LibGuides: Novel Ideas: May 2018

Classroom Spotlight

MARRS WAX MUSEUM

Every year, 6th graders at R.M. Marrs Magnet Middle School create a wax museum for a day. Each student is required to research and give a first-person speech on an important individual, highlighting their accomplishments and describing their life. Attendees push a button to activate the figure and listen to the message. A HUGE shout out to the 6th grade team at Marrs for their hard work, dedication, and creativity in coustuming. Amazing job!

Articles of Interest

Backwards Planning Takes Thinking Ahead
Summer is a great time, if you haven't yet, to dive into our Curriculum Guides and do some backwards planning. It's also a time to develop some really enriching, fun projects that you can justify as standards-based and rigorous (a popular word right now in education). Because let's face it, once the new school year starts, speaking of whirlwind...
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4 Ways Microsoft is Making Learning More Accessible
Over the last couple of years, Microsoft has been quietly adding some incredible capabilities to their products, new layers that make the software we already use more powerful and accessible for people with reading difficulties, those with visual or hearing impairments, English learners, or people who simply want to customize the way they take in information and communicate their ideas.

And that’s good news for teachers, because quality differentiation is a constant challenge for all of us. If you want to give your students richer, more personalized learning experiences, take a few minutes now to learn about these four fantastic ways Microsoft tools can make that happen.
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For the Sake of Argument
An Approach to Teaching Evidence-Based Writing
In an era where public discourse has become increasingly polarized, and “echo chambers” of narrow views populate people’s social media feeds, teaching students to ground their arguments in evidence is more important than ever.† To the detriment of education, we live in what author Deborah Tannen calls the “argument culture,” where “winning” is more valued than “understanding.”1

To equip students to thrive in this challenging environment, the NWP’s approach to argument writing starts with having students understand multiple points of view that go beyond pros and cons and are based on multiple pieces of evidence, which ultimately enables students to take responsible civic action. At its core, C3WP supports students in navigating an increasingly dense informational world so they can become informed citizens who are prepared to participate in and ultimately strengthen a healthy and vibrant democracy.
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Moving from Telling Our Stories to Inviting Stories
From kindergarten through twelfth grade, students learn to make an argument, convey information, and narrate a series of events (NGA Center for Best Practices & CCSSO, 2010). Every year, it's just those three types of writing. Of course, young people should learn to argue, inform, and narrate: they'll argue, inform, and narrate in every profession, college course, and community. But why did we pick arguing, informing, and narrating as the only three important functions of writing?

Let's imagine shifting our emphasis from arguing a single perspective to unifying multiple perspectives, from distributing information to asking for it, and from narrating our own stories to inviting stories from others. What could these types of writing look like?
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10 Tips For Helping Students Open Up to Poetry
Too often, students receive the message in their English classes that poetry exists to be analyzed. They learn terms, strategies and complicated acronyms to remember them—all in the service of solving a "poem-problem" with what, they understand, is supposed to be a clear answer. As a reader, scholar and writer of poetry, I can say with confidence that poems are not built for a formulated analysis and rarely come with clear answers!
Click the link to read 10 Tips For Helping Students Open Up to Poetry.
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Literature, Identity, Agency: Civic Engagement in the Classroom
I was recently asked, “What is a current trend in education that has shaped your teaching?” My immediate response was civic engagement. Knowing the “why” of my praxis guides my choices in lesson design. As I ponder this question and my response more deeply, an unsettling feeling takes over.

How could civics learning be considered a trend? How can preparing students to actively participate in our democratic society be seen as one of the many here today, potentially gone tomorrow, initiatives in public education?

Today’s youth struggle with multiple identities. They are one way at home, another at school, another with friends, another online, and so many more. It’s no wonder they have no time to contemplate the meaning of being part of American society. But their participation in voting and decision-making hinges on knowing what they value as being American. Learners first need an opportunity to explore and express their own values.
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Collections Corner

END OF YEAR/BEGINNING OF YEAR INFORMATION

Any classes/assignments that you have in HMH will be archived on May 30. Please make sure you have extracted anything you might need. You will still be able to run reports, you just won't see any classes or students.
During the week of July 2, all of your classes will be purged from the system to prepare for the following school year.
You can expect to see your new classes during the last week of July. As Infinite Campus is updated, so too will HMH be updated. There is a 24 hour lag time.
At the start of the year, you will need to assign resources again. See our the HMH folder on our ELA SharePoint for a detailed 'How-To'.

Please contact Julie Schik if you have any questions or concerns.

NSCAS Summative Assessment Development

Please consider participating in some of the NSCAS Assessment Development opportunities this summer. It is imperative that our OPS voices and expertise be a part of these meetings. Besides that, these opportunities are terrific avenues from which to learn about the assessments which will also help with your instruction. AND...you get paid a stipend of $150.00 per day plus mileage and parking reimbursement. See below for the application.

NSCAS Summative Assessment Development Applications-Summer 2018

NDE is looking for highly qualified educators to participate in assessment development opportunities this coming summer. Stipends are available for individuals NOT working under contract. Click on the applications for further information. Please complete the appropriate application below.

NSCAS ELA Assessment Development Application

Professional Development

IHE TRAINING: Application Only - contact Julie Schik for details

REGISTRATION INFORMATION FOR COLLECTIONS & SUTW TRAINING: http://inservices.ops.org

Summer PLC Book Study

WHAT: Looking for a group for 6-10 teachers to form a book study group. We will determine what topic and professional book we'd like to explore this summer. Your book will be purchased for you and you will receive a small stipend for your attendance.

WHEN: We will meet 3-4 times during the months of June and July.

If you are interested, please contact Julie Schik at julie.schik@ops.org or 531-299-9573.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION: http://finelines.org/camp-for-creative-writers/

Scholarships for interested students are available. Write “Scholarship” in the margin of the registration forms for the students who need assistance.