Englewood Schools
Teaching & Learning Cycle
Planning How will I plan instruction to meet the needs of all learners?
Learning In what ways will I be an activator and ensure that my students are engaged in the learning process?
Monitoring How will I know who is/is not progressing and what will I do about it?
Planning Using the Backward Design Stages1 The backward design process as outlined by Wiggins and McTighe (2005) allows for teachers to begin with a clear understanding of the learning destination. Designers in education must be mindful of their desired outcomes, the steps that will be required to reach these outcomes and the evidence that will demonstrate enduring understanding. Through this mindset, teachers can ensure the focus is not merely on interesting learning, but effective learning. “Good design, then, is not so much about gaining a few new technical skills as it is about learning to be more thoughtful and specific about our purposes and what they imply.” 2
Stage 1: Identify Desired Results
Action steps for this stage
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Develop clarity about priorities Use Promoting Engagement Through Gradual Release guidelines Examine Colorado Academic Standards, CCSS, NGSS Review curriculum expectations
• • • •
What should students know, understand and be able to do? What content is worthy of understanding? What enduring understandings are desired? What questions will foster inquiry?
Essential questions for this stage
Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence
Action steps for this stage
• • • •
Consider quality assessment practices Match assessments to desired results Ensure balance in types of evidence to be gathered Consider real world application and demonstration of enduring knowledge
• How will we know if students have achieved the desired results? • What will we accept as evidence of student understanding and proficiency? • What evidence needs to be collected?
Essential questions for this stage
Stage 3: Create Learning Experiences and Instruction
Action steps for this stage
• • • •
Plan instructional activities that ensure inclusion Gather appropriate resources and share best practices with colleagues Fully integrate “Promoting Engagement Through Direct Instruction” Ensure success for all students through differentiation
• • • •
What are the most appropriate instructional strategies to achieve the desired results? What facts, concepts, principles, processes, procedures, and strategies will students need to practice? What materials and resources will help accomplish the learning goals? What activities will help students construct knowledge?
Essential questions for this stage
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2
Advanced Template of all 3 Stages
Basic Template of all 3 Stages
Adapted, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design (Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2005) Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design (Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2005) 14.
Belong and Thrive
Englewood Schools
How will you activate students’ lear ning in a step by step process? (SCAFFOLDING)
GUIDED INSTRUCTION
INDEPENDENT
How will students practice and share with one another?
COLLABORATION
Student Responsibilities
How will students apply new lear ning to Relevant Situations and reflect on what they have lear ned?
How will you orient students to new material and provide access to new infor mation?
FOCUS LESSON
Teacher Responsibilities
Adapted from Fisher and Frey (2008)
You Do Alone
You Do Together
We Do
I Do
A Gradual Release of Teacher Responsibilities
Instructional Model for Monitoring Progress Differences between Formative and Summative Assessments
Formative Assessments (can be broken down into two categories)
Level 1 – Simple or Informal
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Observations Retellings Whip around Think – Pair – Share Questions students ask in class Checking for understanding and providing immediate verbal feedback
“ Level 1 formative assessments allow for feedback to students that is so immediate that it does not warrant input from colleagues.” Richard J. Stiggins
Level 2 – Complex or Formal
• • • • • • •
Exit slips where students explain their understanding of the learning objective Response cards where students explain their thinking or reasoning Exhibition of understanding of a step in a multi step process Homework Graphic organizers Class Assignments Clickers
“ Level 2 formative assessments don’t allow for immediate feedback, but do provide concrete data that can be used to guide instruction with feedback from colleagues received during data team meetings.” Richard J. Stiggins
Summative Assessments (can also be broken down into two categories)
Level 3 – Simple or informal summative assessments are based on shorter pieces of new information
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Chapter tests Unit Tests Vocabulary building Metacognition of study skills associated with the content area
“ Level 3 summative assessments are used for grades and do not provide feedback that is as timely as formative assessments because they take longer to grade. Students can still grow based on feedback from these assess ments and can be used in data teams.” Richard J. Stiggins
Level 4 – Complex or formal summative assessments provide a sense of finality in the learning process
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Final Exams End of Course Exams Large Unit Tests Performance Assessments Research Projects State or National Assessments
“ Level 4 summative assessments are complex, formal, and cumulative in nature. Often the feedback comes too late for any student growth and therefore these assessments are often useless in data teams.” Richard J. Stiggins
** If formative assessments are rigorous, aligned to student grade level expectations, and used to guide instruction, then summative assessments should reflect the growth students have made through the learning process. Englewood Schools
Analysis of the Key Differences between Formative and Summative Assessments.
Educator Tips: Using Assessments in the RtI Process • Pretest before a unit of study and adjust instruction for individuals or entire groups based on results • Conduct the Data Teams Process collaboratively (if a common assessment was given). • Share learning objectives in advance of teaching a lesson, giving an assignment or doing an activity. Then check to make sure students understand how the activity or assignment ties to the learning. • Let students know the purpose of each assignment (is it for practice and where does it fit into the grading scheme) and what kind of feedback they will get from it. • Analyze which students need more practice. • Provide descriptive feedback to students in place of summative grades during learning, including on homework, especially if the homework is intended to reinforce concepts taught that day. Everything does not need to be graded. • Continually revise instruction on the basis of results. • Confer with students providing teacher feedback on how the student is progressing toward the learning objectives. Make students aware of what they have learned before launching into what they need to work on. Take into consideration how much corrective feedback the learner – especially the struggling learner – can reasonably be expected to act on at one time. • Facilitate peer tutoring, matching students who demonstrate understanding with those who do not.
Englewood Schools
Belong and Thrive