On Site Staff Development 2009-2010

Teachers at Bethel School are life-long learners and work hard to keep up to date with 21st Century Instructional Techniques. This school year, teachers will learn more ways to use technology like Smartboards and CPS Units. They will explore ways to enhance instruction with programs and websites like Study Island, Exam View, Web 2.0, and Learn360. Teachers will also be reviewing the use of graphic organizers to help learners visually organize information with training in Thinking Maps.

Classroom Instruction Possibilities

So what are teachers at Bethel doing with students every day? Teachers use research based instructional strategies for improving student achievement. While no classroom would ever use all of the following strategies at the same time, teachers pick and choose from the best practices below to find what works with their own teaching style and with the needs, personalities, and style of each student. Read on to find out what some of these strategies are. Use the links to explore!

Setting Objectives & Providing Feedback

Setting objectives can provide students with a direction for their learning. Goals should not be too specific; they should be easily adaptable to students’ own objectives.

Applications:

*Set a core for a unit, and then encourage students to personalize that goal by identifying areas of interest to them. Questions like “I want to know” and “I want to know more about…” get students thinking about their interests and actively involved in the goal-setting process.

*Use contracts to outline the specific goals that must attain and the grade they will receive if they meet those goals.

Research shows that feedback generally produces positive results. Teachers can never give too much; however, they should manage the form that feedback takes.

Applications:

*Make sure feedback is corrective in nature; tell students how they did in relation to specific levels of knowledge. Rubrics are a great way to do this.

*Keep feedback timely and specific.

* Encourage students to lead feedback sessions.
Students, parents, and administration should see posted objectives in every classroom at Bethel. If you'd like to know more about how this works, you might try this link:

http://classroom.leanderisd.org/webs/marzano/

 

Homework and Practice

Homework provides students with the opportunity to extend their learning outside the classroom. However, research shows that the amount of homework assigned should vary by grade level and that parent involvement should be minimal. Teachers should explain the purpose of homework to both the student and the parent or guardian, and teachers should try to give feedback on all homework assigned.

Applications:

*Establish a homework policy with advice-such as keeping a consistent schedule, setting, and time limit-that parents and students may not have considered.

*Tell students if homework is for practice or for preparation for upcoming units.

*Maximize the effectiveness of feedback by varying the way it is delivered.

Research shows that students adapt skills while they’re learning them. Speed and accuracy are key indicators of the effectiveness of practice.

Applications:

*Assign timed quizzes for homework and have students report on their speed and accuracy.

*Focus practice on difficult concepts and set aside time to accommodate practice periods.
Pitt County Schools has specific, official policy regarding homework and practice - so you might want to check out the PCS website for what this should look like anywhere in Pitt County; but you can also check out this link for more general information on homework and practice:

http://www.middleweb.com?MWLresources/marzchat1.html

 

Reinforcing Effort & Providing Recognition

Effort and recognition speak to the attitudes and beliefs of students, and teachers must show the connection between effort and achievement. Research shows that although not all students realize the importance of effort, they can learn to change their beliefs to emphasize effort.

Application:

*Share stories about people who succeeded by not giving up.

*Have students keep a log of their weekly efforts and achievements, reflect on it periodically, and even mathematically analyze the data.

According to research, recognition is most effective if it is contingent on the achievement of a certain standard. Also, symbolic recognition works better than tangible reward.

Applications:

*Find ways to personalize recognition. Give awards for individual accomplishments.

*”Pause, Prompt, Praise.” If a student is struggling, pause to discuss the problem, then prompt with specific suggestions to help her improve. If the student’s performance improves as a result, offer praise. And if you'd like to learn more ways to reinforce effort and provide recognition, here is a place to begin your search:

http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html

 

Differentiated Instruction

A fuller definition of differentiated instruction is that a teacher proactively plans varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they can express what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can as effiAciently as possible. (Tomlinson, 2003, p. 151) To learn more about differentiated instruction, use this link to get you started:

http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal teaching refers to an instructional activity that takes place in the form of a dialogue between teachers and students regarding segments of text. The dialogue is structured by the use of four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting. The teacher and students take turns assuming the role of teacher in leading this dialogue. If you would like to know more about this strategy, check out this link.

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/atrisk/at6lk38.htm
 

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning is situated within the social constructivist paradigm. Students work on projects or problems in teams with both personal and team accountability for conceptual understanding. To find out more about this strategy, you might find this link interesting:

http://www.kaganonline.com/KaganClub/index.html

Summarizing and Note Taking

These skills promote greater comprehension by asking students to analyze a subject to expose what’s essential and then put it in their own words. According to research, this requires substituting, deleting, and keeping some things and having an awareness of the basic structure of the information presented.

Applications:

*Provide a set of rules for creating a summary.

*When summarizing, ask students to question what is unclear, clarify those questions, and then predict what will happen next in the text.

Research shows that taking more notes is better than fewer notes, though verbatim note taking is ineffective because it does not allow time to process the information. Teachers should encourage and give time for review and revision of notes; notes can be the best study guides for tests.

Applications:

*Use teacher-prepared notes

*Stick to a consistent format for notes, although students can refine the notes as necessary. Want to know more? Here is a place to learn:

http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html

 

Non-linquistic Represenation

According to research, knowledge is stored in two forms: linguistic and visual. The more students use both forms in the classroom, the more opportunity they have to achieve. Recently, use of nonlinguistic representation has proven to not only stimulate but also increase brain activity.

Applications:

*Incorporate words and images using symbols to represent relationships.

*Use physical models and physical movement to represent information.

Bethel teachers are all trained in SIOP - Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol - which stresses the importance of non-linguistic representation for students learning English as a second language; knowing that current research shows this strategy is effective with all learners. To find out more, try this site:

http://classroom.leanderisd.org/webs/marzano/

Cues, Questions & Advanced Organizers

Cues, questions, and advance organizers help students use what they already know about a topic to enhance further learning. Research shows that these tools should be highly analytical, should focus on what is important, and are most effective when presented before a learning experience.

Applications:

*Pause briefly after asking a question. Doing so will increase the depth of your students’ answers.

*Vary the style of advance organizer used: Tell a story, skim a text, or create a graphic image. There are many ways to expose students to information before Cues, questions, and advance organizers help students use what they already know about a topic to enhance further learning. Research shows that these tools should be highly analytical, should focus on what is important, and are most effective when presented before a learning experience.

Applications:

*Pause briefly after asking a question. Doing so will increase the depth of your students’ answers.

*Vary the style of advance organizer used: Tell a story, skim a text, or create a graphic image. There are many ways to expose students to information before they “learn” it. Want to know more? Check this out:

http://wwww.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html

Mnemonics

Mnemonics are strategies for memorizing and assimilating information. It can help people to master interesting concepts and provide a lot of fun doing so. Teachers can use mnemonics to guide their presentations of material and they can teach devices that students can use to enhance their individual and cooperative study of information and concepts. Do you know someone who might benefit from learning more about mnemonics? Try this link:

http://hagar.up.ac.za/catts/learner/cooplrn/b3.html

Role Play

Role playing helps students to understand social behavior, their role in social interactions, and ways of solving problems more effectively. It also helps students collect and organize information about social issues, develop empathy with others, and attempt to improve their social skills. The model requires of students to:”act out” conflicts, to learn to take the roles of others, and to observe social behavior. With adaptation role playing can be used with students of all ages. For a powerpoint presentation on the topic of role play, here is the place to go:

http://www.wce.wwu.edu/Resources/CIRCLE/Strats/Role%20Playing.pdf

Simulations

Simulations are constructed from descriptions of real life situations. A less than real life situation is created for the instructional situation. The student engages in activity to achieve the goal of the simulation and has to do with realistic factors until the goal is mastered. For more information on simulations, check out the link below.

http://hagar.up.ac.za/catts/learner/cooplrn/b3.html

 

Scientific Inquiry

From the beginning the student is brought into the scientific process and helped to collect and analyze data, check out hypotheses and theories, and reflect on the nature of knowledge construction. You should see the science notebooking done at Bethel! If science is your thing, here are two places you might want to visit.

http://www.pwcs.edu/curriculum/sol/scientific.htm
(Topic defined)

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/1002
(This is our North Carolina DPI site.)

Group Investigation

Group investigation is the direct route to the development of the community of learners. A substantial part of a students’ education should be by cooperative inquiry into important social or academic problems. Group investigation has been designed to lead students to define problems, explore various perspectives on the problems, and study together to master information, ideas, and skills-simultaneously developing their social competence. Bethel teachers group students in a variety of ways for lots of different reasons. For a one page explanation specifically on group investigations, click below:

http://wblrd.sk.ca/~bestpractice/coop/examples11.html

 

Generating & Testing Hypothesis

Research shows that a deductive approach (using a general rule to make prediction) to this strategy works best. Whether a hypothesis is induced or deduced, students should clearly explain their hypotheses and conclusions.

Applications:

*Ask students to predict what would happen if an aspect of a familiar system, such as the government or transportation, were changed.

*Ask students to build something using limited resources. This task generates questions and hypotheses about what may or may not work.

If you want to get a better idea of what this is all about, try this link:

http://allenswanson.org/marzano/Setting_Objectives_and_Feedback.htm

(This site will link you to multiple sites discussing “Classroom Instruction That Works” by Marzano)

 

Team Games and Tournament

Team Games Tournaments are a cooperative learning strategy developed at John Hopkins University. It can be used as an assessment alternative and/or as a review technique. Although teachers at Bethel have yet to have training in this strategy, you can learn more about this topic by clicking on the link below.

http://www.cust.educ.ubc.ca/cust565-05/seeds/2006/213_06/CADIZ/TXT/MicroteachingTGT.pdf

Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD)

STAD is one of these three strategies under the umbrella of Student Learning Teams developed at John Hopkins University based on years of research on cooperative learning. In STAD, students study with 4-5 team members following a teacher presentation. Students take quizzes individually to demonstrate how much they have learned. The individual quiz scores are summed to form a team score, and teams are rewarded for their performance. Teams are made up of students with varying academic abilities, genders, and race. The entire cycle of activities, from teacher presentation to team practice to quiz, usually takes 3 to 5 class periods. STAD has been used in a wide variety of subjects, from math to language arts to social studies, and has been used from grade 2 through college. It is most appropriate for teaching well-defined objectives with single right answers, such as specific locational characteristics in geography and some map skills, knowledge of evens in history, and principles of economics or government. If you like learning from John Hopkins University, the site below gives a portion of a chapter taken from the work of Brophy on STAD. While not currenly used at Bethel, the idea might be something you want to know more about.
 

http://www.pwcs.edu/curriculum/sol/stad.htm

(Defines topic)



http://books.google.com/books?id=gD7_VSNmu7cC&pg=RA1-PA173&lpg=RA1-PA173&dq=teams+games+tournaments&source=bl&ots=nUSpRmBwHV&sig=lyGxizi24YSGbcO4VfphKA_GXMk&hl=en&ei=ONZDSoPADZLmM6DzqZ8B&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7

 

Synectics

Synetics operates on the principle that, by using the mind’s remarkable capacity to connect seemingly irrelevant elements of thought, we can spark surprising new ideas that may later be developed into feasible solutions to problems. Although synectics is not currenly used at Bethel, to spark more surprising new ideas, you might want to check out this site.

http://www.pwcs.edu/curriculum/sol/synectics.htm

 

Learning Focused Instruction

LEARNING-FOCUSED INSTRUCTION© is a comprehensive continuous school improvement model. It provides schools with consistent learning and exemplary strategies instruction. Learning-Focused Instruction© integrates research-based exemplary practices. This model of comprehensive school improvement is not currently used at Bethel. If this idea interests you and you would like to know more about it, click on this link:

http://www.learningfocused.com

 

The Frayer Model

The framework of the Frayer Model includes: the concept word, the definition, characteristics of the concept word, examples of the concept word, and non examples of the concept word. It is important to include both examples and non examples, so students are able to identify what the concept word is and what the concept word is not. Does the Frayer Model look like something you'd want to know more about? Here is where to go:

http://www.longwood.edu/staff/jonescd/projects/educ530/aboxley/graphicorg/fraym.htm

 

Problem-based Learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) is focused, experiential learning (minds-on, hands-on) organized around the investigation and resolution of messy, real-world problems…PBL curriculum provides authentic experiences that foster active learning, support knowledge construction, and naturally integrate school learning and real life, this curriculum approach also addresses state and national standards and integrates disciplines…and if you want to know more about problem-based learning, you might want to travel to the site below.

http://www.ncsu.edu/pbl/

 

 Concept Attainment

 In concept attainment, students figure out the attributes of a group or category that has already been formed by the teacher. To do so, students compare and contrast examples that contain the attributes of the concept with examples that do not contain those attributes. They then separate them into two groups. Concept attainment, then, is the search for and identification of attributes that can be used to distinguish examples of a given group or category from non-examples. You can learn more if you click on this link:

http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/cattain/index.html

Concept Formation

Concept Formation or Concept Development Model by Hilda Taba (1966) is used to enhance the thinking skills of students. It gives students practice in categorizing, and developing, extending, and refining concepts. If this is a strategy you want to know more about, check out this link:

http://www.math.ccsu.edu/mitchell/mat520conceptdevelopmentmodel.ppt. 

(Follow this link and just click cancel when asked for login info. And PowerPoint will load)

 Socractic Seminars

Socratic Seminars are a highly motivating form of intellectual and scholarly discourse conducted in K-12 classrooms. They usually range from 30-50 minutes-longer if time allows-once a week. Socratic Seminars foster active learning as participants explore and evaluate the ideas, issues, and values in a particular text. Check this link to get more information on Socratic Seminar:


http://www.pwcs.edu/curriculum/sol/socratic.htm

Backwards Design

Backward Design is an approach to instructional design (promoted by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, 1998), with curriculum units around these types of questions: What enduring understanding do I want my students to develop? How will I know that my students have learned what I want them to learn? How will I engage my students in the instruction? To find our more about planning for instruction this way, try this link:

http://innovateonline.info/extra.php?id=2157

While backwards design is not a teaching technique that you would see evidence of in classroom instruction, it definitely effects the planning and organization of instruction.

 

Dimension of Learning

Dimension of Learning is a comprehensive model that defines the learning process. Its premise is that five types of thinking—what we call the five dimensions of learning—are essential to successful learning. These five dimensions  focus on (1) attitudes and perceptions; (2) acquiring and integrating of knowledge; (3) extending and refining knowledge; (4) using knowledge meaningful; (5) acquiring productive habits of mind. Learn more about this model by clicking below:

http://www.mcrel.org/dimensions/whathow.asp