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Phone call agenda, 2/18/11, noon. What have we done so far? What are we going to do in Unit 3? What do you need to do between now and when we *really* start on 3/18/11? Questions. Where have we been?. Unpacked Standards—Pulled apart each standard to understand its real demands
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Phone call agenda, 2/18/11, noon • What have we done so far? • What are we going to do in Unit 3? • What do you need to do between now and when we *really* start on 3/18/11? • Questions
Where have we been? • Unpacked Standards—Pulled apart each standard to understand its real demands • Sample activities and resources—Built or aligned different expressions of the standards • Lead standards and lesson studies—Translated standards into meaningful curriculum/instruction
Thoughts? • Nobody told me that ____________. • Your advice for other adult educators doing SIA in future?
Goals of Focus on Assignments • Close gap between standards and classroom practice • Make assignments and student work relevant and engaging • Develop common, high expectations for students • Improve instructional practices/strategies • Promote structured, thoughtful standards-based conversations among colleagues p.3–3
Key Characteristics of the Process • Requires formation of Critical Friends Groups • Each instructor shows an assignment • Provides a systematic way for instructors to analyze what they are assigning to their students • Implementation and cataloguing of re-envisioned standards-based assignments
Focus on Assignments: 5 Steps • STEP 1: Determine assignment’s purpose • STEP 2: Analyze demands of the assignment (without looking at the standards) • STEP 3: Compare standards of best fit to assignment’s demands • STEP 4: Diagnose student work • STEP 5: Ratchet-up and redesign the assignment pp.3–3 to 3–18
What’s unusual about this process? • Instead of beginning with standards and then developing matching assignments, this method proceeds in the opposite order: • It requires you to work “backwards” from existing assignments to align instruction more closely to the standards.
VT example– assignment given • “Look at the summer photos on the wall, and go through your notebook, think about our trip to Legares Farm, Wellspring Farm, and look at the 6 “Cooking Fresh” lessons. Reflect and brainstorm on paper what you think you’ve learned or gotten out of this summer cooking unit. Do you think about food differently? Cooking? Buying food? Did you learn new words? Write a 2-page essay using your brainstorm. Use supporting details to show us what you learned, and be specific. Read over your sentences to make sure they are complete.” [Students @ Levels 3 and 6]
A student response • It’s hard to keep up when everything is changing, but change isn’t always bad. For seven weeks of their summer classes students participated in a Cooking class where chefs from NECI came and taught seven recipes and the techniques of mastering them. Their first cooking class, eyes were wandering, cell phones checked often, and almost nobody wanted to help demonstrate. We dreaded Tuesday afternoons. Some of the quotes from the girls were “I didn’t enjoy removing the boogers from the tomatoes” and “Is it almost over?” They walked downstairs Tuesdays questioning, what weird new meal they were going to have to make, and then eat. How long were they going to have to touch new things or stand in that hot kitchen? Did they have to try the Better Bar surprise snack again? Will they have to gut slimy tomatoes again? They hated Cooking Fresh, but change is all around us and not always bad. As the girls got into about their 3rd class, I really started to see a change of pace. The girls started asking more questions, showing more interest in the food being prepared and the chef’s techniques. They went from protesting trying beets, parsnips, radish, and scallions to being a lot more open-minded about foods from different cultures and backgrounds. By the class final, which happened to be quite a challenge, the girls seems grounded, focused, and interested in the task at hand. The girls spoke about how they were glad they learned new techniques and skills like cutting veggies julienne-style and coring fruits in different ways. They were challenged to make a healthy well-balanced meal for the Chefs who for weeks had been mentoring their skills. The challenge was difficult but the results were rewarding. Very similar to the struggles and successes of my summer, challenging yet rewarding….
Another student response • During the summer, while taking classes in the Program, I’ve learned a lot. • From cooking group to Wellspring Farm to participating in the Food for Thought Book • Series, my knowledge of food has grown so much to my surprise. • The first thing I learned about food was the preparation of food. I learned this in the • cooking group that our class participated in. In the group we were able to split into • teams and create wonderful dishes from recipes Chef Lyndon and his cooks from NECI • brought for us. They also taught us how to use fresh fruits and veggies to make • delicious meals in a fun healthy way. I was able to bring in one of my own family • recipes to make for the cooks at the final class. It is a chicken, stuffing casserole, but the • cooks and Fran (a lady from the UVM extension program that came to help) helped us • cut down some of the cheese, put in less chicken, and add more broccoli to make it a • healthier meal. Along the way we all got many good vocab lessons of the different • strategies and techniques used in the kitchen. ..
Student response 3 • Summer was so fun. We learned how to cook really good food, and some not so tasty, but really healthy foods. We met new people that I would have never worked with before. I cooked foods that I wouldn’t cook before. The best part was learning what was healthy and what wasn’t. • I learned how to work with others that I wouldn’t have before. I worked with two other girls that I barely knew and made food with them. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. They were really nice and helped me make the food, because I had no idea how to start to make it. Even when I messed up they said, “Great job. You’re doing well”. I realized coming out of my shell wasn’t so bad after all. They were great to me and helped me learn and now it feels better in class and group because we all know each other a little better.
For 3/18/11 • What to bring to Burlington or Springfield for first small group meeting: • ** The unpacked writing standards for your own reference (they are on the wiki) • ** ONE writing assignment that you have recently given to students. (Choose more of a culmination assignment over a more initial assignment. Choose an assignment that more students have responded to vs one that only one or two students have completed.) On a sheet of paper, write out the assignment including any of your oral directions, and note the intended level of the assignment, and bring 5 copies. (If the assignment did not ask for students to produce something in writing but rather in some other way, bring photos or recordings to document the work the students did.) • ** Collect the students’ work in response to your assignment. Block out their names. Number the different responses so we can distinguish them in discussion. Bring 5 copies of the set of student work with you.
The end! • Questions? • Hurrahs? • See you on 3/18/11 in Burlington or Springfield with your stuff.
