Summer Program Community Helpers

Check out these awesome Reading students from the Extended Day summer program.  They decided to do a good community deed and pick up trash around the Barrows campus - wow!  What great kids! We were glad to host you this summer!

New Star Burst is out - summer edition!

Check it out here:  http://www.edline.net/files/_3IH2p_/37595113daae910e3745a49013852ec4/8-8-14.pdf

Good Teaching Is Built, Not Born

Good Teaching Is Built, Not Born

            In this article in Parade, Elizabeth Green shares some of the main points of her new book, Building a Better Teacher (Norton, 2014). It’s a myth that teaching is an innate talent, she says: “Researchers have found that the most effective teachers can be extroverts – or they can just as easily be introverts. Some are humorous, but others are serious. Some are as flexible as rubber; others are as rigid as a ruler. It’s not personality that makes a teacher great, but a specialized body of knowledge that must be learned – and that often goes against what comes naturally.” Here are five teacher actions that she believes have the greatest impact on student learning:

            • They use students’ mistakes to improve instruction. Researchers have found that teachers who are best at spotting why a third grader would think that 307 – 168 = 261 are the most successful at improving students’ math performance. “The best teachers put themselves in their students’ shoes,” says Green, “and grapple with how they arrived at the wrong answer in order to set them right.”

            • They are precise in their instructions. Green approvingly cites Doug Lemov’s observation that saying “Shhhh” to a noisy class is ambiguous. “Are you asking the kids not to talk, or are you asking the kids to talk more quietly?” asks Lemov. Best practice is to eradicate ambiguity, respond to misbehavior with specificity, and describe the desired behavior rather than the problem. To get distracted students back to work, a teacher might say, “We’re following along in our books.”

            • They encourage deeper thinking. Researchers who observe classrooms internationally have noticed that there are more “explain how and why” questions in higher-performing countries like Japan, Singapore, and Finland – questions that get students thinking at a higher level – for example, How did you find the area of this triangle? Why is the area 17? In American classrooms, there are more “name/identify” questions: What kind of triangles have we studied? What is the length of this shape? One study found that in the U.S., students helped initiate the solution to a problem in only 9 percent of lessons, compared to 40 percent in Japan. “By asking questions that pushed students to think on their own, Japanese teachers taught them more,” says Green.

            • They cold-call. Calling on students whose hands are not raised gets much more mileage from each question, increasing the chance that all students will be thinking through the answer. It’s also effective to ask the question first, pause, and then call on a student.

            • They show more than tell. Telling students to read a passage again or make a weak essay better is not very helpful. It’s most effective to show students the invisible mental steps that go into effective performance – making your thinking visible. “By taking students through each mental leap, one at a time, teachers can help them see the exact processes they’ll need to complete to be a better reader, write a better essay, or make a better argument,” says Green.

 

“Building a Better Teacher” by Elizabeth Green in Parade, August 3, 2014 (p. 6-9), www.parade.com

BLC14

Barrows 4th grade teachers Mr. Laracy and Ms. Boston attended the Building Learning Communities Education Conference 2014 (BLC14)  Check them out in the picture they shared below!

Congratulations Ms. Lanzo!

Congrats to the Lanzo Family for their newest addition; Nellie Lorraine Lanzo arrived on Tuesday, July 22nd.  She weighed 9 lbs 11 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.  What a cutie! :)

Tour of Reading

The fabulous Liz Whitelam (Barrows PTO president) took me on a tour of Reading 2 weeks ago to show me so many of the places that I hear parents, students, families, and staff mention.  She took me all around town, showing me key places and also providing some great history about different parts of town.  It is great to picture what kids are talking about when they refer to getting frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf or a scouting adventure at the Reading Town Forest.  It was also nice to learn more about the history of various areas of town - especially with the 50th anniversary of Barrows School this year!

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zP0MEdjJXdIM.k-J8JyiR7hCY

Reading Public Library

Pleasant Street Center

Quannapowitt Players Inc



Vacation

I just got back from a wonderful week of vacation with my family at Lake Sunapee.  I hope you are all enjoying your summer break!

As I mentioned before:  Parents, if your child is interested, I'd love to have him/her write to me about their summer activities!
Students can type and send me an email at:  heather.leonard@reading.k12.ma.us
or they can send me a letter or postcard at:
Heather Leonard
16 Edgemont Ave
Reading, MA 01867

Summer Activities

Dear Barrows Families,

What have you been up to this summer?  I have been working to get ready for the school year and also enjoying time with my family.  We have really enjoyed being in the garden picking fruits, veggies, and growing flowers (pictures below!)  I would love to hear from your learner - what is the best thing you've been up to so far? 

Parents, if your child is interested, I'd love to have him/her write to me about their summer activities!
Students can type and send me an email at:  heather.leonard@reading.k12.ma.us
or they can send me a letter or postcard at:
Heather Leonard
16 Edgemont Ave
Reading, MA 01867

Let me know about the great things our Barrows Shining Stars have been up to!

Love, Mrs. Leonard

Document Cameras - from REF!

Tim Howard

Although the US team did not win the World Cup, there was an amazing effort by the entire team - especially goalie Tim Howard.  Tim's record breaking saves were the talk of the media, along with the fact that Tim has Tourettes.  Tim noted; 'And today, “one of the biggest things I can do [for Tourette's awareness] is be in the public eye,” he told Neurology Now. “I’m on television, ticcing and twitching. I think that’s kind of cool.”'

Tim is a great public example of an adult living successfully with a disability.  What an awesome way to positively share and raise awareness about Tourette's.  Congratulations Tim for your outstanding achievements on and off the field!

http://trove.com/me/content/kcMtc?chid=144916&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=srfan