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Transforming Units

Transforming Units. STEMstitute – June 23, 2014 Presented by the Clermont County Gifted Program Fay Wagner, Gifted Intervention Specialist Bethel-Tate, CNE, and Williamsburg Local School Districts in Partnership with the Clermont Co. ESC. Our Mission .

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Transforming Units

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  1. Transforming Units STEMstitute– June 23, 2014 Presented by the Clermont County Gifted Program Fay Wagner, Gifted Intervention Specialist Bethel-Tate, CNE, and Williamsburg Local School Districts in Partnership with the Clermont Co. ESC

  2. Our Mission • To develop a program that challenges students toward rigorous learning by blending virtual learning with face-to-face lessons

  3. What are “higher-order” thinking skills (HOTS)?

  4. “Defining thinking skills, reasoning, critical thought and problem solving is troublesome to both social scientists and practitioners. Troublesome is a polite word; the area is a conceptual swamp.” -Cuban, 1984

  5. A Working Definition of HOTS: • Higher Order Thinking takes thinking to higher levels than just restating the facts. HOTS require that we do something with the facts. We must understand them, connect them to each other, categorize them, manipulate them, put them together in new or novel ways, and apply them as we seek new solutions to new problems. -Thomas and Thorne, Center for Development and Learning (2008)

  6. The research says… YES!

  7. A Sample Unit…

  8. The Mystery of Felix Navidad • GEMS “Mystery Festival” curriculum

  9. Dan Meyer: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover

  10. Keeping up withCognitive Demand… • We must pay attention to the kind and level of thinking our students are being asked to do. • We have to allow for a great deal of interaction with content.

  11. Blooms… • The Old • The New

  12. Depth of Knowledge (Webb)

  13. Depth of Knowledge – Levels of Complexity

  14. Caution #1: The Verb Trap • It’s not about what verb you use! • It is about what follows the verb! • Example: • Describethree characteristics of metamorphic rocks. • Describethe difference between metamorphic and igneous rocks. • Describea model that you might use to represent the relationships that exist within the rock cycle.

  15. Caution #2: The Difficulty Trap • A difficult task does not necessarily involve HOTS! • We must focus on the outcome. • Example: • What is the definition of exaggerate? • What is the definition of prescient?

  16. Let’s try it!

  17. Transforming The Mystery of Felix Navidad… What needed to change?

  18. Student Designed Investigations…

  19. Data Analysis and Graphing…

  20. Claims and Evidence in an Online Writing Assignment…

  21. Blended Learning Component…

  22. Advice from the trenches: • Watch me do this! (teacher modeling) • Let’s do this together! (guided learning) • Now do this on your own! (student-led)

  23. A note about student engagement… • 21st Century Skills (The 4 Cs) – Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Creativity • Mark Edwards (author of Every Child, Every Day) – Drivers of Student Engagement: instruction must be relevant, collaborative, personalized, and connected. • Beers & Probst (authors of Notice and Note) – “…rigor does not reside in the barbell, but in the act of lifting it.” Students should be engaged, observant, responsive, questioning, and analytical. • Carol Dweck (author of The New Psychology of Success) - Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset • Jim Stigler – Struggle for Smarts

  24. Take a step back… Wows? Wonders?

  25. Assessing HOTS… Credits to: Susan M. Brookhart

  26. Assessment always involves: • Specifying what you want to assess. (Be clear and exact!) • Designing tasks or questions that require students to demonstrate knowledge or skill. • Deciding what you will accept as evidence that students have shown the knowledge or skill.

  27. Special Considerations for Assessment of HOTS #1:Use introductory material for tasks. This will give students something about which to think! Example: Stacey and her friends have noticed a problem in their neighborhood. The garbage cans in the public park are overflowing. Name at least two things Stacey and her friends could do on their own to help solve this problem. Which one would you recommend they try first? Explain why.

  28. Special Considerations forAssessment of HOTS #2:Use novel material. The formats should not be consistently interchangeable. Example A: A chef opened a jar of olives. He used them to make 45 identical plates. There were 2 olives on each plate. Write an equation, that when solved, will tell how many olives were in the jar. Example B: During the canned food drive, each student collected 10 cans of food. The students collected 80 cans in all. Randy says the following equation can express this: s x 10 = 80. Brian thinks the equation should be written as 80 x 10 = s. Compose a text message to the boys explaining who is correct and why.

  29. Special Considerations forAssessment of HOTS #3:Manage difficulty and cognitive complexity separately. Difficulty and the level of thinking are two different qualities. Example: High Level of Difficulty ≠ Higher-Order Thinking!

  30. Using Multiple Choice Questions… Low Level:In order for precipitation to fall as snow instead of rain, the temperature must be below:a. 0˚ F c. 32˚ Fb. 20˚ F d. 35˚ F Higher Level: In which city did snow most likely fall at some time during the day?a. City 1 c. City 3b. City 2 d. City 4 The “thinking” is encoded in the choosing. If the questions are to reflect the level of thinking, the questions must be designed so that HOTS are really required to get the correct answer.

  31. Using Rubrics… • The quality of thinking demonstrated in the work should be included in at least one of the trait scales. • Use rubrics that describe qualities rather than quantities. • It is helpful if the same general scheme can be applied to different assignments. This will encourage students to see their thinking as a learning goal, rather than just content. • A caution: Be sure that your rubric doesn’t squash the HOTS you’re trying to encourage.

  32. Student Self-Assessments: • Definitely involves HOTS! • Often takes the form of checklists or rubrics. • Use for: • self-assessing drafts of students’ own work. • analyzing the quality of provided work samples. • student discussion groups. • establishing points of discussion for student-teacher conferences.

  33. Assessing HOTS… Wows? Wonders?

  34. Technology Resources that Encourage HOTS…

  35. Blended Learning…

  36. http://infohio.org

  37. Computer Coding Scratch: http://scratch.mit.edu/ Introduction to Computer Science: http://learn.code.org/ Code Academy: http://www.codecademy.com/

  38. http://atlantisremixed.org/

  39. http://nces.ed.gov/NCESKIDS/createagraph/default.aspx

  40. http://www.noetic-learning.com/gifted/index.jsp

  41. Other Resources?

  42. Transforming Our Units… What are the next steps?

  43. “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” -George Bernard Shaw

  44. Thank you for your time! • Contact Information: • Fay Wagner, Gifted Intervention Specialist: wagner_f@betheltate.org • Contact Information for Administrators or Professional Development Requests: • Amy Bain, Clermont County Gifted Coordinator: bain_a@ccesc.org

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