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The Learning-Focused Connections Newsletter is a weekly link to exemplary practice and ideas that will help you as an educator to increase achievement in your classroom and school. Some weeks there will be a mix of articles in the mailer; other weeks we will follow a theme. We are all working with the same goal in mind, continuous improvement in student achievement.
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National LEARNING-FOCUSED Conference
February 2-4, 2009
Cobb Galleria Centre
Atlanta, GA
Registration Fee: $125.00 per person/day
Includes all conference materials (notebooks, flipcharts, handouts)
Registrations after November 1, 2008: $150.00 per person/day
Sessions and registration now available at www.LearningFocused.com.
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Implementing Learning-Focused
by Jim Riedl
Every once in a while, you walk into a school where the implementation of Learning-Focused is so vivid you cannot wait to know more about everything they are doing. This was the case when I had the opportunity to visit the Southside Elementary School in the Central Dauphin District in Pennsylvania.
I was there to work with administrators and supervisors from the Capital Area IU. We were involved in the development of their awareness and skills in Monitoring for Achievement. After a morning session spent together exploring the basic skills and procedures needed to be successful all participants were able to visit multiple classrooms. They observed the implementation of the Learning-Focused Model in a wide range of classrooms at different grade levels.
As the teams came back together many were talking about a strategy for summarizing they were seeing at several grade levels. The strategy was referred to as "Exit Journals". 
While several grades were using the strategy, the third grade teachers seemed to catch everyone's attention. All the grades were asking students to summarize at the end of lessons by writing in their "Exit Journals". Summarizing is one of the top five strategies identified as having a significant impact on student achievement. The fact that it was being used by all teachers at multiple grade levels is an indication of how important this strategy is to the teachers and principal of this school.
The third grade team decided to take this strategy to the next level by having students take the "Exit Journal" home each night to show to their parents and have it signed before using it again the next day. This is a perfect example of adapting  their implementation to meet an additional need, communication with parents. This opportunity to connect these two strategies provides the learners, teachers and parents with more than they could have achieved alone.
When I talked with teachers they commented they are now much more comfortable with the fact that parents are not only aware of what is happening in the classroom but they are also having meaningful conversations with their children about learning. They are also very pleased that what they have been learning in their Learning-Focused workshops can be implemented and have such a positive impact.
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The Learning-Focused Strategies Notebook is now three different notebooks!
 In order to provide you with additional examples and strategies the Learning-Focused Connecting Strategies
and Planning Learning Units notebook (item 536) has been discontinued and is now three different notebooks. Effective immediately, the previous single notebook (item 536) is no longer available for purchase. It is now three different books with the addition of over 200 pages of new content. Together, all three notebooks are The LEARNING-FOCUSED Instructional Strategies Model Set. This set of notebooks provides the resources and instruction for implementing the #1 framework for thinking about, planning, and delivering instruction using exemplary practices that focus on learning consistently and pervasively. The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies model is a framework for connecting all the components that define quality standards-driven instruction. It is the most comprehensive model available for connecting curriculum, instruction, and assessment in a logical, manageable planning framework.
The Set (Item #800): $90.00
YOU SAVE $10 BY PURCHASING THE COMPLETE SET!
The descriptions of each book of The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model:
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Connecting Strategies Notebook:
This notebook is part 1 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Activating Strategies, Graphic Organizers, Acquisition Lesson Framework, Acceleration, Summarizing, and Model Implementation.
Notebook Item #801: $40.00
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Connecting Extending Thinking Notebook:
This notebook is part 2 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Extending Thinking Activities and Lessons, and Model Implementation. Extending Thinking is the #1 strategy for increasing achievement. Implementing The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model ensures that all teachers include extending thinking lessons and activities consistently and pervasively in their instruction.
Notebook Item #802: $40.00
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Planning Units for Learning Notebook:
This notebook is part 3 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Learning Units, Rubric Assessment, and Model Implementation. This is the notebook for "putting it all together"!
Notebook Item #803: $20.00
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This Takes Too Much Time!
by Laurian Phillips
This takes too much time! This is probably the most often heard comment by participants in our trainings. Why do teachers feel this way? There may be a number of reasons, one of which is that effective planning does take a lot of time. However, if you are not planning effectively, then why plan at all? We do know that the planning and lesson writing process gets much easier and goes much faster the more you do it. The Learning-Focused Connecting Strategies training forces us to learn a new process and in doing so, we become the learner. Adults are sometimes reluctant to learn new things, because we have found that "comfort zone" that we tend to operate in most often. Learning knew things is difficult and does not come easy. We, like our students, must practice in order to get better and faster.
Madeline Hunter said, "If you want to feel secure, do what you already know how to do. If you want to be a true professional and continue to grow...go to the cutting edge of your competence, which means a temporary loss of security. So, whenever you don't quite know what you're doing, know that you are growing." It is okay to feel a temporary loss of security, knowing that when you implement the Learning-Focused Model, you have a goal of Exemplary Instruction in mind. The Amazing Book of Connections for Learning states the 9.5 Outcomes of Exemplary Instruction:
1. Connects prior knowledge and experiences to make new learning meaningful
2. Creates new meaning
3. Organizes information
4. Stores information
5. Deepens understanding
6. Builds connections
7. Develops higher level thinking
8. Uses thinking in meaningful ways
9. Focuses performance
Generates Student Success!
To learn more Exemplary Instruction, see our new product, The Amazing Book of Connections for Learning. Especially helpful might be the section on Teaching for Learning on page 120-121. |
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Motivating Students through The R.A.P. Club
by Debbie Willingham. Ed.D
It is difficult for students to be motivated to make good grades when it seems such an uphill, sometimes impossible battle. Even the best teachers struggle to motivate some students to want to learn, often because those students have rarely found success or been rewarded for academic achievement. The R.A.P. (Realistic Achievement Proven) Club is a motivational way of encouraging students to improve their grade point average in small steps that reward improvement as well as achievement-something the traditional Honor Roll does not do.
The steps in setting up and maintaining this "club" that rewards students at all academic levels for improvement are simple for teachers to implement. At the midpoint of the first grading period, teachers explain to students that they will have an opportunity to join a unique club at the end of the grading period. Teachers give students their average in the course at that point (i.e. when progress reports for the grading period are generated) and tell them that if they can bring up their average by just four points (or more) by the end of the grading period, they will become members of the R.A.P. Club. Privileges of being a member of the club may include special treats, breaks to the front of the line, homework passes, pencils with the R.A.P. Club logo, coupons from local restaurants, etc.
At the end of the first grading period, students who have increased their averages by at least four points and those who have an A average are now members of the R.A.P. Club. Their names go on a bulletin board arranged by period, which means that there may be "A" students on the same list with students who have a 58 average because they have all experienced success in the past several weeks. During the first half of the next grading period those students receive treats at different times (cookies, cupcakes, and ice cream passes at lunch are big winners), pencils imprinted with "Official Member of the R.A.P. Club," certificates, special passes, and coupons. Everyone is encouraged during this time to continue to try and improve their averages in the class.
At the mid-point in the second grading period, the teacher averages grades, and once again those students who have improved their average since the first report card by at least four points and all students with an A average are now members of the RAP Club. The list on the bulletin board changes now at the midpoint and end of each grading period, with rewards for improvement given to students who are currently members. Students may move in or out of the club based on continued improvement or a decrease in their averages.
The impact on all students can be seen immediately. "A" students get a specific reward in an individual class rather than just being on the school honor roll. All students are motivated to try just a little harder-after all, it is just four points and not an impossible dream to improve a little at a time. Students who are traditionally unmotivated and make poor grades can see a realistic way to find success. Over the course of a school year, a student on a quarterly grading system could raise his average by 28 points by improving just four points each 4 ½ week period (i.e. from 50 to 78 or 60 to 88) - realistic achievement proven!
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We Want You to Make "Connections"!
Subscribers, feel free to share the information, tips and strategies
that you receive in Learning-Focused Connections with your colleagues.
Administrators and coaches, pass them on to the teachers in your school;
teachers, share them with your teammates and leadership team. The
newsletter can be the basis for discussion in team meetings or provide
ideas for further staff development. If individuals in your
school/district do not receive Learning-Focused Connections encourage
them to visit our website, www.LearningFocused.com, and subscribe through the link on our homepage.
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Past Connections Articles
Past Connections articles are available through the archive tool of this newsletter. Please click here to view the resources.
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Have an Idea for a Connections Article?
If
there are questions you want answered or strategies you want to know
more about, please let us know by emailing info@learningfocused.com.
Insert "newsletter article request" in the subject line.
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