Transcript One Teacher and One Classroom At A Time
Impacting One Teacher and One Classroom at a Time
Akron Public Schools Summit on Urban Education in Ohio May 5, 2005
Presenters:
Sharon Hall, Gifted and Talented Education Dorothy Lewis, Instructional Specialist Barb Mezenski, Instructional Specialist Mary Dean, Principal, King Elementary School Jennifer Larkey , Teacher, Hatton Elementary School Barb Baltrinic, Teacher, Ellet High School Carol Peter, Instructional Specialist
Begins Change
Intervention Next Steps
Standards Based Instructional Design Reflection Standard Benchmark(s) Indicator(s) What are the students learning?
• Pre-Assessment (Prior Knowledge) • Progress Monitoring • Summative Assessment
Assessments FOR and OF Learning How do we know when they have learned it?
Revision
Re-Assessing The Lesson’s Strategies Extent of Student Learning And Student Progress
How will we respond when they have not learned it?
Instructional Process
Activities Materials/Resources Vocabulary
Instructional Strategies
Differentiated Instruction Student Groupings Needs Modifications Higher Order Thinking Skills Learning Styles Real World Connections
SHOW ME THE MONEY
Akron: Leaders and Visionaries
Eisenhower Funds become Professional Development funds for all content areas
Teachers by grade and content levels develop benchmarks based on National Standards
Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Woodridge for Tri-City Consortium
Teachers from three districts work on common content standards
Akron Public Schools Lead Teachers Site-Based Improvement Teams are formed in all buildings Elementary Instructional Specialists Middle School Instructional Specialists for Math and Science (who later become Generalists) NSF Mae Jemison Grant for Math & Science
Start training the Curriculum and Instruction staff in:
SIP process
Malcolm Baldrige
Victoria Bernhart (data)
Thomas Gusky
Quality Tools
Richard Stiggins
Understanding by Design
PRINCIPAL INSTITUTES JUNE & AUGUST (2002) Training Principals to be Curriculum Leaders
Trainings and Activities included: Where are you (principal) with regard to Standards?
Compare Math and Language Arts Standard Book formatting through Scavenger Hunts and Venn Diagrams Maps and Timelines of Standards Step Outs Aligned a Standard, Benchmark and Indicators through growth stages from Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade Comparison of Standards to the old state Pupil Performance Objectives
Summer Principal Institutes
Trainings
Standards,and Benchmarks,and Indicators…OH MY!!!!!!
HELP ME !
• Waiver Days b
ecome part of the school calendar
• to explain NCLB, Standards and their
effects on teachers, parents, and students, and
• to offer professional development on
standards and other topics.
• The first Waiver Day (2002) summarized
previous principal training to all building staffs and was led by the Teaching and Learning staff.
So now we are off and running with our plan:
MODULES
Where are we going?
Module Development Sample Activities
Learning Process for Curriculum and Instruction Staff
Information coming in from many sources: ODE, Battelle for Kids, Stiggins, etc.
Questions coming in from all stakeholders: What are standards?
How will I implement standards?
How does this change what I do?
Will this go away?
Developed by Curriculum and Instruction Staff
Writing teams created Information and activities collected Unit 1 delivered to staffs
SAMPLE ACTIVITY
Review of Modules
Module I Unit 1 —Getting Ready Unit 2 —Unwrapping the Standards Unit 3 —Making the Transition
Review of Modules
(cont.)
Module II Unit 4 —Differentiating Instruction for Learners Unit 5 —Assessing Learners Unit 6 —Designing Standards Based Lessons Each unit was written following SBE lesson design.
Unit 3 MODULE I
Making the Transition
UNIT GOALS: Educators will have a better understanding of the characteristics of a learning system.
Educators will have a self-awareness of their position on the continuum as they transition toward a learning system.
Educators will recognize the sequence of the 5 Essential Questions for Lesson Planning.
Unit 3
(cont.)
EVALUATION OF THE UNIT: Educators write and implement learning system goal statements. Tally, by written ballot, those attempting/meeting their learning system goal at the next staff meeting.
Educators will apply the 5 Essential Questions when lesson planning.
Unit 3
(cont.)
UNIT ACTIVITIES: Participants survey and score individual Teaching Style Indicator.
Participants sort Teaching and Learning System Characteristics and discuss.
Participants order steps for lesson planning through 5 Essential Questions.
Unit 3
(cont.)
TOTAL UNIT SUGGESTED TIMEFRAME: 1.5 hours Present according to staff needs
SAMPLE ACTIVITY
Step 1 — Describe, to a partner, how you plan a lesson.
Step 2 — Discuss how your planning compares to the 5 Essential Questions. Do you currently design lessons using the order of the 5 Essential Questions?
5 Essential Questions
What content needs to be taught?
What is the best way(s) to assess student’s knowledge of content?
How should the data be analyzed?
How should teaching and learning be designed?
How should materials and resources be evaluated/selected?
How Will We Get There?
Trainer of Trainers: The Year in Review June 2003
–
Held TOT meetings to introduce Units for staff development August 2003
–
Waiver Day in the buildings October 2003
–
First TOT network meeting at Roswell Kent Assessment “of” and “for” Differentiation and Assessment notebook additions
Year in Review
(cont.)
December 2003
–
Second TOT network meeting at Litchfield DuFour video Learning Styles and Differentiation Strategies Lesson Design with Steve Miller Stiggins video January 2004
–
Citywide Inservice
Year in Review
(cont.)
February 2004
–
Third TOT network meeting at North Classroom reading strategies Learning Stem Differentiation video by Jennifer Larkey March 2004
–
Waiver Day in the buildings April 2004
–
Fourth TOT network meeting at Hyre
Standards Network Meeting
Sharing with Colleagues What have you implemented since we met?
Questions You Asked Making Connections in the Classroom Reading Strategies Chart Learning Stem Differentiation in Action —J. Larkey Final Comments Planning for Waiver Day Exit Ticket
Standards Network
Questions You Asked
1. Many of your questions dealt with the comfort level, curriculum and time management of using differentiated instruction.
1. For answers to these types of questions, refer to the book (plaid cover) you received at the June training, Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom, by Diane Heacox, pages 13-17. The author provides a Q & A format that you could place on an overhead at a staff meeting or during waiver day.
TOT Standards Network Program Evaluation
Staff attitude regarding the implementation of standards: Initially Currently 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 What has your building accomplished this year in regards to the implementation of standards? How well do you think this has gone?
Evaluation
(cont.)
I attended _________ of the TOT network meetings.
On waiver day I… On inservice day I… On waiver day I… Other…
Evaluation
(cont.)
Prioritize for your building the items from the Next Steps overhead.
I think that my building needs…… Where are you in your own professional development as a result of serving as the TOT from your building?
Where are we now?
Pacing Guides, Lesson Design, Assessments, and Curriculum Mapping
How do Pacing Guides Help?
Lesson design aligned to pacing guide Align content, skills and assessments so all kids are getting the same material Pace instruction over time Help discover gaps and repetitions Decide how lessons can be integrated to make teachers more efficient
Lesson Design Using the Indicators
What are the students expected to know and be able to do by the end of the lesson?
What key questions will trigger the students’ interest?
How will the students’ knowledge of the concept be evaluated? Complexity of Questioning
District Assessments
Link skills and content to standards and time Provide a framework to evaluate student work Expand the understanding of what the students know and are able to do Provide data to address strengths and weaknesses and promote student achievement
Curriculum Mapping
Mapping is a tool for: Communicating - teachers, students, administration, parents, community Planning – curriculum, assessments, reforms, resource allocation (space, time, materials) and staff development
It’s All About the Process
Teachers have started talking.
The on-going process is a working document.
Teachers have a common language to discuss what they do.
Teachers have an occasion to learn.
Higher level thinking is modeled.
Teacher Comments
“We needed a common process to follow, it makes us so much more effective.” “We should all be teaching it, for the sake of the kids.” “With the transient kids in our district, it has made a big difference to have them come almost always, ‘on the same page’.”
Principal’s Perspective
Staff Development not Staff Meetings
Monthly meetings are now professional development, not “housekeeping time” Agendas are driven by School One Plan Led by staff members – trainer of trainers, examples of best practices, instructional specialists
Finding Staff Development Time
Monthly staff meetings with required attendance Used Title I professional development funds for speakers and stipends for attendance after school Collegial planning and grade level meetings focused on School One Plan and review of data
Strategies Implemented for Building Staff Development
Trainer of Trainers -- staff on site Professional Literature Discussions – read and discussed during meeting time Staff Book Clubs Professional Learning Communities Attend conferences and then facilitate staff meetings
Signs of Progress
“We never have time at meetings anymore to just sit and talk. We always have something to cover or review.”
-conversation overheard by principal between two teachers
Trainers at Work
A Building Trainer in Action
Concept emerged from staff need Based on a “real” classroom in a public school setting Teams were able to see what differentiated instruction looked like in a real and practical way
Class Data
Third grade classroom Ten boys and five girls Two students who have Limited English Proficiency One student with an I.E.P.
Class reading levels ranging from mid-first grade to mid-fifth grade, as determined by school and district assessments
What You Will See
Flexible grouping based on learning styles, needs assessments, and overall strengths Real, unscripted life Disruptions Students working independently and in guided groups to meet the standard for Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency
High School Plans
High School Staff Resistance
Too many initiatives – No Child Left Behind – Inclusion – High Schools That Work – Content Literacy – Pacing Guides – School Improvement Plans – Mandated Testing OGT District-wide Assessment Testing
So Much New Vocabulary
Resistance is often due to new terms which are really old practices! (Standards, Benchmarks, Indicators just replaced Objectives and Pupil Performance Objectives.) It is essential that everyone (administration, support staff, teachers and students) have the same vocabulary.
High School Teachers Tend To:
Fear change; are not known as “risk takers” in curriculum design. Do the Same Thing, But Expect Different Results!
Change CAN happen…with one teacher, one classroom at a time!
Provide staff development through staff meetings Build a “community of learners” Provide model classrooms for staff to visit Encourage professional dialogues looking at promising practices in differentiated instruction, alternative assessments, examination of learning styles, cross curriculum, and assessment for learning practices
Where are we going next?
Back to the Future
Moving toward more collaboration Developing a “community of learners” among educators Providing staff development for Content Literacy, Differentiation of Instruction Adding programs (100 Book Challenge)
Standards Based Instructional Design
Intervention Next Steps
Reflection Standard Benchmark(s) Indicator(s) What are the students learning?
• Pre-Assessment (Prior Knowledge) • Progress Monitoring • Summative Assessment
Assessments FOR and OF Learning How do we know when they have learned it?
Revision
Re-Assessing The Lesson’s Strategies Extent of Student Learning And Student Progress
How will we respond when they have not learned it?
Instructional Process
Activities Materials/Resources Vocabulary
Instructional Strategies
Differentiated Instruction Student Groupings Needs Modifications Higher Order Thinking Skills Learning Styles Real World Connections
Standards Based Instructional Design Staffs analyze Assessment results Content Networking
Intervention Next Steps Re-Assessing The Lesson’s Strategies Extent of Student Learning And Student Progress
Standard Benchmark(s) Indicator(s) Units 1, 2, 3 What are the students learning?
Staffs analyze Assessment results Content Networking Reflection Revision How do we know when they have learned it?
How will we respond when they have not learned it?
Instructional Process
Activities Materials/Resources Vocabulary
Pacing Guides Content Networking
• Pre-Assessment (Prior Knowledge) • Progress Monitoring • Summative Assessment
Assessments FOR and OF Learning Unit 5 District Assessments Instructional Strategies Units 4 & 6 Lesson Design
Differentiated Instruction Student Groupings Needs Modifications Higher Order Thinking Skills Learning Styles Real World Connections