ARE YOU ENGAGED?

USING DIFFERENTIATION, ASSESSMENT USES, AND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TO ENGAGE STUDENTS AND MASTER TKES.

Donna HallCrystal Ware

WHO ARE WE?• Donna Hall & Crystal Ware

• Valdosta High School in Valdosta, Ga

• 10th, 11th, & 12th grade Literature

WHY ARE WE HERE?

• Valdosta High School is a Race to the Top school in the second year of implementation of the Teacher Keys Evaluation System (TKES). Through our experience, we have targeted three specific elements from TKES in which we, as a school, need to improve. We are here to share classroom ready activities that will help you in mastering our three targeted elements of TKES.

COMMENTS FROM PAUL DAY, VHS ELA ADMINISTRATOR/EVALUATOR CONCERNING TKES

• TKES is an instrument designed by the state to provide a rating for you as a teacher. Your goal is to be "proficient", but in reality, every person in our building is a work in progress. There is always room for us to grow. If we could survive in our careers with the TKES rating scale showing this, we could all say that we "need development." Like you, I am very good at a lot of things, but I can still get better with every talent I have. I am reminded of what the famous cellist Pablo Casals said when he was asked why he continued to practice playing at the age of 90. He replied, "Because I think I'm making progress." (April 2014)

THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS WORKSHOP ARE TO:

• Engage students by being supportive and persistent in keeping students on task by providing relevant real-life examples and encouraging them to actively integrate new information with prior learning.• Create a cognitively challenging environment

with in-depth explanations of academic content covering higher-order concepts and skills.• Differentiate by using multiple instructional

materials, activities, strategies and assessment techniques to meet students' needs and maximize learning.• Utilize students' self-assessment of their

thinking, reasoning, processes, and products to promote student engagement and accountability. • Provide YOU with classroom-ready activities

that will help you achieve the above objectives while simultaneously “wowing” your TKES evaluator.

VHS ELA DEPARTMENT TKES STANDARD TARGETS:

• Instructional Strategies • 3.8: Engages students in authentic learning by providing

real-life examples and interdisciplinary connections.

• Differentiation • 4.5: Demonstrates high learning expectations for all

students commensurate with their developmental levels.

• Assessment Uses • 6.7: Teaches students how to self-assess & to use

metacognitive strategies in support of lifelong learning.

**Please reference the following handout:Georgia Department of Education

Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards Reference Sheet

Performance Standards and Sample Performance Indicators

HOW DO I SURVIVE THE TEACHER KEYS EVALUATION SYSTEM?

• Have a clear understanding of the TKES performance indicators for both teachers and students.

• Ask questions.

• Collaborate and communicate.

• Be your own best self-advocate: DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!• Write detailed lesson plans (See Standards-Based Lesson Plan

Format)• Upload Evidence to TKES Platform

(Lesson Plans, Documents, Pictures, Emails, Communication Logs, Professional Learning)

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

KEY ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY

Key Elements Descriptions

Differentiation The teacher uses multiple instructional materials, activities, strategies, and assessment techniques to meet students’ needs and maximize the learning of all students.

Variety The teacher implements a variety of classroom techniques and strategies that enhance student motivation and decrease discipline problems.

Cognitive challenge

The teacher provides in-depth explanations of academic content and covers higher-order concepts and skills thoroughly.

Student engagement

The teacher is supportive and persistent in keeping students on task and encouraging them to actively integrate new information with prior learning.

Recognizing patterns of student learning and adjusting

The teacher recognizes the schema or pattern in student learning, makes inferences about the situation (such as identifying the difficulties the students are having), and promptly adjusts the materials, learning activities, and assessment techniques to maximize student learning.

Questioning The teacher uses multiples levels (particularly higher cognitive levels) of questioning to stimulate student thinking and monitor student learning.

Relevance The learning process and the outcomes of learning have authentic relevance with students’ life.

Selected instructional practices exhibited by effective teachers:

• Stays involved with the lesson at all stages so that adjustments can be made based on feedback from the students.

• Uses a variety of instructional strategies, as no one strategy is universally superior with all students.

• Uses research-based strategies to enhance the time students spend with teachers by making instruction student-centered.

• Involves students in appropriate and challenging learning activities, such as cooperative learning, to enhance higher order thinking skills.

• Knows that instructional strategies that use students’ prior knowledge in an inquiry-based, hands-on format facilitate student learning.

• Uses remediation, skills-based instruction, and differentiated instruction to meet individual student’s learning needs.

• Uses multiple levels of questioning aligned with students’ cognitive abilities.

SAMPLE STUDENT EVIDENCE THAT THE TEACHER HAS MET THE CRITERIA FOR PROFICIENCY:

• Make transitions from prior knowledge to new concepts with teacher support. (Opening section in Standards-Based Lesson Plan Format)

• Grasp meaning, not just facts. (Written Response Prompts, Small Group/Whole Group Discussions)

• Create a range of products that provide evidence of learning in a unit. (Differentiated PRODUCT)

• Use multiple strategies in learning new concepts. (Differentiated PROCESS)

• Use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions. (Individual/Collaborative Group Projects and Assignments)

• Examine his/her own work and can explain how it relates to GPS/CCGPS. (Student Self-Assessment)

• Describe learning expectations for which they are responsible, either in their own language or the language of the standard. (Scaffolded standards section maintained in notebook and displayed in classroom)

EXAMPLES OF INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM

•Ben Carson Project/Current Connections•“In The Name of Love”/MLK, Jr.•Senior “Underclassmen Survival Guide” Project

CREATE RELEVANT CONNECTIONS!

- Anything is literature: poems, music, speeches, interviews, articles, documents…look for ways to incorporate more informational texts.

- Don’t forget about the world outside of school.

(www.on-this-day.com)

- Bring a classic up to date using modern interpretations. (Football and Beowulf)

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT• How do we present the curriculum so that all

children can learn the content?

• Differentiation can take the form of varying the modalities in which students gain access to important learning, for example by :

• (a) listening, reading, and doing;

(Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic)• (b) breaking down content in manageable steps

(Scaffolded Instruction)• (c) offering learners a choice in the complexity of

content

(Leveled Texts)

DIFFERENTIATING PROCESS

• What do we want our students to be able to do?

• How can we integrate basic and higher-level thinking skills into the curriculum?

• Differentiation takes the form of grouping flexibly, for example, by

• (a) varying from whole class, to collaborative groups, to small groups, to individuals, and

• (b) providing incentives to learn based on a student’s individual interests and current level of understanding.

DIFFERENTIATING ACTIVITIESSMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION:-TEACHER AND STUDENT-LED INSTRUCTION: A STUDENT-LED GROUP WOULD CONSIST OF STUDENT COLLABORATION ON A COMMON ASSIGNMENT WITH A COMMON GOAL. -GROUP BASED ON FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT PERFORMANCE & SUCCESSFULNESS ON SPECIFIC SKILLS. A GOOD WAY TO START IS JUST THREE GROUPS (MAY BE SUBDIVIDED):REMEDIATION- REACH TOWARD MEETING STANDARD.ENRICHMENT- PUSH TO THINK MORE CRITICALLY ABOUT SUBJECT MATTER.ACCELERATION- ENRICH LEARNING THROUGH MAKING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN LITERATURE AND REAL LIFE.

DIFFERENTIATING PRODUCT• What do we want our students to create?

• How can we teach them to become more self-directed learners?

• Differentiation can also the take the form of varying assessment methods, such as providing students a menu of choices based on students’ interests and level of functioning that may include:

• oral responses, interviews, demonstrations and reenactments, portfolios, written responses, artistic/creative responses, multi-media projects, research, and formal tests.

EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS

•“The Raven” Storyboard Project•The Great Gatsby Theme/Figurative Language Project

(Handouts/Links)

DIFFERENTIATING ACTIVITIES

• How to determine a student’s level:• Teacher Tour – Take a “tour” of your

classroom during small group or independent work. Do not allow students to ask you questions during this time. Look for understanding and comprehension through their work. Ask students questions to supplement your information.

DIFFERENTIATING ACTIVITIES• Vocabulary:• Give them the definition! Then, allow students

to find (pictures through email) or demonstrate (act out in the classroom) real life examples of the words. For example:

• Sustenance

DIFFERENTIATING ACTIVITIES• Vocabulary:

Build your own vocabulary list. Students chose the words on their own vocabulary list based on his or her knowledge.

ASSESSMENT USES

WHAT IS IT?

• Say something about teaching the kids to be planners and be responsible for their own learning.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO MY

EVALUATOR?

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT METHODSHow to determine a student’s level:

Q&A Box: Place a box or container somewhere in the room and allow student to put their questions in the box instead of asking them out loud.

OR

Give students a red, yellow, and green strip of paper and instruct them to write their name on the back and drop one slip of paper into the Q&A box on their way out the door.

•Red = I need lots more instruction.

(I really struggled with the concepts in today’s lesson.)•Yellow = I need a little more instruction.

(I almost have it, but I need further clarification with certain concepts.)•Green = I need no further instruction.

(I understand completely! I am ready to demonstrate my understanding of all of the concepts of today’s lesson and/or move on to the next lesson.)

POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE IS NOT THE END!

• Determine your purpose. Ask yourself: • “In 50 years, what is important that my students know?”

• Focus on theme and application of theme rather than details of a piece of literature. This teaches a student to be a critical thinker. (Thematic Graphic Organizer) • Play Devil’s advocate, not the Devil. Facilitate discussion--don’t lead them.

TOTD!

• Use your post-it to write down what your first tweet will be after this presentation. Please place it on the “twitter feed” (poster board) on your way out of the room.