Madison City SchoolsJackie Flowers and Carmen Buchanan

Be open to ideas from others. Be an active participant. Avoid side conversations. Cell phones on vibrate. Be present. (Avoid checking your e-

mail/messages and working on other projects except for during breaks.)

Take care of your creature comforts.

2.6 Designs coherent lessons that

integrate a variety of appropriate and effective instructional strategies.

Teachers will determine the key factors in creating a classroom as a place of active engagement and where learning is visible.

Each person will need to make a 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 appointment by exchange names for each time slot.

Write down the name of the person that you will be meeting with beside that time on your clock sheet.

Questions?

Directions: 1. Interview question:

What are the characteristics of an effective learning environment?

2. Interview three people (12:00, 3:00, 6:00 appointments)- ask the question, record the response on the back of the clock appointment sheets, then move to another person.

3. Summarize findings on the back of the clock appointment sheets.

What teachers do in the classroom has 6 to 10 times as much impact on student achievement as all other factors combined.

(Mortimer & Sammons, 1987) Individual teachers can have a profound impact on studentachievement—even in otherwise ineffective schools.(Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001) The key to improving education—more than any other

factor—is improving the effectiveness of classroom instruction.(Wright, Horn, & Saunders, 1997) Effective classroom instruction works—regardless of

students’ socioeconomic status.(Schmoker, 2006)

The contradiction exemplified so eloquently in the first paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens poignantly creates a

metaphorfor the possibilities of creating a classroom as a positive learningenvironment. For one classroom, it can provide the best of times, theage of wisdom, the epoch of belief, the season of Light, and the springof hope. In comparison, another classroom can experience the worst of times, the epoch of incredulity, the season of Darkness, and a winter of despair.

How does a brick building transform into a place of learning? Howcan individual rooms within this place become ones in which “learning” turns into a tangible and desired need not only for students butteachers as well? The answer lies within the assumptions that studentshave about learning and the use of active engagement as a means toaddress these assumptions.

Do we have enough time to do all we need to do?

Strategic teaching describes instructional processes that focus directly on fostering student thinking, but goes well beyond that. Strategic teaching and strategic learning are inexorably linked. A strategic teacher has an understanding of the variables of instruction and is aware of the cognitive requirements of learning.

Talking Writing Investigating Reading Listening

Learning Target Beginning (Before Strategies) Middle (During Strategies) End (After Strategies) Formative/Summative Assessment Reflection

Learning Target- Student Friendly Sets the stage Hooks the students Activates prior knowledge Build background knowledge Generates questions Discuss vocabulary Establishes a purpose

Engage with text Verify and formulate predictions Summarize text Self monitor comprehension Construct graphic organizers Integrates new information with prior

knowledge

Scaffold the InstructionUsing the Gradual Release of

Responsibility (GRR)

I DoWe DoY’all DoYou Do

Wrap up Reflection on the lesson Retell and summarize Gives the teacher information about

how much the student actually learned

Every lesson needs some form of formative assessment…• 3-2-1• Exit slips• Observational data• Etc.

Otherwise you are throwing seeds in the wind and hoping that they grow….

Teaching is not the presentation of information by the teacher, but the engagement of the learner with the information. -Engaging Teens in Their Own Learning

Why must we engage the learner before, during and after the lesson?

Research on the brain and attention spans tells us that it is very important to chunk the text or the lesson.

Grades K - 2 equals 5 – 7 minutes

Grades 3 - 7 equals 8 – 15 minutes

Grades 8 -12 equals 20 – 25 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMOQHsWfOB4&feature=fvst

Can we help students learn hard information

if we make it engaging for them to do?

Before- Warming up, stretching

During- Playing the game

After- Celebrating the successes and planning where you go from here.

I think active engagement could be compared to a:

Basketball game Football game Baseball game Track meet Volleyball

Share beliefs on what active engagement should look like.

Carmen

http://lms.madisoncity.k12.al.us/?PageName=TeacherPage&Page=2&StaffID=145483&iSection=Teachers&CorrespondingID=145483

Jackie

http://dms.madisoncity.k12.al.us/?PageName=TeacherPage&Page=16&StaffID=145310

Reflect on the learning from today:•Questions•Concerns•Comments

Have a great school year!