Just Escape

Escape rooms aren't new, but they are a game-based learning technique worth dusting off when review threatens to get stale. Kids as young as preschool can find success with these tasks when provided the right modeling and support!

The Benefits

We recently observed a 4th grade teacher using an escape room in math to review place value/rounding. In addition to the benefit of the task being fun and academically engaging, the teacher and students experienced additional academic and SEL benefits. According to the teacher:  

One of the greatest parts about using the [digital] escape rooms is the computer knows the correct answer so the students are provided with direct feedback as to whether their response is correct or incorrect. This allows for me to be able to assist students without having to provide each student in the class with feedback (checking their work immediately).

Students love the challenge of attempting to "escape" and they dive right into each escape room, determined and ready to solve any problem. I typically have them work in partnerships/small groups in order to be able to discuss and share their thinking. Many times, there is quite a bit of dissonance taking place and I absolutely love it. I am consistently telling them to persevere and they own it!

This aligns with the research: in addition to supporting motivation, game-based learning contributes to stronger problem-solving skills, language development, memory, self-esteem, and cooperative work skills.

Planning an Escape

There are many pre-made escapes and templates you can use to build your own escape room, such as those that use Genially or Google forms or Google sites.

But really, before doing any of that (admittedly fun) stuff, be sure you have a clear picture of the skills you want your escape room to test: what is the focus? How will the applications show student mastery of the concepts and skills you have been covering in class?

If an escape room sounds like something you want to do, someone from TLI would love to support you in the planning process, whether it is helping with the template, the plan, or even just connecting you with another teacher who has used an escape room in your content area or grade level.

Game on!

Managing March Behaviors with "Better" Questions

We've heard from teachers that students are antsy and testing limits, so it must be March, the longest teaching month.

A recent podcast and article by Dr. Angela Watson shared some wisdom that just might help with this. She asks us to consider how asking better questions of our students can garner better results.

In "The Power of Asking Better Questions," she shares that just by asking students who are off-task, "What should you be doing right now?" she enters into a productive discussion with students instead of a power struggle. Instead of asking, "What are you doing?" which is self-evident and likely annoying in some way, the teacher can ask a question that they might actually want the answer to. 

Seriously, how often has a student, when asked "Why are you pushing him?" delivered a satisfactory answer?

By training yourself to calmly prompt the student with a version of "What should you be doing right now?", you encourage the student to draw upon their executive skills: they have a moment to consider their choices, and often, a reminder to make a better one without shame or embarrassment. If the student replies with an answer that shows they know the directions, you could follow up with, "How can I help you get started?" or "Is there anything you are stuck on?" If, on the other hand, the student says, "I don't know," or names something outside the scope of your directions, then this provides you the opportunity to clarify or:

"bridge the gap between what [you] need the student to do and what the student feels they need to do. It gives some insight into what's distracting the student or causing them to make choices that aren't aligned with [your] expectations."

The examples of questions and their alternatives are all too relatable:

• "Why is your coat on the floor?" becomes, "Where should your coat be?"
• "Why aren't you on the right page of the textbook?" becomes "What page should you be on?"
• "Why is your cell phone out?" becomes "Where should your cell phone be right now?" 

Your sincerity and your acknowledgment of their control over the situation will yield a much more satisfactory response than the alternative. Really, you are shifting your mindset and giving students agency by reframing the question. 

So when you are feeling frustrated with student behavior, take a deep, calming breath, and sincerely ask the student a question that provides an opportunity to think about their choices and the expectations. 

What should you be doing right now?

It might take practice, or it might take a sticky note on your ID, but if you get in the habit of asking the better question, you will find you'll get a better response.

Infinite Campus: Use the Knowledge Base & Save time with Student Groups

 If you haven't gone into Infinite Campus's Community, you should check out the Knowledge Base. This menu provides tutorials for features that will streamline your work.

One such tool is the "Student Groups" option, which allows teachers to divide a class into small groups for an assignment or to simply have as a record to refer to for classroom activities. For example, you might create a roster of accelerated students who might benefit from more challenging small group work into a "Green" group, as well as students who need more support during reading into a "Blue" group. 

One big selling point, aside from the ability to quickly group students and create rosters, is for GMS/GHS teachers to adapt their gradebook at the same time:

"You can use student groups to give assignments to only a subset of students in a section. Once a group is created, you can select it in the Scheduling/Grading Alignment area of an assignment. The assignment only appears for the students in the selected group; all other students are automatically marked as exempt in the Grade Book."

You wouldn't need to take the time to duplicate the assignment or mark students as exempt--talk about a time saver! What's also great is that the differentiated assignment The link to the directions for Student Groups is here, though keep in mind you will have to login with your Infinite Campus credentials to access.

You can also save time adding assignments in gradebooks that cover students in the same course by using section groups. Infinite Campus shares that "groups make scoring assignments easier by combining matching assignments into shared columns in the gradebook."

As you can see in the image to the left, the teacher in this example grouped all his math classes into a section called "Math Classes." Instead of toggling between gradebooks, he can create the assignment once for all of those groups, and then he can select that section to score all at once. You can see that the different class sections are denoted by colors (green and blue) on the left hand side.

The link to the directions for Section Groups is here, and again, you will have to login to Infinite Campus to access the directions, with the linked video tutorial and simulation at the bottom of the page.

Finally, you can modify due dates and details for groups using either of these section tools (and for individuals too! See this video for a how to.). 

Want support for setting up student groups? Contact _GPSTLI@griswoldpublicschools.org

Have you visited the TLI Website lately?

NWEA MAP season is almost upon the teachers and students of Griswold, and that means it's time to dust off that handout reminding you about how to administer testing. 

But if you lost your handout, remember that there is another way to access not only those directions, but tutorial videos and other resources of value: the TLI website!

GPS staff can access a wealth of resources that are specifically targeted to our teachers and support staff (often with student support materials too!). And while the homepage might largely look the same, updates are made regularly to each page, with new resources to support curriculum, instruction, templates for blended learning, and support for SBAC IABs and NGSS Interim tests as well. In fact, coming next week are some tutorials for downloading your data and using Excel or Sheets to quickly analyze it. Templates will be shared too!

It's worth setting a reminder to check the TLI website for news and updates every month or so. To find out what's new, in addition to looking at the instructional spotlight, you can click on the "News & Updates" tab to see what's been updated (and to see the archives of the Spotlight, so you can clean out your email). 

What kinds of resources are you looking for? Add a comment below, and the TLI team will respond!

The Triple E Framework: Is it worth it?

 

Whenever a new educational tool comes out, we're often asked by teachers if it is worth it.

And that makes sense. It usually takes at least some time and effort to learn a new tool, and if a teacher not only needs to learn it, but to teach it, then that tool better be worth the time investment.

But often times, knowing if a tool is worth it or not has more to do with the teacher/student needs and goals than with the tool itself.

A recent ISTE blog post made the point that,

"Technology, when integrated seamlessly, should make teaching and learning easier to access for both teachers and students, and when it doesn’t, then everyone suffers."

At the latest ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference, many people were talking about the Triple E Framework for evaluating how well technology tools fit into a lesson. The idea is that the learning target comes first. Then, the teacher considers how well the planned tool will help students engage with, enhance, and extend that learning goal. 

The framework is pretty simple to use, and the creator even made an online tool that allows you to quickly and easily evaluate your technology. Take a look, and see if this inspires you as you plan to use technology to level up your learning.