Roots Student Learning Standards
Roots learning standards are content standards unpacked into learning objectives they want each student to meet.
August 9, 2016
Tag: Growth Oriented
Teacher Discusses Leveraging Student Feedback at Roots
Roots teacher, Lecksy Wolk, explains how teachers are able to elicit and integrate student feedback to give them more choice and ownership over learning plans.
Transcript: Lecksy Wolk: I think right now, I think as the technology is new, and as our scholars are new, and we’re kind of we’re all – we’re kind of like, learning to navigate the system together, it’s not as high leverage as we’d want it to be, to be honest. But, what I think is – what we’ve built in is that – so kids have one-on-ones with their coaches. Hopefully once every two weeks, that’s the goal. And they’re asked, how is the grove? How are your activities? How is your class? And it’s very, very easy for us in our system to be like, oh, you don’t like this one activity? Okay. So you still need to do it, but we can add in other activities around it so that we’re like, what do you want to do right before and right after? Right? You’re like, okay. So this is your like, a kid can be like, wow, I really don’t like playing ST Math. Okay. We still need to play ST Math, but what if we put Legos on either side of that so you knew that right after you went to Legos the first time, you were gonna go play ST Math. But right after, you also got to go play Legos again. And it’s a conversation that a five year-old can have with an adult, right? And say like, I don’t like this activity. I want to try something different. Or, I really like this activity and I want to do it twice.
August 9, 2016
Roots Template One-on-One Conference Spreadsheet
This blank Roots template can be used to input student data during and after one-on-one conferences.
August 9, 2016
Roots One-on-One Conferencing Spreadsheet
Roots uses one-on-one conferencing spreadsheets so that students are able to benchmark their progress and set goals in a tangible manner. Teachers walk through the tool with students, with updates made in different colors to track change over time.
August 9, 2016
Teacher Providing an Overview of One-on-One Conferencing at Roots
Roots teacher, Megan Miles, talks about the value of one-on-one student conferencing
Transcript: Megan Miles: One thing that we do that I really love is that we have one-on-ones. So that’s what one of the coaches was doing this morning. I don’t know if you saw her. But every other day, we get to – we have an hour that we pull kids, and we actually have a meeting with them with like, how are you doing? Like, what – let’s go through each of your classes and talk about them. Let’s set goals for you. And so, that way, we absolutely meet every single kid, and then we’re also really in charge of just, I set all of the kids’ grove schedules, for example. So I’m talking to the teachers about what their academic priorities for each one of my kids – and then organizing their schedule based on that.
August 9, 2016
Roots Sample Math Benchmark Assessment
Roots uses benchmark assessments to find baselines for measuring each student’s progress.
August 9, 2016
Roots Executive Director Discusses Benefits of Periodic Benchmark Assessments at Roots
Roots ED and Founder, Jonathan Hanover, discusses how the team uses leveled competency-based assessments across every content area to assess growth and learning trajectories.
Transcript: Jon Hanover: roughly every six to eight weeks, we deliver competency-based assessments in every content area. Core content area, at least. Reading, writing, math, and science. And what that looks like is – it’s kind of what leveled reading assessments look like that are more commonly used but we do it across content areas. So, when scholars start, they take the level one test. If they pass the level one test, they take the level two test. If they pass the level two test, they take the level three test. And so, we know in every content area, exactly where along their developmental trajectory they are – you know, what they’ve learned, what they haven’t learned yet, and what their next steps are for instruction. Whether they’re five years old, six years old, or seven years old. If you are a level two, and the thing that kept you from passing a level three was better understanding character motivation, then you’ll be getting instruction on how to better understand character motivation.
August 9, 2016
Teacher Data Use at Roots
Teachers use data from assessments to monitor growth and plan. In this video, a Roots leader walks through a literacy data Google Sheet. (Student names have been blurred to protect privacy.)
August 8, 2016
DreamBox Learning
DreamBox Learning is a mathematics adaptive learning tool for students in grades K-8.
August 8, 2016
Roots Executive Director Discussing QR Code Use
Roots ED and Founder, Jonathan Hanover, discusses how QR codes are used to help students move from one learning activity to another.
Transcript: Jon Hanover: Then, we have a third little web app that we built for teachers on the backend that shows you at any given time where every scholar is supposed to be. And when scholars get to wherever they’re going, they scan in on a QR code, and so that that app on the backend can show who – which scholars have scanned in to the right place, which scholars have scanned in to the wrong place, or haven’t scanned in yet so that teachers can follow up and make sure everybody gets to where they need to be.
August 8, 2016