Teachers as Curriculum Designers

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Teachers as Curriculum Designers

• Thoughtful Education

GRREC September 2006
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Divergent Thinking

• Fluency
• Elaboration
• Flexibility
• Originality

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Thoughtful Education

• Assumptions of Thoughtful Education
• Improved instruction is the PRIME FACTOR in
  producing student achievement gains.
• Professional Learning Communities are the SUREST
  and FASTEST path to instructional improvement.
• Leadership begins with the recognition that we
  must eliminate the senseless things that divert
  time and attention away from the two elements
  most vital to school successhow we teach, which
  is best improved through focused teacher
  collaboration and what we teachin Marzanos
  words, a guaranteed and viable curriculum.

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Think about a time you were involved in a
creative process. What was the process
like? What were your struggles? What were your
rewards?
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Creativity is a Mess---From a Mess to a Model

• Generating Ideas
• Forming Big Ideas/Concepts
• Shaping Ideas
• Refining and Polishing Finished Product

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What makes writing a unit challenging and how can
we simplify the process? How is a thoughtful
unit of study like play dough?
What are the parts of a thoughtful unit of
study? What is the difference between an
activity planner and a curriculum designer?
As a teacher do you model questioning in four
styles when working with your teachers?
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Imagine a BOX. In this box is a curriculum
that teachers love to teach and
students love to learn. What would be in
the box?
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David Perkins Director Project Zero, Harvard
University
Knowledge by Design
Attributes Purpose
Value How would you improve on the design?
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The focus on learning becomes the leverage for
improved teaching.
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Attributes Purpose
Value Improvements
Look at the unit on evolution. What can you
learn from the design?
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Standards
Students
National State
District School
Learning Styles Multiple Intelligences Culture Int
erests Talents Skills Abilities
Learning Style Profiles
Research Based Strategies and Tools
Varied Assessment Task Rotation, Comprehensive
Menus Graduated Difficulty
Hidden Skills
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Foyer Library Kitchen
Know
Attitudes
Workroom
Porch
Understand
Skills
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Know Parts of a Thoughtful Unit of Study
Be Like Appreciation for the creative process and
messiness of creativity. Collaboration and
Collegiality
Foyer Think of a Time Imagine a Box
Generating Ideas Think Pair Share
Rank Order Ladder Knowledge by Design

Library Examining a Unit Resource Evolution
Unit Thoughtful Curriculum Guide Learning from
Louie Learning from Research Learning from
Examples Principles Five Easy Pieces
Workroom Creating a Thoughtful Statement of
Purpose Jigsaw Resource Thoughtful Curriculum
Guide Unpacking the Standards
Porch How is writing a thoughtful unit like play
dough?
Understand Components of a design
Skills Unpack the standards Identify purpose
Planning Your Unit Step 1 Identify Your
Purpose Unpacking Core Content 4.1
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What can we learn from Louie?
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Standards
SC-HS-3.5.1 Students will predict the impact on
species of changes to 1) the potential for a
species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic
variability of offspring due to mutation and
recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of
the resources required for life, or (4) natural
selection propose solutions to real-world
problems of endangered and extinct
species. Species change over time. Biological
change over time is the consequence of the
interactions of (1) the potential for a species
to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic
variability of offspring due to mutation and
recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of
the resources required for life and (4) natural
selection. The consequences of change over time
provide a scientific explanation for the fossil
record of ancient life forms and for the striking
molecular similarities observed among the diverse
species of living organisms. Changes in DNA
(mutations) occur spontaneously at low rates.
Some of these changes make no difference to the
organism, whereas others can change cells and
organisms. Only mutations in germ cells have the
potential to create the variation that changes an
organisms future offspring. DOK 3
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Standards
Students will describe patterns of human
settlement in regions of Kentucky and explain how
these patterns were influenced by physical
characteristics (e.g. climate, landforms, soils,
vegetation, bodies of water. Students will
describe how the physical environment both
promoted and restricted human activities during
the early settlement of Kentucky. Students will
use a variety of tools to explain significant
events in Kentuckys history. Students will give
examples of why people explored and settled
Kentucky.
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Built to Last
Five Easy Pieces

• Research Behind Effective Unit Design

Madeline Hunter
Grant Wiggins Jay McTighe
Benjamin Bloom
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dentify the standards, big ideas, key details.
I D E A S
etermine your essential questions.
stablish your assessment task and criteria.
lign instruction/assessment to diversity,
research based strategies, and hidden skills.
equence the learning events.
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Components of Thoughtful Curriculum Design

• Identify your Purpose

A statement of purpose defines what you want
students to know, understand, do, and be like. A
statement of purpose includes a set of essential
questions that last over time and frame the
learning.
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What Essential Questions will frame the learning?
Knowledge What specific facts, details, or
vocabulary does the unit need to address?
Attitudes What dispositions or attitudes does the
unit instill in students?

• Understanding
• What big ideas and
• themes need to
• be covered?

Skills What skills do students need to develop?
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Components of Thoughtful Unit Design

• Task Description

Assessment pulls together the various threads you
have explored throughout the unit and provides
students an equal opportunity to show what they
know and apply what they have learned. Clear
expectations are defined through a rubric or
scoring guide.
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Assessment How will students understanding be
measured?
Task Rotation Comprehensive Menus Graduated
Difficulty Project Learning
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Now, it is your turn to frame your unit of study.
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Identify the framework for learning
Knowledge
Attitudes

• Understanding

Skills
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Workroom
Porch
What essential questions will serve as the
foundation for learning?
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Foyer Library Kitchen
Hook/Bridge Resources Assessment
Workroom
Porch
Activities
Reflection
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Assessment How will students understanding be
measured?
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• How is a thoughtful curriculum like play
  dough?

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Teaching, What Matters Most

• Teacher Impact on Learning

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• Teacher

Student
Home
Peers
Schools
Principals
What influences matter?
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• Leadership, teaching, and adult actions matter.
• While it is true that demographic variables
  are directly linked to student achievement, it is
  also true that adult variables, including the
  professional practices of teachers and the
  decisions leaders make, can be more important
  than demographic variables.

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The single greatest determinant of learning is
NOT socioeconomic factors or funding levels---IT
IS INSTRUCTION.
Mike Schmoker
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Indisputable Evidence

• What teachers do has six to ten times as
  much impact on achievement as all other factors
  combined.
• Mortimer Simmons
• The single greatest determinant of learning is
• NOT socioeconomic factors or funding levels,
• IT IS INSTRUCTION.
• Mike Schmoker

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Indisputable Evidence

• Two teachers working with the same
• socio-economic population can achieve
  starkly different results.
• 
  Different Results
• In one class 27 of the students pass a
  state assessment. In another 72 of the students
• will pass a state assessment.

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Thoughtful Education
Three years of Effective Teaching accounts for an
improvement of 35-60 percentile points.
William Sanders

• Assumptions of Thoughtful Education
• Improved instruction is the PRIME FACTOR in
  producing student achievement gains.
• Professional Learning Communities are the SUREST
  and FASTEST path to instructional improvement.

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Thoughtful Education
The best teachers in a school,that is to say the
top 1/3, have SIX TIMES more impact on student
learning than the bottom 1/3. Katie
Haycock

• Assumptions of Thoughtful Education
• Improved instruction is the PRIME FACTOR in
  producing student achievement gains.
• Professional Learning Communities are the SUREST
  and FASTEST path to instructional improvement.

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Thoughtful Education
There can be no improvement without the teacher.
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A successful, face to face team is more than just
collectively intelligent. It makes everyone work
work harder, think smarter, and reach better
conclusions than they would have own their own.
James Solowreck
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Why Professional Learning Communities?

• Instructional Learning Teams ensure follow up and
  reflection on instruction and its impact on
  learning.
• Instructional Learning Teams are results driven.
• Instructional Learning Teams reinforce a focus on
  common essential instructional standards.
• Instructional Learning Teams create the best
  kind of accountabilitya commitment to people we
  know.
• Instructional Learning Teams honor
• and empower the intelligence
• of teachers.

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Imagine you are on a Learning Walk in your
school. What would be the general quality of
instruction throughout the building? What would
be the level of student engagement be? What
would you see and hear?
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In an extensive research study conducted by 24/7,
2005 of 1,500 classrooms here is what was
observed
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What is going on in your school? How does this
compare to a Thoughtful Classroom?
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Moving from an Instructional Leader to a Learning
Leader. Rick DuFour
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• There are particular leadership actions that
  show demonstrable links to improved student
  achievement and educational equity.

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• Inquiry the degree to which school leaders
  analyze the underlying causes of deficiencies and
  successes in student achievement and equity.
• Successful inquiry attributes the causes to
  adults in the educational systemteachers, school
  leaders, and policymakers.
• Unsuccessful inquiry attributes causes to
  students. In other words, blame the victim is
  not only morally reprehensible but statistically
  untrue.

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• Implementation the degree to which the specific
  elements of school improvement processes are
  implemented at the student and classroom levels.
  Effective implementation is a continuous variable
  in which leaders recognize that there are degrees
  of successful implementation that are subject to
  quantitative and narrative description.

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• Monitoring the degree to which a school self
  assesses their own progress in reaching school
  goals. Plans without monitoring are little better
  than wishes upon stars. It is important to
  distinguish carefully between appropriate and
  insightful monitoring and monitoring that equates
  to a compliance drill for external authorities.
• Assessment and reflection is designed to improve
  teaching and learning, provide immediate feedback
  for students and teachers, and focus on specific
  objectives.

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The focus on learning becomes the leverage for
improved teaching.
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What percentage of your students are academically
successful?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
70 80 90 100
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Do you know the names, faces and stories of those
who will not be successful at the end of the year?
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What do Learning Profiles look like? Are you
using profile data to support student learning?
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What Matters Most From Planning to
Performance
P I M
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What Matters Most From Planning to
Performance
Planning Implementation Monitoring
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Low
Frustration Burnout Low
Implementation No
Implementation Enthusiasm
Overload Commitment High Implementation
Little Implementation
Amount of Resources, Time, Focused Support
Available to the New Initiative
High
Low
High
Number of Old, Continuing, Pending and New
Initiatives
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Weeding the Garden

• Every school has weeds.
• The gardener must continuously remove the weeds
  in order to ensure a healthy garden.

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Learning Leaders must be ever vigilant for
persistent weeds with deep roots in the academic
garden.
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What is Leadership?

• Leadership is the continuous engagement in
  moving individuals and organizations from their
  present state to an ideal state.

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• To lead learning means to model a
  learner-centered as opposed to authority
  centered approach to all problems, inside and
  outside the classroom.

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• Tools for Schools A Learning SWEEP

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Imagine a Box.not Pandoras Box, but a box that
would provide answers your school has been
searching for in your quest for school
improvement. What would go in the box?
.
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• Meet Dennis Mitchell, a
• Learning Leader

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S W E E P
Inquiry Focus What does reading instruction
look like and sound like in our school? How can
we improve reading instruction and student
learning? Are students learning styles
addressed so as to provide equal opportunity to
learn?
.
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elect a focus and collect three consecutive days
of work.

S W E E P
.
Reading Class
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ork on the work, analyze the work using
criteria.

S W E E P
.
Reading Class
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Task After reading Titanic Found draw a
picture and write a summary of the text.

• Summarizing
• Recall
• Creating Visuals
• Mastery Learning Style

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S W E E P
What patterns emerge? What questions need
answering? What are our greatest needs? What are
the implications?
.
xamine teaching practices and students learning.
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S W E E P
What are we doing well? What do we need to do
MORE of?
.
.
valuate and assess what is working, what is not.
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S W E E P
Goal Action
Dates Expected Outcome Results
.
lan a course of action for reaching school
improvement goals.
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• What can a school learn from a SWEEP?
• How might this information bring about
  improvement in teaching and learning?
• How is this data different from the type of data
  you presently use?