Let’s get motivated!Houlton Southside School

Houlton, MEAugust 15, 2006

Corda Ladd KinzieMaine Support Network

P.O. Box 390Readfield, ME 04355

Phone: (207) 685-3171Fax: (207) 685-4455

corda@adelphia.netwww.mainesupportnetwork.org

Learning Partner/Buddy

• Find someone in the room that you don’t know well that will be your learning partner/buddy at 9:00 AM

• Every on should have a partner/buddy by 8:00AM

MyAppointment Clock

Round the Clock Learning BuddiesRound the Clock Learning Buddies

Make an appointment with 12 different people – one for each hour on the clock. Be sure you both record the appointment on your clocks. Only make the appointment if there is an open slot at that hour on both of your clocks.

Tape this paper inside a notebook, or to something that you will

bring to class each day.

Silence Starter

Hand Up Finish Your Sentence Stop Talking, Stop Doing Eyes on the Facilitator Signal Teammates Signal Other Teams Actively Listen

Guess Corda’s FibGuess Corda’s Fib1. I stayed in a tree house in the 1. I stayed in a tree house in the

rainforest in Australiarainforest in Australia

2. I have 4 sons, and three grandsons 2. I have 4 sons, and three grandsons

3. I teach in Singapore 3. I teach in Singapore

4. I am “from away” 4. I am “from away”

5. I am committed to engaged 5. I am committed to engaged learninglearning

OutcomesBy the end of the session success will look, sound, and feel like:

~Understanding and clarity about the characteristics of motivation through experiencing Celebratory Learning;

~Courage, enthusiasm and inspiration to act in new ways that will optimize the performance and engagement of your students; and

~Re-newed, re-energized, and re-vitalized from sharing a learning experience with your professional peers.

CELEBRATORY LEARNING

Positive interdependence Individual accountability Simultaneous interaction Connections to previous learning Theme-based learning Need based learning Brain compatible environment Play and Humor Learning Community Celebrating the learner & the learning

Attributes of Celebratory Learning

Reflection LogWhat I learned

How I learned it

My reaction Ways I will use it

• INFORMATIONAL LETTER:  148• POLICY CODE:  ILBA•  • TO:                  Superintendents of Schools• FROM:            Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner• DATE:             May 26, 2006• RE:                  Moratorium (LD #1425) Passed and Signed•             The Maine Legislature and Governor John Elias Baldacci have enacted a moratorium which is intended to suspend those activities associated

with the Local Assessment System (LAS) and designed to certify student achievement of the Maine Learning Results.•             The moratorium is a pause in this work and does not diminish our vision and commitment to achieving Maine’s Learning Results.  The

moratorium will provide the time for Michael Fullan to review, analyze and recommend modifications to our system.  He began his review on April 13 and 14, 2006 by meeting with approximately 400 educators.  It was abundantly clear during the conversations with Michael Fullan that assessments are not, historically, the instrument that have accounted for increased student achievement.  The greatest impact on student learning is pedagogy.  His suggestion to us is, during the moratorium, to analyze what we should stop what we should start and what we should continue.  He suggested we focus on the following questions, locally:

• What is the impact of current practice on student learning? • Have local practices produced positive results? • Do the activities currently in place motivate students and teachers? •             Annually, we have collected data regarding a school’s progress in implementing the Maine Learning Results.  We will continue to do so this

year as part of the school approval process.  All principals will report, on the annual school approval form, their intentions to adhere to the moratorium.  Schools that report otherwise will receive a site visit from the Department of Education.  The purpose of the visit is to review the goal of the assessments, understand the guidance from Michael Fullan, and ensure that the practices in place are achieving positive student results.

•             While I recognize the authority of School Administrative Units (SAUs) to make local decisions, the moratorium statute expressly states “a moratorium is imposed for the 2006-2007 school year for activities associated with assessments designed to certify student achievement.  Assessments used for informing teaching and learning are exempt from this moratorium.”

•             I encourage all districts to use this time to have in-depth conversations with classroom teachers about what is truly assisting in informing instruction.  We know from the SAU visits how beneficial the collaborative time teachers spent discussing students, assessments, and instructional strategies has been to the implementation of Maine’s Learning Results. 

•             I’ve been asked,• Do we stop all assessments?  No.  As noted above, classroom assessments used for teaching and learning are exempt from this moratorium. • Do we stop common assessments?  This is a more difficult answer as the use of common assessments has different meaning in every SAU.  If the

SAU has added numerous assessments to classroom assessments, then the answer is YES, STOP.  If the SAU embedded the assessments into the curriculum and there is common agreement that the data is conclusive that the assessment has resulted in positive responses to the three questions posed by Michael Fullan then the SAU may decide to continue; however, please do not continue to double score these assessments.

• What if there is a local policy that specifies graduation requirements that exceed State requirements?  SAUs, by statute, can exceed State requirements.  The State requirement has been suspended for one year to allow for a process of certification of student achievement of the Maine Learning Results.

•             To facilitate answers to questions that you may have, I am scheduling two conference calls.  The first will be on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 from 1:30 – 2:30 pm and the second will be on Thursday, June 1, 2006 from 9:00 – 10:00 am.  To access the teleconference on either Wednesday or Thursday, please dial:  1-800-304-8043 or 1-719-955-1038.  The passcode is: 557274.  Please note that access to each call is limited to 125 lines, so I ask that neighboring SAUs who can meet together do so, to enable as many as possible to participate.

•  

Appalachian Trail

South end of Hundred

Mile Wilderness

… Warning!!!

Differentiation

Is a teacher’s response to learner’s needs

Guided by general principles of differentiation

Respectful tasks Flexible grouping Continual assessment

Teachers Can Differentiate Through:

Content Process Product Environment

According to Students’

Readiness Interest Learning Profile

Through a range of strategies such as:

Multiple intelligences…Jigsaw…4MAT…Graphic Organizers…RAFTSCompacting…Tiered assignments…Leveled texts…Complex Instruction…

Learning Centers

KNOW (facts, vocabulary, dates, rules, people, etc.)ecosystemelements of culture (housing/shelter, customs, values,

geography)

UNDERSTAND (complete sentence, statement of truth or insight – want students to understand that . . . ) All parts of an ecosystem affect all others parts. Culture

shapes people and people shape culture.

DO (Basic skills, thinking skills, social skills, skills of the discipline, planning skills --- verbs)

Write a unified paragraphCompare and contrastDraw conclusionsExamine varied perspectivesWork collaborativelyDevelop a timelineUse maps as data

KNOW (facts, vocabulary, dates, rules, people, etc.)ecosystemelements of culture (housing/shelter, customs, values,

geography)

UNDERSTAND (complete sentence, statement of truth or insight – want students to understand that . . . ) All parts of an ecosystem affect all others parts. Culture

shapes people and people shape culture.

DO (Basic skills, thinking skills, social skills, skills of the discipline, planning skills --- verbs)

Write a unified paragraphCompare and contrastDraw conclusionsExamine varied perspectivesWork collaborativelyDevelop a timelineUse maps as data

Tomlinson * 02

Quick Write

Reflect on learning. Done at any time during lesson Takes 30 seconds to several minutes No revisions, no grammar Short, open-ended statements given.

For example, write about: 1. What students learned 2. Something to activate background knowledge 3. To define or explain a word 4. A favorite character 5. Problems students encountered 6. What students liked (or did not like) about

the lesson 7. How well students understood the concepts

-CHOICE-The Great Motivator!

• Requires children to be aware of their own readiness, interests, and learning profiles.

• Students have choices provided by the teacher. (YOU are still in charge of crafting challenging opportunities for all kiddos – NO taking the easy way out!)

• Use choice across the curriculum: writing topics, content writing prompts, self-selected reading, contract menus, math problems, spelling words, product and assessment options, seating, group arrangement, ETC . . .

• GUARANTEES BUY-IN AND ENTHUSIASM FOR LEARNING!

Learning Profile Factors

Group Orientation

independent/self orientationgroup/peer orientation

adult orientationcombination

Learning Environment

quiet/noisewarm/coolstill/mobile

flexible/fixed“busy”/”spare”

Cognitive Style

Creative/conformingEssence/facts

Expressive/controlledNonlinear/linear

Inductive/deductivePeople-oriented/task or Object oriented

Concrete/abstractCollaboration/competitionInterpersonal/introspective

Easily distracted/long Attention spanGroup achievement/personal achievement

Oral/visual/kinestheticReflective/action-oriented

Intelligence Preference

analyticpracticalcreative

verbal/linguisticlogical/mathematical

spatial/visualbodily/kinestheticmusical/rhythmic

interpersonalintrapersonal

naturalistexistential

Gender &Culture

Assessment in a Differentiated

Classroom• Assessment drives instruction. (Assessment information helps

the teacher map next steps for varied learners and the class as a whole.)

• Assessment occurs consistently as the unit begins, throughout the unit and as the unit ends. (Pre-assessment, formative and summative assessment are regular parts of the teaching/learning cycle.)

• Teachers assess student readiness, interest and learning profile.

• Assessments are part of “teaching for success”.• Assessment information helps students chart and contribute to

their own growth.• Assessment MAY be differentiated.• Assessment information is more useful to the teacher than

grades.• Assessment is more focused on personal growth than on peer

competition.

Mrs. Mutner liked to go over a few of her rules on the first day of class

Best Practices forStandards-based Instruction

Best Practice, New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s SchoolsZemelman, S., Daniels, H. & Hyde, A. (1998). Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann

Student Voice and InvolvementBalanced with teacher-chosen and teacher-directed activities:

Students often select inquiry topics, books, writing topics, etc.

Students maintain their own records, set goals, and self-assess

Some themes / inquiries are built from students’

own questions

Students assume responsibility and take roles

in decision making

Ask yourself . . . .

SO WHAT?NOW WHAT?

Lessons

From the

Pencil Maker

In order to work, you have to be held by someone.

You’ll go through some rough sharpening.

It’s OK to make mistakes because you have an eraser.

It’s what’s inside that matters.

You will leave a mark on everything you touch.

Reflection on instructional methods and to devise

pedagogies suited to the unique needs and abilities of

your students;

Courage, enthusiasm and inspiration to act in new

ways that will optimize the performance and

engagement of your students; and

Renewed, re-energized, and re-vitalized from sharing a learning experience with

your professional peers.

The real art of discovery consists not

in finding new lands, but in seeing

with new eyes. Marcel Proust

Memory Strategies to Improve Understanding

and Retention 1.  Ask yourself questions (“Do I get

this?”) 2.   Make 2 column notes 3.   Use graphic organizers (charts,

shaped boxes, Venn diagrams) 4.   Make up a rhyme or song 5.  Create an acrostic (sentences using

the first letter of each word)

Edward de Bono’s

Six Thinking Hats

An aid to decision making and problem solving.

Illustrated by Vince Borg Education Leeds

The Red Hat

• What do you feel about the suggestion?

• What are your gut reactions?

• What intuitions do you have?

• Don’t think too long or too hard.

The White Hat

• The information seeking hat.

• What are the facts?• What information is

available? What is relevant?

• When wearing the white hat we are neutral in our thinking.

The Yellow Hat

• The sunshine hat.• It is positive and

constructive.• It is about

effectiveness and getting a job done.

• What are the benefits, the advantages?

The Black Hat

• The caution hat.• In black hat the

thinker points out errors or pit-falls.

• What are the risks or dangers involved?

• Identifies difficulties and problems.

• This is the creative mode of thinking.

• Green represents growth and movement.

• In green hat we look to new ideas and solutions.

• Lateral thinking wears a green hat.

The Green Hat

• The control hat, organising thinking itself.

• Sets the focus, calls for the use of other hats.

• Monitors and reflects on the thinking processes used.

• Blue is for planning.

The Blue Hat

Six Thinking Hats

IntuitiveInformative

Constructive

Cautious

CreativeReflective