Monthly Archives: November 2010

Unit Plan Conferences: Update for Monday, 29 November 2010

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Thanks to everyone for being so prepared for today’s 2-Week Prac Unit Planning Conferences.

I mentioned the BC Performance Standards several times in my meetings so I thought I’d post links to the resource here for easy reference.

What are the Performance Standards?

The BC Performance Standards have been developed for voluntary use in B.C. schools. They describe the professional judgments of a significant number of B.C. educators about standards and expectations for the following key areas of learning:

Why use the Performance Standards?

The BC Performance Standards are intended as a resource to support ongoing instruction and assessment. Teachers can use these standards to:

  • monitor, evaluate, and report on individual student performance
  • identify students who may benefit from intervention
  • develop a profile of a class or group of students to support instructional decision-making
  • prompt discussions with parents, students, and other teachers about student performance
  • inform professional development activities
  • collaboratively set goals for individuals, classes, or schools
  • develop evidence for school growth plans
  • provide models for designing performance tasks

How to use the Performance Standards?

Performance standards describe levels of achievement in key areas of learning. Performance standards answer the questions:

  • How good is good enough?
  • What does it look like when a student’s work has met the expectations at this grade level?

The BC Performance Standards describe and illustrate the following four levels of student performance in terms of prescribed learning outcomes:

NOT YET WITHIN EXPECTATIONS

  • the work does not meet grade-level expectations
  • there is little evidence of progress toward the relevant prescribed learning outcomes
  • the situation needs intervention

MINIMALLY MEETS EXPECTATIONS

  • the work may be inconsistent, but meets grade-level expectations at a minimal level
  • there is evidence of progress toward relevant prescribed learning outcomes
  • the student needs support in some areas

FULLY MEETS EXPECTATIONS

  • the work meets grade-level expectations
  • there is evidence that relevant prescribed learning outcomes have been accomplished

EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS

  • the work exceeds grade-level expectations in significant ways
  • the student may benefit from extra challenge

In fact, the Performance Standards include a variety of rubrics and exemplars for the assessment of student work.  Here’s an example of a simplified rubric, called a Quick Scale, from the Grade 8 Reading Performance Standards:

Don’t, ahem, reinvent the wheel!  Use these rubrics and save yourself some time and frustration (a good rubric is really hard to develop.)

See you on Wednesday.

– Lawrence

Sims Says, Assessment Evidence, & 315 Bits and Pieces: Update for Wednesday, 24 November 2010

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“Sims Says Inquiry Is…”

We started class by considering the EDUC 310 Inquiry Task.  I used a PPT slideshow to structure the lesson, and the presentation aimed to answer three key questions:

  • What are the qualities of teacher inquiry?
  • What’s involved in the inquiry project?
  • What constitutes a good inquiry question?

After recalling your prior inquiry-related knowledge to answer the first question and picking out a few highlights from the EDUC 310 Course Outline and elsewhere to address the second, we discussed the attributes of a powerful inquiry question through the lens of the article “How My Question Keeps Evolving” by Michele Sims.

Here’s the slideshow that supported this lesson:

At the end of this class, I assigned the exit slip – completing the EDUC 310 Inquiry Project One Pager – MIDDLE YEARS COHORT.   On the front of the page are some questions to stimulate thinking about research questions, if you’re stuck at the moment, and some sample questions drafted by Elementary TCs.  On the back of the page are four questions that you need to answer on the handout and bring to class on Wednesday, 2 December 2010.  Please note that, in a manner similar to what Sims experienced, this question may evolve as you think on it and as you spend more time in the field.

If, as Confucius declared, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” consider this your first, tentative foot forward.  A baby step. if you please.

Oh, that reminds me.  Here’s how Bob (Bill Murray) “baby steps” in the comedy opus, What About Bob?:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3JPa2mvSQ4[/youtube]

Bob sails, too:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrbY4hsNh64&feature=related[/youtube]

Here’s the one-pager in electronic form:

In the end, let’s hope your inquiry proceeds more smoothly than this woman’s:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FRVvjGL2C0[/youtube]

UBD Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

In preparation for the completion of the unit plan you’ll use on your 2-Week Prac, I presented some information related to the assessment of your desired results via this PPT slideshow:

Here are a few key slides from that presentation, for your reference:

Lastly, here’s a good case for assessing beyond the test:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCuHTMHRBS4&feature=related[/youtube]

Bob and I will be meeting with you on Monday to discuss your unit planning. All meetings are in SCARFE 1310.  Please bring:

  • Your completed Desired Results
  • Your thoughts on possible assessment tools
  • Any key resources that you may use in your teaching to this meeting.

The Conference Schedule is in the previous post.

At the end of class, I asked you to pick up a handout with samples of and information on how to create engaging and well-constructed Performance Tasks.  Here’s that handout if you didn’t get one or if your dog ate it:

Check out this link for a website with more details on Performance Tasks. For even more info, use Google to search the Interwebs using search terms such as: “performance task” “rich task” “authentic assessment” and “authentic education”.

I did that and found this site – Authentic Assessment Toolbox – that has a huge collection of information on PTs, including a bunch of tasks created for all subject areas in middle school.  Here’s a screenshot so you can see what’s on offer:

That’s all for now.  Bob and I look forward to meeting with you on Monday.

‘Til then,

– Lawrence

Microteaching, Take 2 & Housekeeping: Update for Monday, 22 November 2010

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Microteaching

Thanks to the groups that presented today.  Please watch your video, reflect on it, and submit your analysis – done individually or as a group – to me by Monday, 29 November 2010. Please use the format on the task handout and reviewed in previous posts.

Housekeeping

– Microteaching Analysis Due: If you presented last week, your analysis is due to me today.  Thanks.

– EDUC 315 Reminders: Please send me a copy of (1) a lesson you taught and your reflection on it, (2) a copy of your SA’s teaching timetable, and (3) your end-of-prac feedback form.  This last item should be the focus of a prac-wrap-up conversation tomorrow.

– Upcoming Classwork Items: (1) Read the Sims article and create an entrance slip for it complete with some of your own possible inquiry questions and (2) complete the Desired Results piece for one or more PLOs you’ll be using as you teach during the 2-Week Prac.  Bring both items to Wednesday’s class, please.

– Unit Plan Conference Schedule: Thanks for signing up for these conferences.  The schedule is below (mine on page 1 and Bob’s on page 2).  All meetings are in SCARFE 1310.  Please bring your completed Desired Results, your thoughts on possible assessment tools, and any key resources that you may use in your teaching to this meeting.

For your reference, here are a few 2-Week Prac unit planned in previous years.  While the template for these units is a little different than the one we’re using, take a look and get a sense of what your finished product might look like:

That’s all for tod… oh wait, I almost forgot.  Here’s a beginning-of-class-rant-related reminder about the importance of handwashing:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOeQh2-ci3M[/youtube]

– Lawrence

TC Introductory Letter to Parents

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I recommend sending home a letter that introduces yourself to the parents of all the students you’ll be working with.  This can be done during the 2-week practicum or, if you prefer, at the start of the 13-/12-week experience.   A template and a sample letter are below to serve as models.  You might want to copy this letter back-to-back with your Use of Student Images Consent form to save paper.

A strong intro letter should help your relationship with the parents of the students in your classes get off to a good start… unlike the terribly uncomfortable start to this blind date relationship:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMny28MxwkY&feature=fvst[/youtube]

– Lawrence

Admin. & UBD Planning – Stage 1: Update for Wednesday, 17 November 2010

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Administrivia

– Calendar: There’s been a change to the schedule.  As such, here’s what the next two Wednesdays will look like:

  • Wednesday, 24 November – 10:00 to 12:00 = Sims Article Discussion & More UBD Unit Planning
  • Wednesday, 1 December – 10:00 to 11:00 = Pre-Prac Preparation

– Reading: Please read the Sims article, “How my question keeps evolving” and develop an entrance slip for it.  As a part of your entrance slip, please jot down a few teaching and learning-related questions that you might be interested in exploring in more detail.

– EDUC 315 Paperwork: There is one formal paperwork requirement as a part of the Tuesdays practicum.  The forms are below.  You and your SA will each complete the appropriate form and email them both to me.  Before you send them off, however, I suggest that you both discuss your completed forms next Tuesday – 23 November, the last school visit of EDUC 315.  This conversation can serve to wrap up this prac experience and look ahead to your two weeks in January.

– Microteaching: I handed back the rubrics completed by the peer assessors and a feedback sandwich that summarized my thoughts on your presentation.  After you’ve completed your reflection – the post-microteaching task due on Monday, 22 November for those that presented on Monday – take a look at the feedback and see how it jives with your thoughts on your performance.

UBD Unit Planning – Stage 1: Desired Results

Now that you have a good idea of the subject, topic, and PLO(s) that you’ll be working with during your 2-week practicum, we started to look at how to design a unit that will develop student understanding on the topic.

To that end, I presented a PPT slideshow that highlighted how to unpack PLOs to uncover the:

  • Big Ideas
  • Understandings
  • Essential Questions
  • Skills
  • Knowledge

that, when played with in class, will lead to student understanding of the topic under study.  Here’s my slideshow:

Here’s a copy of the chart for the HCE 8 Substance Use PLO we unpacked in the guided practice part of the lesson:

… and here’s a blank template you can use to unpack one or more PLOs that you will work with during your January prac:

The unpacking process can be a bit tricky for new and experienced teachers alike.  Seeing as the process starts with identifiying the Big Ideas – the concepts, themes, issues, debates, problems, challenges, processes, theoriex, paradoxes, assumptions, and perspectives – that lie at the heart of the topic, here’s a short blurb on how to identify the Big Ideas more easily.  This excerpt comes from Tomlinson and McTighe’s book, Integrating Differentiated Instruction + Understanding by Design:

Here’s the complete UBD unit planning template:

We’ll be working with the other sections of it in future classes, namely on Wednesday, 24 November.

The rough draft of your 2-week prac unit is due to your SA and FA on Monday, 6 December 2010.  What we expect you to submit at that point is:

  • a completed unit plan template
  • full lesson plans for the first two lessons of the unit

Bob and I will be meeting with the TCs we supervise to discuss your unit planning ideas on Monday, 29 November.  You will have a chance to set up a meeting time with Bob or in class on Monday, 22 November.  For this meeting, you should have a firm idea of Stage 1 – Desired Results and have considered the sort of assessment you’d like to use to determine if the students understand what you’ve been teaching.

Microteaching & Housekeeping: Update for Monday, 15 November 2010

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Microteaching

Thank you to today’s presenters.  Please take time to view the (HD!) videotape of your presentation and reflect on your performance.  Please use the following questions to guide your reflection:

As is the practice in our 310/316 class, you can present this content information in any format that suits you and that lends itself to a clear and thoughtful exploration of these questions.  The reflections for this week’s presenters are due on Monday, 22 November.  Please email them to me or hand them in during class time.

Administrivia

– Lesson Plan and Reflection: Please remember to send me a copy of a formal lesson plan and a post-lesson reflection (you can use the Microteaching reflection format above, if you wish) for at least one lesson you teach during EDUC 315.

– Teacher Timetable Hand In: If I’m your FA, please submit a copy of your teaching timetable – via email or a hard copy – by Wednesday, 24 November.  I need this to help in the planning of my observations of your teaching.

– Stop. Start. Continue. Survey: I’ve emailed you the link recently and here it is again for your convenience:  EDUC 310/316 – Formative Instructor & Course Assessment

Please take a few minutes to give me your feedback on my practice.  Thanks.

That’s all for today,

– Lawrence

EDUC 315 Info, S.S.C., Instructor Think Aloud, Henderson Discussion, and Unit Planning Preview: Update for Wednesday, 10 November 2010

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EDUC 315 Info

– Lesson Plan and Reflection: Please provide a copy of a lesson plan you formally teach and your reflection on the lesson to me, your SA, and your FA (if I’m not your FA).  For lessons taught in weeks 5 or 6 of the Tuesdays prac, the plan should be delivered a minimum of 24 hours in advance of its implementation.  The reflection should follow shortly after the teaching and, again,  should be delivered to me, your SA and your FA (if I’m not your FA).  If you’v already taught a formal lesson and won’t be doing another one, please send the plan you taught from and your reflection on how it went.

– Teacher Timetable Hand In: Thanks to those who delivered me a hard copy or emailed an electronic copy of your timetable.  If you’ve yet to do so, please send it to me by Wednesday, 17 November.  Thanks.

– 2-Week Prac Unit Planning Topic: Be sure to sort out with your SA what topic you will be teaching during the Short Practicum in January.  The sooner you know, the sooner you can get started on considering your desired results and gathering resources.

Stop. Start. Continue.

In an effort to make EDUC 310/316 classes as beneficial for you as possible, I’ve created a survey to get your input on what is working and what’s not thus far.

Here’s a link to the survey:

It will probably take you about five minutes to answer the three questions (anonymously).  When the results are in, I will report out the findings… and take action!

I appreciate your support in my efforts to improve my teaching practice.

Instructor Think Aloud

I expressed my frustration at what I perceive as having too much to do and too little time to do it.  I noted that this was a feeling common to all the instructors/FAs in my office, as we were all struggling with how to address all the material we want to explore with you in rich and meaningful ways given the time constraints we’re working under.  For instance, the irony of presenting you a unit planning structure promoting deep engagement with ideas in a rushed and superficial way isn’t lost on me.

I aim to make all my decisions with respect to what happens in class based on what you need.  Then, after asking for your input on what topic you would like to explore in class today – microteaching or unit planning – and getting your input, we promptly ran out of time to get to the unit planing piece in any meaningful way.  The tension between breadth and depth continues.

(Not Paul) Henderson [Foster Hewitt’s “Henderson” Goal Call] Articles Discussion


– Mental Set: What questions about teaching and learning have you been thinking about while on practicum?

– Objective:

  1. To play with a discussion strategy – Socratic Seminar – that you can use in your classroom
  2. Studying these articles will lay the theoretical framework to help you understand the practice of teacher inquiry so you can thoughtfully engage with an inquiry question during Term 2 in POT/COM class.  The EDUC 310 Course outline describes the intentions, rationale, and evaluation of this task in some detail.  Here’s the outline:

– Input/Modeling: I mentioned that we would be using Socratic Seminar to discuss the ideas in the Henderson articles.  I showed you a video clip on SS and asked a few TCs who had done it about how SS worked.  The video showed an SS in action and that was the (brief) modeling piece.  Here’s the video:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCpBTf7ib0o[/youtube]

– C4U: With a quick show of thumbs, I sought information about the degree to which everyone knew what to do in the SS.  I supervised the conversations as they went on to make sure they were working.

– Practice: You broke into two groups and, with exit slips in hand, shared your thoughts on the articles with the help of our facilitators – Sarah and Miguel.  Each groups process was overseen by two observers in an outside circle.  In fact, I blended SS with Fishbowl, to some degree.

– Closure:  As the time ran out, I asked the groups to end the discussion.  Observers were asked to share what they heard in the discussion and to mention what they noticed about the group dynamic.  Jennifer noted that the conversation would likely have had more active participation by all if seated in a circle, a more inclusive arrangement that the boardroom table set up we used.  Aaron noted that the conversation started with one word answers and then picked up as time went on.  A cautionary tale for all teachers about the need for wait time to let student thoughts develop and conversations deepen before intervening.

Finally, I asked you to write down on your entrance slip one take away idea from today’s SS discussion.  You handed me your entrance/exit slip at the end of class.  Thanks.

If you’re interested in Socratic Seminar as a teaching strategy, there is lots of info about it on the interwebs,  Check out these sites:

Also, here’s a PPT slideshow that breaks down the basics for you:

Unit Planning Preview

If you can, please bring one or two of the really important PLOs that you will be building your 2-week practicum unit around.  In Wednesday, 17 November’s class we will be unpacking those PLOs and looking at what understandings, essential questions, knowledge, and skills flow from those outcomes.  Also, we may consider what assessment evidence will allow to to determine the degree to which the students are developing understanding of your desired results.

Here’s the template we’ll use to unpack the outcomes:

Microteaching

Please check the schedule (on the blog) to see when you present.  Also, review the rubric and bring your flash drive to class so you’re fully ready to go.  I’m looking forward to seeing some engaging lessons on Monday.

Phew!  That’s a long post for a short class.

Take care,

– Lawrence

Mid-EDUC 315 Email Message: “Important Information Relating to The UBC Middle Years TC’s Tuesdays Practicum”

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Just so everything is in one place, here’s the body and attachments that made up the 1/2 way through the Tuesdays Prac email I sent out on the weekend:

“UBC Middle Years School Advisors & TCs:

I’ve attached a letter and a folder of files relating to EDUC 315, the Tuesdays practicum.

The letter touches on 5 key areas:

– The Preparing For Success In Your Initial Practica Handout
– Tuesday Lesson(s) Taught By Your TC
– Giving a Copy of Your Teacher Timetable to Your TC
– EDUC 315 Paperwork
– Unit Planning for the Two-Week Practicum

Please look over these materials and get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks,
Lawrence Holbrook”

Here are the attachments:

– Lawrence

Aboriginal Learners, eFolio Primer, EDUC 315 Reminders, and (a tiny bit of) Microteaching Prep: Update for Monday, 8 November 2010

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Communication Needs of Aboriginal Children and Families

Thanks to Dr. Jan Hare for her lecture on addressing the needs of aboriginal learners in our classrooms.

Jan recommended the Alaska Native Knowledge Network as a source of information on aboriginal education.

eFolio Primer

Thanks to Devin, Christian, and Shaun for their presentation on eFolios.  You can see an earlier post for links to the files they were using.  The one other item they used is the  What the !$@% is an eFolio? Prezi and that can be found here.

The more you work with your blog, the more comfortable you will become with the functionality of WordPress.  To see sample ePortfolios completed by former TCs and access a wide variety of ePortfolio resources, you can check out the ePortfolio Resources and Links page on the UBC TEO website.

Finally, Kat asked about having the tool used to assess your completed ePortfolio.  I hit up my inside sources (EDUC 480 instructors from previous years) and they produced a copy of a checklist they use.  Here it is as a PDF:

and in JPEG form:

EDUC 315 Reminders

– Tuesday Lessons: Please submit your lesson plan – hopefully 24 hours in advance of when you deliver the lesson – and your post-lesson reflection to both your SA and I.  Seeing as I won’t, most likely, be seeing you teach, I would like to see what you taught and get your thoughts on how it went.

– Teacher Timetable: Please get a copy of your teacher’s timetable for yourself and for me.  You will need it so you know when you’re teaching during the two-week prac and I will need it so I know when to come watch you teach in January and during the long practicum.  Here’s an example of a timetable so you know what I’m looking for:

– REVISED Use of Student Images Consent Form: I’ve fixed up the form to make it more clear.  Please see the previous post dedicated to this topic.

Mictorteaching Prep

Not much time was left, but it appeared that some of you took time to collaborate with your group members and discuss your upcoming Microteaching lessons.

I reminded you of the following items pertaining to the microteaching task:

  • You have a maximum of 20 minutes to present
  • You need to hand me a hard copy of your lesson plan the day of your presentation
  • Your presentation will be videotaped
  • You will view the videotape – individually or as a group –  and analyze  your lesson.  Your analysis will be sent to me.
  • Your teaching will be assessed using the rubric on the task handout.  The rubric focuses on the 7 components of Lesson Design.

Later alligators.

– Lawrence

Use of Student Images Form: Permission to Capture Video / Still Images While on Practicum

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We will be asking you to videotape at least one lesson on your long practicum and, to do that, you will need permission from the parents of your students.  Most students will have signed some form of consent for photography at the start of the year.  You need to find out who has consented and if the permission given extends to you taking video and still images for your educational purposes, namely for use in your ePortfolio and for the analysis of a videotaped lesson.

Here is a form you should use to get the required permissions, if need be.  Be sure to add in the details where prompted and, before you copy the letter to send home, to proofread the file to make sure it reads in a way you’re comfortable with.  While the gist of the letter should remain the same, you can feel free to make subtle tweaks to the style:

[NOTE:  This is a different form from the one I first posted.  There were some significant concerns with a lack of clarity in the original letter. – LH on 3 Nov 2010]

Print out one, copy as many as you need for the students in your home room, and hand them out.  Set a due date and over the Tuesday visits collect them in.  You have a lot of time on your hands now so you can chase those who have late forms.  Also, this will give you another opportunity to connect with the students in your class.

Cheers,

– Lawrence