Strategic Teaching Overview

Strategic Teaching OverviewMadison City Schools

Madison City SchoolsAnchoring Our Common Vision

BJHSCESDMSHRTGHRZJCHSLMSMESMCESRESWMES11 schools, 1 vision2NormsBe open to ideas from others.Be an active participant.Avoid side conversations.Cell phones on vibrate. Be present. (Avoid checking your e-mail/messages and working on other projects except for during breaks.)Take care of your creature comforts.3AQTS2.6 Designs coherent lessons that integrate a variety of appropriate and effective instructional strategies.

4Learning TargetTeachers will determine the key factors in creating a classroom as a place of active engagement and where learning is visible.

5A teachers job is not to teach kids, a teachers job is to create meaningful engaging work whereby the student learns the things we want them to learn.Phil Schlecty

6Making Clock Appointments Each person will need to make a 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 appointment by exchanging names for each time slot.

Write down the name of the person that you will be meeting with beside that time on your clock sheet.

Questions?

7Clock Appointment InterviewsDirections: Interview question:What are the characteristics of an effective learning environment?2. Interview three people (12:00, 3:00, 6:00 appointments)- ask the question, record the response on the back of the clock appointment sheets, then move to another person.3. Summarize findings on the back of the clock appointment sheets.

888After participants have written their summaries, have them number off 1,2Numbered HeadsExplain why and how this takes trun and talk to the next level.Ask participants to share summaries- 1 Shares summary with 2, vise versa. Some Research What teachers do in the classroom has 6 to 10 times as much impact on student achievement as all other factors combined.(Mortimer & Sammons, 1987)

Individual teachers can have a profound impact on studentachievementeven in otherwise ineffective schools.(Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001)

The key to improving educationmore than any other factoris improving the effectiveness of classroom instruction.(Wright, Horn, & Saunders, 1997)

Effective classroom instruction worksregardless of students socioeconomic status.(Schmoker, 2006)

9#2 share thoughts with # 1 and vise versaJot NotesJot down notes (points, concepts, ideas) as you read the text and/or listen before engaging in discussion.

This may include:Notes about important points in the textSketches of images you construct as you readConnections you have made to the textQuestions you have about the textFirst reactions to the textSee hand outs in packet and template for taking jot notes-Participants may also want to jot in the margin of the articleUp to them. 10A Tale of Two Classrooms: Transforming a Place of LearningThe contradiction exemplified so eloquently in the first paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens poignantly creates a metaphorfor the possibilities of creating a classroom as a positive learningenvironment. For one classroom, it can provide the best of times, theage of wisdom, the epoch of belief, the season of Light, and the springof hope. In comparison, another classroom can experience the worst of times, the epoch of incredulity, the season of Darkness, and a winter of despair. How does a brick building transform into a place of learning? Howcan individual rooms within this place become ones in which learning turns into a tangible and desired need not only for students butteachers as well? The answer lies within the assumptions that studentshave about learning and the use of active engagement as a means toaddress these assumptions.

1111Read aloud the following:It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us (p. 3, Dickens, 1950).

Ask volunteers to read the two paragraphs on the slide.

Article is chunked- Use Jot Notes Strategy

Have a few share out as moved to do so after each chunk.

Stretch Break

School Calendar Do we have enough time to do all we need to do?

13How many school days do we have? 180 days.How much time in a block? A period? Turn to your number head partnerand do some math.how many minutes is that?

Conclusion- we cannot waste time.

Teachers cannot treat the block like they would a 50 60 minute period and then add in class homework. Keep your students engaged and learning bell to bell. Interact with your students bell to bell. Check email during your planning not during instructional time. Give our students your attention and facilitation of learning when you are with them. You are their Guide on the Side!Instructional Time

14Now, list all the things that interrupt our school day and our classes. You know theses things will happen, remember to use every minute of instructional time to engage, intervene and challenge our students. Remember it is up to you to help and ensure EVERY student grows. What do I do if they learned it and what do I do if they didnt needs to be a daily question you ask yourself. Strategic TeachingStrategic teaching describes instructional processes that focus directly on fostering student thinking, but goes well beyond that. Strategic teaching and strategic learning are inexorably linked. A strategic teacher has an understanding of the variables of instruction and is aware of the cognitive requirements of learning.15Planning for Strategic Learning.

How does this definition relate to strategic learning?

Strategic teaching is the process of incorporating purposeful planning, connected strategies, and explicit instruction to maximize the understanding and retention of content material.

To learn strategic teaching techniques, and to foster the ability of students to engage in strategic learning, it is important to define some terms. In fact, one of the principles of strategic teaching is to define terms. Below are terms that are relevant to this process.Strategic teaching describes instructional processes that focus directly on fostering student thinking, but goes well beyond that. Strategic teaching and strategic learning are inexorably linked. A strategic teacher has an understanding of the variables of instruction and is aware of the cognitive requirements of learning. In such an awareness, comes a sense of timing and a style of management. The strategic teacher is one who:1. is a thinker and decision maker;2. possesses a rich knowledge base;3. is a modeler and a mediator of instruction.Variables of instruction refer to those factors that strategic teachers consider in order to develop instruction. These variables, as the name implies, change, and therefore the teacher must be aware of the nature of change as well as the actual variables themselves. These variables are:1. characteristics of the learner;2. material to be learned (curriculum content);3. the criterial task (the goals and outcomes the teacher and learner designate);4. learning strategies (goal directed activities in which learners engage).In teaching content at the elementary, middle, or secondary level, the strategic teacher helps guide instruction by focusing on learning strategies that foster thinking skills in relation to the content. In connecting new information to what a student already knows, learning becomes more meaningful, and not simply retained for test-taking purposes. There are numerous strategies that teachers can develop that accomplish this purpose. To give one information is not difficult, but to help one be able to develop the tools to both know what information is relevant and the means to acquire it, is perhaps the most important function of any social studies teacher. There are numerous techniques for engaging students in thinking about content.

Strategic Lessons include TWIRLTalkingWritingInvestigatingReadingListening

16Essential Element of a Lesson PlanLearning Target Beginning (Before Strategies)Middle (During Strategies)End (After Strategies)Formative/Summative AssessmentReflection

17Beginning (Before) (20%)Learning Target- Student FriendlySets the stageHooks the studentsActivates prior knowledgeBuild background knowledgeGenerates questionsDiscuss vocabularyEstablishes a purpose18A true question to ask yourself is How is this related to the learning target?Middle (During)Engage with textVerify and formulate predictionsSummarize textSelf monitor comprehensionConstruct graphic organizersIntegrates new information with prior knowledge19Once againHow is the related to the learning target?Middle (During)Scaffold the InstructionUsing the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR)

I DoWe DoYall DoYou Do20End (After) (20 %)Wrap upReflection on the lessonRetell and summarizeGives the teacher information about how much the student actually learned21How is this related to the learning target? AssessmentEvery lesson needs some form of formative assessment

3-2-1Exit slipsObservational dataEtc.

Otherwise you are throwing seeds in the wind and hoping that they grow.22How is this related to the learning target?

Teaching is not the presentation of information by the teacher, but the engagement of the learner with the information.

-Engaging Teens in Their Own Learning23Engagement and the BrainWhy must we engage the learner before, during and after the lesson?

24List of words activity to illustrate that the middle is fuzzyBeginning:SharpSutureThreadSyringeHaystackMiddleEyePinHurtInjectionEndPointThimblePainButtonSewing

Brain Research and Chunking Research on the brain and attention spans tells us that it is very important to chunk the text or the lesson.

Grades K - 2 equals 5 7 minutes

Grades 3 - 7 equals 8 15 minutes

Grades 8 -12 equals 20 25 minutes25Engagement and Rigor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMOQHsWfOB4&feature=fvst

26Set up the video- Why are these people engaged in a more rigorous activity rather than doing things the easier way or the way they usually do it?Discuss the following question with your 9:00 appointment:Can we help students learn hard information if we make it engaging for them to do?27Discuss with your 9:00 appt the video you just observedhow does this relate to engaging and rigorous instruction? Think of Strategic Lesson Plan as a SportBefore- Warming up, stretching

During- Playing the game

After- Celebrating the successes and planning where you go from here.28Five Corners ActivityI think active engagement could be compared to a:

Basketball gameFootball gameBaseball gameTrack meetVolleyball29Chart paper (Basketball/ Football/ Baseball/ Track/ Volleyball). Once in groups, participants will share out their analogies. (5 minutes)Share Out Share beliefs on what active engagement should look like.

30ResourcesDistrict Instructional Resources Pagehttp://www.madisoncity.k12.al.us/?DivisionID=7842&DepartmentID=15287&SubDepartmentID=7080&ToggleSideNav=District Instructional Presentations Pagehttp://www.madisoncity.k12.al.us/?DivisionID=7842&DepartmentID=15287&SubDepartmentID=7079&ToggleSideNav=

Show them the website31Parking Lot PostingsReflect on the learning from today:QuestionsConcernsComments

Have a great school year!

32Ask participants to reflect on the day by jotting questions, concerns, and/or comments on sticky notes and placing them on the Parking Lot.

Explain that the facilitators will use these to assess the learning for the day and that they will be addressed in the next few days.32