CREATING AN EFFECTIVE WEEKEND SCHOOL CLASSROOM ISNA West Coast Education Forum January 16, 2016 Adita Arya

Keys to Effective Schools? (Hawley, Willis) (1) Educational Reform as Continuous Improvement (2) Contextualizing Learner-Centered Principles for Teachers and Teaching (3) Improving Achievement for All Students: The Meaning of Staff Shared Understanding and Commitment (4) Professional Communication and Collaboration (5) Teacher Use of Formal Assessment in the Classroom (6) Assessment as Learning (7) Transforming Professional Development: Understanding and Organizing Learning Communities (8) Design Principles for Learner-Centered Professional Development (9) Organizational Conditions That Enhance Teaching and Learning (10) Continuous School Improvement (11) Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning for a Multicultural Society (12) Instructional Improvement and Technology

WHY? FULLAN, MICHAEL Students must understand the reason for their learning? In an Islamic School this is so easy to connect? ”And I did not create jinn and mankind except to worship Me… ” (Quran, 51:56-58) 1 st Key is to create Mission /Vision for the School that embodies your community goals.

EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM COMPONENTS 1.Metacognitive Strategies 2.Clear Goals and Objectives 3.Learning Modalities and Knowledge Acquisition 4.Effective Classroom Management 5.Center Based Learning

METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES Students are given opportunities to plan and organize, monitor their own work, direct their own learning, and to self-reflect along the way. When we provide students with time and space to be aware of their own knowledge and their own thinking, student ownership increases. And research shows that metacognition can be taught.

CLEAR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Intention: Clarify Purpose and Goal 1.This must be written and read out loud in student friendly terminology. a. I will be able to make intention for wudu in order to be pure for prayer b. I will be able to correctly state the main parts of the body that need to be cleaned for basic wudu by reading surah Al Maida verse 6 and filling the worksheet given to me c. Why is it important for me to do this and be able tell the main body parts involved. 2.Tie the goal and objective to the big picture to create motivation and interest. 3.In addition: Have the agenda written out for the students

LEARNING MODALITIES AND KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION 1. Learning Modalities-Modalities refer to how students use their senses in the learning process. We commonly consider four modalities: visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), kinesthetic (moving), and tactile (touching). Generally the more senses are involved in the teaching of a topic the more retention will occur.

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION Bloom’s Taxonomy-Bloom’s taxonomy is a classification system used to define and distinguish different levels of human cognition—i.e., thinking, learning, and understanding. Educators have typically used Bloom’s taxonomy to inform or guide the development of assessments(tests and other evaluations of student learning), curriculum (units, lessons, projects, and other learning activities), and instructional methods such as questioning strategies.

EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT School must have positive schoolwide management system in order for management to be effective. The management system must highlight excellence in character and they must be taught, modeled, practiced, and recognized. It is helpful to have a short acronym that stands for the school values. How do you build self esteem when correcting behavior? Use I statements or point to positive behavior. How would you rephrase this: “ Be quiet.” ______________________________ “ Don’t do that” ________________________________________________________________________

AIM TO BE BETTER A lways be aware of Allah. Show compassion, integrity, respect I ntend to do my best. Persevere, Take initiative M ake every deed a good deed. Have positive mental attitude, cooperate

CENTER BASED LEARNING RESEARCH Centers allow for effective teaching because it allows teachers to lower the student to teacher ratio. Student engagement is increased Minimum of three centers constructed to target different learning modalities as well review and reinforcement of the same concept more than once allows for effective learning Student independence is promoted- when student are allowed to work in cooperative groups it allows them an opportunity to learn from each other. Teacher effectiveness is greatly increased- groups allows for the teacher to informally or formally assess through observation and listening to discussions to see if learning is occurring.

CENTER BASED LEARNING Use 10 to 15 minutes to introduce the lesson and with explicit instructions Main concepts include: physical activity/ partner work (kinesthetic, tactile) reading and answer questions ( auditory) art work/ charts graphic organizer( visual)

Reflection and Evaluation