Department of Education Professional Learning Institute GOOD TEACHING Differentiated Classroom Practice Learning for All Module 1

Department of Education Professional Learning Institute Module 1 Section 1: What is differentiation? Section 2: Knowing your students Section 3: Pre-assessment 2

Module 1 – Learning goals Teachers will: 1.Understand that they have a responsibility to provide challenging and engaging learning opportunities for all students 2.Know their students backgrounds, interests, challenges and learning profile 3.Plan personalised starting points for learning 3

Student Learning Goals Students will: Demonstrate increased engagement Demonstrate increased level of performance Become self-regulated learners 4

Department of Education Professional Learning Institute Section 3: Pre-assessment Finding out where students are at in their learning 5

Understand how pre-assessment informs planning in differentiated practice Know about a range of pre-assessment strategies and practices Implement pre-assessment strategies and practices that reflect good practice Section 3 – Learning intentions 6

Before we begin In Section 2 we: Looked at the importance of knowing students well Explored learning profile tools Commitment to action from Section 2 Share with a partner what you learned and how it has informed your practice (refer to worksheet 3 from Section 2 ) 7

Tuning in Three aspects of good practice in the use of pre-assessment: Identifying goals for learning Pre-assessment techniques Make adjustments to teaching Reflect on your current use of pre- assessments – using worksheet 1. 8

Learning process Explore the ‘why and what’ of pre- assessment Use your reflection to guide further learning about pre-assessment Engage in differentiated collaborative learning with colleagues 9

Why do we need to pre-assess? ‘In reality, the most advanced students commencing any year of school can be up to six years ahead of the least advanced students in that year level. In reading, for example, the most advanced five per cent of Year 3 students already outperform 20 per cent of Year 9 students.’ Geoff Masters masters/article/challenging-our-most-able-students April 20, 2015http://teacher.acer.edu.au/geoff- masters/article/challenging-our-most-able-students April 20 10

Read page 11 of Differentiated Classroom Practice 11 ‘Many teachers will feel the urge to aim for the middle when designing learning tasks. In this way they hope to reach the largest number of students in any given lesson or learning sequence. Research has shown that this is ineffective.’ Turn and talk What is your reaction to this? Engaging with good practice

The purpose and process of pre- assessment 12 Table round robin – share one key idea each.

Purposes of pre-assessment At your tables: Brainstorm what an effective pre-assessment task could reveal about students’ learning Finish the statement: ‘Pre-assessment is important for …’ Gallery walk to learn from other groups Note key ideas on worksheet 2 13

Clear, explicit learning goals aligned with the curriculum guide learning Learning intentions are specific and align with learning goals Learning intentions are shared with students Learning intentions inform criteria for success 14 Identifying goals for learning

Things to watch for during the video: 1.How does this Year 7 teacher share learning intentions with her students? 2.How do students know what success will look like? 15

Formal pre-assessment Expert designed – includes ‘diagnostic assessments’ Some examples include: South Australian Spelling test PIPs testing PAT Maths & Reading Single word spelling test ‘Improve’ online quiz tool for literacy, numeracy and science 16 Which formal pre-assessment tools do we currently use?

Created by the teacher Includes ongoing observations in a range of contexts At your table take turns to share your current informal pre-assessments techniques Record any techniques that are new to you on worksheet 1 17 Informal pre-assessments

Making adjustments to teaching Information from pre-assessment helps the teacher to: 1.Decide where to begin teaching 2.Identify what to review and with whom 3.Plan ways to scaffold for gaps in required background knowledge & skills 4.Identify who is already well advanced and how to extend them 5.Plan ways to address misconceptions 6.Design differentiated tasks 7.Arrange flexible grouping of students 18

Using your reflection Place a star next to the first section heading (A, B or C) where your rating is lower than you want it to be This indicates your starting point for your own professional learning ‘Pack and Stack’ to work at a table with others interested in the same aspect of pre-assessment (A, B or C) 19

Knowing where to look (orientation) 20

Getting to the Fronter page (access) e/ 1.Go to the CONTENTs page 2.Scroll to heading : Knowing your students 3.Click on the link: Explanation 21

Collaborative exploration of resources Scan the list of resources on your page Each person nominates a resource they will look at in more detail and report back on to the group Take some time to explore the other pre-assessment resources Round robin report back to your table group 22

Summary of learning Review your reflection sheet – worksheet 1 Record your new learning about pre- assessment and how you might apply it in your planning 23

Commitment to action Describe the pre-assessment strategy or tool that you will trial on worksheet 1 Some other details you could consider: When will you try it? What will be the learning context in which it will be used? What do you need to organise to make it happen? 24

Where to next? Module 2 – practical ways to differentiate aspects of a unit you intend to teach Content Process Product Learning environment 25