Conferences! "Listen, listen, and listen . . ."

Conferences begin this week! What a great opportunity to meet with families. Conferences are too short, too rushed, and too packed with information to feel natural, but there is something you can do. Prepare everything you're asked to prepare, and go into the conference following the advice of mentor Jim Hiller: 

"Finally, I would listen, listen, listen during the conference. If we were running out of time, I would schedule another meeting to continue our discussion and approach it with an open, learning and collaborative attitude."

Read more about Jim Hiller's Conference Fail in this quick article. Learn from his mistakes so that you can make fewer in your first round of conferences.

Another great quote:

"Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk." -Doug Larson

Finally, two years ago The Washington Post published this fabulous article: About THAT Kid. It's well worth the 4 minutes it will take you to read it and will reset your mind for these next few days of conferencing with families.

Have a great few days building further partnerships with those people who are most important to our students: their loved ones.

Becoming a Better Multicultural Educator and Using Affirming Language

Gorgeous fall tree near Midvale Elementary School

As we enter the fall season, we are inundated with planning, classroom management, content, meetings, conferences, data collection, as well as learning about and loving our students. We have fabulous teaching moments each day, and we have opportunities for learning from our mistakes each day.

One big question is:

Am I meeting the needs of each of my students?

We have many ways that we are responsible to our students. The resource linked below by Paul Gorski is a great reminder of how we can meet the needs of our students. Gorski describes 20 Things I Can Do to Be a Better Multicultural Educator. Some are things we can do for ourselves as professionals and humans; some are things we can do for our students. All are vital. Which strategy will you focus on?

Click the image above to
read the document

In addition to the challenge of meeting students' needs, we often begin thinking about our teacher language:

Am I consistently using language that builds children up and validates who they are?

It's common to fall into patterns of language that are easy and comfortable. Without intending to, we might use language that devalues students, or places us at the center instead of our students. While we strive to be proactive, sometimes it's just not possible; we are often reacting to moments in our classrooms throughout the day. This, too, can be done in a way that values the student and stresses the deed instead of the doer.

In the document linked below, from Developmental Designs, you can see examples of "raindrop language" -- this is what we want to avoid. There are also great examples of desired language(Reinforcing, Reminding, Redirecting). Changing our language has a profound impact on children and our relationship with them. Think about the language you use with students. How can you focus on Reinforcing, Reminding and Redirecting language? Challenge yourself to be conscious of your language choices with students.

Click the image above to
read the document

Helping Children Master the Basic Facts

Math Facts. We give children fact interviews as a standard summative (and sometimes formative) assessment, and we expect them to reach certain benchmarks by certain grade levels. But how in the world do we teach them to master these facts? To use efficient strategies? To retain what they have learned?

In Madison, each classroom has the following book (or the 3-5 version): Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics by John Van de Walle.

This book contains some of your Common Core Learning Experiences (CCLEs), so you may have cracked it open once or twice. I'd love to highlight some of what Van de Walle has to say about math facts for you. So, grab your Van de Walle book and maybe a beverage, and sit down to explore some new information about Math Facts. 

(Note: the page numbers and activities refer to the K-3 book. The 3-5 book will be similar, just Chapter 3 instead of Chapter 4)

Big Ideas (p. 94)

1. Number relationships provide the foundation for strategies that help students remember basic facts. For example, knowing how numbers are related to 5 and 10 helps students master facts such as 3 + 5 (think of a ten frame) and 8 + 6 (since 8 is 2 away from 10, take 2 from 6 to make 10 + 4 = 14).
   
2. “Think addition” is the most powerful way to think of subtraction facts. Rather than 13 “take away 6,” which requires counting backward while simultaneously keeping track of the number of counts, students can think 6 and what makes 13. The might add up 10 or they may think double 6 is 12 so it must be 13.
   
3. All of the facts are conceptually related. You can figure out new or unknown facts from those you already know. For example, 6 x 8 can be thought of as five 8s (40) and one more 8. It might also be three 8s doubled.

How to help students master facts (p. 95)

1. Help children develop a strong understanding of number relationships and of the operations.
   
2. Develop efficient strategies for fact retrieval through practice. An efficient strategy is one that be done mentally and quickly.
3. Provide drill in the use and selection of those strategies once they have been developed.

Two approaches to Fact Strategies (p. 96)

*A strategy is most useful to students when it is theirs, built on and connected to concepts and relationships they already own.

1. Use simple story problems designed in such a manner that students are most likely to develop a strategy as they solve it. (5-10 min to start math class, as an example).
   
2. A lesson may revolve around a special collection of facts for which a particular type of strategy is appropriate. How are these facts alike? Possibly suggest an approach and see if students are able to use it on similar facts.
   

** Read "Practice Strategy Selection or Strategy Retrieval" on page 97.

** When do we drill? Read "Drill Established Strategies" on page 98.

It's helpful to page through the following sections as you read the overview. You'll gather a great understanding of these facts according to Van de Walle, as well as see many visuals and charts to help you make sense of the information. 

Strategies for Addition Facts (p. 99 - 106)

One-More-Than and Two-More-Than Facts

Activities 4.1, 4.2, 4.3

Facts with Zero

Activity 4.4

Doubles

Activities 4.5. 4.6

Near-Doubles

Activity 4.7

Make-Ten Facts

Activity 4.8

Other Strategies and the Last Six Facts

• Doubles Plus Two, Two-Apart Facts
• Make-Ten Extended
• Counting On
• Ten-Frame Facts

Strategies for Subtraction Facts (p. 106 - 111)

Subtraction as Think-Addition

Subtraction Facts with Sums to 10

The 36 “Hard” Subtraction Facts: Sums Greater Than 10

Activities 4.12, 4.13, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16

Strategies for Multiplication Facts (p. 111 - 116)

Doubles

Activities 4.17, 4.18

Zeros and Ones

Nifty Nines

Activity 4.19

Helping Facts

Effective Drill

Do not subject any student to fact drills unless the student has developed an efficient strategy for the facts included in the drill.

What about timed tests?

Teachers who use timed tests believe that the tests help children learn basic facts. This makes no instructional sense. Children who perform well under time pressure display their skills. Children who have difficulty with skills, or who work more slowly, run the risk of reinforcing wrong learning under pressure. In addition, children can become fearful and negative toward their math learning. (Burns, 2000, p. 157)