Teaching with the Common Core in Mind

The Common Core and the Middle Level: A Match To Be MadeNancy Doda, Ph.D.,www.teacher-to-teacher.comJill Spencer, http://jillspencer.netSession 32331Middle School & the Common CoreWarm the RoomTurn and Chat with a neighbor What is changing in your school as a result of the Common Core?2Mining the Good From the Common CoreBeing Critical Leaders in the CCSS InitiativeTwin goals for session today.

Mining the goodBeing Crticial consumers3

The Wonder YearsLest we forget.middle schools are for young adolescents.Development matters, while it does not suggest that middle schooling cannot be rigorous, middle school education has defined rigor to embrace the whole child.

Developmentally AppropriateChallengingEmpoweringEquitableAMLE, This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young AdolescentsThe Middle Level Call5Again, I see this as a reference to let audience know this resource exists; many will already be familiar with it, so we need not dwell on it.Turning Points 2000Give Authentic and Meaningful WorkUse Ongoing and Multiple Forms of AssessmentEmphasize Critical ThinkingSustain Focus on Essential Questions and Big Ideas~Jackson & Davis, 2000. (Turning Points 2000)

3 of the ideas from TP 200Those who are familiar with the CCSS, will see in our past TP work, many of the same messages regarding BEST PRACTICES.

6American students must be fully prepared to compete successfully in a global economy. The recently released Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5 continues to warn that the United States is quickly losing its competitive edge in the world. (McNulty & Gloeckler, 2011)1. CCSS created to push an agenda---based on the notion that public schools, especially Middle Schools---are in bad shape.

2. That accountability was absent or insufficient in our schools.

3. That national standards were needed to improve academic performance

7The Common Core MantraRaise the BarLiteracy Across All DisciplinesActive & Challenging Learning

WHILE THERE ARE ASSOCIATED DETAILS BEYOND THIS SHORT LITS, THIS CUTS TO THE CHASE IN IDENTIFYING THE BETTER GOALS .

RAISE THE BAR---AGREED WE NEED TO DO SO, BUT HOW WE DO IT IS KEY HERE.NO BRAINER HERE----LITERACY HAS BEEN ALONG TIME AGENDAAS IS ACTIVE LEARNING

8GrapplePerseverePolishRefineCreateExplainDefendPersuadeArgueGOOD NEWS---PUTS FOCUS ON LEARNING

Actions for Students to be doing

Higher level thinking

Need lots of practice to learn these skillsnon-threatening practice

Verbal rehearsal9What Kind of Learning Experiences Support These Skills?Problems to SolveProducts to CreateIssues to InvestigateProcesses to Use and InventArguments to Defend gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize, and report on information and ideas conduct original research to answer questions or solve problemsanalyze and createrange of print and non-print texts in media formssupport claimswith valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidenceAGAIN THIS IS THE BEST OF THE CCSS1021st Century SkillsThink, Innovate and Work CreativelyReason EffectivelySolve Problems and Make Sound JudgmentsCollaborate with OthersCommunicate ClearlyBe Self-Directed

WE LIKE TO NOTE THAT THERE IS A SYMPHONY OF VOICES THAT PLEAD FOR SHCOOLING TO ADDRESS A BROADER SET OF CAPACITIES IN OUR STUDNETS

All ADVOCATE FOR CREATIVITY AND DESIGN THINKING. SELF-AWARENESS ALSO BUBBLES TO TOP.REFLECTIVE THINKING, AND OF COURSE EVEN SOCIAL SKILLS.

11

Creativity

In 2010, CEOs from 33 industries and over 50 countries named creativity as the most important skill for the coming years.Phillips, L. (2013). We Arent Preparing Young People for Careers at Disney or Apple.http://blog.artsusa.org/2013/01/14/we-arent-preparing-young-people-for-careers-at-disney-or-apple/

Are all students having experiences that prepare them for leadership or just a few?12Being adaptable in a flat world, knowing how to learn how to learn, will be one of the most important assets any worker can have. T. Friedman13And Friedman sums up this way:

NLCB left us bereft of thinking students.Even teachers were not allowed to think.

Examplesscripted curriculum, pacing guides

14Can I figure out what to doI dont know what to do?

when

Student in Soundings, Mark SpringerOUR GOAL IS TO END UP WITH STUDENTS WHO CAN DO THIS

READ HERE THE HABITS OF EDUCATED STUDNETS FROM TURNING POINTS AND PAITS CAN DISCUSS

WE THINK HERE----we fall short. IF MIDDLE SCHOOLS CAN USE THE CCSS TO PUSH US, IT IS IN THIS AREA WE NEED THE PUSH.

THE FALL OUT FROM NCLB IS THAT WE HAVE A GENREATTION OF STUDENTS WHO EXPECT WE SHOULD DO LEARNING TO THEM.Students too often come to love the chains they wear!

15Misleading MythsRigor Means UnwieldyCommon Core Means UniformityCCSS Address all We Need to TeachLove of Learning Isnt Important

Interpretations of the Core matter and vary across the country----Arkansas example middle school literature units

PROBLEM IN THE FIELD QWITH HOW WE ARE HANDLING THE CC IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Jamie Highfill is mourning the six weeks worth of poetry she removed from her eighth-grade English class at Woodland Junior High School in Fayetteville, Ark. Highfill said she also dropped some short stories and a favorite unit on the legends of King Arthur to make room for essays by Malcolm Gladwell and a chapter from The Tipping Point, Gladwells book about social behavior.Im struggling with this, and my students are struggling, said Highfill, who was named 2011 middle school teacher of the year in her state. With informational text, there isnt that human connection that you get with literature. And the kids are shutting down. Theyre getting bored. Im seeing more behavior problems in my classroom than Ive ever seen. reported in Boston Globe

Text choice16What were after is the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child. George Bernard ShawCuriosity not regurgitationLearning for a purposeKelvin Doe from Sierra Leonecreating a radio transmitter out of discarded parts so he can give his community voice http://www.eritrea-chat.com/amazing-african-teen-calvin-inventing-a-broadcast-radio-show-in-his-country/17What Does This Mean For Our Middle Level Classrooms?What real shifts are needed?EMPOWERMENTPutting Students in the Drivers Seat

In which mode of transportation would you best be able to retrace a trip?Consider Why?The Driving Metaphor Of Empowerment

In the Drivers seat23What Does it Mean To Put Students In The Drivers Seat?Think-Pair-Share???24Empowered Learning Involves RiskMiddle Schools Must Develop Trusting and Collaborative Learning CulturesStaff must model for students, if they cantstudents will not trust or collaborate either. Students learn as much from observing our actions as they do from anything we say to them.

Garfield teachers in Seattle25

Mrs. Mutner liked to go over a few of her rules on the first day of classI am the boss!!Not anymore

Internet has made this attitude obsoleteeveryone has access to information

27Students Help Develop Classroom Norms

Learning is a consequence of experience. people become responsible and independent not from having someone tell them that they should be responsible or independent, but from having experienced authentic responsibility and independence. (Angelo V. Boy and Gerald Pine, 1971)WHY??29WATERSHED CORE VALUESEveryone will strive to be:CARINGCOOPERATIVECURIOUSCONFIDENTMOTIVATEDRESPONSIBLESOUNDINGS MID-YEAR ASSESSMENT YEAR______Name: __________________________Please give an example to illustrate how you have lived up to each of our affirmations:Confident:Responsible:Curious:Caring:Motivated:31John DeweyIt is hardly too much to say that in traditional education so much stress is laid upon the presentation to the child of ready-made materials, and the child to bear responsibility for reciting upon this ready-made material, that there is only accidental occasion for developing motive and reflective attention. (School & Society, 1956)Ha---Dewey again was right. No surprise there.

Commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the report, The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts, found that nearly 50 percent of 470 dropouts surveyed said they left school because their classes were boring and not relevant to their lives or career aspirations. A majority indicated that schools did not motivate them to work hard, - See more at: http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=133800007#sthash.1lDZp0jg.dpuf

32The Perilous Sage on the Stage

Not really? Curriculum Coverage is the Greatest Roadblock to UnderstandingHoward Gardner

Move from this style.

Teachers, teachers, teachers, when will they learn. I have the attention span of a raisin Research data, (Doda & Knowles, 2006)TEACHERSHAREDControl Continuum Example: Text StudyTeacher Assigns Reading andAsks QuestionsTeacherAssigns Reading, but StudentsAsk QuestionsStudent-Led DiscussionGroupsTEACHERSHAREDControl Continuum Example: Worksheets to Think-sheetsTeacher Determines Questions For WorksheetStudentsChoose From Teachers List of AcceptableQuestionsStudents Use Open-Ended Think SheetsExhibit A

REFLECTIONWhats makes this a best practice common core approach?How does this compare with what you typically see?How are you currently supporting your staff in their journey towards student empowerment?

38LITERACY

Message To KidsWe are not born readers. We become readers.Common Core StanceNonfiction in All SubjectsSpeaking & ListeningVocabulary taught wellReading and Writing Skills

Literacy as Part of Meaningful LearningReading, writing, researching, presenting information in different mediums, sharing and collaborating

All of these CC skills can be addressed in multiple waysprint, digitally, constructing.

95% of teens use Internet (Pew)74 % of teens own laptop or desktop computer (2011)42The Middle School StanceMiddle schoolers love:Books that speak to them.Books that grapple with life issues.Books they can share with others.Books that are culture and gender-friendly.

Schools need to Offer choiceProvide time to read and talk about their readingModel reading across disciplinesConnect literature to students lives

Study after study shows students who read more, understand more43Shared MessageIf students believe that intelligence is something you can get and not something you already have, they learn more.(Dweck, 2011)44What Do Skilled Readers Do? BEFORE: Anticipate ~ Get ready to enter textDURING: Participate ~ Get into the textAFTER: Reflect ~ Review, Use, EvaluateLets Try a Piece of TextFrom a reader: Blog of Diane RavitchLets StartRead the Statement.What do you think? Agree or DisagreeStand by the Agree or Disagree SideExplain your Thinking (to someone near you).

Two Sides: Agree/DisagreeCommon core is in the best interest of middle school learners.There is almost nothing disagreeable about the CCSS initiative.

DURINGTo help the reader become immersed in the text.Marking Text!! Interesting/Important

? Confusing/Curious

+ I want to recall this

Pairs will take turns talking about the text as they read.

Read and Say SomethingRead half the text. Stop and take turns sharing one passage that struck you as critical. Share why.51Replace Worksheets With Think SheetsTEXT: __________________________

What it saysI think.So what?Wiki & blogsstudents can respond to one another

If open to world, they can have a wider conversation about their reading52Power NotesPropertyParallelogramRectangleRhombusSquareDiagonals bisect each otherDiagonals are congruentDiagonals form two pairs of congruent trianglesDiagonals form four congruent trianglesDiagonals are perpendicular to each otherWiki, todays meet, etc.53Frayer ModelWord or ConceptDefinitionCharacteristicsExamplesNon-examples54How things are similar and different one of Marzanos 9 instructional strategies that promotes internalizing new learningRange of WritingWrite routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Argument Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Digital GenerationUse technology for all phases of writing process:--Quality and quantity of writing improves--Transfers to non-technology situationsWriting, Technology & Teens (Pew Research)--78 % of students believe writing would improve if teachers used digital tools--82 % of students believe writing would improve with more class timeBloggingCommon CoreEvidenceValid reasoningClarity & coherenceAudienceProduction of writing with technologyResearchAnalysis, reflection

Middle LevelStudent at center of learningInterestChoiceRelevanceAuthenticTechnology-basedAppropriate ZPD

BENEFITS

Engages studentsWriting for an audience beyond the classroomProvides authentic feedbackTeaches essential digital skills for career, for college, for living in the digital ageEncourages students to be responsible, contributing citizens in their local community as well as a more global one.Integrates cyber-citizenship topics

58InterdisciplinaryLean on Big Ideas, Big Questions, Interdisciplinary Themes, Social ProblemsContent needs a cause59RON BERGER, SHUTESBURG, MA.Show me something I cant Google.Common Core advances high level knowledge associated with the real world60From Topics to QuestionsWhat makes people get sick?How can we make machines that are more effective: faster, stronger?Are we at the mercy of our genes?

Focus on Big ThemesWhat makes us who we are?Choices and ConsequencesHow have humans overcome huge obstacles?

Mine the MapSEPTOCTNOVDECJANFEBMARAPRMAYSCICellsMATHGraphsSOC STDSAM. REV.LANG ARTSEtcOutsiders63Power of teams

Build in how to address common core across the curriculumsee next slide

Team Plan to Address ArgumentSubjectSeptemberOctoberNovemberLAIntroduce citing evidence with T-P-SCharacter Descp.+ citing evidenceIntroduce argument essaySSReinforce citing evidence with 4 CornersIntroduce stance in debatesCo-teach argument essayScConnect science lab conclusion with citing evidenceContinue to work on good conclusions Evaluate evidence in articlesMathReinforce concept of evidence in journalsContinue to work at developing journals64

USE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS?Are we still the nation we set out to be?Is geography destiny?What is a healthy lifestyle?Is global warming really our fault?Who is a real hero/heroine?Is it possible to know the truth?Who should have the power in a society?656th Grade Unit QuestionsWhy do I look like my grandmother? Father? Brother?Will I ever be famous? When will I die? Will I get sick?Why do people live where they do?Why do people say New Yorkers are just different?Is it true that people are really all very much alike?Why do people so alike act so different?

66 UNITWhat Makes Us Who We Are?TravelBrochure5 Themes ofGeographyMapsSOCIALSTUDIESStats ofClassGraphsMATHVolcanoes,EarthquakesLifeStoriesLANGUAGEARTSCharacter,SettingResearchProcessWritingSkillsResearchProjectSCIENCEContinentalDrift, PlatesPlaceProjectsStory of aContinentFossilsEach one of these activities can be connected to Common Core Standards67Universal Access for All! Text-to-Speech and Speech-to Text appsDragon DictateAlex on Macs, PCs have downloadsTablets come equippedAudio booksLibriVoxLit2GoProject GutenbergMulti-media products

Every student should have access to rich and stimulating currciulum68The Common Core and the Middle LevelAsk questionsbe a Critical Consumer Remember the developmental level of your studentsBear in mind what is not in the CCSSEmpower your studentsHold everyone responsible for literacy developmentDevelop integrative curriculum that engages and challenges

Teaching with the Common Core in Mindwww.teacher-to-teacher.comResourcesUsername=NASSP13Passcode=CCSSSession 323370

We cannot expect children to accept ready-made values and truths all the way through school, and then suddenly make choices in adulthood. Likewise, we cannot expect them to be manipulated with reward and punishment in school, and to have the courage of a Martin Luther King....

Constance Kamii (1991)