Identifying Critical Information

Design Question 2 – Element 6:

How does a teacher help students identify and focus on critical information?

Before we begin…

Before we begin talking about element six, let’s be sure that there is an understanding about how the elements in Design Question 2 are related. This is important as you plan your lessons. Watch the video on the next slide. Please take notes, documenting how the elements in Design Question 2 are related.

Video – how do the elements in DQ2 relate to each other?

• Please click on the link to view the video from Pasco County Schools that provides an introduction to the elements in Design Question 2.

How were the elements related to each other?

You should have noticed that

• the elements in DQ2 can be taught at the same time, need to be intentionally planned for, and are owned by the teacher or the student.

• elements 6-9 are teacher directed but elements 10-13 are more student directed.

• It requires adults to be exposed to new information 7 different times in 7 different ways to learn something so it makes sense that students require more than 7.

Now let’s talk about element six, specifically.

Review Teacher and Student EvidenceNOTE: This list of evidence is not all inclusive but is instead a list of possible examples.

Review Scale for Element 6

Desired Effect in the Students

The desired effect is, “Students know what content is important and what is not important.”

To receive an Innovating rating, the teacher must monitor and make accommodations so that every student in their classroom achieves this desired effect. In other words, every student needs to know what content is important and what content is not important.

Task

While watching the next video, which will soon come up in this module, identify:

1. how the teacher communicates the critical information to her students and

2. any teacher or student evidence from the checklist (you may want to print slide 5).

After watching the video you will be asked to use the evidence to rate the teacher on this element.

Video – how does the teacher communicate critical information to her students?

• Click on the link to view a video from the Pasco County Schools about Design Question 2, Element 6: Helping Students Identify and Focus on Critical Information.

Video Question

Q: How did the teacher communicate critical information to her students?

A: The teacher referred to critical information as claims. She showed her students the claims (aka critical information) by having them underline the claims where they appeared in the commencement speech.

Task

On the next slide is the teacher and student evidence. What evidence did you see and were able to document? Use this to rate the teacher as you walk through the next few slides.

Review Teacher and Student EvidenceWhat did you see?

Review Teacher and Student EvidenceWhat did we see?

How to Rate Teacher and Student Evidence

You can only give credit for what you see but that is OK because it is not necessary for a teacher to have everything checked to receive a good rating.

We didn’t see the teacher explain to her students the purpose of analyzing the commencement speech and we didn’t see the teacher explain why these claims were the important sections of the speech so we can’t give her credit for it.

The good news is that when your evaluator observes you, they will be in the room with you so they can ask you questions and they can interview your students. They won’t be rating you based on a video.

Review Scale for Element 6 to Rate the Teacher

How we Rated the Teacher

We rated the teacher as Developing because she did not monitor her students. To receive an Applying rating, she would need to walk around, ensuring that the students were underlining the claims as she had asked them to. To receive an Innovating rating, she would need to make sure that every student achieved the desired effect: every student knows what is critical and what is not critical information. She could accomplish this by checking that all students underlined all three claims.

Task

1. Log into www.effectiveeducators.com.

2. Watch the following short videos, which will give you ideas of how you can identify critical information with your students. Because you are already logged in to the website, you can simply click on the name of the class and the video will open in your browser. If that doesn’t work, go to the Resource Library and search by the titles listed below to access the videos.

Kindergarten Class – how to identify parts of a story

Ninth Grade Language Arts – how to identify aspects of a poem (called tools)

Fifth Grade Science – how to make a graphic organizer (t-chart)

Challenge!

Can you identify how we helped you identify critical information in the last slide? Feel free to go back if you need to and read it again. Once you think you know the answer, go to the next slide to see if you were right.

Challenge! Answer

When we asked you to view the videos, we gave you a purpose for viewing them by saying, “Watch the following short videos, which will give you ideas of how you can identify critical information with your students.”

We told you what to watch for in the videos, which you can also do with your students. Before watching a video, explain to your students what to look for, which is the critical information. Another option is to tell your students that after the video you are going to ask them a question. Tell them what the question is, have them write it down, monitor them so that you know every student wrote it down, and then have them watch the video.

What is next?

1. Choose a lesson plan that you will soon be doing with your class. How will you identify critical information for your students?

2. How will you incorporate other DQ2 elements into your lesson, specifically elements 7, 8, and 9?

3. To receive an Applying rating on element 6, how will you be sure that the majority of students knows what information is critical and what information is not critical?

4. To receive an Innovating rating on element 6, how will you be sure that every student knows what information is critical and what information is not critical?

Is this element in your PGP? Then you need to…

1. Sign into www.effectiveeducators.com. Click on the Growth tab and then click on the Plans option. Open your current plan and fill out a new Reflection Log, answering the appropriate questions.

2. Decide how you will change your teaching as a result of viewing this module.

3. Execute your change, reflect on its impact, and fill out another Reflection Log in iObservation.

Further questions?

Here are resources in case you have further questions:

- Your evaluator

- Another evaluator on your campus

- Your school’s Classroom Practice Mentors (CPM)

- If you want more information about the Toulmin Model, click here.