Building  Elementary  Secondary  Teams  2010-­‐2011,  

a  facilitated  conversa<on  

Richmond  February  16th,  2011  

Faye  Brownlie  

Learning  Inten<ons  

•  I  have  a  beEer  understanding  of  how  to  use  Universal  Design  for  Learning  and  Backwards  Design  to  guide  my  teaching.  

•  I  have  determined  something  to  let  go  of  and  something  to  do  more  of.  

•  I  know  ‘what  counts’  in  my  teaching.  

•  I  have  made  or  deepened  a  contact  with  someone  outside  my  school.  

How  the  world’  best  performing  school  systems  come  out  on  top  –  

Sept.  2007,  McKinsey  &  Co.  

1.  GeUng  the  right  people  to  become  teachers  

2.  Developing  them  into  effec<ve  instructors  

3.  Ensuring  that  the  system  is  able  to  deliver  the  best  possible  instruc<on  for  every  child  

McKinsey  Report,  2007  

•  The  top-­‐performing  school  systems  recognize  that  the  only  way  to  improve  outcomes  is  to  improve  instruc<on:    learning  occurs  when  students  and  teachers  interact,  and  thus  to  improve  learning  implies  improving  the  quality  of  that  interac<on.  

•  Coaching  classroom  prac<ce  •  Moving  teacher  training  to  the  classroom  

•  Developing  stronger  school  leaders  •  Enabling  teachers  to  learn  from  each  other  

Individual  teachers:  

•  Become  aware  of  areas  to  grow  in  their  prac<ce  

•  Gain  an  understanding  of  best  prac<ce  –  most  effec<ve  when  demonstrated  in  an  authen<c  seUng  

•  Are  mo<vated  to  improve  –  Teachers  have  high  expecta<ons  –  Share  a  common  purpose  – Have  a  collec<ve  belief  in  their  ability  to  make  a  difference  

Frameworks

It’s All about Thinking – Brownlie & Schnellert, 2009

Universal Design for Learning

Mul<ple  means:  -­‐to  tap  into  background  knowledge,  to  ac<vate  prior  knowledge,  to  increase  engagement  and  mo<va<on  

-­‐to  acquire  the  informa<on  and  knowledge  to  process  new  ideas  and  informa<on  

-­‐to  express  what  they  know.  

                     Rose  &  Meyer,  2002  

Backwards Design

•  What  important  ideas  and  enduring  understandings  do  you  want  the  students  to  know?  

•  What  thinking  strategies  will  students  need  to  demonstrate  these  understandings?    

                 McTighe  &  Wiggins,  2001  

Approaches •  Assessment  for  learning  •  Open-­‐ended  strategies  •  Gradual  release  of  responsibility  •  Coopera<ve  learning  •  Literature  circles  and  informa<on  circles  •  Inquiry  

It’s All about Thinking – Brownlie & Schnellert, 2009

Essential Lesson Components

•  Essen<al  ques<on/learning  inten<on/a  big  idea  •  Open-­‐ended  strategies:    connect-­‐process-­‐transform  •  Differen<a<on  –  choice,  choice,  choice  •  Assessment  for  learning  •  Gradual  release  of  responsibility  

Assessment for Learning

•  Learning  inten<ons  •  Criteria  •  Descrip<ve  feedback  •  Ques<oning  •  Peer  and  self  assessment  

•  Ownership  

Grade 9 Science – Starleigh Grass & Mindy Casselman

Electricity

•  The  Challenge:  

•  Many  of  the  students  are  disengaged  and  dislike  ‘book  learning’.    They  acquire  more  knowledge,  concept  and  skill  when  they  are  ac<ve,  collabora<ve  and  reading  in  chunks.  

•  Starleigh  and  Mindy  in  It’s  All  about  Thinking  (Math  and  Science)-­‐  Brownlie,  Fullerton,  Schnellert  in  press.  

Essential Question

•  If  we  understand  how  materials  hold  and  transfer  electric  charge,  can  we  store  and  move  electric  charge  using  common  materials?    

•  Individually,  brainstorm  what  you  can  recall  about  the  characteris<cs  of  an  atom.  

•  Meet  in  groups  of  3  to  add  to  and  revise  your  list.  

•  Compare  this  list  to  the  master  list.  

•  …(word  deriva<ons,  label  an  atom…)  

•  Exit  slip:    2  characteris<cs  you  want  to  remember  about  atoms.  

The  Atom  

•  All  maEer  is  made  of  atoms.    •  Atoms  have  electrons,  neutrons,  and  protons.    Electrons  

move,  protons  and  neutrons  do  not  move.  •  Atoms  have  nega<ve  and  posi<ve  charges.    •  Electrons  have  a  nega<ve  charge;  protons  have  a  posi<ve  

charge.  •  Protons  and  neutrons  are  located  at  the  centre  of  the  atom,  

in  the  nucleus.  •  Electrons  orbit  around  the  outside  of  the  nucleus,  in  energy  

“shells.”  •  An  object  can  be  nega<vely  or  posi<vely  charged,  

depending  on  the  ra<o  of  protons  and  neutrons.  

Model Guided practice Independent practice Independent application  

Pearson  &  Gallagher  (1983)