IncentivesPlus TAKEONE! LNI – December 17, 2009

Our Time Together Examine the requirements of the TakeOne! entry; Engage in group activities in preparation for completion of the TakeOne! entry: Discuss evidence-centered teaching; Define, identify, and practice the three types of thinking: descriptive, analytical, and reflective; Begin to collect knowledge of students and differentiate between learning activities and learning goals. Address questions Discuss next steps

& Getting to Know Us Name, school, grade/content, TakeOne area. If your school year so far was a holiday song/tune, what song/tune would it be?

Foundations NBPTS Core Propositions Architecture of Accomplished Teaching You – the TEACHER

NBPTS Core Propositions 1: Teachers are Committed to Students and Their Learning 2: Teachers Know the Subjects They Teach and How to Teach Those Subjects to Students. 3: Teachers are Responsible for Managing and Monitoring Student Learning. 4: Teachers Think Systematically about Their Practice and Learn from Experience. 5: Teachers are Members of Learning Communities. Activity: Jigsaw the Core Propositions – the foundation language of NBPTS – the expression of the ideals of accomplished teaching Each group list the terms, phrases that capture the essence of the proposition on chart paper – present and post.

Architecture of Accomplished Teaching

3 – 2 – 1 Find a partner. Partner A: You have 3 minutes to talk to partner B about the foundations of NBPTS that we have been sharing. Partner B: You have 2 minutes to respond to what your partner just shared. Partner A: You have 1 minute for your final thoughts. Repeat with Partner B starting with 3 minutes.

Down to Work… After a Break…

TakeOne! Entry Requirements Take One! aligns practice to professional teaching standards. Participants identify evidence of student learning and make the critical link between teaching practice and student learning gains.    Take One! participants: Complete a video portfolio entry using a classroom of students to demonstrate accomplished preK-12 teaching Submit the entry to NBPTS to be scored, in accordance with the policies of the current NBPTS assessment program Have three subsequent opportunities to apply their scores if they pursue National Board Certification Go to a portfolio certificate at NBPTS and find the TakeOne information… or use saved pdf

Where do I find my ‘stuff’?? Let’s go exploring… http://www.nbpts.org/ Portfolio TakeOne! Entry directions in the Portfolio IncentivesPlus Grant

I HAVE QUESTIONS!!!!!! Your Best Friend: www.nbpts.org/ Your Next Best Friend: TakeOne! Help & FAQs http://www.nbpts.org/help_and_faqs/take_one (find on sitemap at bottom of page) Your Next, Next Best Friend: You can get answers to your questions by calling 1-800-22TEACH or using the Candidate Inquiry Service Your Next, Next, Next Best Friend: One Another Do keep in mind that the National Board support people cannot answer questions related to the grant - only to the TakeOne process!!!!

Collaboration Guidelines As a Take One! participant, the work you submit as part of an entry must be your own. Your written commentary, the student work and your video recordings must feature your teaching and your students’ work for the timeframe specified. If you are a member of a team of teachers who are completing Take One! together, it is mandatory that video segments, analyses, and student work samples are unique for each participant. Therefore, if you teach in a team-teaching setting, review your responses carefully to ensure that they feature your teaching and your students’ work. If you submit material that is identical to that of another participant, both of you will be disqualified from Take One!. NBPTS considers the following collaborations to be helpful and encourages Take One! participants to collaborate with their colleagues in the following ways:  Practice recording classroom videos  Watch and analyze the videos  Read and provide feedback to each other on analyses and student work

Getting Started…. It’s all about the STUDENTS!

Knowledge of Students Quickly list 10 adjectives, words, or phrases you would use to describe your students. Don’t do any editing, just list the ideas as they come to you.

Read your list. Imagine someone else is reading it, someone who doesn’t know you. What would they say you believe about your students? What does your list tell you about your beliefs? About your perception of your students’ ability to learn? About your role as their teacher?

Students Carry With Them… Age Appearance Assumptions Communication style Culture Emotions Experiences Education Gender Goals Misconceptions Prior Knowledge Religion Values & Beliefs Wants & Needs Personal perspectives We don’t know everything about our students – what is important is that when you have knowledge about a student, you address it.

The BIG Questions: How do your beliefs about your students impact your teaching? How do your beliefs about your students impact students’ learning? How will you describe your teaching using students’ learning as examples/evidence? On to the entry, where what you believe about your students becomes transparent…. Each entry has very clear guiding prompts for the organization of your entry…. We’ll look at some real prompts, you’ll practice writing a response and then we’ll look at an example response – please do keep in mind that these samples are not intended to be scoring models….

Prompt: What are the number, ages, and grades of the students in the class featured in this entry, and subject matter of the class? (Example: 24 students in grade 2, ages 7 and 8, language arts.)

Sample Response I teach in a comprehensive high school. In this regular English Language Arts class there are 32 students, ages 14-16; 28 are 9th graders, 3 are 10th graders repeating the class.

Prompt: What are the relevant characteristics of the students with exceptional needs and abilities that influenced your planning for this period of instruction (for example, the range of abilities and the cognitive, social/behavioral, attentional, sensory, and/or physical challenges of your students?) Give any other information that might help the assessor “see” the class.

Sample Response: This class is more diverse than the student body at large. There are 12 Hispanic students, 11 Asians, 7 African Americans, and 2 Caucasians; 17 boys, 15 girls. There is a wide range of abilities, especially in writing skills and style; some write complete essays; others are working on paragraphs. The majority of the students are subdued, but because I enjoy a verbally active class and like to promote considerable academic discourse, they’ve been getting more vocal and more engaged with one another throughout the semester. All of the students speak English, although the conventions of standard English are a struggle.

Prompt: What are the relevant features of your teaching context that influenced the selection of this theme or topic? This might include other realities of the social and physical teaching context (e.g., available resources, scheduling of classes, self-contained classroom, etc.) that are relevant to your response, (i.e., whole class, small group, one on one, inclusive, pull-out, in-class support, etc.)

Sample Response: Our department divides into remedial, regular, honors, and advanced classes. I choose to teach remedial and regular classes and I hold high expectations for all students and teach accordingly. Although we have state-mandated standards, they are general enough to allow me to select themes that are relevant for my students. We use our five classroom computers and Internet access to obtain lots of the texts we use in class. Our desks are constantly reconfigured to meet our needs, groups, lecture style, debate teams, etc.

Prompt: What particular instructional challenges do the students chosen for this entry represent? Explain the particular dynamics of the class an assessor needs to know to understand how you involve students in establishing a supporting and stimulating community and how you used your topic of discussion to assist students in accomplishing this goal. This might include, but is not limited to, a description of your students’ skills, knowledge, and previous experiences that relate to your teaching.

Sample Response: During this election year, democracy has been a central theme, and reading, analyzing, and debating political speeches has been the focus of the curriculum for this unit. These students are used to completing worksheets and being quiet, not having and sharing their own ideas. A challenge has been to open their minds and encourage their voices. To prepare students to participate in our democracy, they need to have democracy in their lives. I do a lot of scaffolding, break the text in to readable chunks, jigsaw, preread, hold Socratic seminars, and use many other strategies to reduce the barriers to understanding. The cultural differences break down over time as students gain personal voice.

RELEVANT It is insufficient to know the characteristics of your teaching context if you don’t put that knowledge to good use. An accomplished teacher is sensitive and responsive to students needs. When you connect the relevant characteristics of your teaching context to your instructional choices, evidence of student achievement usually follows.

Entry Thinking & Writing Description Analysis Reflection Activity: Divide a sheet of paper into thirds. In one section, describe your or someone else’s cell phone In section two, analyze the impact that the cell phone has on your life or the life of others. In section three, if you could re-design the cell phone, what features would you include?

Description A retelling of what happened in a classroom situation. This kind of writing is meant to “set the scene” for assessors. Your description should be logically ordered and detailed enough to allow assessors to have a basic sense of your classroom situation so that they can understand what you are conveying in your Written Commentary. Within the portfolio directions look for verbs like state, list, or describe or questions beginning with what or which. Be sure your response meets these criteria: Accurate and precise enumeration and/or explanation of critical features; Clear and logical ordering of the elements or features of the event, person, concept, or strategy described; and Inclusion of all features or elements that would allow an outsider to see as you see whatever is described

Analysis Analysis deals with reasons, motives, and interpretation and is grounded in the concrete evidence provided by the materials you submit. Analytic writing shows assessors the thought processes that you used to arrive at the conclusions you made about a teaching situation. Analysis demonstrates the significance of the evidence you submit. It is an interpretation of facts in which you will be asked “how” and “why”, so if you are asked to provide analysis, do not tell what happened (that is description), instead explain why you think it happened and how you feel it influenced the course of the lesson, or your students’ understanding.

Reflection A thought process that occurs after a teaching situation. This is the thinking that allows you to make decisions about how you would approach similar situations in the future. You could decide to do something the same way, differently, or not at all. Although reflective thought may occur in many places, the “Reflection” section of your Written Commentary is where you must show assessors how you use what you learn from teaching experiences to inform and improve your practice in the future. “Analysis” and “Reflection” overlap, though they are not identical. “Analysis” involves interpretation and examination of why the elements or events described are the way they are. “Reflection,” a particular kind of analysis, always suggests self-analysis, or retrospective consideration of one’s practice, in the terms of this assessment. When you are asked to analyze or reflect, be certain that your response meets these criteria:   The subject of the analysis is available to the reader (e.g., the student work samples, the videotape). The focus of your writing is not on what (which is descriptive but rather on why (which is analytical and reflective).

Writing Class Continues… Where’s the Evidence An Example Clear, Concise & Consistent Be real. Be yourself. Be sincere.

Designing Coherent Instruction Learning Goals Evidence of Student Learning Lesson/Learning Activities Instructional Materials and Resources Instructional Groups Lesson Structure As time allows – go through the handout/worksheet

Questions?

Next Steps…. April 15, 2010