Practically Speaking: Examining what Works to Engage Mores Students in

Learning

Kathleen welcomes you!

It’s all about leveraging the

Positives of CTE!KS fun fact:

The state has the largest population of

what type of chicken in North America?

Personality Profile

• Examine the provided pictures on the next slide…

• Choose the shape you find most appealing…

• Consider both form and color

Carefree, playful, cheerful

Independent, unconventional,

unfettered

Introspective, sensitive, reflective

Down to earth, well-balanced,

harmonious

Peaceful, discreet, non-aggressive

Analytical, trustworthy, self-assured

Professional, pragmatic, self-assured

Romantic, dreamy, emotional

Dynamic, active extroverted

Table Teams… Role ‘Em

Facilitator ~ keeps it all moving and smooth Recorder ~ captures all discussions and

decisions in writing for group members Reporter ~ oral sharing of work to the larger

group when requested Time Keeper ~ keeps group on track and within

assigned times Materials Master! ~ fetches (and returns) all

needed materials/supplies

Objectives for Breakout• Examine what works with millennial students

through generational impacts on learning • Delve deeper into a “motivational” list that

reflects millennial mindsets to impact instructional design and classroom choices

• Practice reworking CTE assignments using our developing checklist!

Three Ground Rules

• CTE as a quality experience

• Students as Customers…know those millennial manners!

• All students deserve a rigorous experience…

USA –Inventions that have Changed our Lives since 1982 (Source

USA Today – 5/21/07)

1. Cell phones2. Laptop

computers3. Blackberries4. Debit cards5. Caller ID6. DVDs7. Lithium batteries8. IPods

9. Pay at the pump10. Lettuce in a bag11. Digital cameras12. Doppler radar13. Flat-panel TVs14. Electronic tolls15. PowerPoint16. Microwavable

popcorn

The One Way to Win myth

• Out of 24 students in a typical elementary school class in the U.S.– 7 drop out– 5 go to work– 6 do not graduate from college– 3 do not find college jobs– 3 win the One Way to Win game

What do we know about CTE?• CTE does not necessarily limit

postsecondary education (NAVE, 2004; Stone & Aliaga, 2004; but see Deluca et al., forthcoming)

• There is evidence that math and science course taking by CTE students is increasing: amount and complexity (NAVE, 2004; Stone & Aliaga, 2004)

• CTE as a function of the HS experience reduces the probability of dropping out of school (Plank, 2001)

• CTE is an economic value to the individual and the community (ROI) (Bishop & Mane, 2004; NAVE, 2004:Hollenbeck, 2001)

• It is possible to “major” in CTE and Academics (NAVE, 2004)

Build instruction around what students do well, are interested in, ways of learning and aspire to become.

Tap into Talents/Ways of

Learning

Build on Interests

Follow Path toward Goals

Motivation to Achieve

Brainstorm practices to support your category

• High Expectations• Motivation Preferences/Active Learning • “New” 21st Century Skills • Social Networking• Adventure, Imagination, Innovation• Learner Control/Centered• Feedback• Information Age

Q: Put yourself into their mindset….what matters to them?

Table Talk: Idea Generation Ex. High Expectations1. Motivation Preferences/Active

Learning 2. “New” 21st Century Skills 3. Social Networking4. Adventure, Imagination,

Innovation5. Learner Control/ Centered6. Feedback7. Information Age

• Each table tackle a category…generate a list to share ( 4 min.)

• Tables will share 4 ideas with the larger group ( 15 min.)

Time = 19 minutes

High Expectations…• Set and communicate what students

will do• Include a range of questions ~ higher

order of Blooms Taxonomy• Strive for quality results—mastery,

redoing work with feedback• Create situations where students need

to think critically• Other…

Each table tackle a category…generate a list to share

timeframe = 4 minutes

Enhancement: High Expectations

• Set and communicate what students will do (same criteria for all students)

• Include a range of questions ~ higher order of Blooms Taxonomy

• Strive for quality results—mastery, redoing work with feedback

• Create situations where students need to think critically

• Students benefit from knowing where they are on the pathway toward their goal

• Other…

. . . is the goal of helping ALL students develop the capacity to

understand content that is complex, ambiguous,

provocative, and personally or emotionally challenging.

RIGOR REMINDER

Big Ideas: What is Rigor?• Rigor is the expectation that students will be able

to perform at levels of cognitive complexity necessary for proficiency at each grade level, and readiness for college and the workplace. Alignment of instruction and assessment with standards/objectives that are at those levels of cognitive complexity is a critical part of increasing rigor in schools.

• Typically, the gap between the levels of cognitive complexity in the standards and the levels in assignments increases as students progress through grade levels.

Nationally, on Nationally, on average:average:

•60% lower cognitive questions

•20% higher cognitive questions

•20% procedural

The Pledge of AllegianceThe Pledge of Allegiance

How does the rigor of activities impact access to learning opportunities?

Question sharing:

As I read each task, use hand signals to indicate level of each question:

1 finger=knowledge or comprehension2 fingers= application or analysis3 fingers=synthesis or evaluation

The Pledge of Allegiance

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the

Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

justice for all.”

31

#1: Recall,#1: Recall,Knowledge,Knowledge,

RememberingRemembering

“Say the Pledge.”

“Discuss the meaning of ‘and to the Republic for

which it stands’ in terms of its importance to the pledge.”

#2: Complex or Strategic Thinking,#2: Complex or Strategic Thinking,Analysis, AnalyzingAnalysis, Analyzing

“Describe the purpose of the pledge and assess how well

it achieves that purpose.

Suggest improvements.”

#3: Extended Thinking or #3: Extended Thinking or Reasoning, Reasoning,

Synthesis, Evaluating, CreatingSynthesis, Evaluating, Creating

34

“Explain what indivisible, liberty, and justice mean.”

#1: #1: Reproduction,Reproduction,

Comprehension,Comprehension,UnderstandingUnderstanding

“Write a contract between yourself and a friend that

includes an allegiance to a symbol that stands for

something you both believe in.”

#3: Extended Thinking or #3: Extended Thinking or Reasoning, Reasoning,

Synthesis, Evaluating, CreatingSynthesis, Evaluating, Creating

Explain the distinctions between allegiance to “the Flag” vs. allegiance to “the republic for which it stands.”

#2: Reasoning, Using Skills and #2: Reasoning, Using Skills and Concepts, Application, ApplyingConcepts, Application, Applying

Enhancement: Motivation Preferences ~ Action Learning

• Tapping learning styles ( for example…) • People and relationships ~ help someone• Things and functions ~ design in, fix it…• Creativity and expression ~ draw, paint, perform,

express…• Discovery and process ~ observe, explore, validate

…• Role Plays!• Reflection activities• Alternative methods of measuring productivity and

completing tasks • Spends as much time stimulated by digital media as

they do in school …so nothing in the classroom should be static!

• Give students opportunities to move out of their “comfort zones” and explore

Motivation Preferences

People and Relationships

Things andFunctions

Creativity andExpression Discovery

and Process

CT assignmen

t

Map out an

assignment!

Source: Kathleen Harris Consulting Inc. in Drake and Burns (2004), Meeting Standards Through Integrated Curriculum; ASCD

Enhancement: 21st Century Skills “modern employability skills”

• Networking globally ~ maintain intimacy • Managing abundance of information

– Information literacy– Search skills– Finding truth– Authenticity of information

• Creating community ~ creating caring relations • Learning to listen • Achieving social justice ~ building a good society

– Purpose beyond themselves…

Enhancement: Social Networking

• Creating “bonding” opportunities• Team work (collaborative assignments)• Connections to greater world/community• Identify, practice and reflect on personal skills• Use of technology ~ social appropriateness• Sharing helps create own personal identities • Inclusive of differences: race, religions, etc. • Remember: “friends” who haven’t met face-to-face

Relate and

Respond!

Things that make you go hmmm…

Organizational Theory

• By analyzing how people are connected to each other in certain social contexts mathematicians have been able to study things as diverse as the spread of diseases

• A graph consists of a set of vertices and edges (not necessarily straight lines) connecting vertices. Social networks represent people as vertices, relationships between people as edges.

42

Enhancement: Adventure, Imagination, Innovation

• Use of technology • Problem –based approaches• True brainstorming (“jump start your brain”)• Use of pop culture• Invent ideas ~ construct positions, fabricate

solutions

“Jump Start your Brain”

Help your students see the value of creativity by

providing practice opportunities!

Grab your blank paper!

Enhancement: Learner Control / Centered

• Choice of approach: design the options • Learn to manage time and tasks• Peer-to-peer methods• Autonomy through project decisions• Using visual barometers ~agree/disagree• Debate ~ devil’s advocate • Jigsaws, free writing, literature circles • Photo albums, newspapers, portfolios• Like non-traditional schedules

Enhancement: Feedback• Prompt• Frequent• Constructive• Help reflect and know the strengths and weaknesses of themselves• Use of mentors• Provide sense of relevancy…revisit the purpose of the

assignment…better yet, have the customer provide the rationale! • PIE method ~ Praise, Improvement, Encourage

Enhancement: Information Age• TQM ~ data to inform decisions• “Truth” in information• JIT ~ Just-in-time! (versus just-in-case) • Researcher ~ Hypothesis testing • Forecasting • Model building • Systems thinking • Developed their own language ( LOL!) • Don’t always think linearly ~ process

simultaneously • Internet is a digital wasteland for stuff not

created correctly… have students practice “media fluency”

“Info-tectives”

Google Search Tips

• Calculate with Google. Type in any normal mathematical expressions to get the answer immediately. For example, “2*4″ will get you the answer “8.”

• Time. Enter “what time is it” and any location to find out the local time.

• Find a term in a URL. This handy trick is especially useful when searching blogs, where dates are frequently used in the URL. If you want to know about a topic for that year only and not any other year, type “inurl:2009″ and your keyword to find results with your keyword in URLs with 2009 in them.

• Use Show Options to refine your search. Click “Show Options” on your search result page to have access to tools that will help you filter and refine your results.

Google Search Tips

• Search within a specific website. If you know you want to look up Babe Ruth in Wikipedia, type in “site:wikipedia.org Babe Ruth” to go directly to the Wikipedia page about Babe Ruth. It works for any site, not just Wikipedia.

• Search within a specific kind of site. If you know you only want results from an educational site, try “site:edu” or for a government site, try “site:gov” and your search term to get results only from sites with those web addresses.

• Search for a specific file type. If you know you want a PDF (or maybe an MP3), just type in “filetype:pdf” and your search term to find results that are only in that file type.

More search tricks…

• Convert units. Whether you want to convert currency, American and metric units, or any other unit, try typing in the known unit and the unknown unit to find your answer (like “how many teaspoons in a tablespoon” or “10 US dollars in Euros”).

• Do a timeline search. Use “view:timeline” followed by whatever you are researching to get a timeline for that topic.

• Get around blocked sites. If you are having problems getting around a blocked site, just type “cache:website address” with website address being the address of the blocked site to use Google’s cached copy to get where you are going.

• Use a tilde. Using a tilde (~) with a search term will bring you results with related search terms.

More search tricks…• Use the image search. Type in your search word, then select Images to

use the image search when trying to put a picture to your term.• Get a definition. If you want a definition without having to track down an

online (or a physical) dictionary, just type “definition:word” to find the definition of the word in your results (i.e.: “definition: serendipity” will track down the definition of the word “serendipity”).

• Search within a specific website. If you know you want to look up Babe Ruth in Wikipedia, type in “site:wikipedia.org Babe Ruth” to go directly to the Wikipedia page about Babe Ruth. It works for any site, not just Wikipedia.

• Search within a specific kind of site. If you know you only want results from an educational site, try “site:edu” or for a government site, try “site:gov” and your search term to get results only from sites with those web addresses.

• Search for a specific file type. If you know you want a PDF (or maybe an MP3), just type in “filetype:pdf” and your search term to find results that are only in that file type.

Sharing your Reworks: Classroom, Lessons,

Assessments!

Let’s Rework!

“That’s the Ticket!”

• Use the provided template to rework a classroom practice, or lesson or assessment approach

• Record your table team’s favorite idea on the provided “ticket”

• The table team should collaborate to complete their ticket!

Celebrate Engaging Ideas!

Thank you KS CTE Professionals!

Kathleen.mcnally@sreb.org