GVSU Learning Network Supporting Student Learning Needs January 21 & 22, 2015

Today’s Objectives To share results of learning styles discussions within your schools. To identify shifts of instruction necessary to bring these ideas alive in your schools. To better understand certain socio-emotional needs and how more responsive classrooms can address these needs. Experience and reflect upon American Grit To identify any next steps in the your school’s efforts to better meet the needs of your students.

Agenda TimeTask/Topic 9:00-9:15Community Announcements, Agenda, Norms 9:15-10:30Identifying and Guiding Instructional Shifts Reflecting on action since last meeting Video observation Shifting instructional practice 10:30-10:45Break 10:45-12:00Socio-Emotional Needs (Noncognitive) A few key needs Responsive classroom 12:00-12:45Lunch 12:45-1:30Team workshop 1:30-1:45Break 1:45-3:00American Grit Performance Discussions

Learning Network -Norms Silence mobile phones and other devices Be present and engaged Listen actively Make this relevant to your work and your school Call the baby ugly (call it like you see it)—try to not be defensive; take care with people, also. Reduce side conversations Come prepared Speak honestly Vegas rule—share ideas, but protect people, schools, sensitive issues Share speaking opportunities—watch talk time Avoid negativity and complaining Arrive on time, start on time, end on time

How Will You Share This Information With Your Faculty?

Taking Stock: What Did We Do? What Did We Learn?

Classrooms: What do you see? Describe what you see? –Be descriptive? Avoid judgments and evaluation. –Be specific? Avoid vagaries and generalities.

Learning and Teaching in the Classroom Teacher Content Student Task

The Status Quo Teachers doing preponderance of intellectual work Students are not challenged intellectually by the work in front of them. Students learning discrete facts and skills with little opportunity to draw connections and apply knowledge. Students passive and compliant... to a fault. Classroom cultures, even when exceptionally organized and structured, do not foster intellectual accountability or academic press.

Key Instructional Shifts Getting students to do the intellectual work of classrooms. Getting students engaged in more rigorous reasoning through powerful and intentional academic tasks. Getting students engaged in more complex and real-world problem solving. Getting students to self regulate their current learning and improvement toward explicit and well-defined learning outcomes. Getting classrooms to accomplish the above by fostering strong normative and nurturing learning cultures.

Intellectual Heavy Lifting All too often it is the teachers breaking the sweat, making the connections, drawing the inferences, answering their own questions, and solving the problems. That is hard work. Yet the harder working is designing the classroom such that this is the work of students.

Rigorous Tasks For over a decade dozens of thought leaders have called for more rigorous classrooms. At the end of the day, rigor shows up in the tasks that teachers are designing for students and whether students are deeply engaged in those tasks. If rigor cannot be seen there, it isn’t there.

Complex, Real-World Problem Solving Classrooms must prepare students for when they are outside the schoolhouse, where one’s mind and knowledge obtained are only as useful as they are used. We must help students apply knowledge in practical and relevant ways.

Self-Regulation Students learn more effectively when they are driving the learning process. When students have learning goals, monitor their own progress toward those goals, experiment with strategies and track the results of those strategies, they are more likely to be successful.

Intellectual Accountability That is an interesting position, Roberto. First of all, it is hard to fully understand your thinking because you did not explain why. So, I’ll focus more on my argument. I disagree with your position because the narrator provides multiple glimpses into what she is thinking about herself. We see this in the second and third chapters, when the narrator shifts from talking about the protagonist to revealing how she feels about herself. Lisa, 4 th grade Effective classrooms promote intellectual work. Expectations are high, and systems and structures are put into place to help students reach those expectations. These are cultures of effort, grit and perseverance. These are also cultures where if you get lazy, it gets uncomfortable.

Discussion Select one of these instructional shifts, and identify specific pedagogical moves teachers could make to leverage learning styles to one of these ends.

Noncognitive Skills

1. Academic Behaviors Academic Behaviors Going to Class Doing Homework Organizing Materials Participating, Studying Academic Behaviors Going to Class Doing Homework Organizing Materials Participating, Studying Academic Performance Source: Farrington, C. (2012): Teaching Adolescents to be Learners. UChicago CCSR.

2. Academic Perseverance Academic Perseverance Grit, Tenacity Delayed Gratification Self-Discipline Self-Control Academic Perseverance Grit, Tenacity Delayed Gratification Self-Discipline Self-Control Academic Performance Academic Behaviors Source: Farrington, C. (2012): Teaching Adolescents to be Learners. UChicago CCSR.

3. Academic Mindsets Academic Mindsets I belong in this academic community. My ability and competence grow with my effort. I can succeed at this. This work has value for me. Academic Mindsets I belong in this academic community. My ability and competence grow with my effort. I can succeed at this. This work has value for me. Academic Performance Academic Behaviors Academic Perseverance Source: Farrington, C. (2012): Teaching Adolescents to be Learners. UChicago CCSR.

4. Learning Strategies Academic Performance Academic Behaviors Academic Perseverance Learning Strategies Study Skills Metacognitive Strategies Self-Regulated Learning Goal-Setting Learning Strategies Study Skills Metacognitive Strategies Self-Regulated Learning Goal-Setting Source: Farrington, C. (2012): Teaching Adolescents to be Learners. UChicago CCSR.

5. Social Skills Academic Performance Academic Behaviors Social Skills Interpersonal Skills, Empathy, Cooperation, Assertion, and Responsibility Social Skills Interpersonal Skills, Empathy, Cooperation, Assertion, and Responsibility Source: Farrington, C. (2012): Teaching Adolescents to be Learners. UChicago CCSR.

Full Model Source: Farrington, C. (2012): Teaching Adolescents to be Learners. UChicago CCSR.

Responsive Classroom: Text-Based Discussion Roles: Facilitator, Theme-Capturer What are the most important ideas from this article? What are the implications of these ideas for your classrooms and schools? What ideas from the article could be applied to help realize the instructional shifts discussed earlier? What would this look like in a classroom?