Instructional Norms Team November 5, 2013 Christina Orsi wiki.sjcoe.net/groups/jefferson

 District progress on Common Core Implementation  Reflection on Critical Thinking training  Teaching soft skills outside of content  Components of Collaboration  Discuss and Explain  Develop and Create  Decide and Set Goals  Site Planning Time

 Welcome, Overview  District Update on Common Core Implementation  Operations Reflection Activity for Critical Thinking Training  Teaching soft skills outside of content  Discussion: Collaboration VS. Pair Share  Social Skills T-Chart for Collaboration  BREAK  Creative Task Meeting: Index Card Task  Decision Making Meeting: Important Inventions  Debrief  Site Planning Time

 AB484 Passed  STAR is suspended Science, CAPA, STS exceptions  Expanded SBAC Field Test in Spring ELA or Math –state will assign  ALL Math & SPED teachers have been trained  Optional One Day for any other teacher (Nov. 5)  Aides 3-hour training upcoming (Nov. 12)  Upcoming Math Curriculum Adoption in Spring  Technology Pilot –iPads and Chromebooks  Administrative walk-throughs

Create implementation plan Leadership level training Training on CC ELA Instructional Guides for CC ELA Preliminary look at Assessments & Technology Implementation of CC ELA Training of CC Math Training for Illuminate & CC Itembank Planning/Pilots for Assessment & Technology Evaluating Math curriculum Smarter Balanced Field Test Implementing CC Math Math curriculum adoption Technology integration Smarter Balance Operational

Areas of strength and successes Areas of challenge and improvement Things we need to do more/more often Ways to continue to breakdown the topic of Critical Thinking

 Lev Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development  Gradual release of responsibility to learners  Fisher and Frey (2008)  I do  We do  You do together  You do alone Critical Thinking Critical Thinking Collaborative Thinking Evidentiary Thinking Argumentative Thinking

Students must be EXPLICITLY taught thinking skills. 1. Teacher models soft skill informally 2. Students apply soft skills to non-content specific task 3. Students apply soft skills to content specific tasks

 Students are being flexibly grouped in various configurations  Teacher is a facilitator, students are driving the learning  Teachers are monitoring and reinforcing norms of collaboration  Sentence starters and connectors are used by students

Discuss and Explain Develop and Create Decide and Set Goal

 Focus Question  Debatable, Not one clear answer, Requires argumentation, Ties to evidence  Roles  Moderator – makes sure group stays on topic and each person has the opportunity to share  Map Maker – tracks the flow of the discussion  Scribe – captures “sound bites” from the conversation  Conversation Starters/Anchor Charts are provided (and used)  Debrief

 Have a discussion with your group to determine the difference between a pair share and collaboration.  Assign roles – Moderator, Map Maker and Scribe  Be prepared to share your conclusions with the group in 10 minutes

 Thinking of the current grade level and content area you teach, what are some student discussion topics you can use in your class?  How can this activity be differentiated?  Young scholars?  Struggling learners?  English Learners?  GATE students?

What does it Look Like?  Talking using hand gestures  Using texts/stories as an example  Pointing to pictures and talking  Using manipulatives to show  Creating charts  Gathering at a table  Listening to each other  Asking questions of each other  Debating  Students voting What does it Sound Like?  “Let me show you…”  “First…second…third…”  “Your explanation was not clear to me.”  “I agree…”  “What about this idea?”  “Yes, but…”  “Who agrees?”  “I prefer this one.”  “What are our options?”

 Design, Plan, Negotiate, Delegate, Perform, Create  Goes beyond a discussion  Students must work together to find solutions to problem and produce ideas or products collaboratively  Teacher should be genuinely surprised by outcomes and student innovation

 Meet to discuss to issue or task  Ask questions  Kick around ideas  Express the plan

 Materials:  Index Cards  Scissors  Color pencils  Instructions:  Design a plan with your team to cut the index card in a way that will allow it to fit each of your group members through it  Each group member has a different colored pencil to record ideas and designs on chart paper  Once your group creates a design, you will receive an index card to test it

 Based on your chart paper design, would you say all group members contributed evenly to creative process?  Why/why not?  How did your group come to a consensus on which design to use?

 What projects/creative activities do your students currently do individually or at home that could be modified into a collaborative task?  What are some strategies teachers can use to build individual accountability into creative tasks?

 To make decisions and settle on a final outcome requires:  Evaluation  Prioritization  Conviction  Willingness to compromise  Commitment  Democratic process  Productive problem solving  There is no college, career, or life situation in which decision making does not play a role

 Know and record all options  Note the pro’s and con’s of each option  Outline solutions  Welcome compromise

 Your group will conduct a Decision Making Meeting to determine the 5 most important human inventions in history.  Be sure to: Brainstorm ideas Narrow options Organize your thinking Back up claims with evidence Be able to justify choices Come up with a process to arrive at a group consensus

 Create 3 decision making prompts you can do with your students in upcoming chapters or lessons.

 What else can we add to our collaboration T-Chart?  Think of one collaboration strategy you can take back to your classroom and commit to trying. Share with a person outside of your group.

 Teachers know the status of Common Core implementation across the district  Teachers are able to reflect on their own implementation of critical thinking instruction  Teachers see collaboration strategies for:  Discussions, creative processes and decision making  Teachers have an opportunity to plan how to implement collaboration time into their practice

 Next Norms Team Meeting  January 7  Next Minimum Day  December 2