Vertical Alignment and Science Inquiry

Last week, elementary science teachers met for the second session of Vertical Alignment. In this session we focused on sharpening the saw by investigating and comparing approaches to science instruction. Erin Graves from the Catawba Science Center led our teachers through model lessons using different approaches to hands-on science. We learned that:

· All approaches to hands-on science are not alike; each has distinguishable characteristics
· Different approaches to hands-on science support different objectives for learning
· Effective science teaching requires using a variety of approaches and matching the appropriate approach with specific content, process, and affective learning goals.


While there are many definitions for inquiry, the following is a structure that is widely embraced.

Map of Inquiry Structure
Inquiry Starter
Raising questions from observing engaging materials
Focused Investigation
Planning and investigating questions


Process for Meaning
Thinking about and communicating what you learned


Specifically, we investigated three different approaches to hands-on science using bubbles as our medium.

Teachers participated in three model activities:

Directed Activity
In this activity, groups were directed to create bubbles in a certain manner and compare the strength of each of the two types.

· Front loaded
· More predictable
· Definite outcome
· Efficient
· Focused on content



Challenge
In this activity, groups were challenged to build a twelve-inch high tower using only bubbles.

· Student constructed
· Competitive
· More teamwork
· Application of problem solving skills

Inquiry
In this activity, groups were given materials to use to discover what makes the strongest bubbles.

· Fun
· Open ended
· Builds on ideas as a team
· Capitalizes on curiosity
· More questioning

Why Inquiry?

The inquiry process more closely resembles the process of science in the real world. Also, the self-directed nature increases student motivation and interest and enhances learning. Inquiry also fosters cooperation and communication skills as students work in groups toward a goal and then communicate findings. In addition, inquiry makes science fun and engaging for the students and allows them to create their own meaning, increasing retention.

What we learned

Our groups discovered that there are different approaches to hands-on science and the importance of matching the correct method to the content and desired outcomes.

Other items of interest from Vertical Alignment
Four teachers received training on science kits for use during the second semester.
Middle and High School Science Teachers will join us at our next session on February 6th.

Teaching for Understanding

Teaching for Understanding

Research on effective teaching and instructional guidelines emphasized the importance of teaching for understanding. Students who learn content with understanding not only learn the content itself, but appreciate the reasons for learning it and retain it in a form that makes it usable when needed.

Clear explanations and modeling from the teacher are important, but so are opportunities to answer questions about the content, discuss or debate its meaning and implications, and apply it in problem-solving or decision-making contexts.
These activities allow students to process material and make it their own by paraphrasing or putting it in their own words, exploring relationships and making ties to prior knowledge, and identifying its implications for personal decision making or action.

Analysis of programs that have been developed to teach school subjects for understanding have identified a key set of principals that are common to most if not all of them.




1. The curriculum is designed to equip students with knowledge, skills, values and dispositions that they will find useful both inside and outside of school.

2. Instructional goals emphasize developing student expertise within an application context and with emphasis on conceptual understanding of knowledge and self-regulated application of skills.

3. The curriculum balances breadth with depth by addressing limited content but developing this content sufficiently to foster conceptual understanding.

4. The content is organized around a limited set of powerful ideas.

5. The teacher’s role is not just to present information but also to scaffold and respond to students’ learning efforts.

6. The students’ role is not just to absorb or copy input but also to actively make sense and construct meaning.

7. Students’ prior knowledge about the topic is elicited and used as a starting place for instruction, which builds on accurate prior knowledge and stimulates conceptual change if necessary.

8. Activities and Assignments feature tasks that call for critical thinking or problem solving, not just memory or reproduction.

9. Higher order thinking skills are not taught as a separate set of skills curriculum. Instead, they are developed in the process of teaching subject matter knowledge within application contexts that call for students to relate what they are learning to their lives outside of school by thinking critically or creatively about it or by using it to solve problems or make decisions.

10. The teacher creates a social environment in the classroom that could be described as a learning community featuring discourse or dialogue designed to promote understanding.

Many of the principals that describe classrooms that teach for understanding support the idea of vertical alignment, the district initiative as well as the building thinking skills curriculum.

Brophy, Jere (2004). Motivating Students to Learn. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc..

Weekly Message Giving Thanks

As teachers, we have an awful lot of responsibilities. We are held to a higher standard because we choose to work with children. Often, teachers work more hours than most with little monetary compensation or recognition.

Sometimes, it is hard to really focus on the positive when we have so much on us as teachers and as Americans – a faulty economy, NC Wise, new writing assessments, required meetings and trainings, cuts in budget, construction at work, days when the heat does not work or works too well, or a 401K that significantly drops every quarter.

It is easy to find our way into negativity, but I have found the best way to break myself of this mentality is to look around me, take a deep breath, and think about how lucky I am.

I know that what you do is not easy, but I am so thankful that you care enough to find new avenues to reach our students, you tutor after school, you take time to build personal relationships with our kids, and you have chosen a life of service.

I have many personal blessings. I have a mother who is a breast cancer survivor, two healthy boys, and a loving husband. We have a roof over our heads and food on the table in a really tough economy. I have family friends who love my boys and really enjoy them. And I have a job to which I am dedicated and personally invested to make a difference in this world.



I am blessed and lucky to be able to work with teachers who spend long hours because they want to help children. I am blessed to work with Principals of vision who keep loving children in spite of their challenges. I am overjoyed to see new National Board Certified teachers and the large number of teachers continuing their personal education in addition to maintaining a classroom.

I challenge you this week and next to think about the following 3-2-1 activity for yourself.

Three things for which I am thankful…

Two things I can do for others less fortunate than I…

One thing I need to work on for myself…

This simple reflection gave me great insight into how foolish it is to waste energy on those things that don’t matter, but to exert my energy on those I love and on those who need what I can offer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have an opportunity to spend time with those you love and reflect on life’s greatest gifts.

Teaching Mathematics

Semiotics

The Study of Change

Research shows that children who are even 6 months behind in math by the sixth grade never catch up with their peers.
-Mel Levine, Thinking Mathematically podcast

Recently, our district hosted Jennifer Parker with All Kinds of Minds in a session called Thinking Mathematically. This new module considers all of the brain functions needed to be successful in math. The module is based on All Kinds of Minds’ neurodevelopmental framework.

This framework is a justification for differentiated instruction and can help teachers match classroom strategies to the developmental needs of their students. This module helped highlight, once again, the critical importance of creating a firm foundation of skills in the Elementary years, particularly in the cumulative field of mathematics.

The module makes good points surrounding math instruction.

Math is the study of change. In all mathematical operations, the basic subject matter is change. (Semiotics is the study of change)
Math places heavy demands on memory function
It is possible to make use of a math skill and not really understand it (fractions, negative numbers, etc)
Speed of processing becomes important with the verbal explanatory part of math
Word problems contain some of the most complex sentence structures children face
Word problems violate the order of mention. In other words, they tell you what to do, but not in the order in which you are going to need to do it


Recommendations for math instruction include:

Requiring students to verbalize processes. It is unacceptable for students to say they did it all in their head
Saying math facts out loud helps that information to be entered in phonological memory. (There is some research that shows a connection between children with phonological problems and children with difficulty learning math facts)
Children who get through math by using a step wise process without any conceptual base face difficulty as skills deteriorate over time
We need to encourage all children to create mental images of math concepts
We need to show linkages between concepts


Virtually every study that’s been done on kids and math show a strong link between math success and strong spatial, nonverbal, thinking abilities.

Levine calls Elementary Math Concepts a platform for sophisticated mathematical thinking and application. He identifies the 7 layers or challenges that children encounter in elementary school.

· Number Sense- having a grasp on how numbers work
· Number Combinations-addition and multiplication facts
· Basic Operations-add, subtract, multiply, and divide
· Geometric Sense- a significant challenge to look at the world of space, its various parameters and dimensions, and shapes and their interactions.
· Data Display/Analysis-Graphing different processes and displaying them in that way
· Word Problems- bridge math with practical world
· Fractions-mastery of fractional thinking is one of the final requirements if kids are going to be competent at mathematics

These areas become the infrastructure for what children will learn beyond the Elementary years.

We have a large number of teachers who have attended Schools Attuned. The training is more than using the attuning process. Pull out your placemats and consider the framework as a rationale for differentiated assignments. The glossary provided will help you as you identify challenges for students and look for strengths so leverage in the classroom.

Part two of our three part refresher will be held at the HPS Instructional Annex on February 24th at 3:30. The topics will include Attention and Memory. It is not too late to sign up for this topic. (SEA Activity 11-96) The third module will be online and completed at your own pace. If there is enough interest, we will also repeat the math module again this spring.

You can also consult the following web addresses for more information.

http://www.schoolsattuned.org/
http://www.allkindsofminds.org/

Visiting Writers Series presents Jonathan Kozol

“There is something deeply hypocritical in a society that holds an inner-city child only eight years old “accountable” for her performance on a high-stakes standardized exam but does not hold the high officials of our government accountable for robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years before” (Kozol, 54).














This statement from Kozol’s book Shame of the Nation presents tough questions on behalf of inner city students. Kozol is an acclaimed author, Harvard Graduate, and Rhodes Scholar who is visiting Hickory as part of the Visiting Writers Series at LRU.








Kozol began his career working in an inner city school and is a well known advocate for children. His involvement in equity issues has also contributed to his notoriety. His latest book, Letters to a Young Teacher is the Freshman read at LR.


Kozol has been called the “social conscious” of education and is concerned about the amount of time teachers spend preparing kids for standardized testing.











Hickory Public Schools’ teachers are invited to attend Kozol’s lecture at 4:00 pm on November 6 at PE Monroe Auditorium on the campus of Lenoir Rhyne University.

The lecture will be immediately followed by a special reception at 4:45.
















For more on the book, Shame of the Nation, please take a moment to view the YouTube clip below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pB-niRGNms

Attached you will find the invitation to the lecture, reception, and interview with Kozol.

References

(2008). Letters to a young teacher. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from Cover browser Web site: http://www.coverbrowser.com/search?q=letters+to+a+young+teacher&mode=searchResult

Bui, Trung (2008). Author finds hope in teacher. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from New Mexico Daily Lobo Web site:
http://media.www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2007/09/27/News/Author.Finds.Hope.In.Teacher-2996645.shtml

Kozol, Jonathan (2005). Shame of the Nation. New York, New York: Random House.

More on Writing. . .Sample Content Area Prompts

This week’s message shows links to the state developed Moodles for professional development regarding the new writing assessment.

The link below is to a DPI site with examples of writing tasks by content area. Since the writing tasks have not been content specific in the past, I thought it would be helpful for you to see state provided examples.

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/writing/writingtasks

This site could clear up some questions or add to your list of questions.

Let me know how I can help.

NC State Writing Assessment

OODLES OF MOODLES

The face of instructional delivery models is changing. There are now many other options to consider in addition to face-to-face delivery. Our state is using a Moodle-based software program to deliver the information regarding the changes to the NC Writing Assessment model.

The beauty of a Moodle is that it can be accessed online and you can complete the activities are your own pace.



What if you don’t teach Language Arts?

The new model for writing assessment will involve teachers in all curriculum areas. There are two Moodles from the state to support the shift. The first Moodle focuses on writing instruction while the second Moodle explains the nuts and bolts of the new process and timeline for writing assessment.

For this year, we will require that all 4th and 7th grade writing teachers complete Moodle II. In addition, all 7th grade teachers of Social Studies will need to complete Moodle II.

An E-mail was sent to principals with information regarding district-level support for Moodle training. We will offer sessions for 4th and 7th grade at the HPS Annex to assist in logging on and orienting teachers to the Moodle format.



4th Grade October 28th (3:30-5:00) at the Annex

7th Grade October 29th (3:00-4:00) at the Annex


On December 2nd, we will have additional training for 4th grade (3:30-5:00) on closing out the Moodle and setting up dates for the upcoming formative and summative assessments as well as the scoring sessions. The training for 7th grade teachers will be December 3rd from 3:00-5:00 at the Annex.

What about high school and other grade levels?

All teachers are encouraged to access and complete the Moodle.

In the near future, every pre-K – 12th grade teacher will be responsible for completing the Moodle and for assessing student writing in his/her content area.

Participation in writing assessment is now the responsibility of every teacher as outlined in the new North Carolina Writing Assessment Proposal.

For more information or details on this proposal, see the attached document.



MOODLE FAQs

What is a Moodle?

Moodle is an open source software package for producing Internet-based courses and websites. Click here to see an informational video on Moodle.

How will Moodle be used in the North Carolina Writing Assessment Program?

Moodle will be used to provide professional development for all teachers and for digital upload for the pilot schools.

What professional development is available for teachers?

Instructional Writing Across the Curriculum

How do I access the Writing Across the Curriculum course?

Click here to access the NC Writing Assessment System Moodle.

If I have questions, who do I contact?

For passwords, see your school-level testing coordinator

If the questions are technical, contact the NCSU Help Desk at ncdesk@ncsu.edu or (919) 515-1320.

If the questions are content related contact the Writing Assessment Help Desk at writingassessment@dpi.state.nc.us

Technological Change

Each week, I try to send information to you that is helpful, inspiring, or timely. Some weeks, I receive a ton of wonderful responses from teachers across the district. Sometimes we engage in our own dialogue back and forth about the subject. I have always wished we could engage in more systematic exchange around the issues presented in messages. But how to do that. . .

This week, I thought I would introduce a new tool in the weekly message arsenal. Yes, that's right, a blog. Donna Murray held my hand through the process of creating a blog and even linking it to my own Delicious account.

I will be pulling some of you kicking and screaming into the digital age. We are using a tool that will allow you to post comments about the weekly message that can be viewed by one another. Yes, this tool increases our ability to communicate quickly.

If this feels awkward to you, you are not alone. As I learned how to create this blog and my Delicious account, I felt like my brain was made of memory foam, minus the memory! Yes, it was awkward and after 2 hours, I wanted to take a nap. I had almost decided that I would rather hand write each of you.

But change is hard for all of us and I had to muddle through. It is still not comfortable for me to blog. I am learning a new format. A format that is essential to know in the digital age. It is very much like learning a different language. But all change is like this, isn't it?

We are working on our School Improvment Plans and IGPs. Both documentation of change. Both can be frustrating processes because they force us to examine what works. Why do we change our practice? The hope is to improve our results.

I tried to find some quotes to share with you about change. I first found one from Abraham Lincoln that speaks to the critical place we are in our educational system.

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew."

Think about this quote for a minute. We must rise to the occasion by thinking and acting anew. Thinking and acting in ways that are different from before. The same methods yield the same results. What are we doing differently to reach students?

Then I found this quote from Alan Cohen.

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."

What practices are we holding on to that are no longer meaningful for our students? Are we empowered within our buildings to take risks and try new things?

And if those quotes weren't heavy enough, I found this one from Albert Einstein.

"Technological change is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."

Change is not easy for any of us. But necessary for all of us.

What new strategies are you using in your classroom that really seem to work? I would love to hear from you. Post a comment.

You can post as anonymous if you like, so you don't have to create a google account if you don't have one. Just add your name to the bottom of the body of the post.

Thank you for all you do!

Weekly Message- Inclusive Classrooms

Inclusive classrooms create students who are comfortable with differences, skilled at confronting challenging issues, and aware of their interconnectedness. Mara Sapon-Shevin shares ways we can redefine the inclusive classroom in this month’s issue of Educational Leadership.

Ten Strategies for Creating a Positive Inclusive Classroom


Make time for community building throughout the year. Time spent building community is never wasted.


Proactively teach positive social skills: how to make friends, how to give compliments, what to do if someone teases you or hurts your feelings. Don’t’ wait for negative things to happen.


Be explicit in explaining to your students why treating one another well and building a community is important. Use key terms: community, inclusion, friends, support, caring, kindness. Don’t let those words become empty slogans; give several examples of those positive behaviors.


Adopt a zero-indifference policy. Don’t ignore the bullying in the hope that it will go away. Don’t punish the participants, but be clear about what is acceptable. Say, “I don’t want that word used in my classroom. It hurts people’s feelings, and it’s not kind.”


Share your own learning around issues of diversity and inclusion. When students see that you are also learning (and struggling), they can share their own journeys more easily. Tell them, “You know, when I was growing up, there were some words I heard and used that I don’t use anymore, and here’s why. Sometimes I’m still a little uncomfortable when I see people with significant physical differences, but here’s what I’ve been learning.”




Think about what message you’re communicating about community and differences in everything you do, including the books you read to your students, the songs you sing, what you put on the walls, and how you talk about different families and world events.


Seize teachable moments for social justice. When students say, “That’s so gay,” or “That’s so retarded,” talk about the power of words to hurt people and where such oppressive language can lead. When a student makes fun of another student, talk about different cultures, norms, and experiences.


Provide many opportunities for students to work together, and teach them how to help on another. End activities in “Appreciation Circles.” Ask students, “What’s something you did well today?” “How did __________ help you today?” “Who provided a new insight to you today?” etc.


Don’t set students up to compete with one another. Create an atmosphere in which each student knows that he/she is valued for something.


Keep in mind that your students will remember only some of what you taught them but everything about how they felt in your classroom.


Visit the September 2008 issue of Educational Leadership online at www.ascd.org/el to read a review of Mara Sapon-Shevin’s book Widening the Circle: The Power of Inclusive Classrooms.

Sapon-Shevin, Mara (2008).Learning in an inclusive community. Educational Leadership. 66, 49-53.

Weekly Message- Scaffolding

Weekly Message

What is Scaffolding?

Many of us think of scaffolding as a temporary physical framework that supports a building during construction. When the construction is sturdy enough to stand on its own, the scaffold is removed. In an educational sense, scaffolding, in the form of coaching or modeling, supports students as they develop new skills or learn new concepts. When the student achieves competence, the support is removed. The student continues to develop the skills or knowledge on is or her own.

Joe Banaszynski and Linda Starr


Guidelines for Effective Scaffolding

· Identify what students know
· Begin with what students can do
· Help students achieve success quickly
· Know when it’s time to stop
· Help students be independent when they have command of the activity


What does Educational Scaffolding Look Like?

Just as scaffolding is used to support buildings during the construction process, educational scaffolding provides support systems for students during the learning process. Each of the following scaffolding tools can be used for all students or used to differentiate instruction. Scaffolding is both planned in advance and provided in the moment based on available data. In order to provide scaffolding, teachers must expand their repertoires of scaffolding strategies and gather materials and resources needed to build the scaffolding.

Twenty Ways to Scaffold Learning

Adjust pace and rhythm of speech
Avoid small print on handouts, overhead transparencies, PowerPoint slides, and on boards
Box Key Words
Break complex tasks into simpler parts
Build in movement
Check for understanding on Directions
Model Thinking Aloud
Provide checklists
Use models and exemplars
Use songs, charts, and rhymes
Teach reading strategies explicitly such as accessing prior knowledge, using context clues, etc
Teach students to highlight math operational signs.
Teach time management skills
Use props and realia
Use visuals
Use and have students learn to use mnemonics
Provide timelines
Provide page numbers where answers can be found
Begin with recognition and move to generation of information
Limit choices on matching tests




Rutherford, Paula (2008). Instruction for all students. Alexandria, Virginia: Just ASK Publications

Weekly Messate- Top Ten Questions for Lesson Design

Top Ten Questions to ask as you design lessons.

As we design instruction, there are many considerations. The questions below act as a guide for processing the demands of lesson planning.

1. What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson? How are these objectives related to national, state, and /or district standards?
2. How will students demonstrate what they know and what they can do? What will be the assessment criteria and what form will it take?
3. How will I find out what students already know (pre-assessment), and how will I help them access what they know and have experienced both inside and outside the classroom? How will I help them build on prior experiences, deal with misconceptions, and re-frame their thinking when appropriate?
4. How will new knowledge, concepts, and skills be introduced? Given the diversity of my students and the task analysis, what are my best options for sources and presentation modes?
5. How will I facilitate student processing (meaning making) of new information or processes? What key questions, activities, and assignments (in class or homework) will promote understanding, retention, and transfer?
6. What shall I use as formative assessments or checks for understanding during the lesson? How can I use the data from those assessments to inform my teaching decisions?
7. What do I need to do to scaffold instruction so that the learning experiences are productive for all students? What are the multiple ways students can access information and then process and demonstrate their learning?
8. How will I Frame the Learning so that students know the objectives, the rationale for the objectives and activities, the directions and procedures, as well as the assessment criteria at the beginning of the learning process?
9. How will I build in opportunities for students to make real-world connection and to learn and use the rigorous and complex thinking skills they need to succeed in the classroom and the world beyond?
10. What adjustments need to be made in the learning environment so that we can work and learn efficiently during this study?

Rutherford, Paula (2008). Instruction for all students. Alexandria, Virginia: Just ASK Publications.

The Return of the Weekly Message-Somebody’s Baby

This week marks the return of the weekly message. Each week, you will receive emails from me with tidbits of information to pass along or share that will hopefully inspire, revive, or validate your practice.

For those of you who are new, you will notice last year’s weekly messages on the C and I webpage.

For those of you who were here last year, you may have noticed I did not send a message last week. Last week was a challenging week in the Griffin household. You see, I have crossed over. No, I haven’t gone to the dark side; I have crossed over to the other side of the teacher’s desk.

My oldest son is now a great, big Kindergartener. For years, I laughed to myself as I saw parents with attachments issues. Yes, I said parents with issues. The children are usually fine.

Now I understand them totally.

A few days before the start of school, I saw my son’s Principal. Since we moved over the summer, I had yet to receive my notice with his teacher’s name on it. Since his friends already knew their teachers, I couldn’t resist asking.

When she told me the teacher’s name, I burst into tears. She asked me if I was disappointed. My response was, “No. Waker has a teacher!”

I love and respect his teacher. I adore the Principal and I trust them to take care of him. And for those of you who are parents, you know exactly how I felt.

I was thinking, “This is my baby I am trusting to you.”

The dust has now settled on our first week. The teacher has already replaced Mommy as the smartest woman who ever lived. (My teacher says to write it this way.) I can say we all survived.

My son is happy as a clam and loving his new found responsibility and friends. I am still adjusting to his new found responsibility and friends.

The lesson I have learned by becoming the parent of a student in Hickory Public Schools is this: each one of our students is somebody’s baby if they are 5 or 15. Parents trust us to prepare their children as best we can. They trust us to love them and care for them when they are not around and even if they are not so loveable that day.

The amazing thing to me is that our teachers consistently do just that each and every day with all too few pats on the back. That is the definition of going the extra degree.

I hope my son always loves school as much as he does right now. I hope he maintains his love for learning and his excitement for all things new.

Thank you all for the hours of preparation you put in getting ready for our students. Thank you for the time and care you put into all your lessons. Thank you for the extra things you do in your classroom to make sure your students feel special.

You sure make parents like me proud to have children in Hickory Public Schools.