Engagement

Schlecty's work around engagement is one of the most thought provoking, yet simple frameworks for educators to use. As a teacher, it is easy to work towards compliance. Most of us have been taught that compliance is a good thing. We have seen this in our own lives as students. We have seen this in our personal lives. Compliance is almost always rewarded in some way, and so compliance is easy to do, easy to teach, and easy to reward. Yet, when all we work towards is compliance, we don't ever get to true levels of engagement.

What Schlechty explained so well is the difference between compliance and engagement. In his levels, the two factors that make the difference between whether a student is compliant or engaged are the verbs commitment and attention. 
So we need to ask ourselves;

* Are we setting up our students to be physically and emotionally prepared to give their attention and commitment to the learning process?

* Do you (or your class) have positive rituals and habits that lead to sustainable energy and engagement?

Students in an engaged learning environment have high attention and high commitment because of their intrinsic motivation and desire to actively learn, create, and contribute to the overall experience.

Students who are strategically compliant or ritually compliant may have levels of attention and commitment, but the attention and commitment have been forced by extrinsic factors (grades, rewards, etc).

These differences apply to us as teachers, leaders, and parents as well as our students. So the question is, have you reached high levels of engagement in your classroom? What will it take to get there?

The Power in Discourse

The Power in Discourse

Most students enjoy chit chatting and talking throughout the day. The educator's job is taking that chit chat and turning it into meaningful conversations.  When students are able to have responsibility for the discussion, their thinking will grow and challenge each other students thinking. Fisher and Frey state that classroom discussion allows for the co-construction of knowledge. By allowing students to own the discussion, it elevates their thinking of reading deeply from a private on conversation to a public conversation.

It is also important to remember that not all student conversation is meaningful so it is the educator's job to help prompt and teach students on how to have a conversation. At Prairie and Hadfield, educators have been instructing students on how to use different conversational moves in language workshop and literature discussion groups to help students have meaningful conversations.

During professional development at Prairie, educators were able to watch Kim Ferguson facilitate language workshop. By watching this video, the entire staff engaged in conversations about how to develop conversational moves and expectations for each grade level.

Below is a video of Kim Ferguson’s 3rd-grade class having a discussion about the book Miss Mack and how the character has changed over time. Watch for how the students are using conversational moves and building off one another’s thoughts.   

Language Workshop

Enough Idealism to Change the World

Community Round Table

“I became a teacher because I have enough idealism to be out to change the world-and enough pragmatism to see that a classroom is an ideal place for me to start”

-J. W

This week, a group of dynamic educators started a conversation...a long overdue conversation around Parent Engagement and Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Dispositions in our education system.  As we started this conversation between UWW-SDW Graduate Students and our Community Educator Panel, each of us introduced ourselves briefly and gave a few statements about our why. On our panel, were experts in Adult Education, Early Childhood Education, Parents, Immigrants, Bilingual Teachers, LGBTQ Advocates and those who can represent teacher training in higher ed.

Some people come to education because of the energy, light and hope that children bring to their lives.  Others come to education because of these same reasons, but with an even deeper calling to ensure all kids can maintain this light through the challenge of schooling and its de facto impact of replicating our greater society with all of its privileges and its repressions.  

This week I would like to share the video of that conversation with you, and offer support, guidance and coplanning for panels at your site with community members, families and students whose voices are seldom heard.  I recall a presentation that I was recently planning where I plan to state boldly ‘our students and families have resources and skills that are invisible to us’-until we engage, in relationship with the students and families whose strengths are hidden from our view, we may never come to know them, respect them, and utilize them to change the world.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) - You keep hearing about it, you've sat through professional development about it, and you've likely tried applying various practices here and there to your own teaching and interactions with students and families. Did you know that one major aspect of applying culturally responsive practices is understanding the way all brains process information and leveraging this science for your instruction? I didn't! Zaretta Hammond so perfectly articulates this science and practical applications in her text, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain - Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigot Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. If you aren't familiar with this read, I highly encourage you to take a look or consider adding it to your list.

The Student Services department in SDW recently completed a book study with this text and we had many rich discussions around the implications from each chapter. Hammond breaks down the science of information processing and CRT in digestible chunks, which are appropriately applied to the art of teaching. The book is organized into three primary units: 1) Building awareness and knowledge, 2) Building learning partnerships, and 3) Building intellective capacity. I guarantee, upon reading these chapters, you will begin to frame a different way of understanding, viewing, and approaching intellectual differences within your classroom as they relate to unique cultural and linguistic diversities. As Hammond states, "When we are able to recognize and name a student's learning moves and not mistake culturally different ways of learning and making meaning for intellectual deficits, we are better able to match those moves with a powerful teaching response."

Discounted Master's Degree in Waukesha and Other College Partnerships

Hello!

We have some great opportunities in Waukesha.  We will again partner with UW-Whitewater to run a discounted masters program in Waukesha, usually in the Lindholm building.  Please fill out this interest survey.  Bonus: if we get enough to run a cohort (15), these courses count towards your 9 new teacher credits! 

New for next year is a partnership with Concordia University Wisconsin.  Employees of the School District of Waukesha will be able to receive a $450 scholarship per 3 credit course in programs connected to a certification/licensing program.

Lastly, Waukesha’s own Carroll University offers a variety of convenient and flexible graduate programs. From graduate degrees, certificates, licensures, and professional development opportunities, Carroll offers numerous pathways to further your learning.

Carroll University Graduate Programs in Education feature:
-Master of Education degrees, certificates, licensures, professional development programs -Master of Science degree in Educational Leadership, offering licensure as a Principal,
Director of Instruction, and Director of Special Education and Pupil Services
-Master of Arts in Teaching for initial licensure in General Education and
Cross-Categorical Special Education
-Accelerated programs
-Hybrid and weekend models
-Flexible, buildable alternatives to traditional master degree programs
-Supportive cohort models

*Hot off the press: Carroll will offer a four course program for currently licensed educators to get a Cross Categorical Special Education License!*

Are you ready to advance and enrich your career as an educator? Fill out this form for more information on programming and possible discounts through Carroll University.

Summer Institute and Professional Growth (formerly MLP)

Hello!

Spring is near, so let's think about summer!  Summer Institute will be August 26 and 27, 2019.  Yes, you read that correctly: two days instead of two and a half.  Based on feedback we received in our survey, we are going to "stack" the application time that was allowed in sessions and allow you to apply your learning as you see fit in your buildings as you plan and prepare for the school year.  Session sign up will be in May through Sched.

In Professional Growth, to save every minute possible, you are no longer required to select a type and a category while uploading artifacts.  The option is still there, but you can simply skip it.

A math teacher is a language teacher?

“Math has no language, it’s just numbers!” Have you ever heard these words? Look at the charts below. Language learners and students with economic disadvantages come to school with language opportunities, and the impact on their learning is plain to see! So clearly, math is more than just numbers. It is rich in language and, while it might be easier to distinguish a student who owns more than one language, students who come with language opportunities because of their economic disadvantage are not as obvious. Therefore, all math teachers need to also be language teachers!

Source: Wisedash public, Forward results in Math for elementary grades, 2017-2018

I presented the image below to a group of language-diverse fifth graders as they were about to embark on a fractions unit. This class has been working on their oracy skills (it is a building focus), so they are used to oral discussion. The question asked was “What is the distance between Temperance Ave and the end of the freeway? Students were given the task of talking to their language partner in whatever language they felt comfortable using, and the adults in the room took careful notes of what the students said, and if applicable, what language they used.

Source: Graham Fletcher, 3 act math

Our notes helped us see what words students were bringing to this unit, whether formal, informal, Spanish, English, or a mix of all. Honoring what language and experiences students bring into the classroom adds engagement! The teacher whose class did this work was quick to notice that her Spanish speakers, who do not readily share on a regular basis, were doing A LOT of the talking! Noting what words the students know can help to bridge that vocabulary into the targeted academic vocabulary. A task like this also brings up misconceptions! Consider what one student said:

“The end of the freeway is 1 ½ miles away from Temperance Avenue, because 2-1 is 1, and ¼ - ½ is ½”

How might a teacher use all the information gathered by this activity to intentionally plan to meet her students where they are at and accelerate their learning?

Do you assess for language, background knowledge and misconceptions in math before a unit? Do you want to know more? Share your thoughts in the comment box below!

Are Your Students Responsible For Their Learning?

Fisher and Frey explain how “the Gradual Release of Responsibility instructional framework purposefully shifts the cognitive load from teacher-as-model, to joint responsibility of teacher and learner, to independent practice and application by the learner.” At Blair, students are developing automaticity with reading comprehension strategies through the GRR framework. Teachers understand that before students can transfer a strategy to independent reading they need explicit instruction as well as multiple experiences to practice, along with feedback and support.

Teachers and students utilize the GRR framework in a non linear format.  For example, a strategy such as determining theme may be explored in language workshop (you do it together), followed by direct instruction/mini lesson (I do it, we do it) and then applied during independently reading of a choice text, and writing about it in a thoughtful log (you do it alone). Students can move back and forth between each of the components across units as they work toward developing automaticity with a strategy.

At a recent professional development session, Blair teachers shared student artifacts from their teaching and learning within the GRR framework. After analyzing the artifacts of student learning, colleagues provided feedback in four categories: gradual release of responsibility, feedback, assessment and proficiency level.  

Teaching and Learning Artifacts

Feedback on Artifacts From Colleagues