T-Tess, Student Engagement and You!
Presentation for the Texas Music Educators Conference February 9, 2017
Materials are at djennison.wordpress.com 11:30 AM CC 305 David Jennison and Lisa Roebuck, RRISD Fine Arts Music Administrators
Introduction - The Big Picture
Through their experiences in our schools, we hope to develop learners who are capable of critical thinking, effective oral and written communication and are good collaborators. We want to encourage in them creative approaches to both artistic and academic challenges along with the ability to adapt their talents to a variety of situations. Ultimately, we want our students to understand that context is more important than content.
Choir pic
Orchestra pic
T-Tess can be a valuable tool in helping us develop these learners on two fronts -
1) Encouraging a “growth mind-set” within ourselves as instructors, and - by extension - within our students.
- And
2) Emphasizing the curricular role of the fine arts to our principals and other administrators; not just an activity, but sequential, rigorous and powerful.
Our time together today -T-Tess Overview
- Domains
- Rubrics for evaluation and scoring of lessons
- From Teacher centered to Student centered…
- Encouraging a “Growth Mindset”
Developing an effective Questioning strategy
- Best practices
- Ideally implemented throughout instruction, but especially important during the development of fundamentals
From the Perspective of your Evaluator
- Emphasizing your efforts both within the rehearsal hall and outside of it
In Closing - Salt and Pepper
T-Tess Overview –
The Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System was developed as an evaluation system tied to the teaching standards. In the redesign of the state evaluation system, the committee focused on creating a system that would be used for continuous professional growth, while de-stigmatizing the observation process; moving the mindset away from compliance and toward feedback and support.
T-Tess provides for actionable, timely feedback, allowing teachers to make efficient and contextual professional development choices that will lead to an improvement in their teaching.
Components of the T-TESS evaluation process -
Orientation - large group setting utilizing training materials
Goal-Setting - Teacher driven activity using T-Tess framework
Pre-Conference - Teacher and Evaluator
Observations - informal (walk-through) and formal
Post-Conference - Teacher and Evaluator, direct feedback regarding formal observation
End-of-Year Conference - Teacher presents evidence and Domain 4 is scored
Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle
Planning and
Pre-conference - Goal setting
Observation
T-Tess Evaluation Domains
1. 1. Planning 2. Instruction
1. Standards and Alignment2. Data and Assessment3. Knowledge of Students4. Activities
1. Achieving Expectations2. Content Knowledge and Expertise3. Communication4. Differentiation5. Monitor and Adjust
3. Learning Environment 4. Professional Practices and Responsibilities
1. Classroom Environment, Routines and Procedures
2. Managing Student Behavior3. Classroom Culture
1. Professional Demeanor and Ethics2. Goal Setting3. Professional Development4. School Community Involvement
T-Tess Teacher performance scoring -
Distinguished Accomplished Proficient Developing Needs Improvement
Student Centered Actions Teacher Centered Actions
“Rock Solid” Teaching, the new
“Exceeds Expectations”
Essential Concepts -T-Tess is designed to encourage growth - “Proficient” is designed to be the baseline for the accomplished
instructor.
Student engagement and involvement with the instructional process are essential elements of the “Proficient”, “Accomplished” and “Distinguished” levels.
The pre-conference is an important time to make the evaluator aware of student assessment and engagement that takes place outside of instructional time -
Sectionals
Recorded assignments and instructor provided feedback
“Flipped” classroom activities such as virtual rehearsal feedback, listening
assignments, literature input, etc.
Excerpt from our Teacher Strategies document-
T-Tess Observation Strategies Specific to Orchestra, Band or Choir
In your Pre-Conference meeting your evaluator will be seeking information from you to provide context for their informal and formal observations.
Be sure to highlight the following –
· Your strategies for individual assessment – repertoire, audition materials, solos, ensembles (Planning and Instruction domains)
· Use of technology, especially to provide feedback (Planning, Instruction and Professional Practices and Responsibilities – 2, 3 - domains)
· Your goals for student development with your fundamentals (Planning and Instruction domains)
· Your goals for ability challenging repertoire development as they relate to the timing of your observation (Planning and Instruction domains)
· Your current practices regarding student/family communication – charms emails, web sight, remind101 or similar (Learning Environment domain)
· Your professional development activities both within the district and at the State, National, International levels (Professional Practices and Responsibilities domain)
RUBRIC HIGHLIGHTS - INSTRUCTION DIMENSION 2.5 - Monitor and Adjust
Proficient Level
The Teacher -
• Utilizes input from students in order to monitor and adjust instruction, activities and pacing to respond to differences in student needs.
• Adjusts instruction and activities to maintain student engagement.
• Continually checks for understanding through purposeful questioning and academic feedback.
• Consistently invites input from students in order to monitor and adjust instruction and activities.
Distinguished Level
The Teacher -
• Systematically gathers input from students in order to monitor and adjust instruction, activities or pacing to respond to differences in student needs.
• Adjusts instruction and activities to maintain student engagement.
• Uses discrete and explicit checks for understanding through questioning and academic feedback. The teacher formally and informally collects, analyzes and uses student progress data and makes needed lesson adjustments.
It is clear from the descriptors used in the T-Tess Rubrics that teaching at the “Proficient”, “Distinguished” and “Accomplished” levels requires teachers to utilize questioning strategies that are organized, inclusive and detailed.
Effective Questioning - Gaining Student Input
Best practices (from the research)
• Safe and supportive environment for learner input, even if not “on task” • Established cues rather than the “all call” • Involve a broad section of learners • Pose the question first • Lower and Upper level questions • Wait time - 3 secs to 5 secs
For a long time in Kodaly training we have been discussing the importance of questioning strategies with students. In Kodaly Today written by Micheal Houlahan and Philip Tacka - they discuss instruction in phases:
Phase 1 is developing Kinesthetic Awareness
Phase 2 is developing Aural Awareness and in the phase the teacher helps the learner construct aural understanding by responding to questions. In this phase to develop students’ aural awareness, the instructor asks questions that guide students to describe the position and attributes of the new musical element. The questioning helps embed in the student’s memory through the kinesthetic experience and further encoded through the students’ verbalization of the aural and kinesthetic experience. Pg. 147 - 148 Kodaly Today.
Even when students are young and learning to read music, questioning strategies are utilized, for example:
How many beats did we perform?
On which beat did you hear the new sound?
How many sounds did you perform on beat four?
How would you describe these sound?
On which words or syllable or beats does the new melodic pitch occur?
Is the new melodic pitch higher than or lower than all of the pitches we know?
Eminent Educator Quotes
“First of all, I ask them questions in such a way that will allow them to tell what they think is happening, rather than asking them a question that has definite answer. I say, “What do you think should happen here?” And then remind them, “I did not ask what should happen here, I said what do you think should happen here?” And that’s different.
All I’m asking is what you think. I’m not asking you whether you’re thinking the same thing or not. The most important thing is that they think. If they don’t think, then you, as a teacher, don’t have a prayer. I’m standing up here as the conductor for no reason.”
From “On Teaching Band, notes from Eddie Green”
compiled and edited by Mary Ellen Cavitt, Ph.D.
“It’s the aural stage that helps the teacher truly understand how students are perceiving the new musical element. This stage is also referred to as “Describe What You Hear.” Students are guided to isolate events on individual beats within a phrase. Teachers report that during this stage of teaching, student attention is at it’s highest. Throughout all of their books on the Kodaly approach, the sequence of the questions is so exact, so crafted and so skillful that it is now being applied to other subject areas. Asking students to describe what they are thinking is an art form…”
From “Kodaly Today”, “Kodaly in the Kindergarten Through the Grade 5 Classroom”, “From Sound to Symbol”
by Phillip Tacka and Michael Houlahan
(available through Oxford University Press)
Short Videos from Rehearsals - MS Band
Questioning “Best Practices”
• Safe and supportive environment for learner input • Established cues in addition to the “all call” • Involve a broad section of learners • Pose the question first • Lower and Upper level questions • Wait time - 3 secs to 5 secs
Elementary Music Lesson
HS School Sub-Non Varsity Orchestra
“Based on the evidence and the rubric, this is how the lesson scored.”
T-Tess evaluators are trained to base their performance ratings on the evidence they gather in their formal observation - the teacher did/said this, the students did/said that…
Remember, a little goes a long way…
Resource sharing -
Slides and other supporting materials are at -
djennison.wordpress.com
Send me an email with your feedback -
Thank you for your support of fine arts education in our schools
