Derek Distefano

An incredible night at the ⁦@MorganBroncos⁩ Holiday Extravaganza! Our K-2 learners put on a great performance! ⁦@RSSchoolsNC⁩

Congratulations Janet Poole on winning RSS staff member of the month! A well deserved honor. She always goes above and beyond to take care of our students.

@alicekeeler @TTSimmons18 Goals vs. No Goals has an effect size of almost 0.7. Understanding and obtaining goals leads to Self Efficacy, this has an effect closer 1.0. I don’t care how it is given to them, but it is clear that learners need to know what they are learning and the purpose behind it.

@TTSimmons18 I was just looking back at Hattie list. Where did I miss it? "Writes objective on the board"

Can this be the year that admin stops asking teachers to do busy work by writing the learning objective on the board?

Congratulations, @TheOttoOrange!!! 🎉🎉 They’ve officially been inducted into the @MascotHall! 🍊💍

National K Signing Day! Rowan Counties brightest 5 year olds signing to learn ⁦@MorganBroncos⁩. #CBE ⁦@RSSchoolsNC⁩

Hands down, my favorite day of the year!

We had a great time today with Eric Rowles from ⁦@leadingtochange⁩ learning about ways to create memorable moments for our learners and each other. What a powerful message for us to take into the new year! ⁦@RSSchoolsNC⁩

@Gardner41 Completely agree, just don’t come look at my desk….

How you do anything is how you do everything…

@rickwormeli2 @educator4ever88 I completely agree. That is why I encourage teachers to combine similar standards into scales and ask students to demonstrate mastery at the end of each scale. This allows more time to be spent on learning and less on assessments.

I think about this, too. And as a teacher, I'd be overwhelmed to do this every time. For the most critical of standards, however, or perhaps once or twice a marking period, it's doable. What happens, though, is that even with traditional assessments, students start chasing the evidence, not, "Can I get extra points by cleaning the fish tank?" Then, as we work with students who are challenged by the general ed classroom, it becomes easier to have the conversation with ourselves and students about, "Are there other ways to demonstrate this evidence that would allow a student to accurately demonstrate what he/she/they have learned?," and wow, hope soars.

As you're thinking about classroom assessments next year, remember that we grade against criteria for standards, outcomes, learning goals, i.e., evidence of learning, NOT the vehicle used to deliver that evidence. So, unless we're teaching the assessment format itself, whether or not students do a project, test, paper, demonstration, etc is irrelevant: It's whether or not they presented evidence of their proficiency. This blows the hinges off the doors on the way to success as it opens new and meaningful ways to demonstrate mastery. There's a lot of agency here, which leads to students owning their learning. For some units of study, teachers can even ask students for proposals for how they will demonstrate the evidence of the standard. Then, as with most assessments, ask students to prove their evidence, to explain how the standard is manifested in their presentation. Gosh, this makes learning -- and teaching -- way more fun, and for students, more substantive.

Kicking off our Staff Retreat in Greenville,SC with @hustleu!

@Gardner41 Congratulations!

Congratulations Ms. Kuhn!

Congratulations Ms. Thompson’s class on winning the iReady week 1 challenge!⁦⁦ #sprinkles are for winners! @MorganBroncos⁩

Although I struggle at times to meet his expectations for me, today I am ALIVE through his mercy and grace! @DerwinLGray thanks for the reminder. I needed it my brother!

It was a beautiful morning for a staff egg hunt! 🧺🥚#morganbroncos

@ChrisYoules Without knowing anything else about this student, I expect her to go on and do great things in life. #bossmove

Early in my teaching career, I was directed to use lollipop sticks to target all my questioning. At the end of the year, I remarked to a student that her name hardly ever came out. "I know," she told me. "I took my stick out in the first week and put it in the bin."

Level 3 has been busy reviewing for their Check-Ins! Wednesday students rotated through "The Donut Shop" to review math concepts. 🍩 Thursday morning students "rocked" their reading review!🎸🎤

Congratulations Weston Minnich on winning RSS Teacher of the month. So deserving! ⁦@MorganBroncos⁩ ⁦@RSSchoolsNC⁩

Congratulations to our 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Coleman! We are lucky to have you at Morgan! Thank you for all you do!

We love celebrating our students! We had our second Ring the Bell Celebration today. Students enjoyed a treat from PTA while they cheered on their peers for leveling up! 🎉🔔 #CBE