VIDEO TRANSCRIPT Panel Discussion with Noreen Walton Steven Halfaker (Steve): Good morning we’re here to talk about the classroom and classroom instruction and one of the key elements in any classroom as we know is establishing an effective learning environment, which sometimes means managing student behavior. We have some experts to share this morning, and everyone is going to share one story, so we’ll start with Noreen Walton. Noreen Walton (Noreen): One of my first challenges in classroom management came when I was teaching seniors in high school and I had the captain of the football team assigned to my class. He was assigned to my class about 10 days after the start of the year. His schedule had changed and he was added to my class, and he would arrive to my class late, enter through the backdoor and cut right in front of me while I was lecturing. And I would pause and he would sit and everyone would laugh. We did this for several days and I thought, “I’m not sure where to go with this.” So I sought out the help of one of my colleagues, a biology teacher, and said, “What do you think is going on?” And he basically told me I had an “alpha personality” who was marking the corners of the classroom, thus entering on the vertical and coming across, a fabulous young man, we began a journey of forming a relationship together. I met with him outside of class, I said I know… Steve: This is the quarterback now. Noreen: This is the quarterback. I know you’re a campus leader, you’ve got a great sense of humor, your comic timing is masterful; now how are you and I going to work together, to make this class enjoyable for you and a success for everyone else? That was 14 years ago and he remains a friend even today. But I was intimidated at first. I wanted to become combative but I realized that didn’t serve me as the teacher or him as the student. And most of all it would have made the class very anxious Andrew Shean (Andrew): I have a very similar story and that just brings it all back. I was doing my first year of teaching at a continuation school and I really, really wanted to do well. I was very determined to do well and be a successful teacher and every single waking moment of my life was committed to it. On the second or third day of class I had a new student come in. At the continuation school students could transfer in at anytime so we would constantly have new students. And he refused to do anything I said. He didn’t do his work when I lectured. He would put his feet up on the table, really trying to intimidate me, going so far as giving me glares when I would try to reprimand him. And I really felt at a loss and I felt like all this work and energy to become a great teacher was for nothing and it really wore on me. So I went and talked to a really amazing veteran teacher a few rooms down and it was hard for me at first because I didn’t want to admit I wasn’t being successful I wanted to present this image about myself. So it took a lot of time for me to let that go and leave my ego at the door. And this teacher is amazing. He told me not to engage in a power struggle and walk up in front of the class and try to be dominant. But instead, and I don’t mean to be cheesy here, but it really is a matter of the heart and that he needed to know I really cared about him and there where probably things outside of school that was causing him to act out the way he was. So what I did was actively underwent a process to get to know him. I really began a process to get to know him. I spent time at lunch seeking him out. I tried to get to know him on a personal level, whether it was friends, families, hopes or dreams. And at first it wasn’t easy he wasn’t just going to be my friend over night. But eventually I broke it down and he began to believe that I cared deeply about him and slowly began to do the things I said and eventually became a real advocate in the class and any time another student would misbehave he would turn around and give him that same stare. It was amazing to see the turn around. I really believe it’s about relationships, especially with students who are at risk and coming from some really rough places. Donna Marvel (Donna): Well, my experience has been much the same, even in the lower grades, primary, which I’ve taught all the way through high school. That being combative or trying to be the authority takes away their ownership in the classroom and their part in that community. I think it is probably one of the most difficult things, once you’ve built your community, to have another student come in. Because right when they come in they don’t feel they have ownership in that class. I’ve had that experience as well. In my case it was a severely emotionally disturbed student who transferred into our school. He had an individual educational plan that gave him time outs throughout the day whenever he needed it. He would get very keyed up and do things that were quite destructive to himself and others. But he refused to buy into it because it made him feel even less a part of the classroom and often times his behavior would escalate to the point where we’d have to stop instruction and address it. Like you, I went to another teacher and said “What can we do?” And she just came up with this scathing brilliant idea. We had him become a classroom helper. Which was quite common, but his job was to deliver very important papers to this co-worker of mine. So whenever I could tell he needed a time out or some cool down time I would give him the manila folder to take to the teacher. Noreen: It was delivery time! Donna: And he was eager to please and would take the time to go to her room. And it just did the trick. It made him a helper in the classroom and a member of the community and gave him the time out he needed. Steve: That’s amazing because there’s so many people, just a little thing can make a difference for a child like that. I will just say as each person has mentioned there are so many experienced professionals who have spent a life’s work in developing these strategies and I would encourage all our students, whenever there is a problem, to go find support and help. If nothing else there are great books and support materials that regardless of the behavior or classroom issue there is support out there. Noreen: As a new teacher one of the things you can do is just look around your campus and when classroom doors open, look for those rooms where the kids are emerging with smiles on their faces. That may well be the resource you need, and the teacher that you need to talk to and say, “What is it you’re doing that makes children joyful when they’re done spending an hour with you?” Donna: And don’t be afraid to ask for help, and if something doesn’t work to try something else. Andrew: And what I would say too, which is really hard as a first or second year teacher, don’t take it personal. It’s really not always about you. Sometimes much bigger things are going on and building that resiliency doesn’t happen overnight. But, believe you will build that resiliency. And really try to see the kid; that all the things that they are and what’s going on versus taking it personally and thinking that it’s all about you. And that’s not an easy lesson but believe that can happen and over time you’ll see it pay dividends. Steve: Well thank you and thank you for sharing this time with us. “That may well be … the teacher that you need to talk to and say, ‘What is it you’re doing that makes children joyful when they’re done spending an hour with you?’ ” 3 Valueline/Thinkstock What Do We Know About Teaching? Goals By the end of this chapter, you will be able to do the following: • Analyze some of the various learning theories • Understand what learning-centered education is • Be aware of the importance of lesson planning • Recognize the relationship between classroom management and lesson planning she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 57 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.1 Learning Theory for Teaching Introduction T eaching, by its very nature, presents a study in contrasts. At one and the same time, it offers you a universal and a unique experience. While this chapter presents a general overview of learning theories, classroom-management strategies, and lesson planning fundamentals, each of you should take away and implement the specific ideas and strategies you believe will work for you as an educator. Teaching is an art form; it can be learned. Teaching is not a career of mastery; it is a career built on responsiveness, fluidity, trial, and error. You will find teaching a world of extreme “highs” and equally extreme “lows,” requiring a level of passion and commitment unique among professionals. Why this stark contrast in experiences? Because a teacher never truly works in isolation. Your students stand alongside you, confident of your expertise and relying on your commitment, whether you are grading in your empty classroom, meeting with an administrator in the front office, or lesson planning with a colleague in a local coffee shop. The role and responsibilities of a teacher constantly change. Measurements of teaching success change at an equally rapid pace. Your constant? A commitment to students’ mastering the knowledge and skills necessary for success in the 21st century. 3.1 Learning Theory for Teaching Pre-assessment 1. The behaviorist educator believes A. learning occurs through peer-to-peer interactions. B. it is important to take a student’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions into consideration when teaching. C. learning occurs through interactions with the environment. D. learning requires a change in students’ thinking to affect their behavior. 2. According to behaviorists, students learn desired behaviors in a three-step process: A. B. C. D. Conditioning, extinction, and rewarding Modeling, shaping, and cueing Acquisition, application, and practice Activation, construction, and repetition 3. Cognitivism emphasizes a system of effects including: A. B. C. D. Meaningful effect Social effect Butterfly effect All of the above 58 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 58 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.1 Learning Theory for Teaching 4. Constructivism is linked to the A. B. C. D. E. social movement, founded by Lev Vygotsky. progressive movement, founded by John Dewey. conservative movement, founded by Jean Piaget. All of the above None of the above 5. The distance between completing a task with assistance and completing the same task alone is known as the A. B. C. D. Most knowledgeable other (MKO) Zone of proximal development (ZPD) PDA CTA 6. In the constructivist classroom, how something is learned is _________ what is learned. A. equal to B. less important than C. irrelevant to Answers 1. C. learning occurs through interactions with the environment. 2. B. Modeling, shaping, and cueing 3. A. Meaningful effect 4. B. progressive movement, founded by John Dewey. 5. B. Zone of proximal development (ZPD) 6. A. equal to “E ducation is choreography for learning” (Perkins, 2009). How is learning “choreographed”? You, the teacher, create a learning environment that balances students’ acquisition and application opportunities—allowing students to acquire the content knowledge they need and supporting those students as they apply that content knowledge in increasingly rigorous academic and real-world situations. As the choreographer, you decide what curriculum will be taught and how the mastery of that curriculum will be measured. Holding to this “dancing” metaphor, you Comstock/Thinkstock As you read the following section, think about which learning theories you would use to “choreograph” your students’ learning. 59 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 59 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.1 Learning Theory for Teaching also decide how the curriculum will be taught. As the classroom teacher, you choreograph the learning. Learning Theories Over the past two centuries, three dominant and sometimes conflicting learning theories have shaped content pedagogy—the design of lessons that support students’ acquisition and application of knowledge. These three theories are behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviorism Behaviorism asserts that learning requires an external change in a student’s behavior that can be observed. Behaviorist theory dates back to the mid-19th century and draws its influences from both science and philosophy. The behaviorist educator believes that learning occurs through interactions with the environment. The classroom environment shapes a student’s behavior. Taking a student’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions into consideration is useless in explaining a student’s learning behavior. Bettmann/Corbis One of the most famous behaviorists, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), used experiments with dogs to develop his theory of classical conditioning. His experiments focused on creating very specific circumstances in a dog’s environment that resulted in specific responses from the animal. With classical conditioning, the educator focuses on creating the exact environment necessary to “evoke” the desired learning from students. Like Pavlov, American psychologist John B. Watson (1878– 1958) saw controlled laboratory studies as the most effective way to promote learning. According to Watson, systematic manipulation of the student’s environment can and should result in new learning. Ivan Pavlov used condition reflex phenomenon with a dog to demonstrate classical conditioning. Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.—Watson (1924) 60 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 60 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.1 Learning Theory for Teaching B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) developed the law of conditioning and the law of extinction. Skinner believed that a response followed by a reinforcing stimulus is strengthened and therefore more likely to occur again (conditioning), and a response that is not followed by a reinforcing stimulus is weakened and therefore less likely to occur again (extinction). Behaviorist teachers focus primarily on students’ actions and reward desired behaviors. Students learn these desired behaviors in a three-step process: 1. With modeling—observational learning—students learn the desired behavior/ response by watching the teacher model it. 2. With shaping—breaking down the desired behavior into achievable units—only when one desired behavior is demonstrated can a student progress to the next behavior. 3. With cueing, using verbal or nonverbal cues lets a student know if his or her behavior is appropriate (Stanridge, 2002). Cognitivism Cognitivism asserts that the focus needs to be on the thought process behind the behavior. Although its roots stretch back to ancient Greece, the cognitive movement grew in popularity in the second half of the 20th century, when some educators found the theory of behaviorism incapable of explaining certain social behaviors. The cognitivists’ quarrel with the behaviorists was that their focus on observable behavior did not account for what was going on in the mind. Cognitivism emphasizes a system of effects, including: • • Meaningful effects—meaningful information is easier to learn and remember. Transfer effects—prior learning impacts the learning of new materials or tasks. Well-known linguist Noam Chomsky (born 1928) has followed the cognitive approach while studying how children learn to talk. Chomsky maintains that each of us is born with a “universal grammar” ready to absorb the details of whatever language is presented to us at an early age. Chomsky applied his theories of language acquisition to learning as a whole, underscoring the importance of relevant, culturally based instruction (Boeree, 2000). Constructivism Constructivism maintains that learning requires a change in a student’s thought process (linking previous learning to new learning)—an internal change that cannot be observed. Constructivism is linked to the progressive movement, founded by American educator John Dewey (1859–1952). Progressive educators believed that a “top-down” system, where some of the populace is educated and others are not, would ultimately undermine American democracy (http://www.uvm.edu/~dewey/articles/proged.html). Jean Piaget (1896–1980) expanded the progressive movement’s sociopolitical emphasis to a broader understanding of how children learn. According to Piaget, learning, whether it takes place inside or outside the classroom, involves the two-pronged process of assimilation (the ways by which a person takes material into the mind from the environment) and accommodation (the difference made to one’s mind or concepts by the process of 61 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 61 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.1 Learning Theory for Teaching assimilation). Assimilation and accommodation exist together in every learning situation and form Piaget’s theory of adaptation (Hummell & Huitt, 2003). With the U.S. publication in 1962 of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s (1896–1934) Social Development Theory, constructivist theory expanded yet again to a new level of specificity around how, when, and from whom a student learns. Vygotsky maintained that learning constantly takes place in all kinds of social settings. Social Development Theory introduced educators to the idea that students naturally seek out people who know more about a situation, problem, or concept than they do. This person, whom Vygotsky dubbed the most knowledgeable other (MKO) can be a teacher, a coach, a librarian, a tutor, or another student in the classroom. Vygotsky expanded this idea to when and how a student can complete a learning task without the assistance or scaffolding of the MKO. The distance between completing that task with assistance and completing the same task alone is known as the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Figure 3.1). Figure 3.1: Zone of proximal development What is Known Skills too difficult for a child to master on his/her own, but that can be done with guidance and encouragement from a knowledgeable person. What is not Known Learning This figure shows how learning is accomplished with the assistance of a teacher or guide. Source: http://www.experiment-resources.com/social-development-theory.html Application: Constructivist Teacher Simply put, the constructivist teacher helps students construct knowledge instead of memorizing and/or reproducing facts. In the constructivist classroom, how something is learned is equal to—and in some cases, more important than—what is learned. Constructivism in the classroom is all about collaboration and negotiation with your students around four major topics. 1. 2. 3. 4. What are we going to learn? Why are we going to learn it? How and when will I assess what you have learned? How will we decide what types of assessments are complete, fair, and timely? 62 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 62 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.1 Learning Theory for Teaching As you learned in Chapter Two, classroom success is predicated on knowing as much as possible about your students: their interests, their learning styles, their prior knowledge. The constructivist teacher understands that when students encounter something new, they have to reconcile it with their previous ideas and experiences (Seigel, 2004). This reconciliation process is unique to each student because each student brings different content knowledge and different learning experiences to the new learning situation. If you were to travel to London and use the subway system, the “Tube,” you would hear an automated voice warning you to mind the “gap,” which is the distance between the edge of the platform and the train. Similarly, the constructivist teacher envisions his or her students as learning travelers, poised and ready to acquire new knowledge and skills. The teacher is constantly aware that a student can fall off the learning platform at any time. It is the mission of the constructivist teacher, then, to find the gap, mind the gap, and fill the gap so that each student can continue his or her learning journey. The constructivist teacher is also constantly aware that a student’s prior knowledge can help or hinder the learning and application of new knowledge. Good teaching can be as much about unlearning as it is about learning—getting students to recognize and correct their misconceptions. These misconceptions can be socioeconomic, cultural, familial, or religious. They must be handled with skill and respect. Loving, respectful correction and guidance are at the core of constructivist teaching. Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock One of the greatest challenges in teaching is providing constructive feedback. Your goal is to inspire and “inflate” the student’s sense of control and possibility. 63 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 63 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.1 Learning Theory for Teaching Case Study: Michael Alvarez Overview Michael is a 15-year-old native Spanish-speaking student in a ninth-grade English Language Learners (ELL) class of 23 students in a suburban California public school. He has been in the United States and attending school for the past 3 years, having emigrated from Mexico City with his parents and two younger siblings. Problem While Michael speaks English well—he is skilled in the face-to-face conversational fluency known as Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)—he struggles with reading and writing English. He manifests his frustration in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, routinely arriving late to class, failing to complete homework assignments, interrupting his teacher when she is explaining an upcoming assignment, and refusing to participate in collaborative groups. Michael’s openly disruptive behavior is impacting other students in the class. Three Spanish-speaking students (two males and one female) have begun conversing across the classroom with Michael in Spanish. Key Players Ms. Watkins, Michael’s ELL teacher. In addition to two ELL classes, Ms. Watkins also teaches three sections of Advanced Placement English Language. The other ELL students in the class, each of whom is at a different level of English-language mastery. Sabrina, Michael’s 8-year-old sister. Victor, Michael’s 11-year-old brother. Contributing Factors • Michael is currently repeating all of his classes—except for Introduction to Algebra—that he failed the previous year. • At 15, he is older than most of the students in his ELL class. • Several students in Michael’s ELL class have expressed to Ms. Watkins their discomfort with Michael’s behavior. • Michael’s sister Sabrina is fluent in reading, writing, and speaking English. Sabrina is currently placed at grade level in a third-grade mainstream class. • His brother Victor is also moving toward full fluency in English. Victor is currently at grade level in a sixth-grade ELL class. • Michael is working at a part-time job after school and on Saturdays, and he is unable to attend remediation or support classes. • Michael’s parents have not attended Back-to-School night and have not responded to Ms. Watkins’s e-mails and phone messages. Designing a Solution Construct an intervention plan for Michael by answering the following questions: 1. Which approach—constructivism, cognitivism, or behaviorism—would you take? Why? 2. What strategies would you use to improve Michael’s classroom behavior and participation? 3. How would you encourage him to complete and submit assignments on time as well as to establish personal learning goals? 4. Can you name some ways you would involve Michael’s parents and siblings in supporting these learning goals? 64 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 64 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.2 Learning-Centered Education 3.2 Learning-Centered Education Pre-assessment 1. What is the key to ability grouping in differentiated instruction? A. Constantly moving and changing ability groups based on individual students’ performance, interests, and background knowledge B. Staying consistent with the group members between grade levels and content areas C. Grouping and regrouping must be a dynamic process, changing with the content, project, and ongoing evaluations D. Both A and C E. None of the above 2. Differentiation emphasizes the acquisition and application of knowledge and problem-solving skills. ____________ drives this acquisition/application process. A. B. C. D. Engagement Relevance Content Skill level 3. One of the key elements in planning differentiated instruction that consists of using concept-focused and principle-driven instruction is A. B. C. D. Process Product Content None of the above 4. Successful differentiation requires that you A. post lesson objectives. B. begin the lesson with a formal assessment to gauge where the students’ knowledge level lies. C. offer creative avenues for students to acquire knowledge and creative assessments to display their knowledge. D. None of the above E. All of the above Answers 1. D. Both A and C 2. B. Relevance 3. C. Content 4. C. offer creative avenues for students to acquire knowledge and creative assessments to display their knowledge. 65 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 65 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.2 Learning-Centered Education W hen you see purpose in what you do, when you really like what you do, when you get up in the morning ready to make a difference, when you see human beings that are going to be impacted by your work—I think these things enable you to be a fulfilled person.— Tomlinson in Rebora (2010) Envision yourself in the following scenario: You are a stage actor who has landed the dramatic role of a lifetime in a play that has stood the test of time. It is a role you have hoped for and prepared for since you stepped out in front of the footlights in your fifth-grade talent show. High school theater classes, an undergraduate degree in Performing Arts, years of playing minor roles and understudying major parts, and now, this! You have spent weeks researching your character’s background, days pondering your character’s motivation. You have memorized dialogue, run through lines, rehearsed. You have incorporated the director’s suggestions, bonded with your fellow actors, and completed the dress rehearsal. You know the importance of this play, the responsibility of this particular character to impart the play’s message and bring to life its enduring themes. You are ready. Just before you step onto the stage, your director stops you. There is something you need to know about tonight’s audience. Several of the theater goers speak a foreign language; at least half of them have never attended a live performance before. Others are experienced theater goers, who have watched the theater’s greatest actors perform. Some have come to tonight’s performance willingly, excitedly. Several have been dragged along by partners or parents. And in the front row? Theater critics, who will be evaluating your performance and publishing their findings in several local and national newspapers. Your director steps back and smiles encouragingly. “Break a leg.” Like this actor, a teacher spends years acquiring a wide range of content knowledge, classroom-management strategies, and instructional techniques. And like this actor, the classroom teacher must perform in front of an ever-changing audience, including not only students in the classroom but the critics in the front row: parents, school administrators, and local, state, and national evaluators. Differentiated Instruction As school populations grow more diverse, teachers must consider how they will address this diversity and how they will reach as many students as possible. They can 1. Instruct homogeneously: teach all students in the same way; this is a “one-sizefits-all” approach that relies on students adapting their learning needs and styles to the presentation style and assessment techniques of the teacher. 2. Create ability groups: separate students into ability groups and teach each group differently, which also produces varied results. 3. Differentiate: address each student’s abilities, interests, and learning style; this is the learning-centered approach we will focus on in this section. 66 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 66 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.2 Learning-Centered Education Differentiated instruction creates a classroom environment where learning goals, instruction, and assessment are consistently individualized. Students are expected to be active participants in their learning, assisting their teacher in evaluating their mastery of content and their progress toward meeting learning outcomes. To be a teacher who consistently and effectively differentiates instruction and assessment is challenging work! As you learned earlier in this chapter, good teaching requires constantly minding the gap—determining where your students are in their individual journeys toward mastering a specific learning target. But minding the gap is not simply about diagnosing learning or performance deficits; it requires you, the teacher, to constantly modify and individualize instruction to address these deficits. Valueline/Thinkstock Building strong student–teacher relationships is an important aspect when using differentiated instruction in your classroom. Effective teaching in the differentiated classroom involves the formation of trusting relationships between teacher and students. Teachers question and listen to their students. They customize the instruction and assessment for critical learning targets based on what they have learned about each student through these ongoing conversations. This questioning, listening, and customizing engender mutual respect among teachers and students and result in the creation of a true learning community. Differentiated instruction, like many other instructional theories or systems, has its passionate believers and equally passionate detractors. Proponents emphasize the positive impact on student learning and the increased sense of community within the classroom. Opponents emphasize the negative impact on teachers who, they believe, cannot possibly customize learning in classrooms of 20 or more students. Differentiated instruction can effectively serve students without sapping a teacher’s focus and energy. The key? Grouping students according to ability but constantly moving and changing ability groups based on individual student’s performance, interests, and background knowledge. Traditional ability grouping often forms permanent, unchanging groups within the classroom, between grade levels, and even between content areas. Ability grouping can lead to tracking that prevents high-performing elementary students from working in groups with identified “gifted and talented” students. This same type of tracking may prohibit high school students from taking a Chemistry course until they have passed Algebra 1-2 with a grade of “B” or better. Compare that inflexibility with the following description from the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials: 67 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 67 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.2 Learning-Centered Education In the differentiated classroom . . . learners are expected to interact and work together as they develop knowledge of new content. Teachers may conduct whole-class introductory discussions of content-big ideas followed by small group or paired work. Student groups may be coached from within or by the teacher to complete assigned tasks. Grouping of students is not fixed. As one of the foundations of differentiated instruction, grouping and regrouping must be a dynamic process, changing with the content, project, and on-going evaluations.—Hall, Strangman, and Meyer (2009) Application: Differentiated Instruction Differentiation emphasizes the acquisition and application of knowledge and problemsolving skills. Relevance drives this acquisition/application process, with students in the differentiated classroom encouraged to ask: • • • Why does this information matter? How does it relate to information I already know? When, where, and how can I use this information? Once students determine the relevance of information presented to them, they should be assigned performance tasks that measure their unique and changing abilities to apply that knowledge. There are three key elements in planning differentiated instruction: content, process, and product (Tomlinson, 2001), as seen in Table 3.1. Table 3.1: Key elements for planning differentiated instruction Content Process Product • Several elements and materials are used to support instructional content. • Align tasks and objectives to learning goals. • Instruction is concept focused and principle driven. • Flexible grouping is consistently used. • Classroom management benefits students and teachers. • Initial and ongoing assessment of student readiness and growth is essential. • Students are active and responsible explorers. • Vary expectations and requirements for student responses. Source: Tomlinson, 2001. Differentiation involves designing a road map to a particular destination that every student can and will reach. Successful differentiation requires that you pay careful attention to the following: • Get all of your students “on the same page.” Be sure you understand, and make clear to your students, the learning objectives for your lesson. Students deserve to know your expectations for learning. They can be as simple as, “By the end of today’s lesson, you will know how to identify a proper noun,” or as complex as, “By the end of this unit, you will understand the social, political, and economic causes of the Vietnam War and will be able to explain how those causes 68 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 68 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.2 Learning-Centered Education • • • transformed into long-term effects that changed the face of American society.” Posting lesson objectives is not sufficient. Always build in time for students to ask questions. Explain, expand, restate, and check of understanding. It is time well spent! Make assessment your students’ “new best friend.” Begin your lesson with informal, observational assessments. “Has anyone learned about proper nouns before?” “Is there anyone in the room who knows someone who fought in the Vietnam War?” Use individual student responses to build all students’ knowledge. Have students capture their existing knowledge through a quick-write, an “informationonly” quiz, a small-group idea exchange. Throughout the lesson or the unit, continue with formative assessments that allow students to measure how far they have progressed toward meeting the learning objectives. Use “pop” or scheduled quizzes, quick-writes, journals, classroom debates, 2- to 5-minute individual or group presentations. All of these formative assessments give you and your students the opportunity to see how far they have come toward meeting your instructional objectives and what knowledge and skills they still need to acquire and master. Remember to weight formative assessments in a manner that allows students to be rewarded for mastery. A formative quick-write that earns 5–10 points while a student is learning the material can support mastery on a 50-point Hemera/Thinkstock end-of-unit essay on the same topic. Formative assessments are important because they help you and Allow your students to your students keep track of their progress. express their creativity. As you ask students to demonstrate their content mastery, consider the multiple modalities by which individual students can express that mastery. Have students work in groups to design quiz questions; stage a competition for the writing prompt that best captures students’ knowledge of a particular topic; ask students to construct a “wrong answer” quiz in which they have to select an incorrect answer and explain why it is wrong; hold a debate; stage a news broadcast; have students write a play. Creative avenues to acquire knowledge and creative assessments to display their knowledge will keep your students engaged. Revisit, revise, and share the teaching load. As we discussed earlier in this chapter, determining each student’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) is critical to successful lesson implementation. Using formative and summative assessments as your guide, constantly determine where students are along the learning continuum. A learning task one student can complete independently may require 69 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 69 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.2 Learning-Centered Education another student more time working in a group to master. The teacher skilled in differentiation taps those students who have mastered a specific skill or concept as instructors and guides for those students who need the knowledge of the group to scaffold their learning. A truly rewarding teaching moment comes when you remove yourself from “center stage” and watch your students educating each other. That demonstrates the true power of differentiation. Case Study: Alicia Jones Overview Alicia Jones is a fourth-year middle school teacher assigned to teach a seventh-grade Humanities class of 32 students. While Alicia has taught seventh grade since she was hired at the school 3 years ago, the makeup of this particular class is new to her and unique to this middle school. Eight Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) students are clustered in this class, along with five newly redesignated English Language Learner (ELL) students and 10 Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) students. The remaining 9 students in the class cover an ability spectrum that ranges from below basic to advanced on state assessments. The School Site Council at this middle school recently adopted a new school motto: “Equitable Access for All Students to Consistently High-Quality Academic Experiences.” This motto reflects the school’s response to the growing ethnic and socioeconomic makeup of its student population and addresses the tracking process that had divided the campus into remedial, basic, and accelerated classes over the years. Alicia’s principal assigned her to teach this class based on the recommendations of the school’s English Department chairperson and its AVID coordinator, the consistently high performance of her students over the past 3 years on the state achievement tests in Language Arts, and her position as site coordinator for the school’s Gifted and Talented Program. Alicia is working feverishly to address the specific emotional, cultural, and learning needs of this diverse classroom. Problem Although the students in the classroom appear to be thriving under Alicia’s instruction and guidance, her principal has shared with her that several parents have contacted him with concerns about Alicia’s ability to meet their students’ learning needs. Chief among the complainers is the parent of a GATE student. This parent, who maintains she speaks for all of the GATE parents in that class, believes that her daughter’s intellectual talents are being “underserved and wasted in a classroom full of students who are nowhere near college bound.” Key Players Alicia Jones Principal English Department chairperson AVID coordinator GATE parents School Site Council members Contributing Factors The School Site Council, comprised of the principal, department chairs, and parents representing GATE, AVID, ELL, and other student groups, spent weeks wordsmithing the school’s new motto. Several parents and one of the department chairs expressed concern that equity and access (continued) 70 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 70 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.3 Planning for Teaching Case Study (continued) would mean “dumbing down” the curriculum to meet the needs of the lowest performing students. Despite the principal’s assurances that high-quality teaching would continue to be the norm at this school, the opposing parents and teacher insisted on a small and precise rollout of what they viewed as yet another educational experiment. In the end, a single seventh-grade Humanities class was selected as the piloting venue. Designing and Implementing a Solution Construct a plan that addresses the specific concerns of the parents and shows that all students in Alicia’s classroom are having their educational needs met by answering the following questions: 1. Where does differentiated instruction fit in the context of this case study? 2. How can a student’s interests, learning style, prior knowledge, and content mastery improve Alicia’s classroom management? 3. What do you see as the critical elements in Alicia’s fostering a positive relationship with both her students and their parents? 3.3 Planning for Teaching Pre-assessment 1. During the “through” part of a lesson, students should A. B. C. D. start to understand the “why” of the lesson. activate prior knowledge. be ready to learn and be clear on what you will expect them to know. be moving from acquisition to application. 2. Successful teachers A. B. C. D. E. save time by adopting other teachers’ lessons. don’t need to modify their lesson plans. differentiate and scaffold the instructional core of their lesson. can teach two lessons in a single lesson plan. All of the above. 3. Understanding by design (UBD) lesson planning A. B. C. D. begins with the end in mind. is also known as “top-down planning.” has the lesson design lead to the unit assessment. involves systematic collaboration. 4. Which of the following is something a teacher would record in curriculum mapping? A. B. C. D. E. The essential questions or enduring understandings that were addressed The content of the lesson How the content aligned to local, state, and national standards When and how the content was assessed All of the above 71 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 71 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.3 Planning for Teaching Answers 1. C. be ready to learn and be clear on what you will expect them to know. 2. C. differentiate and scaffold the instructional core of their lesson. 3. A. begins with the end in mind. 4. E. All of the above T he consistent delivery of reasonably well-structured lessons . . . have we ensured that all educators know that the influence of such lessons, if delivered consistently, would be jaw-dropping?—Mike Schmoker Legions of educators believe that well-planned lessons stand at the very core of educational success. As with anything worth doing, lesson planning is worth doing well. Doing it well involves a complex process that takes into consideration state and local standards, district curriculum and assessments, learning outcomes, and formative and summative assessment data. Most important of all, effective lesson planning requires ongoing, formative evaluation, in real time, of whether or not your students are advancing toward your intended learning outcomes. Lesson Planning Photos.com/Thinkstock Effective lesson planning demands time and concentration. It is important to remain flexible when planning and implementing your lessons. When Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid schemes of Mice and Men/oft go awry,” he may well have had teachers in mind! Lessons that look perfect on paper can go terribly “awry” in the classroom. Beth Lewis (n.d.) describes the intellectual and emotional tightrope that teachers often walk when designing and implementing their lesson plans. “In my classroom I am constantly amazed by how a thoroughly planned lesson can often fall flat, while sometimes when ‘I’m flying by the seat of my pants,’ I can stumble upon magical teaching moments that really speak to and excite my students.” Flying by the seat of your pants? Falling flat on your face? This does not sound appealing. To ensure that instructional magic occurs more often than instructional mayhem, be sure you have a complete understanding of the intothrough-and-beyond of each lesson. Into First, your students should understand the “why” of the lesson. Was this lesson designed to meet district standards or state standards? Why is it important that students acquire this 72 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 72 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.3 Planning for Teaching specific knowledge? Is this lesson a “building block” that will support more complex learning later in the week? Later in the month? Later in the year? When students understand the “why” of your lesson, they will engage more fully and more deeply in the learning. Getting your students ready to learn also involves assessing what prior knowledge each student brings to the lesson. As discussed in the earlier section on differentiation, assessing this prior knowledge can happen informally, through Q & A and open-ended discussion, or through a more structured assessment such as a quick-write or a pop quiz. If, at the end of your “into” activities, you realize that a significant number of students are not ready to learn this material, you need to have a backup plan in place. Do not move headlong through the lesson, hoping that students can and will catch up. Take time to reteach now. Through Once your students are ready to learn, be clear, precise, and thorough on what you will expect them to know and be able to do at various points throughout the lesson. As you discuss performance expectations, make sure that you capture and post them prominently in the classroom so students can refer to them throughout the lesson. An example of performance expectations for the lesson on identifying proper nouns is: “After working in groups of four to create a skit that explains the role of proper nouns, students will work individually on a short formative assessment where they identify the proper nouns in a paragraph.” Make sure that your students are always working harder than you are. Don’t let them become passive learners. Instead, keep them involved in the learning by balancing “sit and get” (your directly instructing students) with ongoing opportunities for kinesthetic learning. Mix up student groups so that physically active learners can move to a different seat several times throughout the lesson. Add noise to the mix. (For example, “Snap your fingers three times if you understand what I just said.” “Give me a hoorah if your group got more than four answers correct on that quiz.”). Seek feedback (For instance, “Is this the best way to teach this?” “Am I making this hard or easy for you to learn?” “How would you teach this idea?”) Questions like these let students know that you expect them to be active, informed, and opinionated learners. Students understand that they can trust you to listen to and respond to their feedback. As with your “into” activities, you should be prepared to go where your students’ performance assessments and feedback take you. If the majority of students in the class selfidentify at the mastery level after a formative assessment and let you know that the lesson is working for them, then you can move on. If the majority of students are performing at a level that doesn’t meet their or your expectations for this lesson, you need to have a plan already in place to scaffold the learning. Beyond Once students have acquired the knowledge (they know the types of proper nouns; they can identify proper nouns in a piece of prose), your lesson should push them beyond acquisition to application. Just as in the acquisition part of your lesson, students’ abilities to apply what they have just learned may differ significantly. Be sure to design your lessons with a range of performance tasks so that every student is pushed to the limit. 73 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 73 2/2/12 8:54 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.3 Planning for Teaching These magical teaching moments that all effective teachers strive for must begin with you clearly communicating your lesson’s objectives and checking for students’ understanding of those objectives. As you learned earlier in this chapter, students link new knowledge with previous knowledge. They make individual connections between what they are about to learn with what they have already learned not only from their teachers but also from their families, their friends, their community, and their cultures. It is crucial that you bring your knowledge of individual student’s intellectual strengths and learning gaps into the lesson planning and implementation process, making sure that you consistently build in differentiation that allows your most accomplished students to stay engaged and soar and your struggling students to gain confidence and mastery. Eyecandy Images/Thinkstock Application: Lesson Planning Allowing students to display “mastery of content” in their own unique ways creates a more interesting, engaging, and respectful classroom. The good design of lesson plans and the effective delivery of those plans cannot be mastered overnight. As with most art forms (and planning for teaching is an art form), you need to focus on lesson planning essentials in your initial days and months of teaching. Technique, expression, depth, and nuance will come with time and experience. Lesson Planning Essentials 1. Make sure you have a prepared, “bell-to-bell” lesson. You must be prepared to teach every time you step in front of your students. Nothing feels worse than being forced to “wing it” because you are underprepared. Students will catch you every time. 2. Have all of your materials ready and close at hand. Walk through your lesson plan and list necessary materials in the margins. Copies? Make them the night before (the copy machine may not work in the morning). Markers? Test each one to make sure it works. Time-specific activities? Download a stopwatch app to your computer or cell phone. Whiteboard? Butcher paper? Internet resources? Have them ready to go. 3. Visualize how the lesson will play out physically. Will you begin in the front of the room? In the back? Will you lecture and then move to group work? Will students be moving from one seat to another? Will you want them to take some or all of their books and materials when they move? 4. Know your intended pacing and have a backup plan. You may fear underplanning, but in fact, most teachers overplan and often stuff a lesson and a half or two full lessons into a single lesson plan. If you see that you are behind schedule—and 74 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 74 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.3 Planning for Teaching that you are off because you underestimated the time needed for transitions between activities or as a result of deep and meaningful classroom conversation or because you need additional time to ensure that every student understands the lesson’s objectives—then be prepared to modify your lesson on the spot. Do not simply “fall off the cliff,” teach to the iStockphoto/Thinkstock bell, and then yell over the noise of students leaving Successful teachers spend time planning and adjusting their lesson the room or readying for plans to provide the most effective instruction to their students. another subject lesson. Instead, find a good stopping point and allow your students time for meaningful closure on what they have learned today. Take time to explain what part of the work you and they will continue tomorrow. (By the way, nothing feels better than overplanning. It means that you have the anticipatory set for tomorrow’s lesson already in place.) 5. Adapt, adapt, adapt. Keep your eyes and ears open as your lesson unfolds. Are your students maintaining SLANT (Sit up; Lean forward; Ask questions; Nod “yes” and “no”; Talk with teachers both during and outside class time)? Are they alert, focused, and ready to participate? Do you find you need to raise your voice to be heard? Do any students look confused? Are some students restless? If you observe any of these behaviors, you need to pause and regroup. You may want to create a call and response that students know signals a time to regroup. Physical cues for regrouping also work well. Do not consider these behaviors issues of classroom management. The best classroom-management plan is an engaging lesson plan. If you are seeing or hearing unwanted behaviors, modify your lesson on the spot. Successful teachers must learn to plan their own lessons. They must learn how to embed curiosity and excitement into an anticipatory set, how to determine the instructional objective of the lesson, how to differentiate and scaffold the instructional core of their lesson, how to create instructional activities that support students and meet the instructional objective, how to formatively measure students’ understanding of what has just been taught, and how to close the lesson in a manner that leaves students wanting to learn more the next day. Lesson Planning Models There are several widely used lesson planning models. Each has its own strengths, but none can eliminate the time, focus, and energy that you, as a teacher, need to put into the planning of your instruction. The model you choose on any given day may be decided by your instructional aims, by your students’ readiness, or by your awareness that you need to “mix it up” to keep your students energized and engaged. 75 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 75 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.3 Planning for Teaching Standards-Based Units With standards-based lesson planning, teachers use local and state assessment targets to plan their units (Harris & Carr, 1996). The planning process involves: • • • • • • • • • Identifying a topic or essential question; Selecting standards from state, local, and national frameworks; Using local curriculum objectives; Designing learning and teaching activities; Deciding on products and performances; Defining assessment criteria; Writing performance descriptors; Creating scoring guides; Collecting and displaying exemplars. Understanding by Design Also known as “backward planning,” understanding by design (UBD) lesson planning begins with the end in mind. With UBD, unit assessments are designed first—before the lessons. Because you now know what you want your students to know and be able to do at the culmination of a single lesson or the end of the unit, you can continually check for understanding and differentiate to meet individual student’s needs. You can evaluate and modify your instruction to “meet students where they are” in their journey toward meeting the unit’s instructional objectives and achieving the enduring understandings, or essential questions that are the bedrock of a cogent, relevant educational experience (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998). Curriculum Mapping This approach to lesson planning involves systematic collaboration among groups of teachers who teach in the same content area or at the same grade level. The difference here is before and after the evaluation of a lesson’s success. Curriculum mapping allows teachers to test their lesson planning and lesson implementation skills against a common rubric of expectations for learning developed with their colleagues. With curriculum mapping, each teacher in the collaborative group individually records the following: 1. What essential questions or enduring understandings were addressed; 2. The content of the lesson; 3. How that content aligned to local, state, and national standards; 4. When and how the content was assessed. Polka Dot/Thinkstock In curriculum mapping, teachers collaborate with their colleagues to assess the effectiveness of their lesson plans. 76 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 76 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.3 Planning for Teaching These data can be collected weekly or monthly, but all teachers must hold to the same data-collection timetable. The importance and value of curriculum mapping come in the collective review of this feedback and in the agreed-upon changes to curriculum and assessments that occur as a result of that careful and honest review. Case Study: Robert Sullivan Overview Robert Sullivan is a 2nd-year teacher currently assigned to a fourth-grade class of 32 students. Last year, he taught third grade where class size reduction (CSR) policies had capped his class at 20 students. As a newly minted teacher, last year, Robert routinely met with this grade-level team three times a month throughout the school year for these planning sessions. He sought out the four other members of his team for advice on lesson design. The team responded quickly and positively to Robert’s questions, encouraging him to join them in their after-school curriculum planning sessions where they developed instructional outcomes and shared lesson ideas, instructional materials, assessments, and strategies. One of the team members, a 20-year veteran teacher, also met individually with Robert twice a month to review his assessment results. Problem With a significantly larger number of students and a teaching curriculum that is new to him, Robert has repeatedly requested lesson planning support from his two fourth-grade teammates. Neither team member has participated in the curriculum mapping process, and one of the team members has flatly stated that “every new teacher needs to learn how to lesson plan on their own.” Now in his 2nd month of the school year, Robert already feels that he and his students are falling behind, especially in science and mathematics. He has scheduled a meeting with his principal and his clinical supervisor to discuss his problem. Key Players Robert Sullivan Third-grade teaching team Fourth-grade teaching team Principal Clinical supervisor Contributing Factors The principal is in his 3rd year at this school site. After spending several months reviewing performance data and discovering significant discrepancies in student performance among teachers at the same grade level, the principal instituted curriculum planning as a schoolwide expectation at the end of his 1st year. Several teachers on the staff have voiced their resistance to what they call “an unnecessary mandate.” Robert’s students scored well on state standardized tests last year. His students’ scores closely aligned with the scores of his third-grade teaching team, all of whom have been teaching for more than 6 years. Designing and Implementing a Solution Design a plan that addresses Robert’s professional isolation as well as his concerns for his students’ learning by answering the following questions: 1. How could standards-based planning and backward planning be combined into an effective lesson planning model that would help Robert? 2. What strategies can Robert use to get his team members support? 3. How can Robert assess his lesson planning to see if it is too “loose” (not addressing and staying focused on specific learning goals) versus too “tight” (not allowing for planning to be changed in response to students’ needs)? 4. Why do you think the lesson planning process evokes such passionate responses from teachers? 77 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 77 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.4 Classroom Management 3.4 Classroom Management Pre-assessment 1. There needs to be a system of learning expectations established—and continually reinforced—in the classroom. Which one of these expectations will internally motivate students to stay engaged? A. B. C. D. What: What they are expected to know When: When and how they will demonstrate mastery of learning How: How they will acquire the knowledge Why: Why this knowledge is important 2. While there are a great variety of strategies and programs aimed at school improvement, all of these strategies and programs share a single crucial element. A. B. C. D. Adhering to state standards Paying special and continued attention to the learner Professional development for teachers Home/School communication 3. Crafting a system of agreed-upon expectations helps to A. B. C. D. bring students to task and asks them to account for and change their behavior. create consistency and mutual respect. refashion the “I say and you do” model it into a system of “we say and we do.” All of the above Answers 1. D. Why: Why this knowledge is important 2. B. Paying special and continued attention to the learner 3. D. All of the above. T he best classroom-management plan remains an engaging lesson plan (see Section 3.3). Now that you have reviewed and critically considered the fundamentals of effective lesson planning, the focus shifts to creating and maintaining a classroom environment that allows the “magic” of those lessons to be realized. Engagement is a critical element in creating a positive classroom environment. When you engage a classroom of students, you draw them in, hold their attention, maintain their focus, and keep them involved with meaningful learning tasks. Although it may sound overwhelming, engagement is, in fact, the natural order in the classroom. Learners want to be engaged. They want to explore, discover, reflect, evaluate, and create. Keeping them engaged requires you to “sell” your lesson for the day, infusing excitement and curiosity in your students and creating internal and external motivation in them to engage in learning. 78 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 78 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.4 Classroom Management Creating student motivation and engagement is not a onetime process. It cannot simply take place at the beginning of the school year. You cannot lock in students’ motivation and engagement when class starts and then expect it to continue until the closing bell rings. Engagement requires a constant hitting of the “Refresh” button in your students’ hearts and minds. At any given time, a single student or group of students BananaStock/Thinkstock may go off task and derail the intended learning outcomes for Spontaneity, differentiation, and caring are essential elements in creating a classroom environment where students want to learn. that session. At that moment, wherever you might be in your carefully planned lesson, you must circle back to the basics of classroom management. You must trigger your students’ motivation to redirect their energy and reengage in learning. As discussed in Chapter Two, triggering motivation, like differentiating instruction, requires that teachers know their students’ background, family structure, culture, educational history, and learning strengths and gaps. Triggering motivation in the high-performing student is no less complex than finding that trigger point in the educationally at-risk student. Both students need to believe that their teacher is deeply and consistently invested in their success. Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships If a student feels a personal connection to a teacher, experiences frequent communication with a teacher, and receives more guidance and praise than criticism from the teacher, then the student is more likely to become more trustful of that teacher, show more engagement in academic content presented, display better classroom behavior, and achieve at higher levels academically.—Rimm-Kaufman (n.d.) What are the steps to establishing the connection, the communication, and the personal guidance described above? Like most endeavors in teaching, there is no set formula. It varies from year to year, class to class, and student to student. However, some overarching principals for establishing positive relationships do exist. • • You openly and visibly share your enjoyment of the teaching/learning process with your students. You honestly share classroom successes and challenges with students. They deserve to know when they have been meeting your expectations and when they have failed to meet those expectations. 79 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 79 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.4 Classroom Management • • • • • You work to keep personal and professional distractions and pressures outside the classroom. When you can’t, you explain these pressures and distractions in a professional and appropriate manner. Students need to respect that you have a life outside their classroom. When you fail to meet your own expectations for maintaining a caring and respectful classroom environment, you apologize to your students, seek their feedback, and all of you move on. You respectfully push each student’s intellectual limits by routinely asking differentiated critical thinking questions. These questions subtly or overtly address individual student’s background, academic level, and preferred learning style. You provide respectful and timely feedback to students’ request for clarification and/or support. You design instruction and assessment that allow for as many classroom successes as possible. Note the word choices: Effective classroom management systems naturally evolve from such a positive environment. No matter how differentiated and positive, classroom environment alone cannot ensure students’ motivation to learn, student engagement, and ultimately, student learning. There needs to be a system of learning expectations established and continually reinforced in the classroom. Make sure that students know, at any given time: • • • • Liquidlibrary/Thinkstock Students naturally support one another’s accomplishments when the teacher makes a point of routinely acknowledging and celebrating successes in the classroom. The learning goal: what they are expected to know; The learning relevance: why this knowledge is important; The learning activities: how they will acquire the knowledge; The learning measurement: when and how they will demonstrate mastery of learning. The what, when, and how of the lesson will trigger students’ engagement; the why (relevance) of the lesson will internally motivate students to stay engaged. Until you have established a positive, responsive relationship with a student, however, getting that student to rise to the challenge of academic rigor will remain a struggle. While there are a great variety of strategies and programs aimed at school improvement, all of these strategies and programs share a single crucial element: paying special and continued attention to the learner (Kirp, 2011). 80 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 80 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.4 Classroom Management Creating an appropriate environment for learning begins with establishing ground rules that include many of the aspects of quality teaching, such as respect, responsibility, honesty, civility and tolerance. Only after these values are established with students in the classroom can real learning based on the other two essential R’s, rigor and relevance, begin to accelerate.— McNulty and Quaglia (n.d.) Application: The Classroom Students learn what they care about, from people they care about and who, they know, care about them.—Carson (1996) Your classroom should be a haven of consistency and mutual respect, where you hold high expectations for your students and they hold equally high expectations for you. Many classroom-management systems focus on bringing students to task, asking them to account for and change their behavior. Seriously consider crafting a system of agreedupon expectations that calls both you and your students to task when the expectations are not met. These expectations can be as general as: • • • • I will treat everyone in this classroom with respect. I will always be honest. I will take other people’s feelings into account when deciding what to say or do. I will not take or destroy another person’s property. or as specific as: • • • • • • • I will display tolerance and kindness to everyone in this classroom. I will respect the privacy of this learning community and will not repeat information or conversations shared in this room. I will share my social, political, and religious views with the understanding that they are mine and do not necessarily represent or support the views of others. I will maintain strict adherence to the academic honesty policy of the school and will self-report if I violate any provisions of that policy. I will report others whom I observe violating the school’s academic honesty policy. I will submit all required work on time, out of respect for the instructor and fellow students. I will listen to and accept feedback when I violate any of these expectations. These two sets of expectations presume an ongoing system of self-monitoring and reporting for both teachers and students. They rely on everyone in the classroom admitting when they have failed to meet an agreed-upon expectation. They take behavior management out of the “I say and you do” model and refashion it into a system where “we say and we do” what is best for each other. 81 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 81 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.4 Classroom Management Consider the classroom expectation “I will submit all required work on time.” The behaviorist educator (Section 3.1) might rely on a system of extrinsic motivators (a hall pass, a homework pass, deleting the lowest grade of the month from the student’s grade book) for work turned in on time and negative reinforcements (accepting no late work, lowering a possible grade by 10% for every day it is late, after-school detention) for late or missing work. Constructivist educators would see “submitting all required work on time” applying as much to their timely grading of student work as it does to students’ timely submission of that work (Section 3.1). As such, when they assign in-class work or homework, these teachers must take into consideration whether or not the work can be thoughtfully reviewed, carefully graded, and returned to students on an agreed-upon date to support the class’s next learning goal. When you, as a teacher, have gone through the process of establishing an in-class and home assignment calendar for students and coordinated it with a grading calendar that takes into account your in-class and home responsibilities, your family’s needs, and your desire for some free time nights, weekends, and holidays, you clearly see why the considerations you have extended to yourself must also apply to your students. The same holds true for sharing social, political, and religious views, for maintaining academic honesty and grading integrity, for maintaining privacy, and for treating others with respect and tolerance. Just like planning lessons and differentiating instruction, creating and maintaining a respectful, managed learning environment take time and energy. And like planning and differentiating, it is a skill set that requires patience on the part of all involved. On your way to establishing a classroom of consistent expectations and mutual respect, you will encounter challenges to your authority, setbacks in your implementation, and moments of sheer frustration. The successful classroom teacher relies on self-discipline along with systematic classroom policies to ensure the emotional, intellectual, and physical safety of both staff and students. The National Education Association (NEA) publishes “Management Tips for New Teachers.” In this publication, it states: • • • • • • • • Be consistent in what you say and what you do. Quickly learn and use student names. Find an effective means of quieting students. Instead of saying “Shhh,” consider using a subtle strategy such as dimming the lights, playing classical or other soothing music, or putting on the board a problem, a brainteaser, or an intriguing question relating to the lesson of the day. Avoid using threats to control the class. If you do use a threat, be prepared to carry it out. Nip behavior problems in the bud. Intervene quickly when students are behaving inappropriately. Whenever possible, reprimand a student one-on-one instead of across the room, in front of the whole class. Don’t permit students to be inattentive to an educationally useful media presentation. Use appropriate punishment for classroom misbehavior. (Zauber, 2003) 82 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 82 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Section 3.4 Classroom Management Case Study: Ricky Steward Overview Ricky Steward is a student in a ninth-grade World History class on a high school campus of 2,800 students. He continually interrupts his teacher’s lectures as well as other students’ presentations. Ricky cannot work alone and constantly requests that he be partnered with another student. Ricky entertains his classmates with nonstop mimicking of his teacher’s movements and gestures, sneaking up behind his teacher when he writes on the whiteboard, and waiting for his teacher to “catch him in the act.” Three months into the 18-week semester, Ricky’s grade for this class stands at 36.7%, and his parents have been notified—via e-mail and a printed progress report—that Ricky is “In Danger of Failing” this class. Smart, witty, and good-looking, Ricky’s academic performance and discipline record from middle school reflect a culture of tolerance among Ricky’s teachers and counselors. As one seventh-grade teacher reported: “If I can just keep Ricky in his seat, and out of everybody else’s way, I consider it a successful day!” Health records indicate that Ricky was prescribed medication in fifth grade for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The health records do not show if Ricky currently takes this medication. He routinely displays the inattentiveness, overactivity, and impulsivity that usually accompany such a diagnosis. Problem Ricky’s teacher, Mr. Marshall, has made repeated attempts to contact Ricky’s parents. His phone calls and e-mails have not been returned. Mr. Marshall hoped he might connect with one of Ricky’s siblings (two older sisters) but found out from the school’s registrar that both of these young women graduated several years earlier and now live out of state. Mr. Marshall wants to connect with Ricky in a meaningful way, hoping that the connection might motivate Ricky to control his impulsivity and focus on learning. Key Players Mr. Marshall Ricky Steward Ricky’s parents Guidance counselor School nurse Contributing Factors Ricky has missed 11 days of school over these first 3 months. The majority of these absences have been partial day, with his father signing him off campus. When asked by Mr. Marshall why he missed class, Ricky usually responds, “To go golfing with my Dad.” When questioned by Mr. Marshall about his plans for college and career, Ricky responds, “My father owns his own construction company, and I am going to run it someday.” Ricky spends most afternoons in Mr. Marshall’s classroom playing video games on his cell phone or listening to music. He stays as long as Mr. Marshall allows him to, often remaining with his teacher until 5 or 6 p.m. Mr. Marshall has negotiated a contract with Ricky that allows Ricky to stay with Mr. Marshall after school as long as he works on his missing World History assignments. Ricky has repeatedly broken this contract with Mr. Marshall. As a result, his grade in World History continues to decline. Designing and Implementing a Solution Design a plan for engaging Ricky in the learning process by answering the following questions: 1. How important is it that Ricky adheres to an agreed-upon system of behavior? How would you enforce this? 2. Should differentiation come into play when establishing classroom rules and expectations? Why or why not? 3. What do you see as the roles and responsibilities of Ricky’s parents in ensuring a positive and productive classroom environment for all students? What about Mr. Marshall’s role? 83 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 83 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Chapter Summary Chapter Summary I n the corporate world, the various high-level executive positions are often referred to as the “C-Suite.” Overseeing a corporation and reporting its performance to shareholders? You are the CEO—Chief Executive Officer. Ensuring the effective and timely performance of systems and employees within this corporation? You are the COO—Chief Operations Officer. Managing fiscal resources? You have earned the title of CFO—Chief Financial Officer. Evaluating, adopting, and troubleshooting hardware and software? Your business card will read CTO—Chief Technology Officer. Brainstorming, forecasting, predicting, and experimenting to achieve the goals of the corporation? You are the CCO— Chief Creative Officer. If you are filling all of these roles in a classroom of students, you have earned the single, unique title of Teacher. This chapter opened with the statement that teaching, by its very nature, presents a study in contrasts. Chief among those contrasts is the fact that teaching remains both the most immutable and the most adaptable of professions. The importance of good teaching stretches across the millennia, from Plato, in the hills of Athens, learning philosophy from Socrates to a 21st-century student, sitting with a laptop, learning quadratic equations from Salman Khan. And while location, delivery methods, forms of assessment, and measures of accountability change, the power of the teacher to effect students and, subsequently society, remains constant. If you are committed to becoming the best teacher possible, accept and embrace the fact that you can never do enough. You will never be fully prepared and will always be on the lookout for that perfect anticipatory set, that powerful hands-on activity, that target-specific assessment. Your work will always be with you, but in an energizing and seamless way. Conversations with family and friends, movies, music, essays, newspaper columns, sporting events, and the evening news will all provide source material for your teaching. You have committed to the role of lifelong learner. Do not overlook the role of your students in your quest for learning. When pushed by one of my advanced placement students to explain why the lesson I was teaching that day mattered, I responded with a promise to the class and to myself. Everything I presented that semester would “go into the soup.” Nothing would be extraneous or unnecessary. I challenged the students to challenge me whenever they felt I had somehow gone off track. That promise forced me to consider and reconsider the “why” of each lesson and unit as students challenged my planning, my pedagogy, my assignments, and my assessments. As a result of their questioning, I became a better, more precise planner and a much better teacher. Love your students and your work. Model and create energy. Inspire yourself, your colleagues, and most important, your students to act “audaciously” and by these actions prove the worth of your profession on a daily basis. 84 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 84 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Concept Check Concept Check 1. The behaviorist educator believes A. learning occurs through peer-to-peer interactions. B. it is important to take a student’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions into consideration when teaching. C. learning occurs through interactions with the environment. D. learning requires a change in students’ thinking to affect their behavior. 2. According to behaviorists, students learn desired behaviors in a three-step process: A. B. C. D. Conditioning, extinction, and rewarding Modeling, shaping, and cueing Acquisition, application, and practice Activation, construction, and repetition 3. Cognitivism emphasizes a system of effects including: A. B. C. D. Meaningful effect Social effect Butterfly effect All of the above 4. Constructivism is linked to the A. B. C. D. E. social movement, founded by Lev Vygotsky. progressive movement, founded by John Dewey. conservative movement, founded by Jean Piaget. All of the above None of the above 5. The distance between completing a task with assistance and completing the same task alone is known as the: A. B. C. D. Most knowledgeable other (MKO) Zone of proximal development (ZPD) PDA CTA 6. In the constructivist classroom, how something is learned is _________ what is learned. A. equal to B. less important than C. irrelevant to 85 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 85 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Concept Check 7. What is the key to ability grouping in differentiated instruction? A. Constantly moving and changing ability groups based on individual students’ performance, interests, and background knowledge. B. Staying consistent with the group members between grade levels and content areas. C. Grouping and regrouping must be a dynamic process, changing with the content, project, and ongoing evaluations. D. Both A and C E. None of the above 8. Differentiation emphasizes the acquisition and application of knowledge and problem-solving skills. ____________ drives this acquisition/application process. A. B. C. D. Engagement Relevance Content Skill level 9. One of the key elements in planning differentiated instruction that consists of using concept-focused and principle-driven instruction is A. B. C. D. process product content None of the above 10. Successful differentiation requires that you A. post lesson objectives. B. begin the lesson with a formal assessment to gauge where the students’ knowledge level lies. C. offer creative avenues for students to acquire knowledge and creative assessments to display their knowledge. D. None of the above E. All of the above 11. During the “through” part of a lesson, students should A. B. C. D. start to understand the “why” of the lesson. activate prior knowledge. be ready to learn and be clear on what you will expect them to know. be moving from acquisition to application. 12. Successful teachers A. B. C. D. E. save time by adopting other teachers’ lessons. don’t need to modify their lesson plans. differentiate and scaffold the instructional core of their lesson. can teach two lessons in a single lesson plan. All of the above. 86 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 86 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Concept Check 13. Understanding by design (UBD) lesson planning A. B. C. D. begins with the end in mind. is also known as “top-down planning.” has the lesson design lead to the unit assessment. involves systematic collaboration. 14. Which of the following is something a teacher would record in curriculum mapping? A. B. C. D. E. The essential questions or enduring understandings that were addressed The content of the lesson How the content aligned to local, state, and national standards When and how the content was assessed All of the above 15. There needs to be a system of learning expectations established—and continually reinforced—in the classroom. Which one of these expectations will internally motivate students to stay engaged? A. B. C. D. What: What they are expected to know When: When and how they will demonstrate mastery of learning How: How they will acquire the knowledge Why: Why this knowledge is important 16. While there are a great variety of strategies and programs aimed at school improvement, all of these strategies and programs share a single crucial element. A. B. C. D. Adhering to state standards Paying special and continued attention to the learner Professional development for teachers Home/School communication 17. Crafting a system of agreed-upon expectations helps to A. B. C. D. bring students to task and asks them to account for and change their behavior. create consistency and mutual respect. refashion the “I say and you do” model it into a system of “we say and we do.” All of the above. Answers 1.C. learning occurs through interactions with the environment. The answer can be found in Behaviorism, Section 3.1. 2. B. Modeling, shaping, and cueing. The answer can be found in Behaviorism, Section 3.1. 3. A. Meaningful effect. The answer can be found in Cognitivism, Section 3.1. 4. B. progressive movement, founded by John Dewey. The answer can be found in Constructivism, Section 3.1. 5. B. Zone of proximal development (ZPD). The answer can be found in Constructivism, Section 3.1. 6. A. equal to. The answer can be found in Application – Constructivist Teacher, Section 3.1. 7. D. Both A and C. The answer can be found in Differentiated Instruction, Section 3.2. 87 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 87 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Key Terms to Remember 8. B. relevance. The answer can be found in Application: Differentiated Instruction, Section 3.2. 9. C. content. The answer can be found in Application: Differentiated Instruction, Section 3.2. 10.C. offer creative avenues for students to acquire knowledge and creative assessments to display their knowledge. The answer can be found in Application: Differentiated Instruction, Section 3.2. 11.C. be ready to learn and be clear on what you will expect them to know. The answer can be found in Lesson Planning, Section 3.3. 12.C. differentiate and scaffold the instructional core of their lesson. The answer can be found in Lesson Planning, Section 3.3. 13. A. begins with the end in mind. The answer can be found in Understanding by Design, Section 3.3. 14. E. All of the above. The answer can be found in Curriculum Mapping, Section 3.3. 15.D. Why: Why this knowledge is important. The answer can be found in Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships, Section 3.4. 16.B. Paying special and continued attention to the learner. The answer can be found in Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships, Section 3.4. 17. D. All of the above. The answer can be found in Application: The Classroom, Section 3.4. Key Terms to Remember ability grouping Grouping students according to their actual and potential development levels. differentiated instruction A type of instruction that takes into account students’ readiness to learn, current mastery of information, cultural background, language, preferred assessment type(s), and personal interests when designing lessons and assessments. behaviorism A learning philosophy that relies only on objectively observable behaviors to measure learning. classical conditioning A form of behaviorism. Specific stimuli are used to elicit a specific response. True classical conditioning will elicit the behavior even when only part of the stimuli is present. enduring understandings or essential questions The essential learning objectives that encompass, in broad terms, overarching concepts which are the primary or essential elements that encompass subordinate learning objectives. cognitivism A learning philosophy which attempts to answer how and why people learn by attributing the process to cognitive activity. engagement Describes energy in action, the connection between a student and a specific learning activity. Three types of classroom engagement have been identified: behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement. content pedagogy The pedagogical (teaching) skills teachers use to impart the specialized knowledge/content of their subject area(s). external motivation Motivation that comes from outside an individual, such as money or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. constructivism A learning philosophy that maintains human beings construct their own interpretation and understanding of their world by reflecting on their own experiences and connecting those reflections to new learning situations. 88 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 88 2/2/12 8:55 AM CHAPTER 3 Key Terms to Remember instructional activity An essential component in lesson or unit planning. The specific steps you and your students will take as you move through a lesson. Can include focused note taking, silent reading, Web research, self and peer editing. SLANT A body language or behavior that shows a student is interested and involved in the learning. The SLANT acronym stands for: Sit up; Lean forward; Ask questions; Nod “yes” and “no”; Talk with teachers both during and outside class time. instructional objective A description of how learners will demonstrate competence or conceptualization of a concept and/ or skill they have achieved. Instructional objectives often begin with, “The student will be able to . . .” theory of adaptation A theory that sees the thinking process as a corollary of the biological process of adaptation. Assimilation and accommodation are the primary components of the adaptive process. internal motivation Motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards. The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on a task. zone of proximal development (ZPD) The distance between the actual development level (where a student can complete an assigned task independently) and the level of potential development (where a student needs assistance from another student or an adult to complete an assigned task). relevance The connections students make between what is being taught and their lives outside the classroom. 89 she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 89 2/2/12 8:55 AM she66647_03_c03_057-090.indd 90 2/2/12 8:55 AM
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