Prepared Especially for the Language Arts and ScienceProfessional Learning Communities of

DEER VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOLby Dan Mulligan, Ed. D.

December 2009

THINKING GOES TO SCHOOL

Instructional Capacity

Alignment Engagement Adjustment Relationships

A s s e s s m e n t

“Seven Survival Skills for the New Economy”~Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap

1. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving 2. Collaboration across Networks and Leading by

Influence 3. Agility and Adaptability 4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism 5. Effective Oral and Written Communication 6. Accessing and Analyzing Information 7. Curiosity and Imagination

“Rigor” is using academic knowledge to create new knowledge/content and to solve real problems.

“Engagement” begins with the MIND, not with the HANDS (that is a very loose paraphrase) — activities & action do not equal “rigor”

Stacking Cups Supplies

Please send a team member to obtain the supplies for your team.

Stacking Cups Supplies

Team Task: Your team task is to create the pyramid of cups (illustrated above);• without touching the cups;• using each of the 6 pieces of string and the rubber band;• each team member must participate in the solution.

Team Procedure:• analyze and reach consensus on a method of solution;• value each person’s opinion and contribution;•After consensus, execute (modify as needed) your team’s plan.

Before…….Underline all the adjectives on page 10. Then use at least 8 of these adjectives in a paragraph of your own about a topic of your choice.

After…….Sit in front of the school and write a paragraph that describes clearly how the school looks from your perspective. We will e-mail your description to a student in Alaska, who will draw a picture of the school as it is described by you. Be as specific as possible, so that the drawing will look just like your view of the school.

http://epals.com

http://epals.com

VISU

AL 21

st Cent

ury BLOOM

’S Taxonomy

http://visualblooms.wikispaces.com

Moving BEYOND“the correct answer”

My only skill is taking tests.

TO ALL STUDENTS THINKING…

Premise of the Workshop

We need to stop asking “how?’ We now have all the knowledge, the skills, the methods, the tools, the capacity, and

the freedom to do whatever is required to serve all students well. All

that is needed is the will and the courage to choose and to move on.

Peter Block, 1998

Give One … Get One …

On the back of your handout, write one way being a teacher/administrator in Arizona is like an astronaut on a walk in space. Think and be creative.

When signaled, circulate the room to meet a colleague. Give him/her your answer and get their answer.

You need a total of 2 answers. You may not get more than one idea from an individual. When you have completed your task, return to your seat.

Enjoy!

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34Reinforcing effort & providing recognition .80 29

Homework & practice .77 28Nonlinguistic representations .75 27Cooperative learning .73 27*Setting objectives & providing feedback* .61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

14

Identifying Similarities and Differences

What processes can students engage in to identify similarities and differences?

Comparing

The process of identifying and articulating similarities and differences among items.

Classifying

The process of grouping things into definable categories on the basis of their attributes.

Creating Metapho

rs

The process of identifying and articulating the underlying theme or general pattern in information.

Creating Analogie

s

The process of identifying relationships between pairs of concepts (e.g., relationships between relationships).

Hey…This looks familiar…

Which of the high yield instructional strategies

do you see in this structure?

These are VERBS

These are not VERBS

Which of these are VERBS?

How do you know?

WHAT’S MY RULE?Theme: Sports

YES NoStrike Stick

Split Puck

Pin Hoop

Gutter Goal

Rule: Bowling Terms

WHAT’S MY RULE?Theme: History and Social Science

YES NoHemisphere Olympic Games

Equator Democracy

Prime Meridian Kings

Regions Wealth

Rule: Things you’d find on a globe

WHAT’S MY RULE?Theme: _______________

YES No

Rule: _________________________

STUDENT CENTERED APPROACH

FOUR-SECOND PARTNER

Steps:1. Find a person currently not seated next to you. Make friends

2. This person is now your FOUR-SECOND PARTNER!

Personal Learning Goals

• I will recognize strategies that have improved achievement for our students;

• I will use data to focus additional improvement efforts to reach more students;

• I will support my peers by offering constructive feedback to improve their efforts; and

• I will enjoy working with my colleagues!

SAMPLEPre-assessment

that includes differentiation

When students know what they are

learning, their performance, on

average, has been shown to be

27 percentile points higher

than students who do not know what they are learning.

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45

Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34Reinforcing effort & providing recognition .80 29

Homework & practice .77 28Nonlinguistic representations .75 27Cooperative learning .73 27*Setting objectives & providing feedback* .61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

Explorer

Types of pictures:• Draw an example.

Research on Imagery as Elaboration

637 percentile pts. higher

than… …students who kept repeating definitions.

421 percentile pts. higher

than… …students who were using the terms in a sentence.

Students who used imagery to learn vocabulary, on average, performed

# of studies

http://visual.merriam-webster.com/

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Cindy McCain

Organizing Theme:Things someone would say…

Bill Clinton George Bush

Barak Obama!

Sarah Palin John Kyle

SPECIAL ELECTION 2008

EDITION

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

noun

Organizing Theme:

English

verb adjective

parts of a story

transition words

parts of a letter

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Science

Experiment

Hypothesis

Energy

Electron

DissolveAtmosphere

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

CIVIC DUTY LAWS

GLOBAL ECONOMYPRIVATE PROPERTY

CONSUMER RIGHTS

PATRIOTISM

US History

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Page 19

Minority Student Achievement in Suburban Schools~Toward Excellence with Equity, Ronald Ferguson, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, 2007

• Survey of all students in 15 middle and upper income school districts in 10 states;

• Examined family characteristics, opinions about quality of instruction, achievement motivation, course-taking, effort, comprehension, GPA and other factors;

Asian Black Hispanic White0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

53

66

72

48

53

72 74

57

AdvantagedDisadvantaged

When I work hard, it is because my teacher tells me I can do well.(“Yes,” instead of “Maybe” or “No”) (Grades 1 – 6)

Self-Assessment ToolSETTING OBJECTIVES &PROVIDING FEEDBACK

Research-based Strategy: Cooperative learningPercentile Gain 27

The GARDEN Plot

Why Group Teams Heterogeneously?

• One high, one high medium, one low medium, and one low achieving student

• Produce the greatest opportunity for peer tutoring and active participation

• Maximum cross-race, cross-sex, & cross-ability team contact• Make classroom management easier - assign roles• Balanced

H HM

LM L

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45

Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34Reinforcing effort & providing recognition .80 29

Homework & practice .77 28Nonlinguistic representations .75 27Cooperative learning .73 27Setting objectives & providing feedback .61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

Instructional Strategies that Facilitate Successful Inclusion Must …

• Supply students with STRUCTURE and ORGANIZATION

• Encourage student COMMUNICATION and COLLABORATION

• Provide students with VISUAL and HANDS-ON learning experiences

Summarizing and Note Taking

• Generalizations form the research:

– Verbatim note-taking is, perhaps, the least effective technique.

– Notes should be considered a work in progress.

– Notes should be used as a study guide for tests.

– The more notes that are taken, the better.

Tabl

e of

Con

t ent

Sam

p le s

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34Reinforcing effort & providing recognition .80 29

Homework & practice .77 28Nonlinguistic representations .75 27Cooperative learning .73 27Setting objectives & providing feedback .61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

High-Yield Instructional Strategies

Self RelianceThere are three types of

baseball players—those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened.Tommy Lasorda

teachers & administrators

1.Describe it(Describe its colors, shapes, and sizes. What does it look like?)

2.Compare it (What is it similar or different from?)

3.Associate it(What does it make you think of?)

4.Analyze it(How is it made or what is it composed of?)

5.Apply it(What can you do with it? How is it used?

6.Argue for or against it (Take a stand and list reasons for supporting it.)

CUBING

TALK TO ME

• Form a team of two (2) people…• Determine the person with the most sisters and

send them to pick-up a grid sheet for each person.

• Distribute a grid sheet to each team member.• One team-member will face the screen and give

directions. The other team member will have their back to the screen and follow the verbal clues provided by their partner (clarifying questions are encouraged).

• NOTE: Team members should NOT be able to see what each other is drawing.

Directions

Follow-up Debriefing• Each pair should share with your other team members the

method you used to graph the figure.

• Discuss with your team:– Which method appeals to you?– Is there another method that you would prefer?

• Prepare for a “pairs choice of method” with a new graph.

Key Question

Did your performance on the second attempt to complete the grid exercise

improve after having an opportunity to self-assess your initial strategy?

Empowers students t

o

reflect on and re

fine

their own

understandings.

Formative Assessment

• Formative assessment is the process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust teaching and learning for the purpose of improving student learning.

Council of Chief State School Officers, October 2006

Notes:

Process rather than a particular test….

It is not the nature of the test itself that makes it formative or summative…it is the use to which those results will be put.

Thank you for all you do, for all the children!

~Dan