Make Learning Stick: Activating Background knowledge When Teaching Remotely

04/28/20 • 10 min

How does background knowledge make learning stick? How do we connect our learning objectives to what students already know, care about, and grasp? How can we activate background knowledge when teaching remotely?
Follow on Twitter: @larryferlazzo @ReadDRjwilhelm @adamfachler@Elizabe93434127 @cherylabla
At McREL International, Cheryl Abla, MA, trains and coaches K–12 teachers and school leaders on effective instructional strategies, problem-based learning, classroom technology, teacher coaching, English-language-learner supports and creating engaging school cultures and climates. She has authored several articles for McREL’s Changing Schools magazine and is a co-author of Tools for Classroom Instruction that Works. Elizabeth Villanueva is a passionate and committed teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, CA where she teaches 9th-12th grade Spanish. She leads an after-school leadership program called New-Age Latinas. Adam Fachler is a learning strategist who helps education leaders develop their people and communicate with clarity. After teaching, coaching, and leading a public middle school, he co-founded of the School in the Square, a public charter school. He is co-author with Jeff Wilhelm of Planning Powerful Instruction and creator of the process captured in that book, the EMPOWER Method. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. A full-time classroom teacher for 13 years, Jeff Wilhelm is Distinguished Professor of English Education at Boise State University and is the founding director of the Maine and Boise State Writing Projects. He is the author or co-author of 41 books about literacy teaching and learning and has won NCTE’s Promising Research award for You Gotta Be the Book. His most recent publication is Planning Powerful Instruction: 7 Must Make Moves to Transform How We Teach -- and How Students Learn.

Previous Episode

Keeping the Passion for Reading Alive While Teaching Online

Inspiring students to read is always a priority in education. How can we maintain our commitment to supporting reading while teaching online?
Follow on Twitter: @larryferlazzo @bamradionetwork @jenorr @MrsSaid17
Sarah Said has spent years overseeing ELL programming in schools in Illinois. In addition to her current role as a Director of Language and Equity programs, she is also a contributor for ELL Confianza. She is also a course writer for English Learner portal. Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez is a National Board Certified fifth-grade teacher in the Folsom Cordova School District. She was a participant in the Teaching American History Grant, Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Summer Institute, and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. Jennifer Orr is a kindergarten teacher in a Title 1 school in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Previously she has taught 5th, 4th, and 1st graders, as well as her own two daughters.
Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., is co-founder and lead developer for WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin- Madison. She has devoted her professional career to the education of multilingual learners, having published extensively and presented worldwide; her latest books include Assessing English language learners: Bridges to equity, Assessing multilingual learners: A month-by-month guide (2017, ASCD), and Language power: Key uses for accessing content. Kristin Spears is an ESOL coach and teacher in Spartanburg, South Carolina District 6 where she helps plan and conduct ESOL professional development and collaborates with elementary teachers on how to best serve ELs in their classrooms. In her teaching career, she has worked in various upstate SC schools with students in grades K-8. Becky Corr is an English Language Development Team Lead for Douglas County School District in Colorado. In her role with DCSD as well as the owner of EdSpark Consulting, she provides coaching, professional development, and family engagement opportunities.

Next Episode

So What Have We Learned During the Rapid Transition to Remote Learning?

Many teachers have now been engaged in remote learning from three to six weeks. What have we learned so far? What, if anything, would we do differently?
Follow on Twitter: @elvisepps @MrsLeonENL @ashlm_12 @barberchicago @ @larryferlazzo @Ashley McCall serves as a 3rd grade bilingual English/Language Arts teacher at César Chávez Multicultural Arts Center on the southwest side of Chicago and serves as a teacher representative on the Chávez Local School Council. She works to incorporate social justice/civic engagement experiences and elevate student voice throughout the year as evidenced by her students’ recent culminating activism unit project “Say it Loud/Dilo Fuerte” which seeks to rewrite students’ neighborhood narrative. Lorie Barber is a 5th-grade teacher in Illinois and a National Board Certification candidate. She works through an anti-oppressive lens and believes in getting high quality, relatable books into the hands of all of her students. Dr. Elvis Epps serves as the Principal at Lake Worth Community High School in the School District of Palm Beach. He has been a teacher, assistant principal, and principal for more than 28 years. He is a veteran of the US Navy. In addition to leading his school, he has been a presenter and speaker at state and national conferences on school leadership and organizational leadership. Claudia Leon is a middle school ENL (English as a New Language) and ELA teacher in Bay Shore, New York. Her students are about 90% Hispanic and 10% South Asian. During her 1st year of teaching, Mrs. Leon took a teacher training class at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art).