The Whiteboard

Graphic organizers are an amazing way to adapt content to meet the needs of all of your learners. In this blog post, we will highlight using graphic organizers to help support the lesson preparation feature of adapting content to all levels of student proficiency.  Graphic organizers are a great tool that provides students with visual clues to help support text and language that is challenging to understand. They can be used before, during, or after reading.  Graphic organizers can also be used specifically for specific subjects and content areas.  Seesaw UsersIf you are looking for activities that have graphic organizers,...

Do you remember hearing “Do The Blue” but don’t remember what it refers to? Quick Practices (K-6th), Daily Routines (K-2nd), and Anytime Problems (3rd-6th) are all parts of the  “Doing the Blue” section of lessons in Math Expressions. “Doing the Blue” are the main components of the lesson that should be taught. Quick Practices, Daily Routines, and Anytime Problems are an important part of the process and student learning in math.  These practices and routines focus on concepts and skills throughout the year that are needed for student mastery.  They build classroom belonging and develop student leaders, as well as...

Did you know that Elkhart Community Schools has an entire professional development team that is looking to get out into buildings to help you feel successful in the classroom every day? We now have a ✨NEW✨ training request form that you can use to request help in your building or with your PLC team.

We have made assignments that you can import into your canvas or seesaw class that helps guide students through IXL. We also made a Youtube video (Scroll all the way down) specifically for students to help navigate finding assigned skills & the resources / tools they have available to them.

In this post, we want to take a look at how a student’s “assessment profile” can inform your discussions and decision making as a group. What is an assessment profile? In short, the assessment profile is the layers of assessment data available for your students and the information carried in each layer. Our assessments give insight into student learning at different levels. It is necessary to use each tool appropriately when making decisions about extensions or remediations for your student groups. The assessment data collected is a part of the data your team can use to make instructional decisions. Remember...

Vocabulary development is crucial to student success, however, overused vocabulary tactics can grow uninspired and tiresome. Read more below to learn about 3 different ways to help move students from “renting” to “owning” vocabulary. Why Teach Vocabulary Development While vocabulary is often closely linked with reading comprehension, vocabulary development is actually crucial to success in all 4 language domains of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. While teaching vocabulary, you ground students in the lesson by previewing language that is important to the content of the lesson, it helps students recognize and interact with vocabulary throughout a lesson and encourages students...

“If you don’t use the results of the common formative assessment to make a difference in student learning, the assessment is summative” (Bailey and Jakicic).

The quote from above is one of the best descriptions for both formative and summative assessments. We are all familiar with the classic definitions but the reason & why are more important than the characterization.

Assessment strategies are critical components in any classroom. Assessments are tools for learning that are commonly used to drive instruction. However, despite their commonality, creating assessments which both measure evidence of learning (summative) as well as evidence for learning (formative) is one of the more challenging tasks as a teacher. In this post, we’ll look at Common Formative Assessments (CFAs) as a tool for gathering standards-aligned data you can use in your PLC meetings. Why use CFAs at all? In the PLC process, CFAs are the tool used by teams to measure learning on essential standards across classrooms. These regular...

One way to use NWEA data to drive instruction is to use skill plans within IXL. With IXL’s skill plans, students can turn their pinpointed NWEA results into skill plans to quickly grow their math knowledge. Skill plans are available for math, reading, and language assessments.  Creating a personalized MAP skill plan 🎉 Elkhart teachers, this step has already been completed for you for all students that completed NWEA within the testing window! Skip ahead to the bottom of this section to learn how to manually enter data for students that missed our testing window! If you are an IXL...

Remediation and Extension is essential for any classroom but lack of time, data, and resources makes it difficult. That’s where IXL can help! I will show 4 different ways IXL can help you, but it’s up to you to use it in a meaningful way.  In order to have quality data you have to give the Diagnostic and Star Essential skills. Watch the video below to see what the diagnostic looks like and tips on giving it to your students. Once your students completed the diagnostic you can use the reports below to help scaffold and differentiate. 🎥 IXL Diagnostic...

Are you looking for ideas on how to utilize NWEA data in meaningful ways to inform instruction and put the data to work?  Teach. Learn. Grow. blog contributor – Kathy Dyer and Senior Curriculum Specialist for NWEA, John Wood – provide great ideas and techniques for getting the most from MAP Growth data in their free ebook “Using MAP Growth Data to Inform Instruction”. This valuable resource also provides real examples on how you can apply MAP Growth assessment data in your classroom to help improve instruction, set goals, predict proficiency, and even help with parent communication. Check out the...

IXL often has a bad rap amongst students. While it is easy for teachers to use and assign, misuse of the program and an overemphasis on drill will cause burnout for your kids. Whether you have been using IXL for years, or have yet to start, read below for three ways to get your class excited about using IXL. IXL in Centers/Stations As your students move through rotations in your math or literacy class, it is often challenging to have work that all students can do independently. Whether it is gaps in learning, struggling readers, or lacking background knowledge, there are many...

Welcome back to school! We’re excited to be back and learn with everyone this year. If you’re wondering who to contact for ideas, tips, or tricks in instruction this year, we have the updated Tech Ambassador list below. Each of these teachers is ready to help you brainstorm ways you can engage your students. Rebecca Dodd Beardsley Sondra Flora Beck Jason Hite Bristol Jeremy Rohyans Cleveland Mackinzie Kempton Daly Michelle Holderman Eastwood Nakeyta Hardy Feeser Jessica Moreno Monger Shelby Eby Osolo TBD Pinewood Emily Zitkus PRIDE Academy TBD Riverview Carolyn Kelley Roosevelt Karin Wirick Woodland Emily Kuzdas North Side Mariana...