Focusing Together Strategy (PL) Public

About This Strategy

Focusing Together is an instructional program that promotes self-management skills in association with a set of classroom expectations that defines responsible work habits, respect, and emotional and physical safety. Students learn how to live by a set of learning community expectations; how their choice of whether or not to abide by those expectations affects their personal power; and how to follow a self-management strategy for staying on task when they must work independently or in small groups.In research studies, students in experimental classes reduced the number of off-task behaviors during the time they were expected to work independently (from a mean of 21 to a mean of 4.5 per 45-minute period; comparison class means were 21.9 and 18.3). Students in experimental classes were more pleased with the classroom management procedures used by their teachers. Teachers in experimental classes reported a 72 percent reduction of rule infractions, while comparison teachers reported no change. Teachers in experimental classes also were more satisfied with the program and their students' behavior.

How to earn this micro-credential badge

Micro-credentials in the SIM series enable teachers to verify skills in delivering instruction of the SIM Learning Strategies and Content Enhancement Routines and other educational programs offered through the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. To earn the micro-credential badge:

• Click the green “join this badge” button and sign up/sign in if needed.
• Post your evidence specified in the “Required Evidence” section by clicking on the blue “Post” buttons, or you can click into the Evidence section and post from there.
• Notify your SIM Professional Developer partner when you have completed posting your evidence, that is who will give final approval and award the badge.  

Technical Tips

Badge List provides a place to organize evidence of your work.  You may choose to type that evidence directly into a “Required Evidence” section (as when you post the name of your professional developer or a description or narrative about your work), but much of your evidence will be stored elsewhere (longer documents, video, pdf documents, images, spreadsheets, etc.) and linked into your badge.   

Video:  Upload video to a cloud-hosting site like Vimeo, or YouTube using privacy settings that provide a private link to view the video, keeping it unlisted on the public website.  You will then post the link to that video in the evidence section, along with any comments you wish to include.  

Documents, Image files, spreadsheets, PDF files, etc:  You will upload your document, image file, pdf, spreadsheet, etc. to a cloud-hosting site. You will then post the link in the evidence section, along with any comments you wish to include.  We have found Google Drive to be a really simple tool for accomplishing this, but Drop Box or File Dropper or any file storage site that gives you a link to your file works.    

To use Google Drive to post documents, images , spreadsheets, pdf, etc.: 

• Open Google Drive
• Hit the red “New” button
• Select “File Upload” and choose the file you wish to upload
• Click on “Share”
• Get Shareable Link
• Paste the link into your evidence section along with any comments you wish to include.

Communicate with other badge earners on the Badge Wiki 

Contribute to a current wiki:

• Click on the "View Badge WIki" button below this Badge Overview.
• Hit "Edit" in the upper right corner.
• Type into the Page Body.
• Hit "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.

Create a New Wiki Topic

• Think of a one or two word title for your new wiki. Example: Hotel TIps.
• Go to the browser address bar above.
• Change current url by ERASING "wiki-instructions" and typing the name of your wiki:

From:
http://www.badgelist.com/sim/2015-sim-conference-participant/wiki-instructions
To:
http://www.badgelist.com/sim/2015-sim-conference-participant/hotel-tips

• Use a dash between words.
• Hit "return".
• "Start" the new wiki.
• Type in your message.
• Choose who can contribute to the wiki.
• Hit the "Create Page" button at the bottom of the page.

Contact simpd@ku.edu with questions.