for us to teach outcomes (stuff we have questioned and answered for ourselves) than it is to inspire curiosity and inquiry within our students. We must bring the Scientific Method to all of our classrooms especially if we teach English or Social Studies. Okay, so youre asking yourself, if I teach English (like I do) how do I bring science into it? Simple, its about process and discovery. Students need a purpose. They need to develop questions and then research and then write about what they observe. That doesnt seem far off from what we want kids to do in English except it may around a novel or movie. In Social Studies it may be around a historical event. So what can we do? There is curricula to be taught and sometimes kids dont question what we need to be teaching Consider that maybe then the curriculum should be changed. Maybe, kids should choose what they want to learn and we can we can teach them how to learn it. All disciplines have inherent skills many of those skills overlap from subject to subject. Too often, the teacher is looked to as the expert and owner of the knowledge in that subject space. We must change the way we think about the word teacher and allow students to become the owners of their learning. Alan November wrote a book called Who Owns the Learning? In this book, he teaches, talks about and celebrates how technology makes kids able to put themselves in the drivers seat of their own learning. This is what we need to facilitate in our classrooms. Teachers must be facilitators of learning. We have the tools. The kids have the questions. Lets not pretend we have the answers. What we have is more powerful in this technological era we have the skills to find answers when we dont possess them currently, because it is likely there are answers out there.
So heres a start: 1. Offer students choice about everything what they learn and how they learn it and how they show theyve learned it. 2. Teach students to maintain charts of their progress based on the specific set of standards that are essential to your class 3. Offer/teacher/share the tools of learning with your students starting with ensuring their ability to read well and think critically (these are teachable skills) 4. Allow students to ask questions you dont have the answer to (even if its uncomfortable at first) its okay if they know more than you do this doesnt render you obsolete, it just changes your role. 5. Expose students to technologies and material they wouldnt be aware of otherwise that will aid in their purpose of knowing. 6. Share with your students that you dont know everything and that you plan on learning with them a true community of learners 7. Give them the tools they will need to be successful in your space and more importantly in life 8. Allow your students to find their own meaning and purpose and support them in their journey. 9. Engage students in short lessons and then set up a laboratory for them to explore We all have so much to learn. How can we help kids find their own way?

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Starr Stackstein: http://bit.ly/LrVgRc