Engaging  All  Learners  

Qualicum,  session  2  April  29,  2011  

Faye  Brownlie  &  Leyton  Schnellert  

Debrief  

•  ConnecDons  

•  A  ha’s  

•  QuesDons  

What  would  it  be  important  to  have  a  mental  model?  

McKinsey  Report,  2007  

•  The  top-­‐performing  school  systems  recognise  that  the  only  way  to  improve  outcomes  is  to  improve  instrucDon:    learning  occurs  when  students  and  teachers  interact,  and  thus  to  improve  learning  implies  improving  the  quality  of  that  interacDon.  

How  the  world’s  most  improved  school  systems  keep  geUng  beVer  –

McKinsey,  2010  

Three  changes  collaboraDve  pracDce  brought  about:  1.  Teachers  moved  from  being  private  emperors  to  

making  their  pracDce  public  and  the  enDre  teaching  populaDon  sharing  responsibility  for  student  learning.  

2.  Focus  shiXed  from  what  teachers  teach  to  what  students  learn.  

3.  Systems  developed  a  model  of  ‘good  instrucDon’  and  teachers  became  custodians  of  the  model.  (p.  79-­‐81)  

Engage  your  students!    Help  them  to…  

•  see    how    subjects    are    interconnected,      •  learn    from    and    with    each    other    and      people    in    their    community,          

•  feel    they    make    a    difference    in    the      world,  engage    with    knowledge    that    maVers      to    them,        

•   connect    with    experts    and    experDse,      •  have    more    opportuniDes    for    dialogue    and    conversaDon    about    their    learning.      

 (Wilms    et.    al,    2009)        

The teeter totter

kids

kids curriculum

What  can  we  do  to  make  our  lives  more  healthy?  

•  1.    How  does  our  nutriDon  affect  our  lives?  •  2.    What  is  important  to  know  about  nutriDon?  

NutriDon  

Diseases  and  deficiencies  

Protein  

•  Carbohydrates  

Vitamin  C  

•  Vitamin  A  

Vitamin  A  

Vitamin  C  deficiency  

Vitamin  C  

 Thiamine  

Folic  Acid  

•  Vitamin  D  

•  Calcium  

Iodine  

Well  fed  vs.  well  nourished  

Well  fed  vs.  well  nourished  

•  Malnourished  

Not  enough  fat:  muscle  degeneraDon  

What  do  you  noDce/wonder  about  the  slides?  

•  How  might  this  persons  life  be  affected  by  their  nutriDon?  

What’s  important  and  why.        

•  Choose  1  of  6  arDcles(  max  4  per  group)  on  nutriDon.    Each  read  and  then  discuss  what  is  important  to  know  about  this  arDcle  and  why…  

•  Be  prepared  to  share  your  knowledge  

What  can  we  do  to  make  our  lives  more  healthy?  

•  1.    How  does  our  nutriDon  affect  our  lives?  •  2.    What  is  important  to  know  about  nutriDon?  

DocumenDng:  

-­‐sharing  with  others  -­‐reflecDng  

•  Learn  from  and  with  each  other  and  the  community  

•  Have  more  opportuniDes  for  dialogue  and  conversaDon  about  learning  

Learning  Stories  based  on  the  work  of  Margaret  Carr  &  Wendy  Lee,  New  Zealand  

Megan  Fraser  &  Giovanni  Thiessen,  Burnaby  

•  A  story  •  DocumentaDon  

•  Makes  the  ordinary  significant  

•  IniDated  by  the  child  •  Only  the  ‘good’  reported  •  Supported  with  pictures  

Learning  Stories  

•  IniDaDve  •  Engagement  •  IntenDonality  •  RelaDonship  with  others  •  DisposiDons  and  approaches  in  learning  •  RepresentaDon  in  other  forms  •  Sharing  with  others  •  ReflecDon  

Child: Karma Teacher: Megan Fraser Date: January 15, 2011!

A Learning Story! !Observation Focus

EXPRESSING AN IDEA OR A FEELING: In a range of ways (specify). For example: oral language, gesture, music, art, writing, using numbers and patterns, telling stories.!!

!The story…

Karma, today you were taking the ‘hospital project’ to an entirely different place… you began to represent what you were learning about through play, stories and conversations with a new medium: paint.

This idea came to you entirely independently, rather than in response to another students’ idea or an invitation from me.

You were entirely focussed as you created with black and red paint, paper and brush.

I asked what you were working on and you told me, “It’s a heart, but not the shape kind; it’s the real kind and that black stuff, it’s disease.”

What’s happening… Karma, you engage with the world through your senses… you do not always internalize the ideas of others, but rather prefer to touch, taste, smell, listen, and smell for yourself. You represent this engagement in an equally unique way (through images and movement), and as you do so, you appear to be engaged in that conversation with ideas using your whole body!

What’s next… Karma, I understand that a strength for you is that you have an ability to understand things on a deeper level when you have physically engaged with them. I need to remember to provide you with opportunities to learn things in this way. For example, how can I engage your body and senses to help you develop literacy and numeracy skills? Perhaps painting? Sculpture? Scented play doh? Water on chalkboards?

!

Learning  Story  Evi  Kurina,  Riga,  Latvia  

•  Chem  9  •  Summary  lesson  before  the  test  •  Coaching  •  New  to  working  in  groups  •  New  to  working  with  Learning  IntenDons  •  Learning  story:    1)teachers                  2)students  – What’s  the  story?    What  should  we  noDce  about  you  as  a  learner?  

Learning  Stories  

•  IniDaDve  (assigned)  •  Engagement  •  IntenDonality  (connecDon  to  LI)  •  RelaDonship  with  others  •  DisposiDons  and  approaches  in  learning  •  RepresentaDon  in  other  forms  (story  behind  the  picture)  

•  Sharing  with  others  (group  presentaDons)  •  ReflecDon  (group  presentaDons)  

What  worked?  

•  ParDcipaDon  in  the  small  groups  •  Inclusion  of  all  members  

•  Quiet  voices  •  Engagement  and  interest  

•  Learning  intenDons  

What  didn’t?  

•  Task  too  complex  for  the  alloVed  Dme  •  Students  needed  support  with  how  to  read  the  labels  

What’s  Next?  

•  Feedback  on  what  made  the  groups  work  well  

•  Explicit  lesson  on  how  to  read  labels