Transcript Instructional Strategies + Collaboration = Growth Bonnie Green and Keri Levinson EDU 6526 – Spring 2014

Instructional Strategies +
Collaboration = Growth
Bonnie Green and Keri Levinson
EDU 6526 – Spring 2014
Inquiry Question
What impact will teaching colleagues
instructional strategies have on their
level of comfort in implementing these
effective strategies in their classroom?
Rationale and Purpose Statement
The teaching staff at our school is very talented, but our
school climate is currently in a state of healing. In recent
school years, morale was low among teachers. The atmosphere
in the building was more competitive than collaborative. In
addition, our school was assigned an ELL program, causing a
quickly changing demographic in our student population. This
resulted in teacher anxiety over best practices for serving ELL
students.
The purpose of this inquiry is to nurture a collaborative
atmosphere among colleagues and alleviate anxiety around best
practices for ELL students by presenting information and
facilitating a discussion focused on effective instructional
strategies.
Theory of Action
THEORY OF ACTION
IF….. (Action)
THEN…..(Outcome)
If we introduce best practices around instructional
strategies…
Then teachers’ comfort level with these strategies will
increase and they will implement those strategies in their
classrooms.
If we relate effective instructional strategies for
ELL students to best practices for ALL
students….
Then teachers will have more knowledge and less anxiety
around serving ELL students.
If we seek teacher input on what strategies to
cover and the student subgroup to concentrate on
during the presentation…
Then teacher buy-in and participation will increase.
If we present the information in a collaborative
setting where teachers are celebrating their
successes and learning from each other…
Then teachers’ engagement will increase and they will be
more likely to implement the strategies in the classroom.
Description of Actions Taken
Strategies Covered
• Synectics – 4 Square Activity
• Non-Linguistic: Visual and Kinesthetic –
Visualization exercise, Music integration, Walk
and Talk
• Advance Organizers – Anticipation Guide,
Shared examples of Narrative, Expository,
KWL, Poll on Skimming/Picture Walk
Great Collaboration
120
Level of Comfort on Instructional Strategy
100
80
60
40
20
0
Synectics
Nonlingquistic
Pre-Survey
Advance Organizers
Post-Survey
24 Total Surveys
1 lowest to 5 highest level of comfort
Cooperative Learning
Mean Scores by Instructional Strategy
Mean Score by Strategy
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Synectics
Nonlinguistic
Advance Organizer
Pre-Survey
Post-Survey
Conclusion
Teaching colleagues about instructional strategies
in a collaborative format had a positive growth
impact on their comfort level, and therefore, their
implementation of these strategies in their
classrooms.
Recommendations and Next Steps
• More Teacher led PD
• A refresher at the beginning of the year
• Many loved linking music into the lesson
“It reminded me of the importance of
changing things up!”
• Direct application into the classroom,
teachers excited to try strategies the next
day!