+ The Link Issue 8 May 2013

A Partnership Newsletter “Linking” the University of Florida and Miami-Dade County Public Schools

What’s Inside …

Cohort 2 Learns about Culturally

Responsive Classroom

Management with Dr. Raquel Diaz

UF Students and Staff Attend the 65th Annual AACTE Conference

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Cohort 2 Learns about Culturally Responsive Classroom Management with Dr. Raquel Diaz

more on 2

On April 17th, the i3 Cohort 2 students had their third and final

Face-to-Face (F2F) class of the semester. The i3 cohort 2 students are

currently enrolled in Culturally Responsive Classroom Management.

The class has focused on four major topics: (a) the role of culture in

classroom management, (b) establishing the learning community, (c)

developing a warm demander stance, and (d) maintaining the

classroom community. A key activity that is introduced in the course that

helps foster a positive classroom climate is Morning Meetings. During a

Morning Meeting students gather together and share ideas and their

feelings. Morning Meetings help students become more cooperative,

self-assertive, and empathetic (Bondy & Ketts, 2001) Morning Meetings

have four phases: (a) greeting, (b) sharing, (c) group activity, and (d)

news and announcements. In short a Morning Meeting is “like being at

the breakfast table” (Bondy & Ketts, 2001, p. 144).

PD Update

Upcoming PD Calendar Pg. 5

A Look into TLSI Spring 1 Courses

ECTLSI Cohort 2 learns about morning meeting!

During a Morning Meeting students gather together and share ideas and their feelings.

Morning Meetings help students become more cooperative, self-assertive, and empathetic.

Bondy & Ketts, 2001

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Cohort 2 Learns about Culturally Responsive Classroom Management with Dr. Raquel Diaz cont. from cover

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Although powerful, Morning Meetings take time and teachers

may feel resistant in making them part of their daily routine. For this

reason, there were two presentations during the F2F. The first

presentation was from Ms. Charmyn Kirton, the District Administrative

Director of the Educational Transformation Office (ETO) and a UF EdD

student. She helped our teachers bridge the high quality practices they

are learning in their program to their classrooms. Ms. Kirton believes in

Morning Meetings and advised teachers to learn more about WHY

morning meetings work. Knowledge is power!

To learn more check out this article Bondy, B. & Ketts, S. (2001). Like being at the breakfast table: The power of classroom morning meeting. Childhood Education, 7(3), p. 144-149

The second presentation was by two teachers from Dr. Manuel C.

Barreiro, Ms. Delilah Mejia and Ms. Vanessa Aguilar. Both teachers have

been working with Morning Meetings this year. They are so passionate

about the practice and positive implications of Morning Meetings they have

made this the topic of their inquiry for the Teacher Fellows program this

year. They shared how they each customize Morning Meetings to meet the

needs of their class. Their presentation culminated with the i3 cohort 2

students participating in a Morning Meeting, an experience enjoyed by all.

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Growing Together! A Conversation with co-teachers Andrea Turkson-Gonzalez & Evelyn Lampner

Andrea and Evelyn are co-teachers at David Lawrence K-8 Center and TLSI graduate students who exemplify what it means to be master teachers. Evelyn joined the program in Cohort 1 and was eager to share her new learning with her partner Andrea. Recognizing the powerful influence the coursework was having in their classroom Andrea joined Cohort 2 the following year. Evelyn and Andrea shared they collaborate on everything! “It’s important to have the same goal and the same objective,” said Andrea; and “communication and respect are key when you’re working with someone everyday,” commented Evelyn. Throughout our interview they demonstrated their respect for each other and their colleagues, discussing how important it is for them to share their practice with others, both at David Lawrence and beyond. “We are growing together so we can discuss, share and incorporate what we’re learning,” stated Evelyn. Andrea was quick to add, “because we speak the same language, we’re in these classes and we believe in it and want to share with others how rewarding it’s been.”

When asked how the program has changed their classroom practice they told about how their own learning has been cyclical. Evelyn shared her coursework with Andrea in the first year and now Andrea is eager to share her unique new learning from the courses as well. They are constantly exchanging ideas and supporting each other in trying new things. “She’s bringing back new and different ideas, because we took the classes at different times with different instructors, and you’re like we’ve tried everything…but she sees the reading with a second pair of eyes and she’ll give me all these new ideas” said Evelyn, “She’s just brought it to a whole new level”.

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“It’s important to have the same goal and the same

objective”

Andrea

“Communication and respect are key when you’re working with someone everyday”

Evelyn

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Speaking about meeting the needs of their classroom community, students, and families they were quick to share how they’ve adapted strategies from the program. Andrea said, “I build off her ideas and we talk about what works and how to improve, so we can combine our ideas and come up with something that works. Like this year we’ve implemented more music for transitions and learning time, and morning meeting. We’ve also been more proactive in getting parents involved, and to reach out to learn about the culture of our families.” Evelyn built seamlessly on to what Andrea shared stating, “In our instruction we’ve incorporated all kinds of different learning environments, we pair them, we group them and they’re not just always sitting in their seats,” and “because we’re always here for each other it makes it easier to try things like that for our inquiries.” The two were so in-sync they could have gone on and on and on about what they were doing to implement best practices in their classroom! Practices that are surely making a difference for each and everyone of their students!

They shared that anyone who is interested in joining the ECTLSI program should do it because they love they’re professors stating, “they just have a way of motivating you and getting you going!” They shared when collaborating closely with each other it’s important to remember the community agreements; “we assume good will and give each other really good honest feedback, because we have the same goals” said Andrea. Evelyn captured our conversation perfectly stating, “We get to share our Ah-ha moments” and “We understand what’s expected, we support one another, we discuss what we’re learning and we’re growing together!” It was an absolute pleasure to learn about Evelyn and Andrea’s classroom and their exceptional partnership! Collaboration and support within the program and your schools is vital to the success of the TLSI program and improving the educational experience of every child in MDCPS.

“We get to share our Ah-ha

moments…we support one another, we

discuss what we’re learning and we’re growing together!”

Evelyn Lampner

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Upcoming Professional Development

May 7-8 Principal Institute in Tampa

The institute will provide and opportunity for principals to reconnect with their partner principals as well as region and district staff. Principals will explore the Empowering Effective Teachers Project, an active initiative within Hillsborough County Public Schools and will be hearing from nationally renowned classroom observation expert, Dr. Robert Pianta. We hope all of our MDCPS partnership principals will make every effort to attend!

May 18: Fifth Annual Miami Learning Showcase, 8:30am-3:30 pm Where: Miami Jackson Senior High Who: All elementary and K-8 educators and administrators across the district are invited to attend. What: A full-day conference provides UF partner school administrators, teachers and other staff members to showcase the results of their ongoing inquiry and learning through their presentations at multiple concurrent sessions. May 30: Principal PLC Session 4 of 4, 8 am-12 pm Where: North - North Twin Lakes Elementary Central - United Way Building, 6th floor, Conference room South - Joe Hall Elementary Who: U.F. partner school Principals are expected to participate. What: Regular learning community sessions for U.F. partner school principals to participate in a PLC and collaborate across regions.

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Summer reading is important for students to maintain their reading skills while they’re away from school. In order for students summer reading to be most effective they need to be reading books at their independent reading level. This can be difficult for parents to identify without resources and tools.

Three suggestions you might want to share with familie include the following:

1. The Five Finger Rule—This strategy is best used in the primary grades and can easily be applied by students as young as Kindergarten! First, open to a page in the middle of the book and begin reading. Next, hold up a finger for each word the child can’t read. At the end of the page if you’re holding up just 1 finger the book is not challenging enough, if you’re holding up 2-3 fingers this is a good independent reading text, if you’re holding up 4 fingers this text is good for reading with support and if you’re holding up 5 fingers this text is probably too difficult.

2. Scholastic Book Wizard leveling website provides the grade level equivalent, guided reading, DRA or lexile level of many books; all you have to do is type in the title and go! http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/

3. Reading is Fundamental provides great tips and resources for parents: http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/summer-reading-slide.htm

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Want to be featured

in the next issue? We hope you enjoyed our newsletter and that you’ll keep it in mind as you accomplish tasks and meet your goals through out the year! We’re always looking to spotlight what’s going on in the Miami Dade schools to share stories of success!

If you’re interested in sharing a story, photos or have a topic you’d be interested in reading about please contact Darbi Shannon our UF Graduate Assistant at shannon.darbi@ufl.edu.

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Summer Reading Tips to Share with YOUR Students

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