TWSSP Summer Academy June 24-28, 2013

Celebrations

Breakfast Donations Continental Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday Coffee and Donuts Thursday Parking for Wednesday through Friday

Deepen content and pedagogical content knowledge in English Language Arts, mathematics, or science. Deepen understanding of a research-based learning cycle as a framework to organize elements of effective instruction as articulated in the CCSS, NGSS, and TPEP. Deepen understanding of the use of evidence to inform instruction and students’ learning tactics.

6 Start and end on time Come prepared Presume positive intent We are all learners Cell phone and laptop use allows TWSSP participants to remain focused on tasks at hand Safe learning space Encourage risk taking Encourage collaboration Respect divergent thinking

Common Beliefs Effective Instruction and Improved Student Learning Content and pedagogical content knowledge Professional Learning Communities Leadership Educational Research Formative Assessment Fixed vs Growth Mindset

A Generation of Learners? The one really competitive skill is the skill of being able to learn. It is the skill of being able not to give the right answer to questions about what you were taught in school, but to make the right response to situations that are outside the scope of what you were taught in school. We need to produce people who know how to act when they’re faced with situations for which they were not specifically prepared. Seymour Papert

If education is to help students make sense of their surroundings and ready them for the challenges of the technology-driven, internationally competitive world, then it must be based on what we know from research about learning.

How Students Learn Principles Students come to classrooms with preconceptions about how the world works. To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: have a deep foundation of factual knowledge; understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework; organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning goals and monitor their progress in achieving them.

Five Key Strategies Clarifying, sharing, and understanding learning intentions and success criteria. Eliciting evidence of learners’ achievement. Providing feedback that moves the learner forward. Activating students as instructional resources for one another. Activating students as owners of their own learning.

Growth vs Fixed Mindset

Deepen understanding of the need to make substantial changes to instructional practice in order to implement the new standards and practices.

The most powerful way of thinking about a teacher’s role is for teachers to see themselves as evaluators of their effects on students. John Hattie

What factors most positively impact student achievement? Look over possible educational interventions. Decide whether the interventions would have a low, medium, or high impact on student achievement.

What high impact practices are regularly part of your classroom practice? What high impact practices are you currently engaged in at your school? Answer questions independently and then discuss as a table group.

What Factors Impact Student Achievement? Look over possible educational interventions Decide whether the interventions would have a low, medium, or high impact on student achievement As you’ve implemented new instructional strategies this year, what changes have occurred in student and teacher interactions? What new student and teacher behaviors have emerged as you have made changes to the teaching and learning dynamic in your classroom?

Create separate lists of student and teacher behaviors one might expect to observe in a classroom implementing research based instructional practices. After your group has finished, do a gallery walk. Modify your lists if needed.

Change is hard

What evidence of research based practices did you see in the video?

“An assessment functions formatively to the extent that evidence about student achievement is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers, to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they would have taken in the absence of the evidence that was elicited.” Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam

When preparing for, or thinking about a lesson, what structures or elements would need to be in place for an effective lesson to occur?

Research Based Learning Cycle Draw out Initial Ideas about or Skill With the Learning Target Students surface their thinking about or skill level with the learning target using techniques like formative assessment probes, discussions, demonstrations, examples or performances. Teacher modifies/ adjusts lessons in response to student ideas. Reflect/ Make Sense Students and teacher think about and discuss their understanding or achievement of the learning target as evidenced in artifacts and reflect on their own learning (how their thinking or skills changed and what experiences changed their thinking or skills). Engage with Concept to Generate and Collect Evidence Related to the Learning Target (Activity) Students engage in appropriate activities such as small and large group discussions, lectures, modeling, problem solving, reading textbooks or other text resources, technology based demonstrations or simulations, observations, experiments, or practice. Students reflect on initial ideas or skills in light of evidence, think about and analyze information, discuss evidence and ideas with peers and teacher and provide and receive feedback. Assessment Success? Yes! Share the Learning Target (Concept or Skill) Teacher can answer- What is my learning target? How will it be assessed? What are my success criteria? Students can answer- What am I learning? Why am I learning it? How am I learning it? How well do I need to learn it? How do I show that I have learned it? Where am I going? How do I close the gap? How do I close the gap? Where am I now? Generate Artifacts/ Evidence of Learning (Assessment) Students demonstrate their current thinking or skill level by participating in small group and large group discussions, creating a concept sketch, lab report, class presentation, written report, solved problems, performance, or other artifacts. Teachers and students provide useful feedback based on clear success criteria. Next Concept Feedback Where am I now? Success? Not Yet! Classroom culture / Mindset

What elements were on both your whiteboard and the research based lesson cycle? What supports would you need in order to implement this learning cycle?

Learning the dance “Like the variably ordered steps in the scientific method, the cycle, when fully engaged, became less like a march and more like a dance—but always moving forward to achieve a deep understanding of the learning goal. And although the steps in the cycle may seem simple and memorable, the details and subtasks for each step add complexity.” -Jim Minstrell

Mastering the dance “Mastering this “dance” did not happen overnight…it required creating a classroom culture that was “safe” enough for my students to feel comfortable expressing and respectfully critiquing ideas…” Jim Minstrell

What connections can you make between content areas to support students’ ability to argue from evidence?