M INDFUL T EACHING F RAMEWORK L EVEL 2 St. Helena Parish School District District Vision: To develop a productive educational system that increases student achievement, develops educator effectiveness, and builds public confidence. Clif St. Germain, Ph.D.

O VERVIEW In schools that meet teachers’ needs for resources, professional development and collegiality, more teachers are likely to be caring and effective. These teachers are also more likely to give students a feeling of being cared about, promote students’ confidence in their ability to succeed in school and show how academic success is linked to their future success Student beliefs about their ability to succeed in school has a direct effect on their level of academic engagement

T HE P ROGRESS P RINCIPLE Knowing what to do to energize and nourish high levels of positive engagement— and avoiding what does the opposite— turns out to be a key to building high performing organizations.  People are most motivated and energized when they feel that they have the resources to overcome obstacles and make progress.  The negative effects of butting into obstacles and not getting anywhere carry three times more negative weight than making progress carries positive weight.  High priority leadership actions include: creating the conditions that help people succeed by removing unnecessary obstacles, supporting group development, capacity building, and promoting helping behaviors through competence, trust and accessibility.

Strengths are characteristics that give us an advantage. A highly competent superintendent with a deep commitment to learning, raising standards, building a collaborative culture, and learning success for all St. Helena students A philosophy grounded in promoting across the board capacity building for all A focus on classroom resources and eliminating negatives to learning A talented and dedicated District Leadership Team that meets monthly to devise strategies that link leaning initiatives to implementation in schools A seasoned and effective secondary principal and two promising administrators at the elementary school A cadre of strong master teachers and lead teachers at the school sites A number of partnerships that bring additional resources directly into St. Helena classrooms including SPDG, Southeastern Louisiana University, President’s Arts Turnaround Program and Regions Bank Recipient of several Grants for enriching classroom learning 1:1 Technology footprint New and improved school facilities and a number of new academic programs (i.e. Literacy Initiatives & ACT preparation classes) Opportunity to have a complete K-12 student population

Challenges are characteristics that, unless met, place us at a disadvantage. Assimilating middle school teachers and students into the St. Helena learning culture A lingering reputation for academic failure despite the facts on the ground Dealing with the current political firestorm surrounding Common Core Standards, PARC testing and changes in how teachers are evaluated Helping students understand and accept the importance of regular attendance, persistent effort and cooperative behaviors in school Helping teachers embrace the challenges of professional development and teamwork as part of their job description Winning over skeptics in the St. Helena community Making more efficient use of academic performance data to improve classroom instruction Building inter-school alliances

M ULTIPLIER E FFECT Mindful Teaching is a capacity building framework designed to foster the sharing of specific knowledge and skills embedded in the essentials of quality teaching. It provides a context for examining and personalizing best practices in teaching It illustrates a cyclical teaching progression that begins with lower levels of cognitive complexity and moves to higher levels of cognitive complexity It balances taking in information with guided practice, assessment and creative applications of new learning It fosters teacher-to-teacher consistency regarding the major components of a research-based teaching process- A Multiplier Effect..

M OTION L EADERSHIP In St. Helena District Schools a key leadership driver is to promote conditions for learning in every classroom so as to create a “systemic” multiplier effect with regard to student academic gains.

G ETTING TO A C OLLABORATIVE C ULTURE Our goal is to create a differentiated approach for helping novice, capable and accomplished teacher-learners feel safe and supported as they work together to incorporate and refine the use of “best practice” instructional strategies in St. Helena Schools.

Tri-Level Approach to Professional Development Discussion Topic

T ODAY W E W ILL : Review the connection between Bloom’s Taxonomy and the 4 Phases of Mindful Teaching Review elements of high engagement learning Explore resources for infusing greater levels of student engagement thru the use of technology Invite suggestions as to how returning teachers can help new teachers with the implementation of Mindful Teaching in classrooms

T HE M INDFUL T EACHING F RAMEWORK Mindful Teaching is a capacity building framework designed to foster the sharing of specific knowledge and skills embedded in the essentials of quality teaching. It provides a context for examining and personalizing best practices in teaching (collaborative capacity building tool) It emphasizes the importance of high engagement learning It illustrates a teaching progression that begins with lower levels of cognitive complexity and moves to higher levels of cognitive complexity It balances taking in information, guided practice and creative applications of new learning It fosters teacher-to-teacher consistency regarding the major components of a research-based teaching process.

M INDFUL T EACHING P RACTICES Level 2.

Activity. Discretionary Autonomy

How are Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Mindful Teaching Progression Similar?

M INDFUL T EACHING © T HINKING P ROGRESSION

Using your Mindful Teaching Progression Placemat- How could you organize the 4 Phases to better suit your current teaching practices?

Activity. Promoting Higher levels of Student Engagement

W HAT D OES H IGH S TUDENT E NGAGEMENT L OOK L IKE ? Focused Attention Active Participation Task Persistence Completing Work Enthusiasm and Cooperation Interest and Willingness to ask Questions Seeking Assistance with Difficult Tasks Pride in Success Self-Directed Learning Using Meta-Cognitive Learning Learning Buzz

40 Ways to Leave a Lesson Handout Activity– Survey the text of the article with a colleague and note promising engagement strategies.

Activity. Greater Infusion of Technology and the Arts in Teaching

High School: By department, using your 50 ways to Integrate Technology handout- explore promising sites and prepare to report back to the larger group.

Elementary School: In grade level groups review “A School Revitalized Through the Arts and discuss plans for next year.

Closing Thoughts: Turn to pages in Teaching Up for a closing discussion

In Readiness the instructional intention is …

To create a supportive learning climate that prepares learners to initiate new learning; to make new learning interesting and doable ; to provide a context that encourages students to risk new learning Basics: discussion with feedback/agenda use and word walls.

In Delivery the instructional intention is…

To explain important ideas in ways that learners can begin to make sense of them, think about them, remember them and prepare to use them in ways that lead to deeper understanding. Basics: direct teach with probing and affirming and technology use for illustrations.

In Performance the instructional intention is…

To provide opportunities for learners to apply new learning in ways that deepen understanding, invite problem solving and demonstration of knowledge and skill. Basics: guided practice, flexible groups, pair-share /formative assessments with feedback.

In Transfer the instruction intention is…

Readiness is the introductory phase of the learning process … Readiness provides the structure for students to initiatelearning? Delivery is the information gathering phase of the learning process. Delivery is the information exchange segment of thelearning process. Performance is the application phase of the learning process. Performance is practice “doing it right.” Transfer is the integration phase of the learning process. Transfer provides evidence that students know and can usenew learning as a foundation for futurelearning?

Which classroom practices make the biggest difference in student learning?

Reinforcing effort and providing personal recognition Setting objectives and providing feedback Using advance and graphic illustrations Identifying similarities and differences Probing with questions, using cues Summarizing and providing feedback Cooperative learning and group work Meaningful practice with feedback Testing new ideas

What can individual teachers do to help each other teach more mindfully?

In cluster meetings share craft knowledge about what works (andresources you use) in yourclassroom Include management strategies Agree to serve as a sounding board for new ideas from other teachers Invite other teachers to visit your classroom