Suppor&ng  Student  Diversity:    Classroom  and  collabora&on  

strategies  that  meet  the  needs  of  all  learners  

English  and  Humani&es  Dept.  Heads  Surrey  

March  2,  2011  Faye  Brownlie  

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

Sept.  2007,  McKinsey  &  Co.  

1.  GeLng  the  right  people  to  become  teachers  

2.  Developing  them  into  effec&ve  instructors  

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

McKinsey  Report,  2007  

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

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

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

Individual  teachers:  

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

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

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

•  How  the  world’s  most  improved  school  systems  keep  geLng  beWer  – Mourshed,  Chijioke,  Barber  – McKinsey  &  Co.  – Nov.,  2010  

Good  to  Great  Systems  

•  Focus  on  the  professionalism  of  teachers  •  The  values  and  behaviors  of  the  educators  propel  the  system  forward  (not  centrally  controlled)  

•  Develop  common  language  about  the  cra\  of  teaching  

•  Teacher  and  administrator  coaches  

Great  to  Excellent  Systems  

•  Learning  communi&es:    peer-­‐led  support  and  accountability  

•  Focus  on  student  learning    •  Move  to  school  and  teacher  self-­‐evalua&on,  away  from  standardized  tests  

•  Open  up  classroom  prac&ce  –  de-­‐priva&ze  •  Ac&on  research  •  Collabora&ve  prac&ce  among  educators  •  Encourage  innova&on  in  teaching  

Professional  Collabora&on  

•  Interac&ve  and  on-­‐going  process  •  Mutually  agreed  upon  challenges  

•  Capitalizes  on  different  exper&se,  knowledge  and  experience  

•  Roles  are  blurred  •  Mutual  trust  and  respect  

•  Create  and  deliver  targeted  instruc&on  

Together  we  are  beWer…  

By  sharing  our  collec&ve  knowledge  about  our  classes  of  students  and  developing  a  plan  of  ac&on  based  on  this,  we  can  beWer  meet  the  needs  of  all  students.  

Together  we  are  beWer…  

By  sharing  our  collec&ve  exper&se  about  teaching  and  learning  we  can  beWer  implement  plans  of  ac&on,  and  thus  we  can  beWer  meet  the  needs  of  all  students.  

Informa&on  Circles  

•  Students  are  reading  a  variety  of  different  texts  •  Students  read  their  text  and  record  their  thinking  on  the  thinking  paper:    images/ques&ons/vocabulary  

•  Students  meet  in  groups  with  others  reading  the  same  text  and  talk  about  the  text  using  the  notes  from  their  thinking  paper  

•  Together  students  decide  on  the  key  ideas  of  the  text  •  Students  can  meet  in  new  groups,  represen&ng  the  different  texts,  and  share  the  key  ideas  of  their  text  

connec&ons          vocabulary  (self  &  world)  

ques&ons            key  ideas  

Erica  Foote,    Princess  Margaret  Secondary,  

Pen&cton  •  If  students  were  given  the  opportunity  (4  &mes  per  semester)  to  show  what  they  know  in  different  ways,  would  it  not  only  increase  their  interest  and  effort  but  also  increase  their  understanding?    

English  10  

•  4  wri&ng  assignments,  4  choice  assignments  –  PowerPoint  presenta&ons,  drawing,  poetry,  collages,  crea&ng  their  own  test  with  answer  keys,  presen&ng  their  informa&on  orally  or  using  drama  to  represent  their  thinking    

•  6  students    •  AFL  strategies  –  Ranked  exemplars  with  the  PS  – Analyzed  the  exemplars  to  co-­‐create  criteria  – Used  the  criteria  for  their  work  – Ownership  –  with  choice  

2  wri&ng  2  choice  assignments  –    demonstrate  your  knowledge  &  

understanding  of  various  literature  

Not  yet  %/#  

Approaching   Mee4ng   Exceeding  

Wri&ng  (essay/paragraph)  

16/2   41/5   25/3   16/2  

Choice   0/0   16/2   33/4   50/6  

Erica’s  Reflec&ons  

•  100%  of  students  reported  they  liked  the  choice  and  wanted  to  do  have  choices  again  in  another  semester  

•  91%  of  students  felt  they  did  beWer  with  choice  •  About  50%  s&ll  chose  some  form  of  wri&ng  when  given  a  choice,  but  liked  the  choice  

•  Fewer  complained  about  the  non-­‐choice  wri&ng  assignments  

•  Fewer  assignments  were  handed  in  late  

Andrea  DeVito,  Pen&cton  High  

•  My  findings  are  based  24  students  randomly  selected  from  four  classes:  an  English  9,  two  11’s,  and  one  12.    The  students  were  first  given  a  wri4ng-­‐response  to  a  piece  of  literature,  and  then  the  end-­‐task  with  choice  to  a  piece  of  literature.      

Show  an  understanding  of  your  novel  Literature  Circles  

Not  yet  %/#    

Approaching   Mee4ng   Exceeding  

Fixed  wriWen    assessment  

0/0     17/4   75/18   8/2  

End  task  with  choice  

0/0   8/2   25/6   58/14  

Andrea’s  reflec&ons  

•  Some  challenged  by  finding  a  meaningful  connec&on  between  themselves  and  the  novel  

•  Some  challenged  by  the  idea  of  students  doing  different  products  for  the  same  assignment  

•  Most  wanted  to  do  this  kind  of  assignment  again.  

Naryn  Searcy  &  Pat  Whitely,    Princess  Margaret  Secondary  

•  Co-­‐taught  English  12  and  IT  9  •  Assignment:    demonstrate  the  key  elements  of  a  grade  12  poem  in  a  video  montage  

•  12’s  responsible  for  the  poem’s  key  elements  and  the  vision;  9’s  for  the  technical  aspects  

•  12’s  teach  the  poem;  9’s  teach  the  technical  aspects  

•  Subjects:    8  grade  12  students,  2  NY,  2A,  2M,  2E  on  a  tradi&onal  wri&ng  assignment  of  poetry    

•  Projects  shown  to  both  classes.    Grade  12  students  introduced  and  explained  the  video  

•  AFL  strategies:      – descrip&ve  feedback  at  each  stage  (i.e.,  storyboard)  

– ownership  

Communicate  your  knowledge  of  the  various  elements  of  the  poem  

Not  Yet  %/#  

Approaching   Mee4ng     Exceeding  

Wri&ng  (essay/paragraph)  

25/2   25/2   25/2   25/2  

Video  Montage  

0/0   12.5/1   37.5/3   50/4  

Naryn  and  Pat’s  Reflec&ons  

•  Increased  mo&va&on  and  increased  responsibility  for  all  students  in  both  grade  9  and  12  

•  Students  disappointed  when  the  collabora&on  ended  

•  Mo&va&on  con&nued  …  success  breeds  success  

References  

•  Grand Conversations, Thoughtful Responses –  Brownlie  (2005).    Portage  and  Main  Press.  

•  Student Diversity, 2nd ed (2006)  –  Brownlie  and  Schnellert.    Pembroke  Publishers  

•  It’s All about Thinking – Humanities, Social Studies and English (2009)  –  Brownlie  and  Schnellert.    Portage  and  Main  Press.  

•  Assessment Instruction of ESL Learners –  Brownlie,  Feniak,  McCarthy.    Portage  and  Main  Press.