The Common Core and the Middle Level: A Match To Be Made

1. The Common Core and the Middle Level: A Match To Be Made Nancy Doda, Ph.D., www.teacher-to-teacher.com Jill Spencer, Senior Partner Learning Capacity Unlimited jillspencer51@gmail.com

2. Teaching with the Common Core in Mind Warm the Room Turn and Share with a neighbor What Do You Think It Means To Teach with The CC in Mind?

3. Read the Statement. What do you think? Agree or Disagree Stand by the Agree or Disagree Side Explain your Thinking (to someone near you). Let’s Start

4. Agree/Disagree • The soft side of “middle school” has diminished national academic rigor. • Common core is in the best interest of middle school learners

5. Mining the Good From the Common Core Being Critical Leaders in the CCSS Initiative

6. The Middle Level Call Developmentally Appropriate Challenging Empowering Equitable AMLE, This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents

7. Turning Points 2000 • Give Authentic and Meaningful Work • Use Ongoing and Multiple Forms of Assessment • Emphasize Critical Thinking • Sustain Focus on Essential Questions and Learning Goals Jackson & Davis, 2000. (Turning points 2000)

8. “American students must be fully prepared to compete successfully in a global economy. The recently released Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5 continues to warn that the United States is quickly losing its competitive edge in the world.” (McNulty & Gloeckler, 2011)

9. The Common Core Call • Shifting the Cognitive Load To Students • Literacy Across All Disciplines • Active and Reflective Thinking

10. gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize, and report on information and ideas, • conductoriginal research to answer questions or solve problems, • analyze and create a high volume and extensive range of print and non-print texts in media forms old and new. Common Core: Students need ability to…. Common Core ELA p. 4

12. 21st Century Skills • Think, Innovate and Work Creatively • Reason Effectively • Solve Problems and Make Sound Judgments • Collaborate with Others • Communicate Clearly • Be Self-Directed

13. Student in Soundings, Mark Springer Can I figure out what to do when I don’t know what to do?

14. Misleading Myths • Rigor Means Unwieldy • Common Core Means Uniformity • CCSS Address all We Need to Teach • Love of Learning Isn’t Important.

15. What Does This Mean For Our Classrooms? What real shifts are needed?

16. The Real Shifts

17. EMPOWERMENT Putting Students in the Driver’s Seat

18. In which mode of transportation would you best be able to retrace a trip? Consider Why?

19. The Driving Metaphor Of Empowerment

22. What Does it Mean To Put Students In The Driver’s Seat?

24. RESEARCH FLASH • If students believe that intelligence is something you can get and not something you already have, they learn more. (Dweck, 2011)

25. John Dewey It is hardly too much to say that in traditional education so much stress is laid upon the presentation to the child of ready-made materials, and the child to bear responsibility for reciting upon this ready-made material, that there is only accidental occasion …for developing motive and reflective attention. (School & Society, 1956)

26. The Perilous Sage on the Stage

27. “Teachers, teachers, teachers, when will they learn. I have the attention span of a raisin…” Research data, (Doda & Knowles, 2006)

28. “Learning is a consequence of experience. …people become responsible and independent not from having someone tell them that they should be responsible or independent, but from having experienced authentic responsibility and independence.” (Angelo V. Boy and Gerald Pine, 1971)

29. Control Continuum TEACHER SHARED Example: Text Study Teacher Assigns Reading, but Students Ask Questions Student-Led Discussion Groups Teacher Assigns Reading and Asks Questions

30. Control Continuum TEACHER SHARED Example: Worksheets to Think-sheets Students Choose From Teacher’s List of Acceptable Questions Students Use Open-Ended Think Sheets Teacher Determines Questions For Worksheet

31. Grapple Argue Create Persevere Polish Explain Defend Refine Persuade

32. Exhibit A

33. REFLECTION • What’s makes this a best practice common core classroom? • How does this compare with what you might typically see? • How are you currently supporting your staff in their journey towards student empowerment?

34. What Kind Of Learning Experiences Support These Skills? • Problems to Solve • Products to Create • Issues to Investigate • Processes to Use to Invent • Arguments to Defend

35. The Real Shifts

36. LITERACY

37. Message To Kids We are not born readers. We become readers.

38. Common Core Stance • Nonfiction in All Subjects • Speaking & Listening • Vocabulary taught well

39. FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS • Middle schoolers love: • Books that speak to them. • Books that grapple with life issues. • Books they can share with others. • Books that are culture and gender-friendly.

41. What Do Skilled Readers Do? • BEFORE: Anticipate ~ Get ready to enter text • DURING: Participate ~ Get into the text • AFTER: Reflect ~ Review, Use, Evaluate

42. BEFORE To help students connect to what they know, anticipate content with curiosity and interest, and gain confidence, and focus.

43. 4 Corners History is best taught in chronological order. If we share power with students, they will not perform as well on state tests. Every child wants to learn.

44. Anticipation Guide • Before Reading • After Reading TRUE or FALSE

45. Is the primary cause of Climate Change human activity? Dave: The earth is heating up Ben: China is a big contributor Margie:Carbon emissions are the primary issue Kara: Trees are helpful to the earth.

47. DURING To help the reader become immersed in the text.

48. Marking Text !! Interesting/Important ? Confusing/Curious + I want to recall this

49. Read, Jot and Say Something The students will take turns talking about all they know about a certain topic. • Student “A" talks for 1 minute without stopping about the topic • Student “B” listens and encourages “A” • The roles reverse. Read on…

50. Replace Worksheets With Think Sheets TEXT: __________________________