Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit VI

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Teaching Learning Collaborative (TLC) Classroom
Teacher Project
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Teaching Learning Collaborative (TLC) Classroom
Teacher Project

• Teachers and principals from two Title 1, K-5
  schools in Los Angeles Unified School District
• Predominantly English learners
• Combined faculty of 60 teachers monthly meetings
  at schools for TLC professional development
• Self-selected sub-group with teachers from both
  schools monthly workshops, coaching, etc. from
  one to two years
• Sub-days funded by OELA grant allowed teachers to
  participate

3
Classroom Teacher ProjectCollaborative and
Constructivist

• University faculty provide a framework for
  teachers to conduct classroom inquiry into their
  instruction of English learners.
• Classroom teachers identify a specific area of
  their instruction to study and improve.
• Faculty and teachers would support the teachers
  inquiry over a long term period.

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Classroom Teacher ProjectTeachers Voices

• The thing I really appreciated about the TLC
  project is that for the first time we werent
  being told what to do. It started with us.

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Classroom Teacher ProjectSample of Community
Building Overlapping narratives

• Modeled strategies for use with ELs
• Allowed teachers from 2 schools to get to know
  each other
• Provided vehicle to discuss ideas

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Classroom Teacher ProjectSample Community
Building Overlapping narratives

• Identified salient events in their lives as
  teachers
• Organized into themes
• Identified a shared narrative in themselves and
  students
• Reflected on using this process with their
  English learners.

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Classroom Teacher ProjectSample Community
Building Salvador Late and Early

• Read story together
• Individually retold the narrative with symbols
• Modeled narrative symbol exercise for use with Els

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Classroom Teacher ProjectSample Community
Building Salvador Late and Early

• Built relationships between teachers
• Provided vehicle to discuss school experience of
  ELs
• Modeled narrative symbol exercise for use with Els

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Classroom Teacher Project Teachers Voices

• Like Salvador, many students come to school
  where teachers do not understand their language,
  dont understand their background, dont
  understand where they come from.
• -- TLC teacher

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Classroom Teacher Project Getting to Know
Students

• To assess prior knowledge.
• To foster authentic relationships
• Seek out students interests in order to know how
  best to teach them

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Classroom Teacher Project Getting to Know
Students

• Two 4th grade teachers visited all 35 students in
  their homes.
• Photography project in which students created
  photo journals

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Classroom Teacher Project Getting to Know
StudentsOne teacher learned Spanish

• She used Spanish to set children at ease Qué
  pasó mi hijo?

• In classroom management
• Sientate por favor!

• And to teach new words in English
• content - contento
• library - libro

13
Classroom Teacher Project Current theory and
research

• At annual retreats and regular meetings, teachers
  read, jig-sawed and summarized articles in
  pairs
• I liked the readings and discussing with peers.
• The most beneficial activity was time to read
  articles and reflect with our fellow teachers

14
Classroom Teacher Project Inquiry-Based Teaching
Learning

• Individual inquiry projects to improve
  instruction of English learners.
• Faculty consulted on unit lesson design
• Classroom observations
• Review videos of lessons with faculty and peers,
  sometimes with whole group

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Classroom Teacher Project Inquiry-Based Teaching
Learning

• Challenges included
• Time to plan and implement inquiry projects
• Mandated curriculum content is often not
  culturally relevant to students
• The mandated curriculum is not designed for
  English learners
• Therefore, we focused on inquiry projects that
  could supplement the district-mandated curriculum

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Classroom Teacher Project Inquiry-Based
Teaching Learning

• One 4th grade teacher read The Algebra Project
  and implemented math conferences that were
  similar to the writing and language arts
  conferences she had used for many years.

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Classroom Teacher Project How Did the Project
Affect Instruction? Teachers Voices

• Thank you for the theory, interesting topics,
  and not dumbing things down.
• The only model that works is the inquiry model
  where teachers are reflecting and thinking and
  changing their practice on their own, not being
  told to implement another program, but an
  authentic questioning amongst teachers.

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Classroom Teacher Project Teachers Voices

• Its about self-study, where you study yourself
  and see how you want to change It is great
  professional development because it allows
  teachers to go into their practice and say, You
  know what, I would like to see this change.  I
  want to better myself in this teaching aspect.
   How can I do it? What can I do to change myself
  as an educator and to change my practice to
  better reach those students.

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Teaching Learning Collaborative Learning How to
Make Professional Development Meaningful in Any
Group

• Demonstrate mutual respect by engaging
  participants in the planning
• Build trust by getting to know one another
• Find out what participants know, need to know,
  and want to know
• Make opportunities for creative, collaborative
  work
• Provide consistent follow up