1. COMPACTING, CONTRACTS, AND INDEPENDENT STUDY: USING TIME EFFICIENTLY BASED ON VBCPS GRT TRAINING, 2007 Princess Anne Middle School February, 2016 Mrs. Cathy Smith, MSEd.

2. HOW WOULD YOU REACT? Setting the stage for today’s learning…

3. WHAT ARE WE AIMING FOR TODAY? three strategies This workshop presents three strategies to help highly able students get more out of school: COMPACTING THE CURRICULUM LEARNING CONTRACTS INDEPENDENT STUDY You may find the following strategies enable you to challenge and motivate not only gifted students, but also other students who have talents and abilities in specific areas.

4. STRATEGIES FOR MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO WORK AND LEARN Gifted students benefit from participating in activities that are different from those designed for other students. Don’t think of it as giving them something special. Think of it as giving them what they need. Such alternative activities should extend basic concepts and allow students to connect their personal interests to the course curriculum. Extra credit activities should be avoided as they send a message that more work is required.

5. WHAT ARE THESE MAGICAL TOOLS? Compacting: Students who demonstrate previous mastery spend less time with the regular curriculum and more time with extension and enrichment opportunities. Contracts: Written agreements between teachers and students that outline what students will learn, how they will learn it, in what period of time, and how they will be evaluated. Contracts allow students to engage actively in the decision-making process, directing their course of study. Independent Study: Students who are compacted out of all or a portion of the regular curriculum design their own project in an area of interest. The student and teacher collaborate on topic, process, product, and assessment.

6. WHAT CAN IT LOOK LIKE ON THE MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL? Prerequisites for teachers: 1) Study previous year’s objectives—where are the possibilities? Go to the wikispace page and take a few minutes to look at either the weather or the geometry units from elementary school through middle school. What topics are repeated? Where are the extensions? Where are the possibilities to move quicker or cut out altogether?

7. WHAT CAN IT LOOK LIKE ON THE MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL? Prerequisites for teachers: 2) Know your students!  readiness  interests  preferred learning environments/modes

8. CURRICULUM COMPACTING NAGC says: Curriculum compacting is a technique for differentiating instruction that allows teachers to make adjustments to curriculum for students who have already mastered the material to be learned, replacing content students know with new content, enrichment options, or other activities.

9. RATIONALE FOR CURRICULUM COMPACTING Recognizes the large reservoir of knowledge in some learners Satisfies hunger to learn more about more topics than school often allows Encourages independence Eliminates boredom and lethargy resulting from unnecessary drill and practice

10. STUDENTS BEHAVIORS WHICH MAY SUGGEST COMPACTING IS NECESSARY Consistently finishes tasks quickly Finishes reading assignments first Appears bored during instruction time Consistently daydreams Creates own puzzles, games, or diversions in class Brings in outside reading material Test scores consistently excellent despite average or below- average class work Asks questions which indicate advanced familiarity with material Expresses interest in pursuing alternate or advanced topics

11. GOALS FOR CURRICULUM COMPACTING Create a challenging learning environment Guarantee proficiency in basic curriculum Buy time for enrichment and acceleration

12. CURRICULUM COMPACTING: A TOOL Curriculum compacting is a management device that helps teachers to do three things: 1.Find out what students already know and do not teach it to them. 2.Find out what students do not know and make sure they learn it. 3.Allow students to use the time saved in more challenging, interesting, and creative ways.

13. THE COMPACTOR

14. The Compactor Interest inventory Learning profile Grades; Performance Tests: Teacher-made and Standardized Anecdotal records Portfolios Parent Input Flexible grouping Text materials Resource staff assistance Parent involvement Learning Contracts Cooperative learning Learning Centers Independent Study Research: Descriptive, Historical, Experimental Contracts Learning Centers Mentorships

15. GUIDELINES FOR COMPACTING At the beginning of a unit, provide opportunities for interested students to demonstrate mastery in some way. The same activity may be used for post- assessment. Students who achieve a specified criterion or grade participate in class lessons and assignments on the days when instruction includes concepts or skills they have not mastered. On those occasions, they become part of the regular class and participate in assigned activities. For each student who achieves a specified criterion level on the pre-assessment activity, prepare a contract listing required concepts, enrichment options, and specified working conditions. Check only the topics students have not mastered so they know when to join the larger group.

16. MORE ON COMPACTING The following guidelines are useful when material may not be pre-testable because it is unfamiliar to students. Compacting is still required because gifted students often need less time than their age peers to learn new material. Prepare a study guide that includes the same concepts for which all students will be responsible. Offer the study guide opportunity to all students who have exhibited easy mastery of previous topics. Eligible students will be expected to learn the study guide material, but it is understood that they will spend the majority of their time working on their extension tasks. Students should not be required to write out the answers for the content of the study guide. They may use any means they choose to learn the material, but must be able to demonstrate mastery.

17. MORE ON COMPACTING… Include dates when students must meet with the rest of the class to demonstrate their competence with the required concepts. Students who do not demonstrate competence must return to work with the class for the rest of the unit. Thus, during a specific unit of time, students are moving back and forth between the teacher- directed group and independent work on extension activities.

18. GUIDELINES FOR CONTRACTS In one section of the contract, list the concepts or outcomes that the whole class will learn. In another section of the contract, list a variety of alternative or extension activities from which students may choose. These activities may be developed by the teacher, the student, or both. If extension activities are developed solely by the teacher, options should include "Your original idea" so that students can link their personal interests with the required curriculum. Ideas designed by the student must have teacher approval. Students work on alternative activities on the days when the class is learning concepts they have previously mastered. Students should be responsible for documenting their time. One option is to ask students to keep a log of their activities on the days they are not working with the rest of the class. Set guidelines for those activities. Student outcomes or grades result from a combination of work completed with the class and a posttest or post-assessment activity. The section on Guidelines for Evaluation of Alternative Work provides details.

19. INDEPENDENT STUDY This approach involves individual students pursuing topics or areas of study on their own. Independent study is characterized by freedom from constant supervision, although there is interaction with others as needed. Typically, the student chooses an area of study, develops his or her own approach to gathering information, and produces some kind of outcome.

20. GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE WORK Please go to the wikispace to review guidelines that are suggested for the evaluation of alternative work. After you have reviewed the guidelines, complete a 4A’s analysis: 1) One thing you agree with (and why)-- 2) One thing you would argue with (and why)-- 3) One thing you aspire to-- 4) One thing you think the author of these guidelines assumes about teaching your classes--

21. IF MOTIVATION IS THE GOAL, KNOW THE DIFFERENCES Independent Study Student determines (in collaboration with the teacher or a mentor): topic process product audience assessment tools Independent Research Teacher determines the topic or subject area. Teacher directly guides or oversees content, process, products, audience, and assessments

22. Effective teachers at all grade levels have found that students differ in the ways they learn best and therefore learn better when teachers vary approaches to learning. Compacting, contracts, and independent study make it possible for teachers to present alternative activities to highly capable learners that are challenging, promote cognitive growth, and are based on student interests. Regular use of compacting and contracts will benefit not only gifted students, but also provide interesting educational opportunities for the entire class.

23. To learn a particular concept, some children need days, some ten minutes, but the typical lockstep schedule ignores this fundamental fact.

24. TASK/EXIT TICKET: Spend five minutes with your content colleague and think about an upcoming unit. What applications can you find for compacting, independent research, and independent study?