1. DO YOU BELIEVE?

2. BEST FIRST Instruction
Pueblo City Schools Learning Services
August 20, 2014

3. Objectives Know the definition of Best First Instruction
Identify instructional practices that do not support Best First Instruction
Identify instructional practices that should be modeled and encouraged
Participants read silently

4. Core Beliefs Read the Core Belief Challenges
Pair/Share - Discuss with a partner your alignment with these questions
We all have our own set of beliefs that we bring to every situation. Most persons in education entered the profession because we share a belief system based upon our desire to see that children receive the best education.
Do our personal beliefs align with the district’s core beliefs? How do these statements illustrate (or not) the alignment between our personal beliefs and the district’s core beliefs?
I Believe/Do you Believe
All student can learn
100% of our students will graduate with a High School Diploma
100% of our students will achieve academic learning gains

5. They will need our best work.
We must have a commitment to excellence, to improve teacher practice and to influence school leadership so that they in turn influence teachers. We must have an effective teacher in front of every child. This transformation in our district must begin in the classroom – no longer can teachers teach in isolation, no longer can schools have low quality instruction, no longer can leadership ignore the effect we can have on improving the quality of instruction. The students who come to us deserve our very best.

6. Definition
Please reflect on your note page what “Best First instruction” means.
Cold call participants to share their personal definition

7. PCS Definition
“Best First instruction” is research-based daily classroom practices that engage all learners before interventions are planned. It includes core strategies such as explicit learning objectives that are tied to demonstrations of learning, differentiation, student engagement in rigorous and relevant learning, small group instruction, multiple response strategies, and effective feedback. Best First instruction operates from the core belief that each and every student will make learning gains.
Participants can read the formal definition. Best, First instruction should begin on DAY ONE!
Table discussion

8. Details on elements of BFI

11. BREAK
15 MINUTES

12. Best First Instruction
View videos of 6th grade math teacher, 3rd grade reading teacher, and 9th grade science
After each video write one high quality classroom instructional practice and one that you would coach the teacher to modify
Share out
We will now view some videos of real teachers in the classroom. These teachers are thought to have some pretty good instructional practices in their classrooms. What do you think about the quality of instruction given the definition of best first instruction that we just reviewed? What areas are areas of praise for the teachers? In what areas would you advise a coach to help the teacher modify a practice?
Cold call pairs or groups to share

13. Common practices that we want to generally avoid
Stream of consciousness writing
Observer math
Films (as opposed to movie clips)
Poor readers reading to the class
Round-robin reading
Constant busy work: coloring a map, crossword puzzles
Let’s review some common practices that our superintendent and core team have asked us to help teachers to generally avoid in the classroom. What should we encourage teachers to do instead?
Stream of consciousness writing – no specific framework for writing – no outline for students about steps in the writing process. Teachers just give the students a prompt and release them to write
Observer math – one student at a time (or the teacher) solving problems while others watch
Dark Rooms – lights out and shades down. Sometimes used as a disciplinary strategy to maintain control of the classroom.
Films – movie days that have no instructional purpose – used to “babysit” students – obvious no planning has taken place
Poor Readers Reading to the Class – struggling readers put ‘on the spot’ to read to their classmates. Everyone suffers through while the poor reader tries to decipher text that is too difficult for him/her to read. Students should be reading on their level and in small groups
Round-Robin Reading – students taking turns to read to each other – takes up time that teacher has no plans for – what activities can be linked to this practice to make it more engaging?
Crayola Curriculum – early childhood classrooms (and some upper grade rooms) where students are busy in activity centers coloring, cutting, and pasting their cut outs to other pieces of paper (Mike Schmoker coined the phrase after visiting hundreds of classrooms and noticing the pattern in early childhood classrooms of this “busywork” for students – students are not learning how to read or write but kept busy with coloring assignments

14. Common practices that we want to avoid
Excessive copying
Worksheets that are not aligned or purposeful
Word searches
Repeated single responses
Doing homework in class
Excessive review of homework in class
Earning “free time”
Excessive Copying – overhead, whiteboard, bulletin board, etc – students are copying down information instead of working with information to think critically
Worksheets not aligned – more busy work – mounds of paper has been used at schools to copy hundreds of worksheets that have no value or purpose tied to any standard that students should be learning
Word searches – no instructional value in a word search
Repeated single responses – single students called on one at a time to answer questions – no group discussion or MRS strategies in use to engage students
Doing homework in class – teachers may say “it’s the only way I can get them to do their homework” – no instruction taking place – students are doing their homework and checking it in class – what instructional value exists in this practice? Embed skills from homework into classwork, small group work, or intervention time
Earning free time – free time is for home and after school. What guidance are students receiving during free time? What activities are they engaged in that are directly tied to the learning?

15. Common practices that we want to avoid
Copying definitions or defining words with little context
Practicing listening to reading (when the purpose/objective is not related to reading)
Presentations that are not tied to a rigorous rubric; numerous presentations
Random spelling and vocabulary
Copying definitions – what value is there in students copying the words? Do they learn the meaning this way?
Practicing listening to reading –
Presentations – entire class periods dedicated to student presentations
Random spelling and vocab – spelling and vocabulary activities that have no connection to any learning that has taken place. Spelling tests on Fridays to find out if students have learned to spell vocabulary words that are often not connected to any learning activity that has taken place during the week.
REFLECT – What other practices do we believe should be avoided? How will we communicate these to coaches, teachers, and campus staff? CAPTURE IN NOTE KEEPER

16. Quality Instruction Aligned Purposeful
Guaranteed and viable curriculum
Effective lesson objectives and DOL or Evidence Outcomes
Activities are aligned
Purposeful
Activities are relevant and challenging
Every aspect of the class is tied to learning
Time is managed to enhance learning
When we see quality instruction is contains these characteristics:
It is aligned – activities are standards based, learning is meaningful, students know what they are learning and why
It is purposeful – students are engaged in rigorous activities that are appropriate for the learning that is taking place and for the level. Activities are carefully planned and relate to each other and to what the students should know and be able to do.

17. Quality Instruction Effective strategies Engaging Scaffold lessons
Multiple response strategies
Student learning is active
Scaffold lessons
Rigorous and Relevant
Quality instruction has strategies that work to instruct- they get to the ‘meat’ of what students should learn – no “time killers” that are not aligned with the standard
Students enjoy learning, are able to learn from their level and progress to more difficult lessons
The lessons are rigorous – meaning that the lesson is appropriately challenging for students at all levels, a variety of lesson deliveries are utilized, and expectations for students are high and attainable

18. Quality Instruction Differentiated Individual student needs are met
Appropriate interventions are planned and implemented with fidelity
Most importantly in our work the instruction is differentiated. The lesson is tailored to meet every student in the classroom and to insure that all students are successful. No student is left to feel that he/she is unable to learn or has not been attended to by the teacher. If a student requires interventions the teacher KNOWS that the student has a need, what specific learning standard he/she has not reached, and has a plan in place to effectively address the students’ area of need

19. This Year’s Focus

20. Demonstration of Learning Evidence Outcome
Given the information discussed today, write at least three takeaway elements of Best First instruction.