Deconstructing the Curriculum MISA Michelle Hemingway and Crystal Gascho

Learning Goal We will share the beginning stages of our process for deconstruction of curriculum, so that we can examine beliefs around assessment and move forward to develop a common purpose.

Build a common understanding within the Program team Our why? Build a common understanding within the Program team -complexity In our work as a central team there are varying levels of experience and content foci. Assessment provided to the window to bring everyone’s work together. This process revealed varying degrees of beliefs/understanding we needed to create a common ground within our department in order to facilitate learning with teachers. Starting conversations, team members felt the assessment process was quite simple which exposed a need to identify the complexity of the process. In our work with teachers as a program team we knew that the teachers we worked with needed a deeper understanding of the curriculum they were teaching in order to set meaningful Learning goals and develop success criteria to assess

Ministry work Our team has been fortunate to work alongside the Curriculum Assessment and Student Success Policy Branch in a few different capacities recently. Lori Stryker was able to come and challenge our thinking as an knowledgeable other. Her questioning and monitoring of our group was needed. She has since lead us through the process in great depth to develop a common understanding of a process to use with teachers. Our Admin, coaches and ministry -asking promoting, advancing and assessing questions, focusing or funneling as Lori kept us on track when we were developing a common understanding

Let’s jump right in! Each group will receive a clip of assessment terms, As a team, we would like you to arrange the cards in an arrangement that best depicts your understanding of the assessment process. As your team is completing this, jot down any questions that arise along the way. (process, facilitation, where are you getting caught up?) We have included blank cards you may use at any stage within the process. Post it notes and pens or markers -cards

Terms to include: Curriculum Expectations Research Front Matter Assessment of UDL Success Criteria Achievement Chart Evaluation Reflection Learning Skills and Work Habits Conversations, Products, Observations Assessment Tools Big Ideas Previous Knowledge Evidence of Learning Descriptive Feedback Learning Goals Differentiation Assessment As Student Voice Tasks Grades Assessment For Evaluation Tools All of these cards have been provided on card stock as talking points and used to spark discussion.

Questions/Wonderings/Observations

Questions/Wonderings/Observations Questions: Should we define all terms? Some of these terms for sure come first: like UDL Does the front matter come first? Research? Is that student research? Marian Small? What would a graphic look like to explain it? Validity and reliability? Does this process help solidify this/ We will fill this in as the groups are working through the process. Questions: Can you write a learning goal without having a detailed understanding of the curriculum content? What is a learning goal? Where does it come from? How do we form one? How do we know we have attained/approximated one?

As a leader... When did you feel uncomfortable? Imagine working with people who are comfortable with each other….what questions could you ask to drive the learning forward?

Importance of this work in our role is: The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. (Growing Success, 6) http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f81jX6OYBcM/TzY9pbrWI7I/AAAAAAAAADs/DerCJjLEjTA/s400/blog+pic+-+PBL.png

-Fullan, Quinn, McEachen, 2018 The design, implementation, and assessment of learning depends always on our capacity to measure learners’ progress and define their success -Fullan, Quinn, McEachen, 2018 After this quote, we will share our documents that we have and have the extra slides there just in case.

Our Contacts Michelle Hemingway: michelle.hemingway@ed.amdsb.ca Crystal Gascho: crystal.gascho@ed.amdsb.ca @mrsgascho

Sharing our current understanding of learning goals: How do we form one? Take the ‘know’ and the ‘do’ and the ‘how’ We are learning about….so that we can…. Where is the so that coming from? Comes from….how do we relate to students why they are learning This may be an opportunity for student voice Connected to the core values expressed in the front matter Specific expectations The intended learning should be similar between practitioners….the so that can have several different sources We are analyzing the curriculum expectations - understanding the whole by breaking it into its parts and understanding how those parts interact Look at each phrase - what does it mean, what is the intended learning, what knowledge, skills; what is the how Looking at different pieces of the overall expectation to determine what it actually means - I think it means…. When I am not sure of what something means - the overall expectation is described through the specific expectations What are they talking about, what is the learning, how does the change in language between OE and SE inform my understanding There are multiple ways of doing this