Learning through conversations

1. Learning through conversations Moving forward by taking the time to listen Nanaimo, BC March 1, 2011

2. Students taking the lead • What does it mean when we say we want students to own their learning? What part of talking about learning belongs to owning learning? • How will we know if students are having worthwhile conversations? • Our learning intention for today: • developing an understanding for the importance and validity of classroom conversations as a means of assessment of learning • helping our students listen, talk and learn

3. IRP’s for Oral Language

4. What do we want student conversations to look like?

5. What do teachers have to do to make sure skills and strategies are developed? • Make time and opportunities in a safe and challenging environment • Make sure students actually know the purpose of the conversations and how to have focused conversations • Invest time to build capacity • Help students determine the difference between important (related to learning intention and criteria) and interesting • Model inclusion and equity and provide small group interactions • Feed forward and develop skills

6. “…children must learn to think creatively and critically, to communicate effectively through talk, to co-operate and to build positive interpersonal relationships with others.” • -Joan Dalton, Adventures in Thinking, 1985

7. What does this conversation tell me about Rylee’s learning? • I developed four levels of difficulty with the questions. She chose the second level of difficulty. • She knew the answer – as a mental math strategy but she did not chose that as a strategy – which makes me wonder why? Maybe she doesn’t consider mental math strategies as a strategy? I will want to pursue that…She could draw sticks, count on, find a double. She definitely had a variety of strategies that she was able to verbalize, explain her thinking, and justify her self assessment. • Next time, I would encourage her peer partner to encourage Rylee to choose a more difficult question, but would not pressure her, just maybe ask – is there a question that will challenge your thinking?

8. Focusing on… • What do I know? • What do I need to know to get the task done? • How will I get what I need? • What have I learned? How will I share my learning?

9. Giving opportunities within the classroom to develop self and peer assessment (the wonders of a document reader) • It becomes easier for students to see their own errors once they are given a chance to verbalize the sentence and increases students’ self-monitoring of their thinking • The document reader provides an opportunity for everyone to share • Students are eager to participate in sharing – and the benefits are reading your work, having the necessary improvements pointed out, getting up and making the improvements and rejoining group knowing you don’t have to be focused on your paper, you’re finished and can help someone else move forward • Whole class benefits from self and peer assessment • Teacher develops knowledge about what the students actually know and are proving that they know and it doesn’t rely on hours of marking when you know that is wasted time

10. We want our students to feel heard and know that every piece of work is honored and respected • Denise Wilson and I share 47 grade one and two students and Sophia Raby and Colleen Gurney share 49 grade 3/4/5 students. Even if we had half that number it would be difficult to conference with students each day. By providing a structure for students to interact with each other meaningfully, we are able to provide conferencing.

11. Why? • When students explain their thinking, they have to put the right words together to tell about their thinking • When students can tell where their thinking is breaking down then they can get the help that they need • Being able to communicate what you know is just as important as knowing • Students develop listening skills that are far beyond the listening skills they use to listen to a teacher • They listen to each other because of relationship, they want to figure out what the other person thinks and why – it is not just another adult speaking at them, it is a peer speaking to them • As students talk they become more aware of their own understanding and can better monitor their own strategies (metacognition)

12. Meaningful conversations in the work place is a life long skill • Research does not support the use of worksheets as a way of learning • A worksheet rarely communicates what is actually happening in terms of learning - it is created before the lesson takes place and may not reflect the content of what actually took place in the lesson • Conversations lead to common understandings rather than isolated understanding by one or two members of the classroom

13. Powerful a/b partner conversations • Rules of engagement: • When person A talks person B listens • When person B talks person A listens • No responses just listening Next steps: • When person A talks person B asks questions or summarizes • When person B talks person A asks questions or summarizes Then: • Students can engage in agreeing and adding on own ideas or disagreeing and giving reasons why

14. Ways to guide conversations • Using teacher produced guides to shape conversations

15. The power of teacher presence • Colleen becomes part of the conversation, participating and guiding but not dominating • Colleen is able to feed students forward according to individual needs • Colleen supports thoughtful reflection by the students • Colleen provides the language prompts so that students can participate in a meaningful discussion

16. Moving Forward • Small teaching groups with lessons designed to meet individual needs • Purposeful observations based on student goals • Teacher is able to note improvements, work with student to acknowledge growth and encourage setting of new goals

17. Teachers conferring • Sitting with students, discussing what students need to know, when they need to know it • Changes relationships • This physical accessibility builds social and emotional accessibility and contributes to positive classroom climate

18. What we have learned… • Uncovering patterns of errors and misconceptions as well as affirming understandings • Students learn from each other and can confirm or question ideas • Observing and discussing student reasoning directly can be a powerful way to assess higher-order thinking • Ongoing assessment that helps students to clarify their thinking and improve their products

19. Steps of implementation • Establish and maintain a respectful and supportive environment • Focus talk • Make sure that every voice is heard – popsicle sticks, etc. • Co-develop criteria with the class • Introduce only one focus at a time

20. Learning Occurs in a social context • Teachers scaffold development by • Modeling • Guided practice • Independent practice • Independent application An essential quality of a scaffold is that it be self destructive. By that we mean that the child’s behaviour signals the teacher: ‘I don’t need your help anymore. I can do this all by myself’. -Jeffrey D. Wilhelm