Transcript Document

Powerful Conversations Network
Quarterly Meeting #1
September, 2013
Who is in the Room: Schools from
These Districts…
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Attalla City
Blount County
Boaz City
Chilton County
Decatur City
Etowah County
Hartselle City
Jasper City
Jefferson County
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Mountain Brook City
Perry County
Talladega County
Tarrant City
Tuscaloosa City
Tuscaloosa County
Trussville City
Shelby County
Partners with the
Alabama State Department of Education Initiatives
Alphabet Soup!
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ABPC
Alabama Best Practices Center
KLN
Key Leaders Network
PCN
Powerful Conversations Network
SLN
Superintendent Leaders Network
IP
Instructional Partners Pilot
ACCRS Alabama’s College-and Career-Ready
Standards
FA Formative Assessment
Learning Outcomes
 Deepening of our understanding of the
new ELA and Literacy Standards
 Knowledge of how to explicitly teach
students the thinking skills that are
embedded in the ACCRS
 Planning to increase our school’s
collaborative capacity to successfully
integrate the new standards into teaching
and learning
Learning Outcomes, cont’d
 Commitment to working with a crossschool design team to develop an
agreed-upon lesson
 Co-creation of a statewide community
of practice with PCN colleagues
Organize Your Teams
 Facilitator
Recorder/Reporter
 Time Monitor/Materials Manager
Directions Clarifier
(p. 2, Activity Packet)
Ground Rules/Group Norms
 Be open to and respect all points of view
 Listen with an open mind & expect to learn
 Accept responsibility for active & equitable
participation
 Check for understanding
 Allow think time
 Welcome questions
 Avoid “cyber” and sidebar conversations
 Take care of creature comforts
Activity: School Team Dialogue
and Cross-School Sharing
What?
Team Response to Questions and Individual
Exchange of Ideas with Others
Why?
To share perceptions within school teams about
where you are in working collaboratively to
implement ACCRS and to make connections with
colleagues from other schools
How?
Team dialogue and response to 2 questions followed
by meeting and exchange of views with 2-3
individuals from other schools (See page 3, Activity
Packet)
(c) Walsh & Sattes, 2013
Activity: Compare and Contrast
Three Strands
What?
Top Hat Organizer
Why?
To identify key skills and knowledge associated
with each of the three strands of the ACCRS ELA
and Literacy Standards and compare/contrast to
identify linkages and commonalities
How?
Pair review of one strand; team sharing and
comparison of 3 strands
(pages 4-8, Activity Packet)
Compare and
Contrast
“If you want to get results, you need to treat
Compare & Contrast as a learning strategy
rather than an end-of-learning assessment;
make sure students have clear criteria for
comparing items; and guide students to
deeper thinking in phases.”
(p. 2, The Common Six: Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the
Common Core, Silver, Dewing & Perini)
Authors’ Rationale for How to Teach
Thinking Skills Within the Common Core
“If students are to become
productive problem solvers, sound
decision makers, and creative
innovators as called for by the many
reports and educational experts,
educators must include the explicit
development of those complex
thinking skills as the action
antecedents to the stated content.”
(p. 3, Bellanca, Fogarty, & Pete)
A 1st Look at the Identified
Twenty-one Complex Cognitive Skills
 Browse through the following to get an idea of the
scope of the book’s content.
 Table of Contents on pages ix-xiii.
 Look at Table 1.1 on page 12.
 Engage in a Two-Minute Table Talk with school team
in response to this question: To what extent do your
students possess and use these thinking skills?
Activity: Overview of Text and
Cross-Walk with Skills in ACCRS
What?
Review & Analysis of Text
Why?
To familiarize yourselves with the
organization & contents of the selected text
and assess its utility to you and your faculty
How?
Team selection of 2 thinking skills central to
ELA/Literacy Standards & review of related
section of book
(page 9, Activity Packet)
About the Text
 All 21 chapters have the same
organization & content focus including:
 Explanation of thinking skill
 “Look—Fors and Sound Bites”
 Explicit Teaching Lesson
 Examples from Elementary, Middle, &
High School
Activity: The Potential of Speaking and
Listening Standards to Reinforce Reading and
Writing Standards
What?
Four-Square Share
Why?
To reflect on the linkages across the 3
strands of the ELA/Literacy Standards and
use a collaborative learning strategy that
supports ACCRS
How?
Individually read short selection; follow
protocol to listen actively and learn from
colleagues
(pages 10-12, Activity Packet)
To what extent does
implementation of ACCRS represent a
paradigm shift for your faculty?
Consider Some of the
Key Features of New Standards*
1. Emphasize much higher-level
comprehension skills
2. Place equal weight on reading and writing
3. Stress the importance of critical
citizenship
* Calkins, Ehrenworth, Lehman, Pathways to the Common Core, pp. 9-13
Consider Some of the
Key Features of New Standards*
4. Emphasize reading complex texts
5. Have clear design, with central goals and
high standards
6. Convey that intellectual growth occurs
through time, across years, and across
disciplines
* Calkins, Ehrenworth, Lehman, Pathways to the Common Core, pp. 9-13
Consider Some of the
Key Features of New Standards*
7. Support cross-curricular literacy
teaching
8. Call for proficiency, complexity, and
independence
9. Emphasize that every student needs to
be given access to this work
10. Respect the professional judgment of
classroom teachers
* Calkins, Ehrenworth, Lehman, Pathways to the Common Core, pp. 9-13
Think about Common Core Shifts for
English Language Arts/Literacy*
 Building knowledge through content rich nonfiction
 Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence
from text, both literary and informational
 Regular practice with complex text and its academic
language
* achievethecore.org
Activity: Assessment of School’s Current
Culture for Successful Implementation
of ACCRS
What?
Individual Reading, Reflection, and Rating
Why?
To reflect where you are as a faculty in
creating a collaborative culture to support
successful implementation of ACCRS
How?
Individually read and respond to items on
page 13 of Activity Packet.
School Culture Driven By Both
Beliefs/Values and Structure
 Beliefs/Values
 Continuous Improvement
 Shared Decision Making and Teamwork
 Results Oriented
 Structures
 Time
 Teams
 Team Protocols
Importance of Culture
“If you intend to introduce a change that
is incompatible with the organization’s
culture, you have only three choices:
modify the change to be more in line with
the existing culture, alter the culture to be
more in line with the proposed change,
or prepare to fail.”
(David Salisbury & Daryl Conner, 1994)
Activity: Assessment of School’s Current
Culture for Successful Implementation of
ACCRS
What?
Team Dialogue and Planning
Why?
To think together as a school leadership team
about where you are and to plan for
enhancement of collaborative culture to
support ACCRS implementation
How?
Reach quick consensus on current status.
Identify 3 priority SMART goals, and create a
plan to attain these goals. See page 14, Activity
Packet.
SMART Goals
Strategic and Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Results-oriented
Time-bound
Example of SMART Goal
 Our Reality: Last year, 10% of the graduating class
completed advanced placement courses or the
capstone course in a department sequence.
 Our Goal: This year, we will increase the percentage
of students taking advanced placement or capstone
courses in a departmental sequence to 20% or higher.
DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, and Many, 2006, p. 126
Why SMART Goals?
The SMART Goals process creates the
motivation for team action and
experimentation. In order to apply the
SMART Goals process effectively, individuals
need strong team skills, the ability to
understand and use data, and a willingness
to engage in continuous improvement.
Break-Out Sessions—
Role-Alike Lesson Design Teams
 Principals/Assistant Principals
About the Lesson Design Teams
Purpose: To work collaboratively with colleagues from
across the state to integrate explicit instruction about
selected thinking skills into a standards-based content
lesson
Team Composition: Teams should be comprised of 3,
but no more than 5 members, who have the same or
similar teaching assignments.
About the Lesson Design Teams
Products: A minimum of 2 collaboratively developed and
evaluated lessons to be shared with others
Expectations:
1. Same teachers will attend all PCN QMs to ensure
continuity in working of design team.
2. Design team members will begin planning at PCN, but
complete work as part of regular lesson planning back
home.
3. Design team members will bring feedback about lesson to
the next PCN QM.
Suggested Process for
Design Team Work
Design Team Work at PCN Session
Identify ELA/Literacy & Content
Standards.
Between PCN Sessions
Isolate thinking skills embedded Complete lesson plan that
includes explicit instruction in
in selected standards.
thinking skill, together with
Agree upon design for explicit learning design for ACCR
instruction in selected thinking Standards.
skills.
Teach lesson, and reflect on
feedback.
Prepare to share lesson and
results with Design Team
Members.
Design Team Work at PCN
Share feedback from classroom
experiences.
Talk about how you would
improve lesson based on this
feedback.
Begin new cycle of planning,
implementation and feedback.
Principals’ Role-Alike: 6 Challenges to
Implementing ACCRS
1. Develop every teacher’s ability to teach reading
2. Plan to spread literacy strands and skills across
content areas
3. Accelerate student achievement; don’t add to the
curriculum
4. Choose one or two priorities drawing on the school’s
strengths
5. Ensure effective professional development for ACCRS
implementation
6. Develop student leadership for learning.
Move to Break-Out Sessions
 Move to designated areas taking all materials with you.
 Principals move to adjacent room, and organize into
groups of 4. Begin work on page 18 of Activity Packet.
 Teachers and Coaches/Instructional Partners gather in area
designated for your content area/grade level, and form
teams of 3, no more than 5 members. Begin work on page
15 of Activity Packet.
 After you’ve divided into teams of this size, find a space to
work.
Final Reflection and Feedback
 Please complete the feedback form, and leave in the
center of table as you depart.
 Safe travels back home!