Planning Assessments

Introduction

For this assessment I will be focusing on my 10th grade MYP PreCalculus class who are working towards mastery of the Common Core State Standard: HSS-ID.C.7. Interpret the slope (rate of change) and the intercept (constant term) of a linear fit in the context of the data.  

This blog entry, for  the TEACH-NOW Module 5, Unit 2, Activity 2, is focused on an objective that was developed in Unit 1 - By the end of this unit, when given a set of raw data, 10th grade math students will be able to consistently represent the data as a scatter plot that is appropriately labeled and includes an appropriate scale.  (Based on the December 13 virtual class discussion, the objective was slightly modified to fit my school's context since we are an MYP school and do not use percentages).  

As a means to track student progress towards the reaching the standard, I have designed the following four formative assessments that lead to a larger, more comprehensive summative assessment:

Formative Assessment #1

The students will collect measurements of each others arm span and height.  It will be recorded and share in a single Google Spreadsheet.  The students will make a copy of the spreadsheet for their own analysis.  In their own copy of the Google Sheets the students will create a scatter plot. After successfully completing the task in Google Sheets, the students will repeat the task in MS Excel, Apple's Numbers, and their TI-nSpire graphing calculator.  For each program the students will receive verbal feedback from their peers and the teacher as to the appropriateness of the scatter plot.

Formative Assessment 2

Using the same data and scatter plot as in the first formative assessment task, the students will use the features in Google Sheets to properly label each of the axes, include a title on the graph, and a legend.   This will  be repeated in MS Excel, Apple's Numbers, and their TI-nSpire graphing calculator.  For each program the students will receive verbal feedback from their peers and the teacher as to the appropriateness of the labels, titles and legends.

Formative Assessment 3

Using the same data and scatter plot as in the second formative assessment task, the students will features in Google Sheets to create a line of best fit, linear regression equation and r-value (correlation coefficient) for the data.

Formative Assessment 4

Using the r-value from the third formative assessment task, the students will interpret the correlation of the data and how that will impact the appropriateness of the data to make predictions about the relationship between arm span and height.  This task will require no technology, however will be done in groups of three as a discussion.  Students and teachers will offer formative feedback to students in order to ensure that students are making sound, data-based predictions.

Rationale

In breaking down this larger task into smaller task, there is greater opportunity for the teacher to guide the students with formative feedback so that their end product is of high quality.  Since the summative task for this unit is for students to take a large set of raw data and carry our a regression analysis in order to make predictions and subsequent informed decisions on the loaning of money through KIVA, it is important that they are able to display the data appropriately and in a way that is not misleading.  One of the biggest areas of growth for many of the students I encounter in 10th grade is there inability to create appropriate graphs.  In having them do the regression in parts the teacher ensures that they have the right product before carrying out the next task.  In doing so, the overall product will not be impacted by a mistake in the formation stages of the product.

Since the real world uses multiple applications to do this type of work, and since our students have access to all kinds of spreadsheet programs, it is also important that they encounter a variety of applications in the formative stages of the unit.  For the summative, the students will be able to choose the application that they feel most comfortable with.  However, it is noted for the students that the TI-nSpire should be mastered as it is the only tool allowed for tests and IBDP examinations.

Finally, the fourth task is designed as a practice for the summative task, which will ask students to interpret the r-value for the KIVA data and if their predictions are sound or not.

Understanding and Applying Standards (A Reflection)

Activity 1 - Unpacking a Standard

I have had to work with the Common Core State Standards since we adopted them at my school in 2010.  Prior to that all of the schools that I worked at had not adopted any national or international standards.  After working here for the last 6+ years and completing this activity it does shock me that there are schools out there that do not have a set of standards to anchor their curriculum.  I must admit, however, that while I have worked with Common Core State Standards for the last 5 years this is the first time that I have actually taken the time to unpack them.  Unpacking the standards was an invaluable learning experience.  I actually took the time to unpack a standard that I had already worked on a couple of months ago and now find myself wanting to go back and reteach because there is so much more I could have done with it.  From the unpacking the standards activity I learned that it is effective to break the standard down into the how, the what and the why/where.  By doing this is allows me to see the standard in parts and design activities that are scaffolded to meet each part, eventually getting to the bigger picture - the context (or why/where).

Activity 2 - Backwards Mapping

While I have been using this model of unit planning since having attended UbD training in 2009, I have not resisted the trading or attended a refresher since.  Additionally I have never thought of using the concept of backwards planning in my day to day lessons, but in conducting this activity I found myself driven to implement a backwards mapping design to all of my lessons - an ambitious goal I would say.  For me, the value of backwards planning is clear.  If I, as the teacher, know the end goal of the unit (or lesson), then I know what is necessary to complete along the way to achieve that goal.  I can design all of my lessons and activities with a clear purpose.  I can offer formative feedback on the path to the goal that is specific to the big goal for the unit.  By keeping the end goal in mind, I can better deliver a quality unit of instruction and increase the probability of my students reaching the goal for the unit.

Activity 3 - Writing Objectives

It was't until I completed an activity in a previous module that I had ever thought about developing S.M.A.R.T. objectives.  I have heard of, and developed, S.M.A.R.T. goals for the math department when I was the department head, but never S.M.A.R.T. objectives for a class.  What I learned from the previous activity in another module was that actually writing S.M.A.R.T. objectives makes designing teaching & learning activities much easier!  What I learned from the activity for this module was how interdependent S.M.A.R.T. objectives and the standards are and how important it is to first unpack the standard before you develop objectives.  At the risk of sounding corny, a big take away from all three activities for me is that your objectives become smarter if you first unpack your standards and by doing do in corporation with backwards planning, your lessons are smarter and so will be your students.

Standards and Backwards Mapping

Standards & Backwards Mapping

Introduction

When I was first introduced to the idea of backwards mapping it was through a training that my school offered on the UbD model developed by Grant Wiggons and Jay McTighe.  The presenter offered a couple poignant yet effective quotes that have really stuck with me.  The first was, "How can you give directions to a place that you don't know you are going?"  The second was clip from the children's TV show Dora the Explorer.  This clip was in every episode, and was when Dora would ask the children, "Who to we ask when we do know the way to go?"  

Most of us either had kids or had been around kids so we answered, "The Map!"  While this might seem childish and inappropriate for a teacher training, it did drive home the idea that if we truly want our kids to reach the end goal, then we must clearly know what that end goal is.

For this activity I will be focusing on my 10th grade PreCalculus class.  The standard that I will be developing my activities and assessment for comes from the common core state standards.  It is:

HSS-ID.C.7. 

Interpret the slope (rate of change) and the intercept (constant term) 

of a linear fit in the context of the data.

The reason that I chose this particular standard from the common core is because it is, for me, and many of my students the one that seems to have the most impact on how relevant math is for our everyday lives and in many of the jobs.  When I have taught them how to do this, its usefulness in the real world and the jobs that make use of this kind of work, the students are often very captivated.  The fact that it allows for the integration technology takes away some of the "math sting" that many students who dislike math or have been led to believe that they are no good at make feel.

Proficiencies for this Standard 

The proficiencies that I use to indicate what students will be able to do at the end of this unit come from the National Research Council's The Five Strands of Mathematics.  The three I would focus on here are

1. Conceptual Understanding - here the students will make the connection to what they already know (slope and constant/y-intercept) to real world applications and technology.  It done as a bi-variate statistics lesson, which I normally do, then they begin to make connections between algebra and statistics.  Tying in a concept like, say, connections, supports retention and limits errors.  By the end of the unit I would hope that the students are able to see the connection between the study of the data and the decisions that we make through the use of real life examples such as in the movie Money Ball (most of my students enjoy sports and particularly baseball).
2. Adaptive Reasoning - I would expect that after the learning experiences the students capacity to think logically, reflect on their learning, as well as to explain & justify their findings would increase.  
3. Productive Disposition - After having been through lessons and activities that were very much connected to real-life examples I would hope that the students would see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile, in addition to having developed a belief in diligence and their own efficacy.

Assessments Against the Standard

In order to measure the students achievement against the standard, I would conduct the follow formative assessments.  These three formative tasks would be part of a greater number of task that ultimately lead to a summative task for the entire unit.

1. Given several sets of data with corresponding regression (linear) equations and correlation coefficients, as well as accompanying scatter plots and lines of best fit, the students will: 
• discuss the relationship between the "closeness" of the data on the scatter plot and correlation coefficient
• interpret what the intercept (constant) means in the context of the problem
2. Given a (housing purchase) data set along with a corresponding regression (linear) equation and correlation coefficients, as well as accompanying scatter plot and line of best fit, the students then come to a conclusion as to whether it is wise to buy or sell one's home. Key to this task is for students to think logically, reflect on their learning, explain their findings, and  justify their conclusions.
3. As a reflection at the end of the unit the students would write in their ePortfolios a reflective piece on how the study of this unit has helped them to see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile.  Additionally, students would need to reflect on their own development as diligent, students who are able to produce the desired outcome.

Learning Experiences to Help Students Meet The Standard

The learning experiences for this standard would be connected to the assessments above.

1. Group work with given data sets: Given several sets of data with corresponding regression (linear) equations and correlation coefficients, as well as accompanying scatter plots and lines of best fit, the students will discuss the relationship between the "closeness" of the data on the scatter plot and correlation coefficient in their groups, coming to a consensus for presentation to the class.  Additionally, they will interpret what the intercept (constant) means in the context of the problem.  Feedback will be given to each group by the teacher and peers using a Google Form.
2. Independent work with housing purchase data: All students would be given data from different parts of the world.  Since I only have 17 students in this class, this would not be too difficult.  Each student would be responsible for coming to a conclusion based on analysis of data set along with a corresponding regression (linear) equation and correlation coefficients, as well as accompanying scatter plot and line of best fit, of whether or not it is reasonable to buy or sell a home in that region.  Their work will be presented to a partner for peer feedback (verbal).
3. Quiet reflection writing activity:  At the end of the unit the students will write a reflection on their ePortfolio addressing how the study of this unit has helped them to see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile.  Additionally, students will to reflect on their own development as diligent, students who are able to produce the desired outcome.  Only the teacher will see this and schedule one-on-one sessions with selected students to see how the lesson have done a better job meeting the above standard.

References

National Research Council. (2001). Adding it up: Helping children learn mathematics. J Kilpatrick, J. Swafford, and B. Findell (Eds.). Mathematics Learning Study Committee, Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Applying Classroom Rules and Procedures

Dealing with students in the classroom can be a tricky task for new and veteran teachers alike.  In our readings over the last couple of weeks we have learned about something called "withitness", which refers to the teachers ability to know and deal with potential turbulent situations in the classroom before they escalate into something more.  While this is great, what then, does a teacher do when the situation is already to the point well passed prevention.  Below is a process chart for how I employ decisions on action for non-compliance of classroom rules and expectations.  It should be noted that this has to be in line with our school's referral process, which is not incredibly rigid and allows for teacher judgement to be used whenever needed.

When students are on task and meeting the expectations of the classrooms, for me, it is important that they be celebrated, perhaps even more so than the students who are off task.  If you view my flowchart below you will see that I have three different scenarios when students are following the norms and directions of the classroom

1. Consistently doing an exceptional job following classroom expectations:  I am not the kind of teacher to email home every single time a student does as they should.  If a student is consistently following classroom expectations, then I would certainly feel the need to do so.  I do, however, reserve the right to email home under special circumstance, like say a student who is normally way off task suddenly has a great day.
2. Single (or smaller) instances of following classroom procedures:  This is for the one-a-day instances.  If I were to email home for this, then I would never get off my computer.  What I try and do is give instant positive feedback, like saying "good job" or patting the student on the back or even a simple smile.
3. Give an IB Learner Profile Card:    This is really specific to my school, as we are an IB World School, so it might not make a lot of sense.  However, for exhibiting one or more of the IB Learner Profile Attributes, teachers at my school give out cards which a placed into a month raffle for a prize. This is an excellent way to acknowledge students without taking too much time.

Now, when students are off task, it is very much a hybrid of my own classroom management and policies for the school.  This 5-step process is of my own making and interestingly enough I have never made it to the 5th step in this since I came to this school and began using it.  Now that I really think about it, I can only recall a handful of times when I actually reached the 4th step, but I fully think that is more of a reflection on my own relationships that I build with students in the beginning of the year.  Once we've had the private conversation in step 3, the problems stop. Granted, if a student is consistently reaching step 3 of the chart over the course of several classes, then I do email home.

For the first couple of steps in the no portion of the flowchart, it is important that one not assume that the student chose not to listen to the expectations.  Perhaps he could hear or even couldn't understand. Maybe there are others like him/her, and therefore, it would be a good idea to reiterate the expectations to the entire class.  If the student again is not following along with the expectations, maybe he/she needs a more clearer explanation or some questions answered.  With that idea in mind a one-on-one explanation and opportunity for Q&A might be in order.  

However, when we have reached step 3, there is clearly, to me, a non-compliance issue with the student and a need for a private conversation.  Since I teach high school, having a time-out chair or place might not be useful.  What I usually ask them to do is to go to the chair next to my desk and reflect on why they are off task (this is often done in a soft conversation near the student so that I do not embarrass them).  After a minute or two I will then signal for the student to meet me outside where we will discuss the expectations, why he is not meeting them and discuss ways that he can.  I usually ask him/her at that point if I need to contact home (the answer is usually no).  

As I have mentioned above, I have rarely gotten to step 4.  Usually things are fine after step 3.  I have never gotten to step 5.  I see my role as a teacher to be a holistic educator, which includes teaching them how to handle all situations myself and with grace and humility.

Process Chart for Decision on Action for Non-Complaiance

Creating High Performance Learning Environments

A Critical Review of High Performance Expectations in Different Teaching Strategies

For the purposes of this task, I have reviewed the following teaching strategies in order to explore how teachers have different performance expectations in their classroom:

1 Roller Coaster Physics & Lesson Plan Glog

2 3rd Grade Chinese Math & Explainer Article

3 Whole Brain Teaching Lesson & Whole Brain Website

Academic Exceptions

The question for each of the videos here is: Are the teachers holding the students to high performance expectations?  

From reviewing the video for Roller Coaster Physics along with the corresponding lesson plan one would be hard press to say "no".  The content and application is of a very high level, something that you might expect students in a high school class to be doing.  To have students in 5th grade studying concepts such as kinetic & potential energy, friction and Newton's Laws raises the bar for science to a new level.  Add to that the integration of other subjects such as math as well as all the 21st century skills such as problem-solving, thinking, communication, and collaboration the teacher has set a very high standard for her students.  One might ask, however, how she is able to ensure that all students are held to high performance expectations.  While it is not explicit here, there are some telling signs in both the lesson plan and the video that suggest that all students are held to high performance expectations.  Examples include students assigned to roles in each group and the accountability of being in a group that is transparent in the progress and submission.

Switching gears to the video for 3rd Grade Chinese math it would appear that while the content is high and therefore the expectations are also high, I was left to wonder how in such a classroom everyone is truly held to a high standard. Yes, they all may be participating in what appears to be a rote memorization task, but how is the teacher able to measure the level or participation and performance of the lower achieving students.  The article sheds light on how well the Chinese students are performing in math, but there is very little evidence to suggest what exactly the cause might be.  Now, one could easily put things together from reading all the articles and come to a conclusion that with such pressures on students and teachers in China with respect to education there comes with it almost organically a high level of expectation.  This, however, is not evident in the video and can only be inferred.

Finally, the Whole Brain Teaching video I kind of got the feeling that this might have been a low achieving or even special needs class.  After reading some of the material on the Whole Brain Website it was clearer to me that the teacher was using the concept that students learn better when they make use of their entire body when learning.  This, however, still left me wondering how she was holding everyone to a high expectation for learning.  The only thing that I could pull from this was the clear, active participation of each and every student in the class.  Perhaps that is something that is a goal for the teacher due to class dynamics, I am not sure, but if it is, then she has met it very well.

Behaviour Exceptions

The question for each of the videos here is: Do the teachers have high behavioural expectations for their students?

In each of the three videos I would be comfortable concluding that all three teachers have high behaviour expectations for their students.   The teacher for the STEM class has all the students working purposefully and collaboratively.  At no time in the video does a student appear to be off task nor misbehaving.  The teacher in the 3rd grade math class has them almost like robots, which could be argued is a negative thing, but since that it not the point of this section we can conclude that there is high behavioural expectations happening.  It should also be noted that when there was a minor incident of a student not following the direction, the student quickly corrects the students and moves on.  Additionally, all students raise their hands to answer questions, indicating that they know the rules and routines of the class. Finally, in the while brain teaching lesson the teacher has made excellent use of routines to maintain high behavioural expectations.  While this might well be the intention as a result of other reasons, it is certainly evident that the teacher has good control of the students and that the students are well aware of the classroom expectations.

Norms and Procedures

The question for each of the videos here is: What norms and procedures have the the teachers set up to support student learning?

There are norms and procedures highly evident in all three of the lesson videos provided above.  What stood out most for me with the STEM teacher is that she said that one of the norms for her class was to have fun and learn. Additionally, she has assigned roles to each student that ensures involvement by all students.  I also liked how she began classes by reviewing what they have learned and what they will be doing on that particular day.  By doing this students have a clear idea of what was learned and where they will take their learning in the current class.  For the 3rd grade math class, I am life to wonder if this was a smaller section of review for a bigger class activity.  I wonder if a classroom norm is for students to review a concept in a rote manner, in this case the multiplication tables.  Trying not to be too critical of the teacher's method, it does seem effective in establishing a sense of routine in the students that can, in many ways be helpful.  Finally, and likely the most obvious examples of norms being using in the classroom, is the whole brain teaching lesson.  This lesson was full of routines that helped students transition, get ready for class, remember content and acts and even communicate to each other.  Much like the transitions video we watched in the previous unit, this teacher has embedded content into the day to day norms of the class.  By doing this, and including the movement aspects, the teacher stands a greater chance of seeing growth and success in her students.

Setting High Performance Expectations Among My Students

The question  here is: How you would create learning environments for your students that are similar or in contrast to the three teaching situations illustrated in the above videos.

It is interesting that I would engage in this learning activity today, the very same day when I meet with my collaborative teaching partner for 10th grade mathematics.  We were discussion which students should be recommended for IB Diploma Program Higher Level (IBDP HL) Mathematics and he said, "I want to tell all my students that anyone can do IBDP HL math.  I want to challenge them to strive for greatness and not communicate to them that they are incapable of reaching the highest levels."  For me, it was spot on and we began to discuss how we can do that.  We both agree, and I will use that here, that there needs to be a balance of challenging tasks, teacher support and formative feedback.  We need to set the students up to success and encourage, or even celebrate, them to take risks in their learning.  For my students I expect that they all participate.  I assign groups that allow for the strengths of each student to be necessary for group success.  I encourage students to take risks and ask/answer questions.  No one is left not addressed.  I make sure that my students understand that I expect the best out of them and that I do not care about what the other teachers say or how they did in other math classes.  I celebrate their success and encourage the rest of the class to do so.  My philosophy is that everyone in my class has an important role to play in the success of the entire class's learning.

When I reflect on my own practices in conjunction with the materials covered for this activity: all three videos, Marzano (2007) as well as articles written by people like Strauss (2014),  I can’t help by think that we I must begin with thinking about how I form my expectations.  As both authors mention, we come into the classroom and have a belief about our students.  And while we try and do our best not to let those impact the classroom, we unconsciously do by shying away from the low-achievers, by allowing them to sit in the back and not participate.  We do it by not probing deeper into their understanding when they don’t get a questions right and, thus, not getting an understanding of the process that brought them to the incorrect conclusion.  With that in mind the biggest thing that I need to do is set my mind right before the class even begins.

Finally in thinking about my students (high school math students) I can honestly say that the one video that stood out to me was the roller coaster physics lesson.  The other two were fine, but I am not convinced that the activities and the way the whole brain learning classroom would work well with my class.  I am also not convinced that a group of high school math students would get very much out of a rote lesson like in the 3rd grade math class.  However, the contextual, real-life activity that was done in that class, with all the components such as business, planning, math, science, safety, and the way roles were assigned, I could see it being a very successful activity for my students.  In fact, I have shared it with the high school physics teacher in thinking that we could make an interdisciplinary unit of some kind from it.

References

Marzano, Robert.  (2007).  The Art and Science of Teaching.  ASCD. USA

Strauss, Valerie. (2014). What ‘setting high expectations’ for all students really means. Retrieved [Nov. 10] from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/05/06/what-setting-high-expectations-for-all-students-really-means/

Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate

Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate

In my 15+ years of teaching I have never really had too much trouble with my classroom.  With that has always come the question from fellow teachers, administrators and even parents & students: how do you do it?  What is your strategy?  Quite frankly, I had no idea, I just did what I thought was right and how I thought I would like my classroom to be if I were the student.  The problem with that, I know notice is that it comes with the assumption that all students are like me and that cultural differences do not exist.  While my classroom management style was working and there appeared to be a positive classroom climate to me and perhaps the majority of my students, it was not sure for all.

Where I teach, South Korea, most if not all of my students are from a cultural background different than me.  I have a large group of Korean students, a few American students, and one from each of the Ukraine, China, and Taiwan.  The first thing that I need to do in order to establish a positive classroom climate for this class is recognize that my cultural ways are not always the right way and that there is a beauty in the diversity that is my classroom.  I need to learn about the students and their culture to see what it is they care about.  How to they learn and what it and is not acceptable in classroom relationships.  I like to tell jokes in class, often at my own expenses.  This, however, is not something that is seen as normal in the Ukraine, where my student would often stand like a solider to speak or respond to my questions.  For her the classroom was a serious place of learning and for a teacher not to be serious was very difficult for her.  I had to get rid of the cultural bias that many westerners have about Asian students and how incredibly smart and hard working they are.  While, yes, many of my Asian students are very hard working and very bright, not all are and some really do struggle in math.  Assumptions that the Asian kid does not need help in math is just down right wrong!  (I learned that within weeks of coming to Asia).  Another assumption that needs to be thwarted is that all students who attend private international school as wealthy and have no issues at home.  This assumption is common when students are acting up in class.  I have often heard teachers say things like, "Johnny should not be acting this way.  His family is very rich and he wants for nothing."  The problem here is that while Johnny might be from a rich family, his parents might work long hours and he has to cook and clean for himself, or he has a nanny that does everything for him, but he is lacking the affection of a parent.  And then there is the assumption that Johnny is rich only because he attends this school.  The fact is that many parents

Understanding every culture and situation in your classroom can be a daunting task.  There are, however, some simple things that a teacher can do to establish a positive classroom climate.  Those, as highlighted by Marzano (2007) as well as in an article on Teaching Tolerance (2014) are as follows:

• Greet your students, by name, as they come into the classroom;
• Arrange the desks in the classroom so that is fosters collaboration, but not so that the student(s) cannot see the front of the classroom;
• Decorate your classroom with authentic materials such as student work.  This ensures that all the decorations reflect the diversity of the classroom.
• Place identified students with needs in places where they can be support (i.e. not the back of the room);
• Establish an appropriate relationship with your students
• let them know some things about you;
• learn somethings about them (likes, dislikes, interests, family, etc)
• keep your cool while being firm about the classroom expectations;
• make the learning student centred;
• interact with students outside of the classroom (take in one of their games or activities);
• Use what you know about the students to you advantage in not only the teaching a learning, but in the classroom management techniques you use.

In addition to understanding my students as highlighted above and the simple classroom strategies, there is a need for a teacher to be willing to deal with bullying.  Bullying is real, it happens all the time, and in every class.  Pacer's National Bullying Prevention Centre estimates the in schools this year about 22% of students will be bullied.  With the risk including depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, poor school performance and even suicide, it is imperative that any classroom also be a place where the teacher confronts bullying head on.  First, the teacher needs to have clear guidelines that are in line with school policy (as applicable).  Additionally, and in line with much of what I have discussed above, there is a need for the teacher to be a person that a victim is comfortable coming to and speaking about the bullying situation.  There has to be a relationship built such that the teacher, when he/she notices or suspects someone is being bullied, is able to approach the student and talk about it.  If students have the trust in the teacher, as developed using much of the strategies above, then something can be done about.  The teacher must not ignore it because bullying is hard thing to deal with.  The teacher must not assume that it is not happening in his or her classroom because he or she do not see it.  Much of the bullying now happens online or outside of the school walls and cannot be easily detected unless you know the signs.  For that reason the teacher must learn the signs that someone is being bullied.

Building positive relationships can go a long way in creating a positive classroom environment.  It does not mean that you cannot create and enforce rules or that you need to be nice all the time.  It simply means that you must be firm and consistent with the rules while understanding and respecting all the characteristics of your students.  A teacher needs to be caring, understanding, respectful, hard-working, consistent, etc in order to be effective.

References

Marzano, Robert.  (2007).  The Art and Science of Teaching.  ASCD. USA

Pacer's National Bullying Prevention Centre. (2015).  Bullying Statistics.  Retrieved [October 30, 2015] from http://www.pacer.org/bullying/about/media-kit/stats.asp

Teaching Tolerance (2014). Critical Practices for Anti-Biased Education.  Teaching Prespectives.org

Using Mobile Devices in the Classroom

Say What?  Mobile Devices in the Classroom!

Why You Need to include Mobile Learning Activities in Your Classroom

Admittedly when I was first introduced to the concept of mobile learning my mind instantly went to the type of learning where students are moving around and being active in the classroom or even taking the classroom outside.  Not for a second did the idea of using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets come to my mind, and, to be honest, why would it?  Our generation, the digital immigrants, have been scoffing at the mass use of technology for years.  We groan about the number of people captivated by their smartphone on the subway or bus.  Seeing every other person with headphones/earphones in makes us shutter.  And, the digital immigrant teachers, myself included, have been slow to recognize the value of digital devices.  We make classroom rules such as "No Cell Phones" in order to maintain the integrity of the learning environment.  

The problem with the exclusion of mobile devices in learning is that this generation, the digital natives, requires a completely different approach to teaching and learning than we were raised on. I am not going to argue here for a complete shift in teaching where we throw out all the good strategies that work.  The truth is that not everyone has access to a digital device and not all students or teachers are equipped to effectively use technology.  What I am calling for is a hybrid model of education.  As Rudi (2011) points out, this generation of students are demotivated and much of this demotivation is the result of the lack of meaningful use of technology that is integrated into the traditional classroom. Rudi does not argue that every activity needs to be done with a mobile device.  He argues that there needs to be a balance of activities in the classroom that include mobile learning just as much as there is a need for differentiation.  The importance of this increases when you consider the research done by UNESCO (2015), which concluded that over six million people have access to connected mobile device and that for every one person who accessed the internet from a computer, two do so from a mobile device.  The access to information has greatly increased and with that the opportunity for learning can now unfold in a multitude of ways anywhere, anytime.  With that, then, comes the need for teachers to teach technology skills such as digital literacy and digital citizenship.  This can be done effectively when connected to the content of the classroom, and in turn meeting the learning needs of the students.  

As a teacher who has had to transition from a school with little to no technology into one where every student has their own laptop in the classroom, almost all have a smart phone, and about half have a tablet, I can say that the learning curve will be steep.  However, the benefits can be quite encouraging for teachers who are sick and tired of unmotivated and disengaged student who continually show apathy towards their learning.  Just this year alone in my math classes I have seen my own students engaged in learning like I have never seen before.  Students who have a track record of underachieving are now performing at a higher level.  Students who have a track record of struggling to understand the content covered are finally figuring things out.  A perfect example of this is a student in my class yesterday who has been at this school for ten years and deemed a poor math student by teachers and parents being able to explain to the entire class a concept that she had learned through her mobile learning of transformations.  She was engaged, could "play" with the graphs on her mobile device (TI-nspire) and the result was not only her own learning, but the learning of others and development of such 21st century learning skills as collaboration and communication.  What I witness is summarized nicely by Fang (2009) when she discusses how lifting the restrictive nature of technology treatment in the classroom opens up a wealth of learning opportunities and in doing so allows learners to learn the way they learn best without the teacher having to be in complete control.  It turns ownership over to the students and gives them the responsibility to learn for themselves and others.

Guiding Principles for Mobile Learning

It must be noted that whenever you bring connected devices into the classroom there needs to be a set of guidelines for both the teacher and students.  These can be broken down in to considerations for prior to use of the technology, considerations for during to use of the technology, and considerations for after use of the technology.

• Considerations for before using mobile devices in the classroom:
• Does everyone have access to the appropriate device for the activity?
• Is there a need for a network connection?
• How will you limit distractions for students?
• Are there alternatives for the activity in case of technology?
• Is the activity age/level appropriate?
• Are their any technology related skills that need to be taught prior to the activity?

• Considerations for during the use of technology in the classroom:
• Is the activity understood?
• Are students using the technology appropriately?
• Do they understand how to use the technology?
• Are the students engaged?

• Considerations for after the use of technology in the classroom:
• Where there any technology issues that could have been avoided?  If so, how?
• Was the learning goal clear?
• Was the purpose of the activity clear?
• How could the activity be improved in order to increased student engagement and learning?
• Gather feedback from the students.

Mobile Learning Ideas in the Math Classroom

This is no way an exhaustive list, but here are some ideas that I have used for mobile learning in mathematics:

• Flipping the classroom - consider taking your math lessons that are done in the classroom and doing them in a video that is shared with the students before the class.  The idea is that the students would watch them and then come to class and be able to focus on activities and skills development rather than listening to a lecture or watching the teacher do examples on the board.  There a multiple ways to do with with an tablet and a stylus pen.
• Use of mobile devices to gather data (height, arm span, elevation, distance travelled, etc) - instead of giving the students random data from a book or the internet have them collect their own data.  They could use a smartphone app to collect measurements such as height and arm span for a bivariate investigation.  They could use the GPS of their smartphone while walking around a local park in order to map distances, elevation or even work with the speed formula.
• Learning Management System (LMS) - while some LMSs come with a cost, there are others that are free and can be used to push the content of your classroom onto the web whereby students have access to the content anywhere.  This would work nicely with the flipped classroom idea above.
• Graphing Calculators - most don't think of this as a mobile device, but some of the newer models produced by Texas Instruments have connectivity functions that allow students to work with photos loaded onto the calculator and develop functions to model the objects in the photo. You could have students take a picture of a bridge with their smartphone or camera and load it onto the calculator so that they could develop an equation for the spanners of the bridge and even develop force diagrams based on the function (for higher learners).
• Digital textbooks - now that students have devices that allow them to connect anytime anywhere why not consider switching from a paper based text to a digital text.  Many publishers are offering both these days, but this would come at a cost, of course.

References

Fang, Berlin. (2009). From Distraction to Engagement: Wireless Devices in the Classroom. Retrieved [October 21, 2015] from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/12/from-distraction-to-engagement-wireless-devices-in-the-classroom

Rudi, Alan. (2011). Hybrid Learning: How to Reach Digital Natives.  Retrieved [October 21, 2015] from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/765/hybrid-learning-how-to-reach-digital-natives

UNESCO. (2015).  ICT in Education: Mobile Learning.  Retrieved [October 21, 2015] from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/themes/icts/m4ed/

Planning for English Language Learners

Right now in my 10th grade math class I am teaching a unit on Probability and Statistics.  This unit has always presented problems for English language learners and therefore I would like to focus this discussion on that group.

After reviewing the TEACH-NOW literature there seems to be agreement that there are five or six.  Haynes (2005) discusses the five stages as being Pre-production, Early Production, Speech Emergent, Intermediate Fluency, and Advanced Fluency.  Robertson & Ford (2008), however add Beginning Fluency in between Haynes's Speech Emergent and Intermediate Fluency.  In looking over both Haynes as well as Robertson and Ford it appears that the biggest addition seems to be the idea that new contexts and academic language are challenging at the beginning fluency stage and that individual will have trouble expressing themselves.  Although, these characteristics are certainly evident within Haynes's five stages as well.  With that in mind, I would like to consider students that I teach with reference to the six stages offered by Robertson & Ford.

In reflecting in my math class the following four learners (names altered to protect privacy) come to mind:

1. Jay - a beginning fluency English language learner who has minor troubles expressing himself in social situations, but does have difficulty picking up new content specific language and understanding what he is being asked to do in certain questions.  He finds content specific directions to be a challenge and seeks clarification often.
2. Bill - a speech emergent English language learner who over the course of the unit has shown an increase in content specific vocabulary and decrease in errors as familiarity grows.  In challenging problems that are in an unfamiliar context, a requirement of MYP math, Bob continues to have difficulties and relies on context clues from others to tackle the problem.  
3. Yolanda - an intermediate fluency English language learner does especially well communicating in social settings.  Her academic language proficiency is very good and she has been doing well to express her opinion and offer solutions to complex problems.  There are, however, still some gaps in content specific vocabulary, though these are becoming less frequent.
4. Stella - an advanced fluency English language learner, she for all intents and purposes can do all things in math class like a native speaker.  One can only tell that she is not a native speaker by her very slight accent and misuse of common English expressions, which might actually be culturally based than language based.

When we think about English language learners we often think about those students that sit in the corner and are very quiet, trying to get through the class without being called upon by the teacher.  This is not the case for the four students I describe above.  In the case of Stella, she is just about there and all there is that separates her from native like English language use is her accent.  While most strategies call for continued support in content areas and writing (Haynes, 2005) this will not nip the problem.  In order to help Stella, the teacher needs to model correct speech in a natural voice so that Stella can hear it spoken in a neutral accent.  Allow for students like Stella to practice her pronunciation while preaching tolerance and the fact that just everyone has an accent (Rustbelt, 2011).  For Yolanda, Jay as well as Bill the use of graphic organizers, vocabulary and language development strategies and meaning-based context & universal themes would be helpful (Bongolan & Moir, 2005).  

What is interesting to think about is on the surface, two of the four students I refer to here would likely go unnoticed by many others.  In fact, all but one, Bill, is not considered an ESL student by the school and even Bill is scheduled to be taken off of ESL support at the end of this school year.

References:

Bongolan, RS. & Moir, E. (2005). Six Key Strategies for Teachers of English Language Learners.  retrieved from http://suu.edu/ed/fso/resources/esl-six-key-strategies.pdf

Haynes, J.  (2005).  Stages of Second Language Acquisition.  Retrieved from http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/language_stages.php

Robertson, K. & Ford, K. (2008). Language Acquisition: An Overview.  Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/26751/

Rusbult, C. (2011).  Improving Pronunciation with a Problem-Solving Strategy.  Retrieved from http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/think/esl-learning.htm

All the Things I Didn't Know About SEN

Recently for one of my TEACH-NOW assignments I was asked to interview our Special Educational Needs Coordinator as well as a couple of teachers who had experience working with students that had special needs.  Like many students going into an assignment my initial thought was to get it all done an over with.  However, what I found at the end of the interview was that I had learned so much and that there was so much more I had to learn to be an effective teacher.  My school only has the one SEN Coordinator, so the choice was obvious there, but there were many teachers to choose from and what I decided to do was, on the advice of the SEN Coordinator, interview two teachers that were on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of attitude and experience towards having to work with special needs students.

You can click here for the interview notes.

While I have had limited experience in working with students with special needs while I was at the school and the school's admissions policy indicated that only students with mild to moderate needs would be accepted, there was a lot to learn.  I knew all about the referral process - a Google Form that teachers submitted when they suspected a student with a need.  What I did not know was that if a teacher did not attempt to implement alternative educational experiences and document the result that the referral would be sent back and the teacher instructed to try some alternative educational experiences and report back at a later date.  At first when I heard this I was concerned that it was a waste of valuable time where the potential special needs student could, but having hear the rationale from the SEN Coordinator (often times teachers don't want to deal with SEN and want to put it on someone else's plate, and it is generally good data for the referral consideration process in general) I felt a lot better.  However, while one teacher (the one who was deemed to be "on top of things" by the SEN Coordinator as well as the SEN Coordinator could site ways to support students with learning needs, the other teacher was not very convincing.  

This, to me, pointed to a disconnect in the school about the services available and the knowledge and understanding of some teachers of the different learning styles of students and how to accommodate for them.

When considering the list of accommodations provided to me by the SEN Coordinator I could not help but wonder how overwhelming it must be for the teachers who all have 3 or 4 preps and 5 classes to teach.  It was at this point that I asked about the levels of stress and work that they have and how it plays a factor in how they deal with SEN students.  Of course, the answer was not surprising.  No teacher wants to let a student fail or struggle, but no teacher has the time to do everything for each student and still meet the general needs of the school.  While the first teacher I interviewed seemed very much on top of things (as the SEN Coordinator suggested), the second seemed to be overwhelmed.  And why not?  After further questioning, it was easy to see why: a father of two kids under the age of 5, he was teaching 6 classes (normal load is 5), he is the head of his department, coaching a sport, and the assistant athletic director for the school.  So, while one might praise the first teacher for taking the initiative to go get the information, the scorn given to the second might be without warrant.

When I look back at what I learning about the process here at my school it seems very systematic, which is great.  Students are referred, and, if the teacher has done all the necessary steps, the Student Resource Team (SRT) meets and goes over the referral and student files to make a determination of next steps.  Parents are notified of the referral and the process to follow (usually some sort of testing) and modifications and/or accommodations are implemented (with parent support).  This all seems very well and good, but to my point above, it seems that in the busy lives of teachers the extra step of carrying out some alternative methods is not look upon highly.  Once in place, however, the student's accommodations are done in the least restrictive way.  

Thinking about the learning from Finland's Formula for Education Success and The New York School of One it seems that we might be off the mark.  It seems from those two examples that the further of education, special or normal, is individualized for all learners regardless of ability and needs.  This, of course, would take a major shift in a school's thinking and approach to teaching, learning, and hiring.

Overall, though this was a very valuable learning experience and just goes to show that the teacher is always learning and should never stop thinking about how and why we do things.  I was able to learn a great deal about how the referral process works at my place of work as well as a lot about the perceptions of others of the process.  

Reflections on Teaching and Learning in a Concept-Based Curriculum

Back in 2012 I was sent by my school to attend a workshop offered by Lynn Erickson.  The title of the workshop was, like her 2007 book, Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom.  This was the first time I had been exposed to such a way of thinking and to be honest at first met it with great scrutiny.  If you have ever watched videos concerning concept based teaching and learning or read any of the literature or attended any of the conferences, you would, too!  It all seemed very much like all other educational theories out there - drummed up by academics who have never been in the classroom in their lives or, if they have, it was 10+ years ago.  But is was some of the examples that caught my attention and made me think about how I taught and how many of my teachers taught me.  While having dinner with other teachers, we discussed the first day and if it really was feasible.  Some of us said, "Sure in a  PYP Classroom where there are not high-stakes exams nor demands of preparing kids for the DP, but not in the higher grades.  There is simply no time for it.  They have to know all the facts in order to do well."  That was what got me to think about education and how it has has for so long been stuck in a vicious cycle of rote memorization and regurgitation of facts.  Students would come to class and be told the key points and facts, causes and effects for their subjects and be tested on their recall knowledge of what they were told. 

Was this really what we wanted for our students?  What this what I wanted for my own children?  How much did I really know about what I learned in school and how much could I use it in context? Was simply knowing the facts giving our students the 21st Century skills required by today's employers?  Certainly not, but what else could we do?  They simply had to learn the material.  They had to, as Brady (2011) puts it, learn the highly-specific standards for each academic subject in bits and pieces, not considering the connections.  He argues, however that it is more important is for students to have a system organizing and integrating what they know so that they can see the "big picture.  Erickson (2007) explains further by arguing that while facts remain important and necessary, it is how they learn those facts and what we have our students do with the facts that is important.  In today's world, employers care less about what you know and more about what you can do with what you know.  

With the growing popularity of tablets and smartphones, the facts are now at your fingertips.  Erickson argues that there needs to be a shift in how we develop our curriculum and teach our students how to think and how to make generalizations that are grounded in the facts for the topics we teach and developed through conceptual understands.  Those conceptual understandings would be subjectless, timeless and transferrable.  They would allow for students to continue thinking and making connections from class to class, very much unlike how Brady (2011) describes the traditional style of education.  By building the teaching and learning on a conceptual framework students would be able to synthesize their learning, transfer their skills and develop critical thinking and problem solving capabilities that are integral in today's workforce.   Sackson (2012) blogged a summary of twitter conversations between teachers who were collaborating on a unit of inquiry.  I would encourage you to take a look at see how it can really work.

So ground-breaking was this research that the International Baccalaureate brought Lynn Erickson along with other leading experts in the field such as Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe to completely rehaul the Middle Years Program (MYP).  The result of a two year study saw the International Baccalaureate MYP completely transformed.  For an international organization such as the IB to make such a change in their educational stance, policy and resources it must be considered to be something special.  Teaching and learning in IB MYP classrooms are now transforming from a place where the facts are learned and given back to a place where learning is based on concepts, and generalizations are leading to transfer.  No longer are questions in history class being asked like: "What were the significant events of WW2?", but now we seem then becoming more conceptual, still requiring the factual knowledge required by states and even the common core.  Questions are now more commonly asked in IB MYP classrooms like, "To what extend did the events of WW2 impact the social, economic and geographic structure of the world?"  In my math class, for example, I do not simple teach students about probability and statistics in isolation.  We learn how they can be used to inform our decisions.  The conceptual idea for my math class is that The Choices we make today will have a profound impact on the quality and quantity of our choices in the future.  The big idea here is that students need the facts and content knowledge of probability and statistics in order to make informed choices.  Without informed choices there will be poor decisions.  

The educational topic of concept based teaching and learning is beginning to have some serious effects on organizations such as the IB as well as the Common Core.  Many of the standards for history in the Common Core are now conceptual in nature, with more such  subject changes promised to come.

Sources:

Brady, M (2011).  Thinking Big: A Conceptual Framework For the Study of Everything.  Retrieved from http://pypacademymiami2011.wikispaces.com/file/view/BRADY+Eng.pdf

Erickson, H. L. (2007). Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom.  Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Corwin Press

Sackson, E. (2012).  Concept Driven Learning.  Retrieved from https://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/concept-driven-learning/

The International Baccalaureate.  http://www.ibo.org