Best Practice: A System of Instructional Support

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Best Practice A System of Instructional
Support
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• In regards to Best Practice
• Techniques and instructional strategies have
  nearly as much influence on learning as student
  aptitude.
• James Strong
• Qualities of Effective Teachers

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Best Practice What does it mean?

• Common Characteristics
• Based on current research
• Includes latest knowledge, technology and
  procedures
• Successful across student populations
• Applies across content areas and grade levels

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A Systems View

Strategies within a focused topic
area Strategies within content
areas Cross-content instructional
strategies Structures Principles
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Best Practice A Bit of History

• Research
• Led by Zemelman, Daniels and Hyde 1990s
• Focus on teaching and learning
• Purpose to discover whats working
• Participants
• Classroom teachers/students throughout U.S.
• Professional Organizations
• Research Centers
• Process
• Interviews
• Meta-analysis of existing research

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Best Practice Findings
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Processing Activity 1

• Processing Time
• (10 minutes)
• Review Common Conclusions of Learning Teaming
  individually
• Discuss at table
• Have you used these documents?
• If so, how?
• If not, how might you use them?

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The 13 Principles of Best Practice
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Processing Activity 2

• Processing Time
• (10-15 min)
• Review the 13 Best Practice Principles
• Review the four Michigan Teaching and Learning
  Standards
• How do the two align?

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Best Practice A Comparative Look
Best Practice Principles
MI Teaching and Learning Standards
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• The literature on instruction suggests that
  students whose teachers develop and regularly
  integrate inquiry-based, hands-on learning
  activities, critical thinking skills and
  assessments into daily lessons consistently
  out-perform their peers.
• Qualities of Effective Teachers, ASCD

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Best Practice and Authenticity

• Students provided with authentic curriculum
  achieved at levels 2-3 times higher than
  students in skills-oriented, low authenticity
  classrooms.
• Fred Newman, University of Wisconsin

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Best Practice Seven Structures

• Reading as Thinking
• Representing-to-Learn
• Small Group Activities
• Classroom Workshop
• Authentic Experiences
• Reflective Assessment
• Integrative Units

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Best Practice

• These seven structures are
• Validated
• Documented
• Supported

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Best Practice

• They are also
• Rigorous
• Recurrent
• Overlapping
• Interdependent

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Best Practice Reading as Thinking

• Interactive
• Constructive
• Strategic
• Examples
• Brainstorming
• Mapping
• Questioning
• KWL

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Best Practice Representing-to-Learn

• Active construction of knowledge
• Transferring ideas between mediums for deep
  understanding
• Examples
• Journals, logs, sketchbooks
• Free writing, mapping, webbing
• Variety of expressions music, visual, etc.

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Best Practice Small Group Activities

• Makes learning active
• Stresses collaboration/teamwork
• Preparation for real-life experiences
• Examples
• Buddy reading, lab partners
• Peer response/editing groups
• Literature circles

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Best Practice Classroom Workshops

• Class as studio or lab
• Student choice of topic
• Process orientation scientific process, writing
  process
• Examples
• Folder/portfolio work
• Mini-lessons with teacher modeling
• Sharing, presenting, exhibiting

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Best Practice Authentic Experiences

• Bring school to life
• Community connections
• Invite world in take students out
• Examples
• Speakers in classroom
• Primary source books
• Field trips, visits
• Service projects

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Best Practice Reflective Assessment

• Student reflection, self-assessment
• Multiple measures
• Formative assessments
• Examples
• Portfolios
• Performance assessments with scoring rubrics
• Student-led conferences

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Best Practice Integrative Units

• Focus on broad problems, issues, themes
• across subjects, disciplines
• Incorporates student interest
• Creates extended inquiries
• Examples
• Thematic Units
• Problem-based learning
• Integrated programs (American Studies and Whole
  Language)

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Processing Activity 3

• Processing Time
• (10-15 min)
• Using the Best Practice Principles/Structures
  Guide
• reflect on a unit
• check which principles structures apply
• Share your thoughts

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Best Practice Cross-content Instructional
Strategies

• Marzanos Classroom Instruction that Works
• Goal to find strategies that work for
• all students
• all grades
• all subjects

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Best Practice Process of Identifying Strategies

• Meta-analysis of research
• Identified effect sizes

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Best Practice Effect Size

• An effect size will help answer the question
• Does the technique produce a large enough impact
  that its worthwhile to pursue?

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Best Practice A Comparative Finding
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Processing Activity 4

• Processing Time
• (5-10 minutes)

Individually reflect and document
Circle ideas going around in your mind Square
ideas that squared with your thinking Arrow
ideas you want to learn more about Puzzle Piece
ideas for connecting your learning
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Elements of Effective PedagogyA Total Picture
Instructional Strategies
Management Techniques
Curriculum Design
Effective Pedagogy
SOURCE Classroom Instruction that Works,
Marzano, et al
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Processing Activity 5

• Processing Time
• (10-15 min)
• Explain to your neighbor the difference as
• you see it between
• Best Practice principles
• Seven classroom structures
• Nine instructional strategies

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Break-out Session ELA/Math
Reading Writing Math
Best Practice Strategies that Work ? ?
? ? ? ?
Increased Student Achievement
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Strategies within a focused topic
area Strategies within content
areas Cross-content instructional
strategies Structures Principles
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Best Practice Day Two

• Tomorrows workshops focus more specifically
  within content areas

• Informational Reading Whats It All About?
• Detail/ Examples in Writing Where Art Thou?
• Fun with Fractions (K-5)
• Developing Abilities in Algebra (5-7)

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Best Practice Guiding Questions to Consider

• Who is defining the principle, structure, or
  intervention as a best practice? (credibility)
• Are there other researchers who are in agreement
  with this practice?
• What is their reason or rationale for doing this?
  (purpose)
• Is it an effective practice? When you use it with
  students are they more successful?

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Best Practice Resources

• Additional tools that can help you
• Recognized literature
• Credible organizations
• Notable websites
• Useful rubrics

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• A final thought
• Best Practice
• we admit it is just another name
• for progressive education.
• Daniels Bizar