Prepared for the Learning Leadership PLC of

NEWTON COUNTY SCHOOLS by Dan Mulligan, Ed. D., flexiblecreativity.com

July 2015

A Lazer-Like Focus on Deeper Learning:PROVIDING STAFF WITH CONSTRUCTIVE

FEEDBACK

EssentialVocabulary

EssentialSkills

EssentialKnowledge

LEARNING TARGET

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

~Dr. Suess

Resources

to share…

Newton County SchoolsVision

The Newton County School System envisions students, who through a

rigorous and relevant education, will be able to think critically in order to

produce, perform, create, and communicate their knowledge

competitively to a hyper-connected, global audience.

page 3

Components of a Focused Learning Program

LearningDifferentiated based on the needs of the

student

Student Focused Assessing 4

Learning Program

RigorWith Nurturing

(STEAM)

Engaging Spiraling

Teaching for Mastery Reteach & Reassess as necessary (CLT-driven*)

Identifies the nonnegotiable vocabulary

necessary to decode the content

CurriculumTargeting the

Essential Knowledge and Essential Skills

Staff DevelopmentOngoing to include

feedback on success of implementation

AssessmentDriven by Essential

Knowledge and Essential Skills

VariedDiagnostic

ModelingData Driven

Ongoing

Provides College & Career Ready

Skills

Pacing reflects Data Analysis & Georgia

Blueprints

page 4

4 – second partner

Find a new friend in the room (a mix of specialties is the best). Introduce

yourself and share what you will be ‘doing’. Find 2 comfortable seats and relax.

*Please bring your handout and a pen(cil)!

Work collaboratively (e.g., construct viable arguments,

critique, agree) to identify key words that capture the essential indicators of quality learning

with fidelity.

Indicators of quality learningCREATING AN

ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING

SETTING OBJECTIVES AND

PROVIDING FEEDBACK

Unpacking the Standard

Page7

Indicator Alert:

Did the students unpack the standard? Can students explain what they are learning and why they are engaged in their current task? How does it fit?

1. Create an Environment for Learning– Helping students know what is expected of them, providing

students with opportunities for regular feedback on progress, assuring students they are capable of learning content and skills

2. Helping Students Develop Understanding– Integrating prior knowledge with new knowledge– Procedural knowledge: constructing a model of the steps

required of the process and practicing its variations; using the process or skill fluently or without any conscious thought

3. Helping Students Extend and Apply Knowledge– Moving beyond ‘right answer’ learning to an expanded

understanding and use of concepts and skills in real-world contexts.

Framework for

Instructional Planning McREL, 2012

page6

Research

Based

Instructional

Strategies

Indicator Alert:

Is each student experiencing research based learning strategies?

A. CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNINGADDITIONAL SAMPLE RESOURCES

pages 8 - 10

CommitmentIf you don’t make a total commitment to

whatever you’re doing, then you start looking to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking. It’s tough enough getting that boat to shore with everybody rowing, let alone when a guy stands up and starts putting his life jacket on.

Lou Holtz

WHY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY?aka Why Build Background Knowledge?

Briefly share what you know about:

photosynthesis

Tell a chain story about the process of

photosynthesis…

…without using words that begin with:

P, L, T

Research on Imagery as Elaboration

637 percentile pts. higher

than… …students who kept repeating definitions.

421 percentile pts. higher

than… …students who were using the terms in a sentence.

Students who used imagery to learn vocabulary, on average, performed

# of studies

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Principal

Organizing Theme:

Things someone would say…

Student

TeacherSuperintendent

Parent

Cafeteria Worker

EDUCATIONALSTAKEHOLDER

EDITION

page23

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Science

Experiment

Hypothesis

Energy

Electron

DissolveAtmosphere

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Data Driven

Organizing Theme:

Essential Elements of an Inclusive

Learning Program

Vertical Articulation

Staff Development

Essential Vocabulary

Rigor with Nurturing

Formative Assessment

Indicator Alert:

Is the learning environment dynamically vocabulary

rich?

Kinds of Evidence – Continuum of EvidenceInformal Check for Understanding

Name a noun. Form a sentence.

Name a verb. Name an adjective

Page31

by Maribeth Boelts and Noah Z. Jones

page11

Indicator Alert:

Are there any ‘banished’ students? Is participation safe?

Instructional Strategies that Facilitate Successful Inclusion Must …

Supply students with STRUCTURE and ORGANIZATION

Encourage student COMMUNICATION and COLLABORATION

Provide students with VISUAL and HANDS-ON learning experiences

B. HELPING STUDENTS DEVELOP UNDERSTANDING Integrating prior knowledge with new knowledge Procedural knowledge: constructing a model of the steps required of the

process and practicing its variations; using the process or skill fluently or without any conscious thought

RESEARCH-BASEDSTRATEGY:

SUMMARIZING

AND

NOTE-TAKING

pages 13 - 17

RESEARCH-BASEDSTRATEGY:

SUMMARIZING

AND

NOTE-TAKING

page 12

My Notebook Rubric

“A positive attitude may not solve all of your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth it.”

-Maya Angelou

The

What

page18

pages19 - 22

The Newton County School System envisions students, who through a rigorous and relevant education, will be able to think critically in order to produce, perform, create, and communicate their knowledge competitively to a hyper-connected, global audience.

Pages23 - 25

Helping Students Extend and Apply Knowledge

Pages23 - 25

Helping Students Extend and Apply KnowledgeAdditional Resources

Possible

Alignment

Pages30 - 34

Thank you for your commitment to children!

"It's your attitude, not just your aptitude that determines your ultimate altitude."

--Zig Ziglar

Dan