Friday, January 27, 2017

What's Happening Around Lyon Academy? January 27th, 2017

Take a look at several highlights from around our school this week. If you see an anchor chart, student work, or something else in the building you would like showcased for the staff, please send it to Tyler.Archer@slps.org.

Students in Ms. Jones' class created a book review foldable about an independent reading book they recently completed. 

Ms. Andrews' students analyzed an advertisement and completed a graphic organizer. 

Ms. Welch combined students' interest in social media with a lesson about Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Ms. Wolfenden asked her students to write about their own dreams. 

Ms. Connell's students wrote about what they would like to do on a snowy day. 

Ms. Richardson's students did a science activity about types of rocks. 

Ms. Salmo's students wrote about their favorite parts from an IDR book they recently read. 

Ms. Walker and Ms. Stuckel's students created snowmen. 

The Pre-K classroom uses a number board as a strategy for introducing a new number to the students each week. 

Ms. Cychowski's students created modeled and engaged in a higher level comparison activity. 

Ms. Archer implements the "Own and Track" strategy by giving students a model of what the students should complete. 

Ms. Archer also visually represents for the students their assignments and what percentage of their grade each part is worth. 

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Engineer Efficiency

The subject of the first January new teacher professional development session was Technique 48, "Engineer Efficiency" from Teach Like a Champion 2.0. Engineer Efficiency involves creating procedures by which students can perform both mundane and academic tasks in ways that yield more time for learning. Three types of procedures can be engineered efficiently: behavioral, cultural, and academic. The same design criteria work for all of them:

  • Simplicity
  • Quick is King
  • Little Narration Required
  • Planned in Detail
See the anchor charts below to learn more about each of the criteria, and to see an example of how the criteria is present in procedures. For more details about how you can "Engineer Efficiency" in your classroom, see page 361 of Teach Like a Champion 2.0!