October is Here

As the Season Changes

  As we settle into the month of October, our job is to teach, lead, and collaborate in a way electrifies the joy of learning and learning at deep levels.


From the students' point of view:
I learned how to read.  I am reading to find the author's main point with some supporting details
a) I am learning math. What kind of math are you learning? I am learning how to add two-digit numbers.
b) It is important as I grow up.
                                         c) When I am stuck, I try the problem again. I                                                 look at my notes. I ask my teacher

From the recent classroom visits:

Students were talking about their learning (versus the task). For example, students shared how they were learning to solve equations using rational numbers. In another classroom example, students were charting their progress from writing different types of sentences. Students studied the feedback and their progress. As a result, some students re-took the practice quiz.
More and more students are involved in formative assessment practices. At one school site, students and the teacher engaged in frequent and multiple assessment practices. For example, teachers may have called on non-volunteers to response to a reading comprehension question; students maybe have responded chorally to a reading passage; a selection of students showed the class they solved the problem.

This year continue Getting Better at Getting Better

Today, the purpose of education is two-fold, the teaching of knowledge and the teaching of character (Martin Luther King, Jr. 1974).

Konocti has an opportunity to enroll our students in their journey of learning by infusing certain practices in daily instruction:

Clarity: Communicate what is expected of our students as well as what and how to achieve
Relationships: Strong connectivity with their teachers and their peers
Formative Assessment Practice: Check-in regularly about one's progress
Effective Feedback: Regular comments about what is going well and how to improve

As students can answer the following questions, students are becoming self-sufficient life-long learners:

What they are learning
How well they are progressing in their learning
What steps to take next in their learning

When such instructional practices, as listed above, are effectively implemented, then students can answer the following questions and as a result, will learn at the content at a deep level, be aware of their learning and progress, and be able to employ strategies to advance their own learning.


Konocti commits to a variety of support beams to ensure such quality instruction: a) professional learning and training, b) collaboration, c) instructional coaching.



Together we are better. This picture is of an array of community members in Spain. They are linking together to build the base for a human tower. the tower stands four stories tall: four stories tall of groups of boys standing upright. The final story of the tower stands one boy. As the Spanish community believes, the human tower only works because every single person plays an equal role and responsibility.