The First Days of School Discussion Points

Key Idea? Effective teaching is the most important variable in predicting student achievement.

Effective Teachers Focus on: Positive Expectations Classroom Management Lesson Mastery

Positive Expectations “Having positive expectations simply means that the teacher believes in the learner and that the learner can learn.” p. 11

Four Levels of Invitational Education 1. Intentionally disinviting 2. Unintentionally disinviting 3. Unintentionally inviting 4. Intentionally Inviting p

Unintentionally Disinviting Examples include: “ I teach only students who want to learn.” “If you don’t want to learn, that’s your problem.” “ These people just don’t have the capacity to do any better.” “I was hired to teach history, not to do these other things.” p. 65

Four Levels of Invitational Education 1. Intentionally disinviting 2. Unintentionally disinviting 3. Unintentionally inviting 4. Intentionally Inviting p

The Importance of Names Sales people are trained to use a customer’s name every 7 to 10 sentences. Why? “When you use a person’s name you are saying to that person ‘You are important. You are important enough for me to identify you by name.’” p. 69

Classroom Management “Classroom management overarches everything in the curriculum.” p. 80

Chapter 13 How to introduce yourself…. What matters most to you on the first day? Is there anything you would consider changing? How can we use it to promote engagement?

Items That Caught My Attention p.108 Side Bar on the use of voice p.132 Calling the role p. 109 The Importance of YOU setting the agenda

Chapter 18 – Classroom Management “ The #1 problem is not discipline, it is the lack of procedures and routines, the lack of a plan that organizes a classroom for academic success.” How do we distinguish between rules and procedures?

What procedures do we need? Refer to pages if you need some examples.

Bellwork What is the high school equivalent? What are the advantages to using it? How can we use it as formative assessment? How can we use it to promote engagement?

Lesson Mastery “The role of teacher is not to cover. The role of the teacher is to uncover.” p. 227 “Are you teaching for accomplishment or just telling the students what to do?” p.232

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a Tool for Engagement On p. 239, there is an excellent example of applying Bloom’s Taxonomy.

At-Promise Students Once you establish structure, you are much more likely to succeed with engagement.

In Closing “All battles are won before they are fought.” Sun Tzu