1. Increasing rigor in the classroom
MSJC Adult Education Professional development
Catherine Kelley
Lena Nelson

2. WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK “RIGOR”?
QUESTION:
WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK “RIGOR”?
take 1 min to write down words or phrases

3. WHAT IS RIGOR?
Rigor is not necessarily more work or hard work. A rigorous lesson is:
appropriately challenging
helps students think in new and interesting ways
requires that students understand concepts that are complex, ambiguous or contentious
helps them acquire skills that can be applied outside the classroom and throughout their lives.

4. RIGOR IN AN ADULT EDUCATION CLASSROOM
What are some of the challenges you have encountered when trying to add more rigor to your classroom instruction?
THINK – PAIR – SHARE

5. Community involvement
STUDENTS GOALS
Enter work force
Academic pursuits
Community involvement

6. Read charts, forms, or work instructions
student needs
Work
Read charts, forms, or work instructions
Interact effectively with co-workers on teams
Creative problem solving

7. Ask clarifying questions Employ multiple reading strategies
Student needs
Academic Setting
Take extensive notes
Ask clarifying questions
Employ multiple reading strategies
Read complex non-fiction texts
Approach assignments creatively

8. Student needs Community/Home Listen and take phone messages
Read mail selectively
Attend neighborhood meetings
Make decisions about health care, business services, etc.
Assist children with homework
Interact with teachers at school conferences

9. EXAMPLES OF RIGOROUS LESSONS
Include tasks with multiple steps that build cognitively
Encourage divergent thinking
Necessitate a transfer of understanding
Use divergent perspectives
Use divergent media forms

10. EXAMPLES OF RIGOROUS LESSONS
Break away from content-area convention
Encourage design thinking
Require long-term observation or analysis
Study nuance
Require students to take and defend positions

11. Listening Report Activity (http://www.esl-lab.com/)
LESSON Samples
Listening Report Activity (
Adding Rigor to a Reading Lesson

12. LISTENING REPORT ACTIVITY VARIATIONS
Have the students work individually on their computers/headphones OR cell- phones/headphones 
Pair the students and assign the listening segment based on levels – either on computers or cell-phones 
Play an audio from the teacher’s computer/cell- phone and have the students work in pairs to complete summaries and individual reflections

13. Reminder
“Any postmethod pedagogy must be sensitive to a particular group of teachers teaching a particular group of learners pursuing a particular set of goals within a particular institutional context embedded in a particular sociocultural mileu” (Kumaravadivelu, 2001).

14. Reminder Find out your students’ motivations for being in the class
Create a community of learners where each of them feels like they can achieve their individual goals AND maybe feel like going a little beyond those goals
Have high expectations
Trust that their students enjoy using their minds

15. Success!!!

16. Sources:
Heick, T. (2015). How to add rigor to anything [blog post]. Retrieved from
Heyer, Sandra. (2009). More True Stories – 4. Pearson Education.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2001). Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy. TESOL QUARTERLY Vol. 35, No. 4.
Listening Report (2015), UCR IEP.
Meeting the Language Needs of Today’s Adult English Language Learner,