Response to Instruction

In working on my newsletter article for this week, I came across this series of videos.  I thought they were interesting so I'm passing them along to you!

Also--if you have not joined the IDOE Response to Instruction Community on the Learning Connection, you will want to check that out.  There are tons of great resources out there.

It's always a challenge to keep up with everything that is on the Learning Connection.  This community and the Literacy Liaisons are the two that I try to keep on my list of things to read!

Technology Won't Fix Education

Interesting (and short!) video about technology and education!

Taking Risks--Fleas

I admit it!  I've fallen behind in my blog reader.  As I was spending some time catching up this weekend--I came across a post on one of my favorite blogs about taking risks.  The author gave several examples--but the one that hit me the most was about fleas.  If fleas are left undisturbed in a jar with a lid on--they will learn that they cannot jump higher than the lid.  When the lid is later removed--the fleas will not jump out of the jar.

The author of this post relates this to risk-taking.  Have I come to the place where I believe I cannot jump out of the jar?

Text Complexity--from John Wolf on the IDOE Literacy Liaisons Community

John  Wolf has posted a new announcement for the community IDOE - Indiana Literacy Liaisons...Read On, Indiana!  This post is directly from the Learning Connection Community.  If you have not yet joined the community--it has valuable resources!  Check it out!

Text Complexity: Introducing the Concept and How It Can  Be Used To Strengthen Instruction   Learn About Text Complexity

 1. Introduction to Text Complexity From NYC DOE http://vimeo.com/27251914

 2. Complex Text and Its Implications in the Classroom, Dr Timothy Shanhan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dL1AuuE93M&feature=player_embedded

 Support  Tools

 3. Read "The Challenge of Challenging Text" by Timothy Shanahan, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/The-Challenge-of-Challenging-Text.aspx

 4. Read about Text Complexity in Appendix A  http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_A.pdf

 Try It Out

 5. Explore Quantitative Lexile Measures Sample Tool Choose a piece of grade-level text you use in your classroom. Use The Lexile Analyzer® to submit text to determine the Lexile measure. NOTE : Save the document you want analyzed as a plain text file (.txt). Then submit.

 http://www.lexile.com/analyzer/

 View

 6.  Webinar Focused on Sharing Tools and Resources to Support Teachers and Districts on Text Complexity by CCSSO http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Digital_Resources/The_Common_Core_State_Standards_Supporting_Districts_and_Teachers_with_Text_Complexity.html