Chapter 3 Promoting Face-to-Face Interaction

This chapter discusses the importance of allowing students opportunities to have
face-to-face interactions. The chapter gives us a better understanding of how
to set up and implement these interactions, to ensure students deeper
understanding of curriculum.
The purpose to communication is to convey and obtain meaning. Pg. 37 Students’ face-to-face interactions give them the chance to support each other academically and personally. The interaction among groups of students can deepen those students’ understanding of themselves. Pg. 38 In a face-to-face conversation we construct
meaning not just from the content of words but also from the gestures,
movement, and expressions that our partners and group members use. Pg. 38 “If we are wired to learn by observing facial expressions and physical gestures, and them reflexively imitating those actions as a first step to language and appropriate social responses, then face-to-face interaction with students take on even greater importance.” Pg. 41
Teachers must show the students what they are expecting from the interaction and not just tell them. In order for the students to become proficient at interacting, they must be shown what those behaviors look like. An interesting point that is made
was that many teachers emphasize group norms instead of modeling how the interaction
should look like. This causes the students to not offer help to one another and the collaboration lacks fidelity. I really like the use of modeling types of
language that should be used in the face-to-face interaction. The poster shown on Pg. 43 could help teachers with questioning.
The last part of chapter 3 is three useful ways to use face-to-face interactions.
1. “Quickwrites,” which are the gateway to meaningful interaction. This
is a one to five minute to frame that allows the students to collect their
thoughts and ideas before engaging in discussion. When looking at the writing prompts, I personally use these for closure or exit slips checking for understanding, but after reading this, it makes sense to do before students discuss.
2. Partner discussions are used as the main face-to-face interaction in most classrooms. However, there is little follow-up to determine what was discussed in the conversation. While students are having discussions, this
is when teachers need to be in action to gain insight on what the students are
talking about.
3. Role playing which students simulate a process or idea and create interaction which builds conceptual and factual knowledge that would normally be difficult to understand if students were learning independently.
Three activities that could be added to the blue cards:
1. Whip-around
2. Face-to-Face interview
3. Head-to-Head Write Off (This would be perfect for what we are doing!)

Chapter 2: Using Positive Interdependence

This chapter discussed the importance of creating positive interdependence during PGW. “Positive interdependence is considered by many to be the defining quality and most important component of cooperative group work” (pg. 23). After reading this chapter I can see why interdependence is considered so important. If students feel like an important member of the group, they will be more willing to work in the group!

Each task must require students to contribute something unique to the group. Students ask themselves the following questions during PGW: Who am I? Who am I with you? Who are we together? What do we have to do? What do we need to do to accomplish our goals? If students are able to answer these questions, they will possess the self knowledge of how and when they are learning something new. The authors also remind us on pages 25 and 26 that positive interdependence can reduce threats and increase the sense of reward. We are also reminded that rewards can be intrinsic or extrinsic.

Finally this chapter gives three strategies to promote positive interdependence. The different experiences strategy requires putting students who have experienced different things into groups. They share that knowledge and learn from one another. The goal here is that students will build their knowledge through discussion with partners.

The jigsaw approach is also described. Students have two groups, an expert group and a home group. Students start in their home groups. They discuss what knowledge they will need to obtain in their expert groups. Students then go to their expert groups. In these groups, students work together to become experts on their specific topics. Finally, students go back to their home groups and share what they have learned.

Student-led reciprocal teaching consists of assigning students specific roles for PGW. The authors suggest using modeling and guided instruction about 20 times before letting students try the roles on their own. Students will then be well aware of what their specific role should look like.

My Reflection:
I think it is essential that students feel like a group would not be successful without them. If this is how students feel, they are much more likely to be actively engaged in PGW. I think the strategies described would be great to share with the staff. I know that we have done jigsaw before, but not really in this way. I like this way because there is also movement! I have not had a lot of success with assigning roles for PGW – but after reading – I see that is because I had not modeled them enough! I would really like to try student-led reciprocal teaching!

Chapter 1 - Defining Productive Group Work

"Educators since Socrates have know that knowledge is built and extended through the exchange of ideas and that students should be encouraged to question and push each other's understanding." (p. 13)

The idea of productive group work has been around for...ever. Socrates knew it was an essential tool in learning. Vygotsky determined its' importance in the development of a child's culture, saying that one must first learn from others in order to internalize ideas - what to think and how to think.

Many teachers, even those aware of principles that define PGW, struggle to support interaction in groups. I think we have witnessed this to be true - as observers and members of groups. The following are what define PGW. Important to remember is that ALL must be present!

Positive Interdependence:
Participation from every member and clear understanding of the group's interdependence is necessary for the task to be completed and accomplished. The group needs -

• Goals that require contribution from each member. (I am still not sure how this could not be done by another member without the teacher knowing.)
• Resources given to each member so that each member has something important and essential to share with the group.
• Rewards to motivate the group and each individual to participate. (We read on to find out this could be grades or points. I am still not sure how this will motivate those students who are not interested in them. Doesn't something more need to exist in the culture of the classroom?)
• Roles assigned so that each member has something to accomplish.

Ms. Czarnopys' example of a cumulative PGW assignment worked well as an example for the principles. The tie to positive interdependence came in when she asked the discussion questions of individual students after the group had a chance to review, discuss, and formulate ideas. As we learned from the Doug Fisher talk this fall, having students listen to others and have a means for recording it (Down and up, folded papers, etc.) does encourage participation from all members of the group.

Face-to-Face Interaction
It is SO true that in the past (and maybe even the present) we put students in groups, have them create a presentation "together" and then present. But when asked a question about another members "part", most students are clueless and cannot address anything except what they prepared.
In this model, group members must all interact and share, as well as ensure all others are prepared.

Individual and Group Accountability
Teacher observation has a lot to do with this aspect. However, the authors recommend assigning an individual assessment (which is a writing piece in the example) in addition to the group discussion and presentation of answers.
(I think it is essential to note here that our readings from FOCUS will be important to remember. We need to continue to narrow the focus of WHAT and HOW we teach before this idea of assessment will be beneficial or even reachable to our teachers.)

Interpersonal and Small-Group Skills
Once students gain experience working in PGs, they will need to become familiar and comfortable working together for the good of helping. All students need to realize that they will need help from others at some point, therefore they should give help when they can.

Group Processing
This principle is about self-assessment of the group. The authors believe this to be one of the most crucial steps, but one that is often overlooked or not planned for. In order for PGs to get better, they have to assess what went well and what could get better. It is not about pinpointing an individual but figuring out what should be continued or changed for next time.

Finally, it is important to remember that the teacher must provide students with tasks that challenge the group. It is okay for them to argue and question each other. With this, they are having to defend, support, infer and challenge - this all leads to better understanding and heightened awareness of opposing views.

Productive Group Work - Introduction

Contrary to what many believe, group work is not the same thing as productive group work. Furthermore, there is a stigma attached to group work and the fact that the teacher has to relinquish control in the classroom. This stigma is due to the fears associated with what could happen during group work. However, when teachers plan productive group work in their classrooms, the benefits are substantial and the possibility for the chaos associated with group work is reduced and/or eliminated. After reading the introduction to Productive Group Work, I found several key points that I think are the keys to transforming group work into productive group work.

*        Teachers must have a way to hold individual students accountable during PGW

*        Students must learn to communicate with one another over a meaningful task prior to engaging in PGW

*        Teachers must pre-establish the conditions for the collaborative learning of PGW

*        The teachers’ job is NOT to supervise by walking around the classroom

*        This is an opportunity for RTI while the majority of the class is engaged in PGW

*        Engage students in PGW that builds off what you did as a whole group, which was an extension of your modeling during an ‘I do’

*        Soon after PGW, students will be ready for independent work

*        Independent learning is the ultimate goal. PGW will help prepare students to achieve independent learning

Chapters 7 & 8

Chapter seven of the RTI2 book discusses three kinds of feedback, feed-up feed forward and feed forward.  Creating this system of feedback is essential to monitor progress each type of feedback is described below:

Feed-up is clarifying the goal.  The focus here is purpose.  Students are more likely to achieve, when they are aware of the lessons goal and when they believe that their chance for success is high.  The author goes on to establish a correlation to the persuasion, argumentation and facts that is an on-going theme throughout the book.

Feedback is responding to the work.  The best feedback provides the students with information about their progress and the best course of action to succeed.   The use of humor, questions and startling statistics will benefit the student to see their areas of strength and weaknesses.

Feeding forward is modifying instruction.  This involves greater flexibility in lesson planning and delivery.  We also need to include the use of data to drive instruction.  Without a feed forward system we risk the use of feedback creating the need for more interventions and confused expectations for students.

Checking for expectations daily is an imperative to this process.   The checks need to inform and measure.  Focusing on fostering oral language and use of questioning techniques are pivotal.  Compelling evidence exists that student talk is a great mechanism for learning. 

Common formative Assessments will allow teachers to effectively communicate and discuss student achievement.   These assessments are usually based on units of instruction and become a part of the dreaded pacing guide.  This data will spur conversations and focus the discussion.

Creating formative assessments will guide future lessons and provide data to drive any interventions that might be needed.  They will create a clear picture of the areas in which students are progressing.  The author includes a brief section on engaging in professional discussions.  In y opinion we have developed these conversations nicely in the data team process. 

State assessments are also discussed in chapter seven.  The authors argue that a consistent reliance on the feedback system will boost student performance on sate mandated tests. 

Chapter eight deals with the idea of hardwiring excellence into our expectations school wide.    Utilization of the RTI2 process n\must become accepted and institutionalized.  We need to focus on three things purpose, worthwhile work, and making a difference are all components of this pursuit of excellence. 

A common definition and understanding of quality work will assist both teacher and building leader improve conversations; either among peers or with students. 

Family involvement in RTI2 is essential.  They Are the keepers of the child’s history and can be used as experts to help school personnel to understand the learning styles and what has worked for the student in the past. 

Coaching is discussed in this chapter and many of the author’s assertions were demonstrated more than adequately last year at JB.  Unfortunately, this model is not as widespread as it was and we all look forward to the possibility of fully staffing this model. 

In short, the final chapter of this book deals with improving the professional dialogue in meetings forming a structure that is designed to pursue excellence and including all stakeholders in the RTI process. 

Joe Flaherty

RTI - Chapters 5 and 6

Hi! Don't forget to respond to Jen's entry on Chapters 3 and 4. Time flies...

Chapter 5 - Intensive Interventions for High-Risk Learners:

Mobilizing Experts and Resources

Tier 3 is about intense and further time, expertise and assessment. It is also important to make sure that the Tier 3 and the core lessons relate to each other. The chapter starts off with an example of a Tier 3 meeting that is predetermined through teacher collaboration and careful consideration of that individual student's needs and interests.

Conditions Necessary for Effective Intensive Intervention Efforts

Condition 1: High-Quality Core Program "Struggling readers struggle more because they get far less appropriate instruction every day than the achieving students do" (as quote from Allington, p. 78).

Condition 2: Access to Expert Teachers - computers, volunteers, and paraprofessionals are not experts.

Condition 3: Individual Instruction - has to be one-on-one.

For interventions to matter, these five components must be in place:

1. The teacher should play a critical role in assessment and instruction - only teachers can make those important split-second decisions that are responsive to individual students' needs.
2. The intervention should reflect a comprehensive approach to reading and writing - students need to see the whole picture in each subject as tied to and provide engagement and understanding of meaningful and real text.
3. The intervention should be engaging - students NEED to see the relevance and feel successful to be motivated and have a chance at being life-long learners.
4. Interventions should be driven by useful and relevant assessments - F&F recommend engagement in literacy tasks in a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes.
5. Interventions should include significant opportunities for authentic reading and writing - students need many opportunities to actually read in authentic situations more than they need practicing skills and strategies related to literacy.

Planning Intensive Interventions

Consider the following questions: (these are things I am reminded of that we are already doing that could be considered for Tier 3 lessons as well)

• What is the purpose of the lesson? (TYWL)
• What are the student's background knowledge and prior experiences? (Do Now or Pretest)
• What are the targeted skills or strategies for this lesson? (TYWL or Step 4 in Data Teams)
• How will essential vocabulary be taught?
• What will students produce? (TYWL, Guided/Independent Practice or Closure)
• What future skills will the student need? (Closure, Check for Understanding, Posttest)

Is this similar to what happens when students are pulled out of classrooms now?

What will need to change for this to take place?

Does our district have the funding to provide the time, expertise, etc.?

At our level, will these interventions be done by classroom teachers, special education teachers, or others?

Chapter 6 - The Role of Assessment in RTI2:

Progress Monitoring for Student Success

There are four broad purposes for assessment:

• progress monitoring
• diagnosis
• program evaluation
• accountability

"Assessments drive the entire RTI2 system!" (p. 95). See figure 6.1 on page 96 for assessment types, purposes, and administration guidelines.

Formal assessments provide data that allows us to compare student performance to expected levels. I think of the annual assessment calender that is provided by the district each year. These tests measure knowledge of what was previously discussed and provide a snapshot of a student's progress at a certain moment in time.

Curriculum-based measurements (CBM) are the day-to-day and frequent checks for understanding that occur in the classroom that "are meant to gauge progress and determine effectiveness of instruction and intervention" (p. 98). A good instruction and intervention plan ensures that a student gets both opportunities to master and apply knowledge.

Informal assessment can include CBMs, observations, checklists, rubrics, and self-assessments. It is important for teachers to keep track of these as well. Notes and any other documentation will provide a teacher with specific information to inform their teaching, share with other teachers, and communicate with parents.

"Data collection is useful only if the next step is data analysis" (p. 102). This goes right along with data teams. Data should result in improvement in student work and teacher practice.

Can each teacher come up with one thing to universally screen and track among their classes?  Is this too much?

If we stick to non-fiction writing, what will our report show - rubric score overall?

Is there a way to track the use of CBM or checks for understanding? We always say, what gets checked gets done...

 





Chapter 3: Quality Core Instruction: A Necessary First Step

“It shouldn’t go without saying that all students need access to quality instruction. Without high-quality initial instruction, significant numbers of students will require supplemental instruction and intensive intervention that are costly and time-consuming.” p. 29

How can we ensure that all students are receiving quality instruction? I think the feedback sheets that Marianne and Joe are going to use will help.

The first part of quality instruction is establishing a purpose. We expect teachers to post and go over Today You Will Learn but I don’t think this has been implemented with fidelity. I like how today we decided that TYWL needs to be in a complete sentence and use a skill/verb and concept/noun. This will make it more clear for students and teachers. The students need to know what they are learning and why.

Teacher modeling is a critical component of releasing responsibility to the students. Teachers must provide an example of what they are thinking when they “solve problems, read, write, or complete tasks.” Modeling is NOT a “detailed explanation, nor is it a time to question students; rather, it is an opportunity to demonstrate the ways that experts think.” p. 34 Teachers need to model how they comprehend, solve unknown words, and use text structures (grammar) and features (charts, figures, etc).

The next part of quality instruction is guided instruction-the “we do” of the lesson. Guided instruction should be based on the teacher’s check for understanding. “Guided instruction provides teachers with an opportunity to engage students in thinking without explicitly telling them what to think.” p. 39

Quality core instruction involves productive group work (you do together). Students must first be taught how to work together. “Students learn more and retain information longer when they work in productive groups.” p. 40. I think group work is essential but how to we ensure that it’s being used effectively? I know some teachers used Becky and Amanda’s different colored marker idea.

Next, students must work independently (you do alone). The independent work should be a review and reinforcement of what was previously taught. It should not be based on new. This step allows students to build confidence. Homework should be based on content that students have been exposed to for at least 3 to 5 days.

Chapter 4: Supplemental Interventions: A Second-Level Defense

Remember, 75-85% of students should make sufficient progress through core instruction alone. Tier 2 is supplemental intervention and approximately 10-15 percent of students at one time or another requires supplemental instruction in addition to the core instruction. This chapter focuses on Tier 2.

One takeaway point I think we all need to keep in mind is “providing every student with the same thing a every other student isn’t fair; providing each student with what he or she needs is fair.”

I like this analogy: “Supplemental instruction is much like the medication that doctors order. The prescription comes only after a careful analysis of the symptoms and the patient’s medical history. A treatment is prescribed, and the patient’s progress is monitored. The dosage and duration of the treatment are determined in advance, but that doesn’t preclude the doctor from running further tests if the medication does not seem to work.” p. 52-53. This is where continuous checks for understanding are vital. We need to monitor the effectiveness of the intervention.

Interventions should include:
*A feedback mechanism for student and teacher to continuously foster learning gains

*Peer interaction to further scaffold student understanding

*Explicit instruction that emphasizes skill building

*Contextualized instruction that emphasizes skill application

*A process for informing parents of gains so that they can celebrate success and offer praise and encouragement (p. 53)

The interventions need to be aligned with the quality core instruction and delivered by a highly qualified teacher. When implementing interventions, students should be working in small, similarly skilled groups and given. The interventions need to be in addition to quality core instruction-not take it’s place. Page 54 offers some times that supplemental intervention could be used.

One point I found that contradicts what we have to do is the tutoring. It should be aligned with the core instruction. In the tutoring that we offer, we are doing programs that are not related to what is being taught in class. I’m not sure how this is supposed to help the students.

Enhancing RTI
How to Ensure Success with Effective Classroom Instruction and Intervention
Douglas Fisher / Nancy Frey


Chapter 1 – Choose Your Adventure:
How RTI2 Affects the Educational Environment

“Teaching every child is hard work. With that hard work, though, comes a group of learners who are prepared to participate in society. This learning occurs in the classrooms or well-prepared teachers who are undaunted by student learning variations because they believe that each child is an individual and that individuals exhibit differences in growth due to many factors, including carefully selected instructional interventions.”

The focus of Chapter 1 is a comparison of the interventions and supports in three scenarios which include a traditional school, a RTI school, and an RTI2 school. In the traditional school earlier iterations of the prereferral process were often seen as a necessary formality that almost always led to special education testing. The RTI school the focus was to examine interventions that might prevent referral to testing. The difference in the RTI2 school is to enhance the RTI process and continually examine classroom instructional design. Consultation and collaboration with other professionals and families is essential.


Chapter 2 – Response to Intervention:
Defining and Refining the Process

RTI was designed as a way to encourage teachers to vary instruction and time to create a constant level of learning. A core assumption of RTI is that all students can reach high levels of achievement if the system is willing (and able) to vary the amount of time students have to learn and the type of instruction they receive. In the old view of learning instruction and time were the constant and outcomes/learning varied, but in the new view of learning instruction and time vary and outcomes/learning are the constant.

Tier 1 is the core instruction and 75-85 percent of students should make sufficient progress through core instruction alone. Tier 2 is supplemental intervention and approximately 10-15 percent of students at one time or another requires supplemental instruction in addition to the core instruction. Tier 3 is intensive intervention. Approximately 5-10 percent of students will require an intensified approach that includes more time, a lower teacher-student ratio (typically 1:1), individualized lessons that target weaknesses while leveraging student strengths, and a sophisticated cadre of assessment tools to monitor progress and diagnosis difficulties. It is imperative that teachers first consider individual students’ responses to quality core instruction before recommending supplemental and intensive interventions. They must also determine which students respond to the interventions and continue adapting instructional routines and time to achieve the desired results. RTI2 begins with a strong core instruction built on a gradual release of responsibility model (Fisher/Frey) with strong assessment to monitor progress, and improve instruction in all tiers. RTI2 emphasizes a collaborative approach to classroom support and anticipates that some students will periodically cycle through interventions.
-Marianne

Chapter 7 Making Math Meaningful

Chapter 7 starts off talking about the same type of teaching methods as the other subjects. He says again that we need to take a look at our standards for math. We need to figure out if the standards we have are preparing students for their futures, and not just their educational futures, but their lives in the workforce. It seems our current system prepares kids for more math classes, but not necessarily for the way they will be using math in the "real world". Thought the chapter he reinforces the idea that most people do not sue more than basic math skills in complex situations. Most people don't use algebra in their jobs or lives. With that in mind, does it make sense for students to take certain classes if there is no connection to the real world? Schmoker also went right along with what one of our speakers at the conference said also; we need to teach fewer concepts, but teach them deeper.

From my experience I can agree that students need to take the basic math skills and learn to apply them in many different situations. Unfortunately students continue to struggle with word problems, even when it is an addition problem.

Schmoker also made the point that we need to make math more "real world". To do this, we need more reading, thinking, and writing in math. Math has two fundamental aspects: calculation and interpretation. Students need opportunities to express their "quantitative interpretations in arguments and proposals". We can do this with text books and real world documents. Schmoker had the idea of collections several really good newspaper articles that allowed student to read, think, write, and argue about while using numbers. I really like this idea. He suggested doing it weekly. He also stated that raw data is a great way to get kids talking.

Along with other chapters, he mentioned again that we need to teach kids to read the text book. He says that math problems can come down to understanding one word and if a kid isn't reading the book correctly they could be getting it all wrong. He says that we need to teach them to read the texts slowly and deliberately and make sure they understand every word and sentence. I liked the writing prompts on p. 213, I thought these would be a great way to get kids to write out what they are thinking and then they will be understanding math more deeply. I like these prompts better than the "explain" that is in our texts. Theses give a little more guidance.

The best thing I took from this chapter is having kids read articles and using those to get them to work out some problems using basic math skills. I am sure we have done this some, but doing it consistently could help a lot of our students.

Chapter 6 Redefining Inquiry in Science

Schmoker believes that the science curriculum needs to have lots of changes. Science curriculum has gone from being taught with an emphasis on on content to now where we chose to try and engage students with hands-on activities.

He lists 5 things he believes are the essential ingredients to an effective science curriculum:

1. close reading from portions of a science textbook

2. Regular reading and discussion of current science articles

3. Interactive lecture

4. Writing-short daily pieces to more formal pieces

5. A reasonable number of carefully designed science labs and experiments

Schmoker again refers to the method of Task, Text, Talk which is an effective combination of purposeful reading, writing, and talking.

I thought it was interesting how Schmoker compared the U.S. to high-achieving countries and found that they focus only on science lesson content, where the U.S. pushes that aside in favor of "engaging students in a wide variety of activities" He then goes on to say "worse yet, the majority of these activities have little or no connection to essential science content." I translate that to hmmmm what experiment or lab am I going to do today, when it might not even fit with what I did yesterday!

("Less is more; we must keep our focus on essential science concepts, learned deeply") pg165

It was really interesting when Schmoker began talking about standards and the amount of topics a teacher must cover in a short period of time. He called it "curriculum chaos" and it is when a teacher knows that can't cover all of the standards so the pick out their favorites. I can definitely see this happening in schools.

More Literacy and fewer labs!!!! Research shows that science is learned more from close reading in science textbooks than completing labs. Labs focus more on procedures than the learning goals. You provide the mastery of the standard through language (deep rich discussions). Students love to compare their thinking with others and communicate their thoughts. I think their is less pressure on students when they are in a one-on-one discussion setting so they are more likely to tell their thoughts.

As we continue to read this book Schmoker's thoughts and ideas seem to move from one subject to another. Focus on a few standards and master them, use textbooks for deeper understanding, write and discuss what you are learning and check for understanding along the way to help you with your instruction.

I hope this will help start some discussion!!

Chapter 5 Social Studies with Reading and Writing at the Core

I am liking this book more and more.

Schmoker makes a lot of great points about social studies instruction and continues his less is more philosophy in this chapter. While the chapter focuses on social studies, any subject area could be substituted. Schmoker says literacy is the key to effective social studies instruction (as well as all instruction, in my opinion). He discusses the fact that history should be taught with a heavy focus on making connections and that both literature and history help us to understand ourselves better by understanding the influences around us.

Social studies as well as other content areas are extremely important because they are literacy in use. In language arts and reading classes, the students get the fundamentals and strategies, but literacy is at the core of the other subjects. The same strategies and basics need to be discussed, modeled and implemented to get further into the content.

Social studies is extremely important because it is a place where students have many opportunities to argue and dissect written and spoken arguments. Students need more reading, discussion, analysis, writing. Often in content area classes there are "too many activities to keep students engaged, but illiterate." (p. 135) I feel that if we focus more on less standards, going deeper into the few standards we decide upon, we will eliminate the possibility for that problem and more authentic assignments and more authentic literacy will take place. Students would be given more opportunities to analyze and argue through writing and discussion, which would increase more knowledge as well as modeling of this by reading more.

Other things worth mentioning:

On page 138, Schmokers gives a detailed process for reducing standards. I like this approach much better than the process outlined yesterday at the 90/90/90 conference by Cathy Lassier.

There are great examples on pages 140-161 of task, text, and talk. I think it would be beneficial for our staff to read certain chapters (language arts, chp 4, social studies, chp 5, etc) and discuss them in their departments (with our DRT team??).

There are good ideas of a scaled back rubric for social studies on page 145. I think there could be a place for this, but I do think we should look closely at the rubric from Lead and Learn they presented on Wednesday as a building-wide rubric.

Modeling, modeling, modeling. Again Schmoker mentions the importance of modeling and explicit examples of expected tasks.

My favorite quote from the chapter is on page 153: "To those who say there isn't time, I can only say: Yes, there is." Perhaps they are trying to teach too many standards, or assign too much busy work or ineffective tasks.

Chapter 4: English Language Arts Made Simple

The best piece of advice Schmoker gives us throughout this entire chapter is that all teachers must incorporate reading, discussing, and writing into their discipline.

This chapter focuses on the importance of literacy and how our current English Language Arts standards are preventing our students from becoming literate adults.

“Adolescents entering the adult world of the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives” (Schmoker, 93).

The first part of this chapter deals with the life changing power of broad, abundant reading. Schmoker defends reading and says “wide, abundant reading is the surest route out of poverty and the limitations that impose themselves on the less literate” (Schmoker, 95). When I read this quote, I made an instant connection to our school because we do have a high poverty rate of students who come into our building, and we have all seen them succeed in not just reading, but math and science also. This just proves his statement. People cannot use poverty as an excuse why students cannot perform. What can we do to ensure our current and future students have as much growth as our past students?

Schmoker then goes on to discuss the different forms of reading and why they are all equally important.
1. Literature: Schmoker introduces the concept of using literature to seek out understanding of ourselves and the world around us, not to recognize tone or structure.
2. Nonfiction and Literary Nonfiction: “Nonfiction books are among the richest sources of knowledge” (Schmoker, 98).
3. Newspapers and Magazines: He goes on to reiterate his passion for reading, discussing, and writing about current articles and opinion pieces.

How can we, as a leadership team, encourage the rest of our staff to incorporate literature, nonfiction, and newspapers into their curriculum whether it’s on the pacing guide or not?

The next part of this chapter talks a lot about reading in elementary and how it is hindering our students’ ability to read for learning, and is instead focused on learning to read. We must provide opportunities for our students to learn to read well by reading a lot for meaning.

Schmoker believes that the killing of reading will continue unless we take a hard look at the standards we have in place now, and minimize them. He suggests we adopt four key standards that could be used in all disciplines and at all levels: argument, drawing inferences and conclusions, resolving conflicting views and documents, and problem solving. “We need clear, simple standards that sensibly specify how much reading, writing, and speaking they will do” (Schmoker, 115).

He ends the chapter by again stressing the importance of reading, discussing, and writing. He describes three schools and explains how they have been successful with student achievement by using minimal standards that everyone can digest and adopt.

Looking at the four standards, is this the direction that we want to go? We have worked so hard at narrowing our focus on summarizing and even though these standards seem easy enough, I am reluctant to throw something new at our staff and not give what we are doing a chance to grow even more. However, I do know that our English Language Arts standards are too much. Looking at the new Common Core for grades 6-12, there are close to 30 pages of standards for English Language Arts. How do we begin to narrow the standards to fit our schools needs?

Sorry...I'm in Georgia and borrowing a computer!

Less is more--I have this written down several times in the margins of Accountability in Action, and I like that it is the basis for Schmoker. When the students honestly understand and are proficient in the basic skills, then we can take it further. I am glad to see Schmoker and Reeves so much in line.

Schmoker mentions several things that we have done that were positive and produced results. He talks about the importance of congratulating and recognizing the teachers and students for being on target (p. 20). I feel like that helped our building with teacher buy-in and also motivated students to do their best which resulted in improvements in their literacy.

Coming in to JB this year, I didn’t feel like this was a school with a lot of fluff going on. I understand the desire to want to keep it even more concise, especially until we are ready to take the next step. However, I wonder about cutting some of the extras that do help motivate students and do help the students obtain opportunities to gain experiences and build on background knowledge.

We’ve also talked about unwrapping the standards; it makes complete sense to condense these and focus on less (less done more efficiently and effectively). I agree with Rachel that this could be something for the DRT team to work on.

I think that more teachers will be accepting of this approach if we center it on the fact that it isn’t more work for them. It doesn’t involve more of their time to create those “movie reviews, video skits, wikis, silent movies, or clay animation figures.” They need to put the time consuming activities aside and focus on the reading and writing (and speaking) in their curriculum. It is the glue that holds all subjects together inside our walls. It is the best way for students to learn.

It will also help when all teachers are in complete understanding that we are not asking MORE from them. This is all part of good teaching and we will see results.

Katie

Chapter 3 - How We Teach

Chapter 3 begins with the elements of effective instruction. These elements include:

• Clear Learning Objectives: the topic, skill or concepts should be clearly described. I think our "Today you will learn..." statements meets this piece. However - are most teachers still doing this?


• Teaching, Modeling and Demonstrating: This is the explaining, demonstrating and instructing.


• Guided Practice: Allowing students to process and practice direct instruction. Schmoker emphasies the use of partner work and group work.


• Checks for Understanding (Formative Assessment): You must gage where students are and adjust your teaching for understanding. Schmoker reminds us that formative assessment does not need to be complicated. It can include a quick ticket out the door, hand signals or randomly calling on students. His main message here is that it needs to be FREQUENT! After reading this section on formative assessment I thought about our staff. I think a lot of teachers blame students (specifically behaviors) on their lack of understanding. If students don't "get it" it is because of THEM and not US. I don't know if you all would agree - but if you do - how can we get our staff to look at their practice instead of placing the blame?
  

Schmoker cites a lot of research, includes Fisher and Frey's gradual release model, showing that this is the most effective form of teaching. (I would also add closures are important.) He also cites the benefits of this form of instruction - and they are quite impressive! "...the payoff isn't in knowing these components; the payoff comes from actually doing them" (Schmoker, 60). He also mentions that a building wide lesson plan template can be helpful for the staff. Again, I think of Fisher and Frey. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this - but I think for the most part - we at least have had this goal for quite some time!

In the second half of Chapter 3 Schmoker gives suggestions for effective interactive lecture and literacy-based lessons.

Interactive Lecture:"Lecture, done wrong, is among the most boring, least effective forms of teaching. Done right, however, it is highly engaging and among the most effective ways to cover generous amounts of content" (Schmoker, 68). Schmoker suggests starting each lesson with an essential question. This is a question that takes discovery and can even be debated. This engages a student and gives them purpose for listening. Direct "lecture" should be given in small chunks. After five minutes, there should be an opportunity for guided practice and formative assessment. Again, the guided practice can be SIMPLE. I have to admit - I was pretty skeptical about this. I think it was the word - lecture. The last thing I think we want to do is encourage our teachers to talk AT our students more! But after reading- interactive lecture seems like a rapid form of the gradual release model. It is not talking at kids- but a series of minilessons.

Authentic Literacy: Schmoker suggests that there is simply not enough authentic literacy in the classroom. Although we can do "flashy" assignments - they do not have the benefits of reading, discussion and writing. As a template for teaching authentic literacy, Schmoker suggests the following:

• Teach vocabulary before starting the text.


• Establish a purpose for reading through background information, making connections and posing an essential question. Here Schmoker suggests teams coming together to form good essential questions. Is this something we can or should incorporate with the staff?


• Tell students how they will be assessed on their learning. Again- Schmoker reminds us that this does not have to be complicated!


• Model higher-order reading. Schmoker reminds us that WE are the best readers in the room and need to show the students how we do it. Modeled reading should be done twice a week in every class.I thought of using SMART board for modeled reading.


• Next, move to guided practice and formative assessment. Circulate and see what students are doing. Have students pair up and share their ideas. Call on partners to share their ideas. Also - ask students to quick-write during this time. Make sure to set time limits to give students direction.


• Independent practice and assessment is the final step I wonder if this process may be useful to the staff. I think at the middle school level - many teachers do not know how to approach reading in their content areas. And therefore- neither do our students! Ideas? And how would this work in math? (I know there is a chapter about math - but I'm still wondering!)
  

Debate: Schmoker encourages the use of debate to discuss text. He reminds us that it should be directly linked to the learning goal and have focus. Students also need to follow the guidelines of : Always cite textual evidence, politely disagree, be concise, stay on point and avoid using verb tics (like, ummmm).

Writing:Before students write - have them review their notes and make a quick outline. Again - this must be modeled. Exemplars are also very strong tools. Schmoker reminds us that writing can be formative and does not always have to be graded. The important thing is that they are doing it!I think this is what we tried to do with summarizing. But I think we can focus a little more now. Perhaps using the standards on page 38 like Marianne suggested."Remember that any form of writing, short or long, generates and refines thought" (Schmoker, 82).

Overall - I think this chapter is a good reminder of best practice. As a building, how do you think we're doing in this area? How can we improve?

I like the book, or at least the first two chapters. I particularly liked the idea of standards reflecting what is actually taught. Moreover, the idea of how we teach being the same basic formula that we have known for decades. Schmoker's idea of authentic literacy being the spine that holds everything together across content areas is a crucial aspect of this book and any real school improvement model. For example the three elements if reasonably well-executed would have more impact than all other initiatives combined.

In chapter two Schmoker's section on candor was dead on. He speaks of common academic core and critical thinking skills and sufficient opportunities to learn etc. I think this section reflects the progress we have made in the last year and provides us all a target for future steps.

Gardner in the section of plain old reading and writing related well to the narrow focus we are looking to continue. I also thought the writing on essential standards was well thought out and strongly demonstrated. Particularly the need for reducing content standards.

Great ideas so far... Some things that were not mentioned yet...

I LOVE that Schmoker says a focus on about half or less of the standards is ideal. Amanda, Becky, and I just worked on refining the Lit Studies curriculum for K. Learn. We used the Common Core to guide our work. We found that many times it is easy to create an assessment that matches several standards and many of the standards are similar. This is something I hope is looked at more closely at the district level.

I also appreciated the point made on page 11 and throughout about the ongoing focus. I think we could work on this by monitoring implementation a bit more. I think we started off last year doing this, but it eventually went away... :) Easy to do. I know several teachers who unfortunately were creating another assignment just for the purpose of data teams. They also were not implementing strategies with all classes. This needs to be monitored!

Clarity is another point he makes. I know we were all new at this last year, but I think the confusion that happened in the middle of the year was because we were not exactly clear on what we were doing. I am so excited to be in the second year of this knowing we are all much more experienced and ready. If I could make a suggestion, it would be that we need to create a plan of action (for at least the first quarter/semester) and STICK TO IT no matter what we come across thereafter.

Page 28 - "We need to reclaim the hundreds of hours each year that are now spent on nonacademic tasks. We need to redirect those hours toward the most simple, obvious tasks that prepare students for college, careers, and citizenship..." :) Yes, indeed! Amanda, Becky and I found this to be so true. Understanding By Design provides an awesome method of doing this. You really see the crap...and find that getting rid of it allows for much better teaching and learning. (Essential questions, Bloom's Tax.etc.)

Ya'll know I love the fact literacy is so huge. I think teachers are learning to face the fact that they must teaching reading, writing, and speaking. Page 34 under the first heading reassures that summaries are essential! They really allow for many other skills to be demonstrated.

Last thing, page 47 - I think this would be a good thing for the DRT to do in order to find the few writing/literacy standards we want to focus on as a staff.

Sorry if this is long... it is hard to tell. BTW - it would not let me comment on Eric's - only would let me create a new post. Sorry.

Anderson out.

Focus, by Mike Schmoker: Intro., Chp. 1, and Chp. 2

There is a quote referencing how hedgehogs are able to "see what is essential and ignore the rest." It is obvious that hedgehogs are what school leaders need to become according to Schmoker. The introduction emphasizes the importance of schools putting all of their focus on a select few essential things and ignoring all of the rest. The three essential things that Schmoker focuses on with this book are: a reasonably coherent curriculum (what we teach), sounds lessons (how we teach), and authentic literacy. He states that without these three essential things, any other initiative is destined for failure. Unfortunately, too often schools lose focus and continue to introduce new initiative after new initiative with each doomed for failure due to their complexity and lack of clarity.

Re-emphasized in chapter one is the need to be simple, be clear, and prioritize what we teach, how we teach, and authentic literacy in schools. Schmoker advocates for a reduction of the number of standards that are used to guide instruction, and he stresses the importance of all students learning the content of the lesson before moving to new material. These things are tied together with authentic literacy - purposeful reading, speaking, and writing. Beneficial results will be achieved in schools when "all teachers apply these three things consistently and reasonably well. Then, as teachers continue to work in teams to practice and refine their implementation," (Schmoker, 10) better results will follow. This work that teachers do in their teams should coincide with all of the professional development taking place, and it should focus on the select few things that are being prioritized within the building. The better results that will come with this work must not only be recognized, but celebrated in order to be used as effective motivation.

Schmoker uses Best Buy's company practice to illustrate how simplicity can lead to such a high level of effectiveness. The salespeople at Best Buy are required to be experts of the products that they sell. That is their number one priority. Best Buy continually declines to sell certain new products that could interfere with their priority of mastering the products that they do sell. Furthermore, whenever Best Buy does add a new product to sell they discard one of their existing products. Schools must adopt this philosophy. We need to focus on becoming excellent at a few essential things, as opposed to being above average at a variety of things.

Chapter two dives into the what we teach (curriculum). There is nothing additional or new that Schmoker says that we should be doing, if anything he says that we should be doing less (and he definitely de-values technology in the classroom). It is our job to make sure that ALL students are ready to pursue a college education IF that is the path that they chose to take. Time has always been a hindrance, but it is not; between kindergarten and 12th grade there is plenty of instructional time if it is used well.

In order to prepare all students for college, they must be introduced to essential subject area content, which can (and possibly should) be done with a textbook as well as other sources that will provide them with more current information. Students need to have their critical thinking skills developed, but content knowledge must be developed first; it is hard to think critically of something when you are not familiar with the topic that you are thinking of. The curriculum must connect to the students' lives; we must provide them with authentic literacy opportunities - listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Students should be writing papers and presenting those papers whenever possible. Through these efforts they will achieve verbal competence, which must be the number one goal for students.

The second chapter ends by analyzing what is wrong with the standards that are used in education, and suggesting how we can improve them. Schmoker is clear in his thinking that there are too many of them, they are unclear, and they were never field tested. He is convinced that we would be better off with less standards that allowed teachers to get more in-depth with the content that they covered.