The end of the 310/316 term was today and we went out with a bang.  Here’s what shook down:

Lee & Shabtika’s Microteaching Presentation

Thanks to Lee and Shab for their tips on How to Decorate a Christmas Tree.  A very timely topic indeed.

Here’s a YouTube clip of the song that served as the lesson’s mental set / hook.  In this clip, Ernest interprets “Oh, Christmas Tree” while in the throes of saving Christmas.  There’ll be no confusion over the lyrics in this version, I swear:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycfuj5y7qds[/youtube]

Shep’s Classroom Management Primer

Shep presented some ideas to consider as you hone your approach to managing a classroom.  In addition, he highlighted a few tried and true tactics that you can use during your 2-week prac.  Among them are:

• Setting clear expectations
• Using a clear signal for attention
• Wait time
• Proximity
• Developing a commanding teacher presence
• Monitoring and giving feedback

You can check out Shep’s PPT presentation in its entirety here (Please note that I had to modify the Slide Design on this presentation in order to shrink the file size from a inexplicably weighty 6.7 MB to a measly 304 KB, as the larger file would not upload to the blog):

Managing in Learning Environments

2-Week Practicum Unit Plan Due Date

The due date for your 2-week unit plan and the first 2 full lesson plans is Monday, 7 December 2009. Please email this draft version of your unit to your SA and FA on or before the due date.  Shep and I will read your unit and provide you with some feedback on it.

Enjoy your break.  We look forward to observing you teach on the 2-week prac in January.

– Lawrence

The unit plan doctors had their visiting hours today… and speaking of visiting hours, here’s the poster from the 1982 movie Visiting Hours (Tagline: There is no known cure… for MURDER), a film whose VHS box I loved but that I’ve still never seen:

OK, where was I?  Oh yes, unit planning.

Shep and I hope the conversations were fruitful and we encourage you to email us with questions or thoughts as you work on your plan over the next week.  A reminder that the UBD unit planning template and the first two lessons of your unit are due via email to both your SA and FA on or before Monday, 7 December 2009.

Seeing as assessment is a key piece of any teaching endeavour, I’ve included a link to the BC Ministry of Education’s Performance Standards documents.  According to the Ministry website:

“The BC Performance Standards have been developed for voluntary use in BC schools. They describe the professional judgments of a significant number of BC educators about standards and expectations…

The standards focus exclusively on performance assessment. In performance assessment students are asked to apply the skills and concepts they have learned to complete complex, realistic tasks. This type of assessment supports a criterion-referenced approach to evaluation and enables teachers, students, and parents to compare student performance to provincial standards.

The BC Performance Standards are intended as a resource to support ongoing instruction and assessment.”

In these PS documents, you will find rubrics for assessment and sample tasks with marked pieces of work in the following areas of learning:

• Reading
• Writing
• Numeracy
• Social Responsibility
• Information and Communications Technology Integration
• Healthy Living

Good hunting (that’s for all you BSG fans out there!)

– Lawrence

Today we delved into Stage 2 of the Understanding by Design unit planning framework, Assessment Evidence.

Introductory PowerPoint

After considering some of your worst assessment experiences, I showed and spoke to a PPT presentation related to principles of effective assessment.  Here’s that presentation:

UBD Stage 2 PPT in November 2009

One idea in the slideshow is the importance of using more than tests to assess understanding.  Here’s a humourous example of a test gone wrong for the assessor:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBcBHrLBYO4[/youtube]

Performance Tasks

One great way to assess understanding is through the use of Performance Tasks.  We spent some time looking at the characteristics of PTs and hearing from the TCs in Socials Ed this term about the PTs they’d just handed in that morning.  Then, we played with the creation of PTs for the LA outcome we unpacked in a previous class (a PLO related to “writing” and “persuading”) and you had some time to think on a PT that might suit your 2-week unit plan.

Here’s the PT handout we distributed in class:

Performance Task Package

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:

Finally, here’s the Preparing Authentic Assessment handout the Socials folks worked with in SSED class (Thanks to Pearl for scanning it in.  I’m not sure who to thank for giving this document to Pearl.  Sorry.):

Preparing Authentic Assessment

Unit & Lesson Planning Templates

To facilitate the planning of effective units, we are providing you with a UBD-based unit and lesson plan templates.  Here they are (please note that the lesson plan template is slightly revised to include space for a tangible EQ in lieu of the more ephemeral Big Idea):

UBD Unit Plan Template – Nov 09

LESSON DESIGN Planning Template V2

Unit Planning Conferences

To facilitate the planning process and in lieu of a formal lesson, Shep and I are holding conferences all day on Monday, 30 November in Scarfe 1310.  In preparation for this conference, please:

1. Identify the Desired Results for your unit
2. Bring along any resources that you think might aid you in your planning.

Here are our respective schedules:

Shep’s Unit Plan Conference Schedule

Lawrence’s Unit Plan Conference Schedule

A draft of your unit plan is due via email to your SA and FA on Monday, 7 December 2009.  Here are a couple of unit plans from last year (using a slightly different UBD template) to serve as models.

Please keep in mind that these units were planned by TCs with a similar level of planning experience as you have now.  I include them not necessarily as exemplars of excellent unit design but more to give you an idea of the sort of breadth and depth a unit plan can include:

Dec 08 UBD Unit Plan – Math

Dec 08 UBD Unit Plan – LA

Due Date Updates

We also spent some class time reviewing what’s due and when.  I won’t repeat our spiel here.  Please refer to the previous post for all the gory details.

Speaking of gory, have you ever considered what actually goes into a box of Lucky Charms cereal?  This person did and posted his findings on GraphJam.com:

‘Nuff said.

– Lawrence

Things are getting pretty hectic as Term 1 wraps up.  Here’s a summary of what’s gone on, what needs to be done, and when it needs to be done by.  Please note that there’s a handy summary of this information at the end of this post:

Microteaching: Presentations, Feedback, and Analysis

Thanks to everyone for  presenting engaging lessons this week.  With respect to feedback, I think Shep has already given his groups their rubrics and his comments.  I will be giving each group a feedback sandwich (I needed some time to type out my dodgy handwriting!)  and the rubrics completed by the assessors on Monday 23 November.

Mmm, sandwiches.  Here’s a clip of Adam Sandler making “The World’s Greatest Sandwich”.  The recipe scrolls like credits as the clip ends:

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

You don’t need to wait for the feedback to complete your Microteaching Analysis, mind you.  This reflection is a collection of your thoughts on the presentation and need not be influenced by the assessment of others.  One co-authored reflection per partnership is sufficient.  You simply need to watch the lesson video and use the questions listed below to structure your critique of the lesson:

The Microteaching Analysis is due on Monday, 30 November. Your response can take the form of any product – piece of writing, poster, collage, PowerPoint presentation, song, or something else – that allows you to demonstrate thorough and thoughtful coverage of the required content.

Wrapping Up EDUC 315, the Tuesdays Practicum

This coming Tuesday, 24 November is the final Tuesday of the Initial Practicum Experience.  As a part of this practicum, here is what you are responsible for:

• Planning a lesson
  • Here’s the template we’ve been using in EDUC 310/316 class: LESSON DESIGN Planning Template
• Sending your plan to your SA and FA in advance of your teaching the lesson
• Teaching the lesson
• Reflecting on the lesson and sending a copy of your reflection to your FA (and your SA, if they want one)
  • You can use the Microteaching Analysis questions (shown above) as a framework for your reflection.  You can structure your reflection differently if you so choose.
• Giving a copy of your teaching timetable to your FA
• Finalizing the subject and specific topic you will be teaching for  your unit during the 2-week practicum in January
  • On average, you should be teaching about 1 hour per day.  This means that – depending on your timetable – you should be teaching a unit of between 6 to 10 lessons.
• Completing the Education 315: Pre-Practicum Teacher Candidate’s Self-Evaluation Form and talking about it with your SA
  • Here’s a copy of the form you fill out: EDUC 315 TC Self-Evaluation Form
  • Here’s a copy of the form your SA will fill out (it has the same 3 categories but is written from the third person not the  first person point of view): EDUC 315 SA Feedback Form
• Emailing the aforementioned 315 Self-Evaluation form to your FA and SA by Friday, 27 November 2009
• Completing the Goal Setting Grid described in the Getting into your Placement: A menu of possibilities… handout and emailing it to your SA and FA by Wednesday, 25 November.  The grid looks like this:

The full handout is in an earlier post but here it is again for easy reference:

315 Getting Into Your Placement Task

Finally, here is the letter I sent out to you and your SAs at the midpoint of the Tuesdays Practicum (Shep sent a similar letter to his TCs and SAs).  It touches on the items mentioned above:

Mid-Point of 315 Letter to SAs & TCs

Calendar of Events and Due Dates:

So, to tie it all together here’s a calendar of events and due dates to get you up to speed at a glance:

• Monday, 23 November
  • Lesson Topic – UBD Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
  • Handing out of suggested unit planning template
  • Scheduling the Unit Planning Conferences held on Monday, 30 November 2009

• Tuesday, 24 November
  • Discuss your completed Education 315: Pre-Practicum Teacher Candidate’s Self-Evaluation Form with your SA
  • Confirm the subject and specific topic for your 2-week practicum unit
  • Enjoy the last day of your first practicum.

• Wednesday, 25 November
  • eFolio Workshop (with your genial and knowledgeable hosts, Adam and Joe)
  • DUE DATE: EDUC 315 Goal Setting Grid emailed to your SA and FA

• Friday, 27 November
  • DUE DATE: Email your completed Education 315: Pre-Practicum Teacher Candidate’s Self-Evaluation Form

• Monday, 30 November
  • Unit Planning Conferences (in lieu of a formal class)
  • DUE DATE: Microteaching Analysis handed in or emailed to your Microteaching instructor

• Wednesday, 2 December
  • Shep’s Introduction to Classroom Management titled Dr. Management or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bumps
  • Shabtika and Lee’s Microteaching Presentation

• Monday, 7 December
  • Completed 2-week practicum unit plan draft due to SA and FA

Well, there you have it.  I think you’re up to date in the world of sports.  Speaking of sports, here’s a collection of sports bloopers from October 1991 compiled by the crew of the long gone but fondly remembered local show, Sports Page:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBq1TBm41nY[/youtube]

Cheers,

– Lawrence

Today’s class was full of ideas that are complex and, perhaps, tough to grasp quickly.  As a result, I’m typing slowly and more loudly to help make my points sink in.  Here goes…

Administrivia

• Please take the triplicate Anecdotal Forms we handed out in class today to your SA for the purpose of note taking during observations.  Your SA can also choose to take notes on their computer and print out the document.

• Please remember to give a copy of your practicum teaching timetable to your FA ASAP.  This information is invaluable in the planning of our observations of your teaching.  Here’s a sample so you know just what you need to hand in:

Example of a Middle School Timetable

• We’ve revised the calendar to better meet our goals.  The focus for each remaining 310/316 lesson is noted below:
  • Wednesday, 11 November – NO CLASS due to Remembrance Day Holiday
  • Monday, 16 November – Microteaching Presentations
  • Wednesday, 18 November – Microteaching Presentations
  • Monday, 23 November – UBD Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
  • Wednesday, 25 November – eFolio Workshop (with your genial and knowledgeable hosts, Adam and Joe)
  • Monday, 30 November – Unit Planning Conferences (in lieu of a formal class)
  • Wednesday, 2 December – Dr. Management or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bumps

Melissa’s EDUC 315 Extravaganza

Melissa orchestrated some time for you to meet in a small group with fellow TCs from different schools to talk, compare experiences, and – ultimately – come up with 3 or 4 ideas that you thought warranted sharing with the whole group.  Melissa collated the key ideas from those conversations, sent them to Shep and I for posting on this blog and here they are:

Melissa 315 Extravaganza Notes

UBD Stage 1: Unpacking a PLO

In answer to the question – How might I determine the desired results for a unit?  – we played with the process of Unpacking a PLO.  The goal of this process is to determine the big ideas, enduring understandings, essential questions, knowledge, and skills related to a learning outcome.

In a nutshell, here’s how the unpacking works (this is a section of a previous lesson’s reading):

Wiggins and McTighe, the developers of UBD, also identify another way to tease the big ideas out of PLOs:

The I DO portion of the lesson was me modeling the unpacking with an LA 7 outcome (Outcome C2, if you’re curious).  For the WE DO we used an HCE 8 outcome related to Substance Misuse Prevention and the YOU DO piece comes in when you apply your understanding on a micro level to your Microteaching task (What are you trying to achieve exactly?) and on a macro level when you develop your 2-week practicum mini-unit.

Here’s the template we used to unpack the PLOs:

UBD – Unpacking a PLO

We paid particular attention to the concept of essential questions.  These EQs flow directly from the big ideas and enduring understandings and can serve to guide the unit and even lessons.  In fact, one way to conceive of the lessons in a unit is that the content of them works to answer the essential questions.

We started with a concept attainment activity on EQs found here:

Concept Attainment for EQs

We spent some time considering the common characteristics of essential questions and developed a list of criteria very similar to those developed by the UBD authors themselves.  According to Wiggins and McTighe on page 91 of their Understanding by Design Professional Devlopment Workbook, EQs:

• Have no simple “right” answer; they are meant to be argued
• Are designed to provoke and sustain student inquiry, while focusing learning and final performances
• Often address the conceptual or philosophical foundations of a discipline
• Raise other important questions
• Naturally and appropriately occur
• Stimulate vital, ongoing rethinking of big ideas, assumptions, and prior lessons

Here’s the handout given in class that provides more information on Essential Questions:

EQs Definition, Samples, and Tips

Also, here’s a document with a variety of Essential Questions for a wide variety of subjects:

EQs for All Subject Areas

Before I wrap up, here’s a clip of teachers from a school in New York talking about their real world experiences working with UBD.  Watch if once for the interesting ideas but watch it twice to see the worst voice syncing since the English dub of Godzilla vs. Mothra!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wp2fdmfBnk&feature=related[/youtube]

We had planned to end the class with some time for groups to work on the Microteaching task but we ran long and there was no time for planning.  We apologize for that and look forward to seeing interesting and engaging mini-lessons in class next Monday.

– Lawrence

Well, here we go again with another review of what went down in 316 / 310 class.  Hang on to your wigs and keys as this one might move pretty quickly!

EDUC 315 Mid-Point Check In

At the half-way point of the Tuesdays Practicum, Shep and I asked you to consider your highs & lows to this point and to ask any questions that come to mind.

Also, we reviewed some expectations relating to this initial practicum experience, namely:

• Please email us a plan for the lesson you’re teaching to us and your SA as close to a week ahead of time as possible.  Shep and I will look it over and offer some feedback.  We will not observe your lesson, mind you.  Teaching this class will likely be stressful enough without your FA lurking around in the back of the room taking notes!
• Please ask your SA to observe the lesson and to give you written feedback.
• The planning cycle involves:
  • Planning
  • Teaching
  • Reflecting
• Please email us a copy of your post-lesson reflection.  Your SA might want one as well but you will be debriefing your lesson with him or her in person so giving a copy of your reflection to them may be redundant.  Here’s a format you can use for your reflection (it’s taken directly from the Microteaching task):

Microteaching Assessment

We handed out the rubric we’re using to assess the Microteaching task.  The rubric, developed by Barrie Bennett, is built around the Lesson Design components we worked with in earlier classes.  Those components make up the lesson plan structure we’re suggesting you use to plan your lessons.  The rubric might also serve as a useful tool for analyzing your lessons on the 2-week and 13-week practica.

There are many Microteaching lessons on YouTube.  Here’s a part of one.  For fun, you can use your rubric and see how these beginning teachers stack up (C’mon, they posted their lesson on the Interweb for all to see!):

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9zgao_Gw7o&feature=fvsr[/youtube]

What Really Matters in Learning? (Content) Article Debrief

To process this article, we adapted the Card Stack and Shuffle strategy.  Each person was asked to highlight the most compelling phrase, sentence or few lines in their response to the article.   Then, the pieces were collected, shuffled and handed out randomly to class members.  Each class member was to read the highlighted section and respond to it in writing.  Then, each person was to find a partner and discuss their highlighted section and their reaction to it.  This is a form of pre-conversation preparation that facilitates think time and engagement with the ideas in a text.  We ran out of time before we could get an in-depth conversation going but we’ll pick up the threads next class as we look in detail at UBD’s stage 1 – Desired Results.

‘Til then,

– Lawrence