Top 10 Blog Posts from 2015

Thank you for a fabulous year at Pepper! Here are the Top 10 Blog Posts from this year:

10. Overwhelmed and It's Only September: Managing Teacher Stress

9. Using the Resources Within Reach

8. Mastering Math Language: Teaching English Language Learners

7. New Writing Course: Argument Writing for High School

6. June Update: Bookmarking Content in Pepper

5. Top 10 Things Teachers May Be Thankful for This Year

4. OnTrack Greenville: One Community's Initiative to Impact At-Risk Middle School Students

3. American Education Week: TEACH

2. Inspiring Math Teacher Aims to Help Kids Graduate

1. STEM: Why it Matters

See you in 2016 for another great year of Professional Development, Collaboration, and helping students become College and Career Ready!

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Happy Holidays from Pepper!

Relax and Refresh this Winter Break

Well, you’ve made it through the first half of the year. While this week was most likely fun, exciting, a little crazy, and a lot exhausting, most educators have the next two weeks off from their normal school schedule. What’s a teacher to do with all that free, unstructured time? I’m sure you can think of plenty - maybe with “sleep” and “nothing at all” at the top of your list. Teachers work hard and deserve a break. In The Principal’s Survival Guide, co-author Susan Stone Kessler says:

"I have learned to schedule time to do nothing, even during the busy holiday season. There is a reason that airline warnings tell passengers 'In the event of the loss of cabin pressure, secure your mask before you help others.' Breaks are the oxygen for an army of educators who serve kids every day in our schools. Take time to enjoy the quiet, for it is through those periods of rest that you are able to return to the classroom stronger, with greater clarity about how to teach in a way that results in student learning, and with a renewed commitment to the important work you do daily: serving your students, who so desperately need you."

So, we’ve got some tips to help you enjoy and refresh this winter holiday, with some help from Vicki Davis at Cool Cat Teacher.

1. Take a break. Relax. Do nothing.
• Don't set your alarm clock and get up when you're ready.
• Stay in your PJs until at least 10:00 AM.
• Lay on the couch all day and watch movies with your kids.
• Sit and drink your favorite drink in the morning. Slowly.
• Don't make a list - at least for the first few days.
2. Reconnect.
• Spend time with yourself, your significant other, your children, your parents.
• Remember that it isn't all about you. Sometimes it is about being thoughtful.
• Think of others and remember that the big things are often little things.
3. Read a Book.
• Go to the library and peruse the shelves.
• Go to a bookstore and check out new titles and bestsellers.
• Find a book you’ve been putting off reading due to the busyness of school and indulge.
• Read an “oldie, but a goodie”.
4. Organize and Donate.
• Pick an area and sort through. Decide what needs to be kept, donated, and/or thrown away.
• Clean up files and pictures on your phone, tablet, computer.
• Remember, you can also donate your time and you can donate gently used things that you don't need any more.
5. Anticipate.
• Look ahead at the upcoming semester.
• Plan the menus for January.
• Get calendars set through spring break.
• Plan routines.

Your Pepper Team hopes that you have a relaxing and refreshing Winter Break. We look forward to coming alongside and helping you grow professionally in the new year.

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Surviving the Week before Winter Break

We’re in the final days before Winter Break. Students and teachers both have worked hard all semester and are eager for time off and a break from routine. However, we still have a week of school before that break begins. Students are excited, and teachers, while also excited, may also be exhausted from extra activities, programs, and over-excited students. For many teachers, this may be the most difficult time of the year. How do we keep our students - and ourselves - motivated? One way to keep everyone engaged is the use of thematic lessons. Ben Johnson, author of Engage and Motivate Your Students Before the Holiday Break, believes that designing learning around a theme provides additional incentive for students to stay interested and engaged in learning. According to Johnson, “Projects designed to embrace holiday and seasonal themes -- and timed to coincide with the holiday schedule -- can relieve pressure on the teacher, enthuse students, and keep them learning and engaged up to the last moment.”

Good lesson plans and structure can help teachers make it through this trying week. There are other ways to make this week easier on students and teachers. Angela Watson, of The Cornerstone, gives 7 Teacher Tips for Surviving the Week Before Holiday Break, citing that the final stretch of the semester can be the one of the most difficult times to maintain order. Here are her tips:

1. Don’t build anticipation.
2. Resist the urge to ease up on your behavioral expectations.
3. Review your procedures and expectations.
4. Integrate high-interest projects and group work into your regular routines.
5. Don’t feel pressure to do all of the elaborate holiday stuff that other teachers do.
6. Keep the last day before break low-key.
7. Get prepared for January before you leave.

Your Pepper Learning Community can be a great resource for surviving the week before Winter Break. Utilizing the experience and skills of teachers from around the country can provide unique opportunities for networking and sharing lesson ideas and classroom management tips. Also be sure to check out your Pepper Resource Library for great tools and resources.

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Computer Science Education Week: Hour of Code

This week, Dec. 7-13, is Computer Science Education Week. Teachers are being encouraged to teach an Hour of Code in their classrooms this week. Computer Science Education Week is an annual program dedicated to inspiring K-12 students to take interest in computer science. According to the Computer Science Education Week website, “Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) was founded as a call to action to raise awareness about the need to elevate computer science education at all levels and to underscore the critical role of computing in all careers.”

The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. You can check out information on the Computer Science Education website. They provide one-hour tutorials that are available in over 40 languages. No experience is needed for coding. You can also visit the Hour of Code website to find out more about this initiative. The Hour of Code is organized by Code.org, a public 501c3 non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. An unprecedented coalition of partners have come together to support the Hour of Code, too — including Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the College Board.

Pepper Resource Library partner, Graphite, has a many digital tools to support classroom learning. They provide reviews of coding resources and programs for instructional use. You can find them by visiting Graphite in the Pepper Resource Library and searching for “Code”.

Your Pepper Professional Development Courses and Resource Library can help you create a more engaged and active classroom that includes 21st century skills and learning concepts. We’re adding new courses and resources regularly, so be sure to check them out.

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Performance-Based Assessment to Measure Understanding

Performance-based assessment, which became a popular alternative to multiple choice tests in the 1990s, has been overshadowed by the recent emphasis on standardized tests. More recently, however, schools are seeking more authentic measures of student learning, and performance-based assessments are making a comeback. Notable author and education consultant, Jay McTighe, defines a performance task as “any learning activity or assessment that asks students to perform to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiency.” While most performance tasks tend to be focused in areas of the arts and career technology, McTighe argues that performance tasks should be used for all subjects at all grade levels. Performance tasks allow students to be assessed on their understanding of the content and subject matter, requiring them to use higher order thinking skills to demonstrate their learning.

Patricia Hilliard’s recent article, Performance-Based Assessment: Reviewing the Basics, highlights the essential components of a performance-based assessment. In addition to meeting the standards, the assessment should also be:

1. Complex
2. Authentic
3. Process/product-oriented
4. Open-ended
5. Time-bound

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s book, Understanding by Design, is an excellent resource for getting started with performance-based assessment. In this book, they encourage teachers to start their planning with the assessment and then work backwards from there to determine what to teach. Hilliard recommends that teachers create performance-based assessments for their students based on this "backward design" process. Below are some suggestions for getting started:

1. Identify goals of the performance-based assessment
2. Select the appropriate course standards
3. Review assessments and identify learning gaps
4. Design the scenario
5. Gather or create materials
6. Develop a learning plan

Pepper provides a wide range of courses for teachers that allow for creative and authentic assessment opportunities. As you participate in Pepper's online learning community discuss with peers and determine ways to create performance-based assessments for your students. Be sure to check out our wide range of Pepper Courses to further your own professional growth.

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Maker Education: Learning by Doing

Piaget once said, “Knowledge is a consequence of experience.” The constructivist movement, and more recently, project-based learning initiatives, have long proposed the need of an active, engaging learning environment for students. The difference in “Maker” classrooms is that students aren’t just using apps - they’re creating them. 

Maker education is more than just legos and building things. Sylvia Martinez, co-author of Invent to Learn, believes that mathematician, Seymour Papert, could be considered one of the “founders” of the Maker movement. According to Martinez, “Papert's constructionism takes Piagetian constructivist theory a step further toward action. Although the learning happens inside the learner's head, it happens most reliably when the learner is engaged in a personally meaningful activity that makes the learning real and shareable. This shareable construction may take the form of a robot, musical composition, paper-mache volcano, poem, conversation, or new hypothesis.” Creating from knowledge, the heart of the Maker movement, truly makes learning meaningful.

Maker education is not something that’s happening just in schools and classrooms. More and more hands-on learning centers and technology discovery centers are popping up in museums, art studios, and libraries. These hands-on centers, known as “makerspaces”, are taking these community resource locations into the 21st century.

Edutopia’s article, How the Maker Movement Is Moving Into Classrooms, provides an excellent resource of terminology and trends to help educators understand the Maker movement. I would encourage educators to check out this thorough resource for more information.

Your Pepper professional development Courses and Resource Library can help you transition to a more engaged and active classroom. We’re adding new courses and resources regularly, so be sure to check them out.

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STEAM = STEM + Arts

A couple of weeks ago we focused on the importance of creativity in the classroom - both for teachers and students. Creativity is not just reserved for arts education, but is widely being integrated throughout curriculum. Additionally, it’s a 21st century skill employers are looking for in its employees. Creativity - in the form of arts education, is making itself known in the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). There's a new letter in the acronym - A, for Arts - that changes STEM to STEAM. Many believe that educating our students in these areas will be crucial to both their future and the future of our country.

According to Edutopia article, Creativity is the Secret Sauce in STEM, “Researchers have found that play is important for productive thought. Playing with ideas also increases learning. We must encourage playing with concepts to nurture creativity in students. Playing with concepts provides multiple entry points and multiple ways of engagement.” STEAM proponents are all about creative thinking. Students who work and think scientifically must also work creatively and be willing to experiment and try new ideas and ways to make things work. Students must be comfortable with working old concepts in new ways. Careers for the 21st century will require creative, smart-thinking students.

Pepper offers a variety of Science courses to sharpen your STEM skills and allow for creative arts integration, including our Engineering K-2 course. Our Language Arts and Writing and Poetry courses also provide opportunity for integration into Science and Art. We would love to hear how our Pepper teachers are using courses to change the way they teach in the classroom.

Courses available through Pepper will provide a foundation for concepts that will allow teachers to implement a creative classroom approach. Check out our wide range of Pepper Courses and our Pepper Resource Library to further your own professional growth.

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Photo Credit: Terry Williams Graphic Art

Top 10 Things Teachers May Be Thankful for This Year

Last year, ASCD posted this fabulous list for teachers. Because only teachers understand why we are truly thankful for these things, I’m sharing this post with you…

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection and feasting with family, friends, and loved ones. We hope you have the feasting part covered, because we’re here to help you reflect on the top 10 things teachers may be thankful for.

1. Bathroom breaks. Add lunch breaks for that matter.
2. Coffee. Three cups before noon isn’t normal?
3. Alarms. Let’s face it: no one should ever wake up that early naturally.
4. Holiday break. Thank you, Thanksgiving!
5. Substitute teachers. But who are we kidding? We spend all day worrying anyway.
6. Snow days. Let’s hope they don’t start cutting into summer vacation, though.
7. Supply donations. Kleenex and construction paper and disinfectant wipes! Oh, my!
8. Naps. Just kidding! Who has time for naps? MUST. GRADE. PAPERS.
9. Coworkers. No one else will ever understand.
10. Students. They make it all worth it, and who would we really be without them?

From everyone at Pepper, we hope you enjoy your holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!

As always, be sure to check out our wide range of Pepper Courses and the Pepper Resource Library to further your own professional growth. Sign up to receive "The Big Idea" directly to your email each time it's updated. To do this, simply add your email under "Follow PepperPCG Posts by E-mail!" to the right.

American Education Week: TEACH

T = Teacher

E = Educate

A = Adventure

C = Children

H = Hard work

Teachers are some of the hardest working people I know. Teaching is more than a job. Many educators choose teaching as a career for the reward it brings - not the hours or the vacation days.

There are lots of myths around about teaching; here are a few:

• MYTH: A teacher’s day ends at 3:00 PM.
• FACT: Many teachers are lucky to leave school by 5:00 - and most are there by 7:00 AM.

• MYTH: Teachers get their summers off.
• FACT: Many teachers spend their summers participating in professional development, taking classes, and attending conferences.

• MYTH: Teaching is easy, and anyone can do it.
• FACT: Teaching is a rigorous professional career. Educators must maintain a current teaching certificate.

• MYTH: Teachers are solely responsible for learning.
• FACT: Teaching is more than than just helping students understand math. Many teachers are invested in the lives of their students. They are guiding, nurturing, and encouraging students.

Teachers don’t leave their work at the “office”. It goes home with them. They work well past 3:00 and spend summers learning and adapting their skills to meet the ever-changing needs of teachers. Teaching is a career marked with hard work and dedication.

Pepper recognizes the hard work it takes to be a teacher. Thank you for your sacrifice.

So, when you’re signing up for professional development and continuing your own education, we hope you’ll look to Pepper for online learning courses and resources. Many teachers use the Pepper courses to meet their districts requirements for salary growth, re-certification, and for CEUs.

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