Appalachian Teacher Partners Appalachian Math Science Partnership March 25, 2010 We will begin at 9:01

Group Norms Place cell phones on silent or vibrate Come prepared for each meeting Listen actively as others are speaking Avoid sidebar conversations Respect and solicit opinions Rule of 2 feet

Review of January Debrief Intro & Ch.1 Deconstructing Standards Breakouts

Where to today? Formative Multiple Choice Questions Teaching Reading In Science & Math Debrief of Ch Breakouts

Talk A Mile A Minute

Math and Science Terms A HYPOTHESIS DIVIDE MOTION GEOMETRY EXPERIMENT

Math and Science Terms B VARIABLE SUM BIOLOGY LAB REPORT TRIANGLE

Teaching Reading in Math and Science Learning Targets –I can explain why vocabulary development is important in math or science. –I can identify the steps necessary to plan content vocabulary instruction.

Teaching Vocabulary Complete the pre- reading guide. In the section, “The Role of Text Features”, read the sub-section “Text Features: Vocabulary” Complete the reading guide as you read.

What does research say? Students need to be exposed to a word at least 6 times before they have enough experience to recall its meaning. Focus vocab instruction on words that are CRITICAL to new content. Achievement can increase as much as 33%. No single method of instruction will result in optimal learning. Flexible vocab instruction respects students’ diversity. The chances of learning a word in context is 19% for high ability students and 8% for low ability students. Multiple methods and contexts ensure repeated exposure and aid learning.

3 Tiers of Words Essential—These are the words that are CRITICAL to understanding the content. These words must be EXPLICITILY taught during the unit—10-12 wds max. Nice to Know—These are content words but ones that do not require explicit instruction for understanding. Supporting—These are non-content words but are necessary for student success such as summarize, analyze, evaluate, etc.

Warning! Warning! WARNING! Word Search is the Kiss of Death for students with dyslexia and/or reading difficulty. No research supports its use!

For Next Time Read the Frayer Model strategy and decide how you would like to use this with your students. At the next meeting, bring some student samples and be prepared to share pros and cons of this strategy.

Please Reflect

Line Up! Without talking, line up as directed from the most recent high school graduate to the oldest graduate. Wait for further instructions.

Looking at the Old World Discuss with your partner: –What did you read that was most like your high school experience? –What did you read that was a dramatic difference from your high school experience? –What was missing from your high school experience (as a learner)? –What can be changed to make current and future students’ experiences better?

Table Talk Refer to your reading guide for Chapter 2 of The Global Achievement Gap. Discuss questions 2 and 3

Carousel Activity We will work as 4 groups of 4 people each (1 grp of 5) –ABCD–ABCD Your table will use the color of marker designated above to record your responses to the question on your chart. Ex. A = green, B = red, C = blue, D = black When the time ends, rotate the chart to the next table. Ex. A to B, B to C, C to D... Read the new question, read the previous responses, and either develop new ideas or expand on existing ideas as quickly as possible. Summarize the responses when they arrive back to your original station.

New Motto Singapore’s motto is “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation,” pg. 76. Kentucky’s is “Proficient and Prepared for Success.” Is this accurate? Will this help our students compete globally? Based on your reading so far, propose a new motto or defend your current one. (TN and VA did not have one) Work with members from your state to develop/defend a motto. Be prepared to share with the group.

The Global Achievement Gap “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” –Mark Twain “The future ain’t what it used to be.” –Yogi Berra

The Global Achievement Gap Chapter 3: Testing 1, 2, 3 Final Word Dialogue Select 2-3 items from chapter 3 that you highlighted In groups of 4, person A (person who traveled the farthest) names one of their highlighted items with no comment. Round-robin, starting from Person A’s right, each participant comments on the item. Person A gets the final word. Pattern continues until each person has a turn. As a group, summarize the conversation and draw a conclusion. Be prepared to share with the whole group.

Chapter 4: Reinventing the Education Profession Scan chapter 4 and your reading guide. Write your 3 ideas/elements that need to be in the ‘education’ box to achieve the desired outcome on slips of paper. (Write each idea on a separate slip of paper.) Put each group member’s idea slips into your table’s ‘education box.’ Categorize and synthesize the ideas to distill them down to your group’s consensus for the most important 3 ideas/elements and be prepared to defend/support your ideas.

“In a 21 st -century world where jobs can be shipped wherever there’s an Internet connection, where a child in Dallas is now competing with a child in New Delhi, where your best job qualification is not what you do, but what you know – education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it’s a prerequisite for success.” –Barack Obama, 2009

“We are the people we’ve been waiting for.” –Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat

Reflection Time

Questioning

Homework Review…. Design or modify 4 multiple choice questions for your unit of study so that they will give you formative information about the students. These questions do not necessarily have to be only used on the summative exam. Using 2 of the questions, for each answer selection, determine next best steps to help improve student learning.

Let’s Get Some Feedback In groups of 3…. –You will be analyzing each other’s questions-- Is the question clear? Do the distractors provide formative information? Is there only one right answer? –Use post it notes to provide feedback, ask questions, etc. –Once the questions have returned to the author, examine the feedback and ask any clarifying questions to help you improve the questions and/or next steps –Modify Questions

What is the benefit? Of creating questions with formative distractors? Of creating questions that have next steps planned? –When would you want to do this? Of examining others’ questions and providing feedback?

One last reflection

Math & Science Breakouts

For Next Time Next Meeting: June 22-23rd Read Chapter 4 in Classroom Assessment for Student Learning. Chapter 3 in Active Learning Through Formative Assessment by Shirley Clarke. Use the reading guides as you read. Other homework information will be sent out on the list serv.