ePortfolio by Sheri Edwards

 

Powerful Teaching and Learning   April and May, 2010

 

STAR 1: Skills/Knowledge, Thinking, Application, Relationships

STAR 2: See, Talk, Apply, Reflect

ePortfolio by Sheri

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What I Saw:

 

STAR 1

 

Skills/Knowledge

I saw English teachers teaching essential questions to focus students on specific targets based on Washington's Grade Level Expectations.

• Poetry: Figurative Language (Hyperbole, Rhythm, Rhyme, Consonance, Assonance)
• Reading/Writing: Character Development

 

Thinking

I saw students analyze text to discover for themselves the lesson targets.

 

• Poetry: find the examples; explain their power -- how did tone and figurative language convey meaning
• Character: Identify dialogue, action, description -- how did they develop character

 

Application

I saw teachers scaffold the lessons so students thoughtfully analyze targets and apply them through writing or discussion:

• Poetry: teacher relates to prior info; teacher makes meaningful, personal connections of poets to poems; students make meaningful connections
• Character: students create personal character scenes

 

Relationships

I saw teachers interact with all students and all students understanding the rituals of the classroom activities so that trust and collaboration can occur:

• Poetry and Character: teacher interacts positively and challenges students; students receive social support for learning in groups; progress through lessons on own needs; rituals in place for easy transition and flow to activities

 

 

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What I Talked about:

 

STAR 1

 

 

Skills/Knowledge

Students know focus and teacher keeps them there --

• Poetry: Figurative Language (Hyperbole, Rhythm, Rhyme, Consonance, Assonance)
• Reading/Writing: Character Development

 

Thinking

It's important to design lessons for "Can a kid do it?"  How do I plan activities so the students are "doing" and not me? How did these teachers do this?

 

• Poetry: Through groups and different poems, students found the examples; explain the power of tone and figurative language to convey meaning
• Character: Identify dialogue, action, description -- how did the authors develop character, and how will you, the student, develop own character in your scene?

 

Application

How will students apply the targets?

• Poetry: teacher relates to prior info; teacher makes meaningful, personal connections of poets to poems; therefore, students make meaningful connections
• Character: students create personal character scenes after reviewing and identifying in a familiar text and watching teacher model

 

Relationships

Do I develop the rituals of the classroom activities so that trust and collaboration can occur as these teachers did?

• Poetry and Character: teacher interacts positively (on their level; quiet tones; various groups); challenges students (according to need based on student work during the lesson); students receive social support for learning in groups (peers add ideas; teacher adds ideas); rituals in place for easy transition and flow to activities (activity areas around room for group/independent/lesson work; how to do activities, such as exit task) 

 

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What I Applied:

 

STAR 1 

 

Conclusions and Commitments -- What I Applied

 

What did I learn? -- I turn my learning into questions:

 

1. Skills/Knowledge: Focus
2. Thinking: How can the kids do it? What do I need to scaffold so all can succeed?
3. Apply: How can I make the target personally applicable?
4. Relationships: Do I have rituals? How do I group? How do I create a positive climate?

 

What will I do differently in my own practice?

 

1. Skills/Knowledge: Make sure students understand the focus (write, tell, repeat, scaffold)
2. Thinking:  Students work in pairs/trios for peer support as they follow the scaffold lesson and teacher conference ideas
3. Apply: Students create a WASL intro/conclusion
4. Relationships: Rituals-- listening to lesson; reviewing lessons; Google Docs process; class sharing 

 

See my STAR framework here: STAR April 2010 Sheri

 

The Lesson Artifacts:

 

Question:  

How can the information in an essay help you write effective introductions and conclusions using the strategies we have learned?

 

GLEs

 

Review slideshows based on prior lessons on introductions and conclusions:

 

 

 

 

Student Directions and Work  (includes directions, scaffolding, checklists, student responses)

 

 

When will I implment the change? April/May

 

What colleague(s) will I share my commitment and outcomes with?

 

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What I Reflected:

 

STAR 1

 

What did I learn? -- I explain how I answered my questions.

 

1. Skills/Knowledge: Focus -- by focusing on specific targets, student could succeed with clear directions, review, peer support, checklists, and teacher conferences built into the time period.
2. Thinking: How can the kids do it? What do I need to scaffold so all can succeed?  I created the review powerpoint, the Google Docs, the checklists; conferencing during the activity provided the last scaffold as needed for remediation or extension.
3. Apply: How can I make the target personally applicable? I chose an anchor prompt students would enjoy (favorite place; I made certain students remembered the strategies by using the review slideshow and evaluating the essay verbally before we started the assignment; I provided peer support with partners/trios.
4. Relationships: Do I have rituals? How do I group? How do I create a positive climate? This time students chose pieces of colored paper with which to find their team members; student worked with those partners for this period following already established procedures for working on the computers in trios/partners.