Increasing rigor in the classroom MSJC Adult Education Professional development Catherine Kelley Lena Nelson

WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK “RIGOR”? QUESTION: WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK “RIGOR”? take 1 min to write down words or phrases

WHAT IS RIGOR? Rigor is not necessarily more work or hard work. A rigorous lesson is: appropriately challenging helps students think in new and interesting ways requires that students understand concepts that are complex, ambiguous or contentious helps them acquire skills that can be applied outside the classroom and throughout their lives.

RIGOR IN AN ADULT EDUCATION CLASSROOM What are some of the challenges you have encountered when trying to add more rigor to your classroom instruction? THINK – PAIR – SHARE

Community involvement STUDENTS GOALS Enter work force Academic pursuits Community involvement

Read charts, forms, or work instructions student needs Work Read charts, forms, or work instructions Interact effectively with co-workers on teams Creative problem solving

Ask clarifying questions Employ multiple reading strategies Student needs Academic Setting Take extensive notes Ask clarifying questions Employ multiple reading strategies Read complex non-fiction texts Approach assignments creatively

Student needs Community/Home Listen and take phone messages Read mail selectively Attend neighborhood meetings Make decisions about health care, business services, etc. Assist children with homework Interact with teachers at school conferences

EXAMPLES OF RIGOROUS LESSONS Include tasks with multiple steps that build cognitively Encourage divergent thinking Necessitate a transfer of understanding Use divergent perspectives Use divergent media forms

EXAMPLES OF RIGOROUS LESSONS Break away from content-area convention Encourage design thinking Require long-term observation or analysis Study nuance Require students to take and defend positions

Listening Report Activity (http://www.esl-lab.com/) LESSON Samples Listening Report Activity (http://www.esl-lab.com/) Adding Rigor to a Reading Lesson

LISTENING REPORT ACTIVITY VARIATIONS Have the students work individually on their computers/headphones OR cell- phones/headphones  Pair the students and assign the listening segment based on levels – either on computers or cell-phones  Play an audio from the teacher’s computer/cell- phone and have the students work in pairs to complete summaries and individual reflections

Reminder “Any postmethod pedagogy must be sensitive to a particular group of teachers teaching a particular group of learners pursuing a particular set of goals within a particular institutional context embedded in a particular sociocultural mileu” (Kumaravadivelu, 2001).

Reminder Find out your students’ motivations for being in the class Create a community of learners where each of them feels like they can achieve their individual goals AND maybe feel like going a little beyond those goals Have high expectations Trust that their students enjoy using their minds

Success!!!

Sources: Heick, T. (2015). How to add rigor to anything [blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/how-to-add-rigor-to-anything/ Heyer, Sandra. (2009). More True Stories – 4. Pearson Education. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2001). Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy. TESOL QUARTERLY Vol. 35, No. 4. Listening Report (2015), UCR IEP. Meeting the Language Needs of Today’s Adult English Language Learner, https://courses.lincs.ed.gov/