Introduction to

Communication Arts

Dr. Rebecca Langrall Secondary CA Coordinator

New Teacher Orientation, 8/5/08

Essential Questions

• What does it mean to be literate in the 21st Century?

• What are the implications for my

teaching?

1. Identify desired results

2. Determine acceptable evidence

3. Plan learning experiences

& instruction

3 Stages of Backward Design

Stage One: Desired Results

Unifying the Communication Arts community through a backward design approach to curriculum

Articulating the curriculum across grades and divisions

Implementing a guaranteed and viable curriculum

Empowering students and teachers to reach their potential

as learners and leaders through best practices

Communicate and partner with members of the larger educational community through technology

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# & % of students took ACT

2006 2007

Parkway (#)(%)

118783.2%

129684.7%

Missouri (%) 70% 70%

Stage Two: How are we doing? -- ACT DataStage Two: How are we doing? -- ACT Data

Parkway ACTParkway ACT

6

7

Quick Write

How much control do schools have over the student achievement of children living in

poverty?

From Research:

“An effective teacher enhances

student learning more than any

other aspect of schooling that

can be controlled.”  --

Marzano

Schools that are Beating the Odds:

Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School

Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School

Elmont, New York

• 1,966 Students in Grades 7-12• 75% African American• 12% Latino

Source: New York State School Report Card, http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/reportcard/

Higher Percentage of Students Meeting

Graduation Requirements than the State,

Class of 2004, Regents English99 99 100 100 99

85

74 72 75

88

0

20

40

60

80

100

All AfricanAmerican

Latino Poor Non-Poor

Per

cen

t M

eeti

ng

Gra

du

atio

n R

equ

irem

ents

Elmont

New York

Source: New York State School Report Card, http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/reportcard/

University Park Campus School

University Park Campus SchoolWorcester, Massachusetts

• 220 Students in Grades 7-12• 9% African American• 18% Asian• 35% Latino• 39% White• 73% Low-Income

Source: Massachusetts Department of Education School Profile, http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/

University Park Results: 2004

• 100% of 10th graders passed MA high school exit exam on first attempt.• 87% passed at advanced or proficient level.• Fifth most successful school in the state, surpassing many schools serving wealthy students.

If they can do it, WE can do it!

Stage Two: Assessment

• Baseline Data (PARS)

•Know your students’ learning preferences•MBTI (green)

Kiersey/Bates and the MBTI

Meanings of the Four Dimensions of the MBTI

Extroversion - I ntroversion(Where we get our energy)

Sensing - I ntuition(Where we place our attention)

Thinking - Feeling(How we process information)

J udging- Perceiving(Work environments we f avor)

S N

T F

E I

J P

Energy

Extraversion IntroversionThe Extraverted person directs and receives energy fromthe outside world. Do you:

prefer action over reflection? talk things over in order to understand them? prefer oral communication? share your thoughts freely? act and respond quickly? extend yourself into the environment? enjoy working in groups?

The Introverted person directs and receives energy from theinner world. Do you:

prefer reflection over action? think things through in order to understand them? prefer written communication? guard your thought until they are (almost) perfect? reflect and think deeply? defend yourself against external demands? enjoy working alone or with only one or two others?

Information Gathering

Sensing IntuitionThe Sensing person prefers to gather information in aprecise and exact manner. Do you:

like specific examples? prefer following an agenda? emphasize the pragmatic? seek predictability? see difficulties as problems that need specific

solutions? focus on immediate applications of a situation? want to know what is?

The Intuitive person prefers to gather information in a novel orinspired manner. Do you:

like general concepts? depart from the agenda if necessary? emphasize the theoretical? desire change? see difficulties as opportunities for further

exploration? focus on future possibilities of a situation? want to know what could be?

Decision Making

Thinking FeelingThe Thinking person seeks general truths and objectivitywhen making decisions. Do you:

question first? know when reason is needed? want things to be logical? have a cool and impersonal demeanor? remain detached when making decisions? control the expression of your feelings? overlook people in favor of tasks?

The Feeling person seeks individual and interpersonal harmonywhen making decisions. Do you:

accept first? know when support is needed? want things to be pleasant? have a warm and personal demeanor? remain personally involved when making decisions? express your feelings with enthusiasm? overlook tasks in favor of people?

Lifestyle

Judging PerceivingThe judging person likes to come to closure and act on thedecision. Do you:

like things to be settled and ordered? finish tasks before the deadline? focus on goals, results, and achievements? establish deadlines? prefer no surprises? prefer to be conclusive? quickly commit to plans or decisions?

The perceiving prefers to remain open and adapt to newinformation. Do you:

like things to be flexible and open finish tasks at the deadline? focus on processes, options, and openings? dislike deadlines? enjoy surprise? prefer to be tentative? reserve the right to change plans or decisions?

Distribution of Type Among Teachers

Type Among Tchrs This ClassESFJ Pre-School 12%

Elementary 12.4%Middle 11.5%High School 8.5%

33%E/ISFJ17%

ISTJ Pre-School 3%Elementary 10.7 %Middle 11.7%High School 11.9%

ISFJ Pre-School 20%Elementary 17.9%Middle 12.2%High School 10.6%

17%

ESTJ Pre-School 6%Elementary 8.5%Middle 9.1%High School 11.3%

17%

INFJ Pre-School 7%Elementary 5.1%Middle 5.0%High School 7.7%

ENFJ Pre-School 8%Elementary 7.2%Middle 8%High School 8.8%

INFP Pre-School 8%Elementary 4.6%Middle 5.9%High School 6.1%

Other types in our class: ISNJ – 4%; TSTJ – 4%; ESPJ/P – 4%; EST/FJ – 4%

Distribu

tion of Types Among

Teachers

Get into MBTI Groups

-Favorite way to prepare for test or assignments?

-Pet peeves?

-If you were music, what would it be?

Stage Two: Assessment• Baseline Data (PARS)

•Know your students’ learning preferences•MBTI (green)

•Know your students’ reading needs – •Burke Inventory (pink)

Stage Two: Grading and Feedback“FAQs on Grading and Assessment” from Kent and Newkirk (2007). The Neglected R: Rethinking

Writing Instruction in Secondary Classrooms

• Key sentence

• Key phrase

• Key word

Stage Three: Best Practice Learning Experiences

“….students can explore concepts, make connections, conceive ideas through writing if

every piece of writing isn’t supposed to be

formal, complete, and correct, a caricature of

what is published in academic journals.” -- Jerry Herman in William Zinsser’s, Writing to

Learn“The process of writing is the best means for overcoming the mind’s natural resistance to logic, order, & precision.” -- Jacques Barzun (1991)

Stage Three: Learning Experiences•Units of Study•HS – Department-based•MS – District-based

•Online Curriculum Guide

About Curriculum…

"It seems that no matter how radical restructuring talk may otherwise be, it almost never touches upon the curriculum itself. Much of what passes for restructuring is, in a sense, new bottles for old

wine that has not gotten better with age. How is it that we claim to speak of school reform without addressing the centerpiece of schools, the curriculum?”

-- Best Practice by Zemelman, Daniels and Hyde

Guaranteed and Viable

CurriculumUnits of Study: Understanding by

Design

Curriculum Timeline

• Curriculum Writing -- ongoing uploads and revision

• Common Assessments:

•End of Course Exams – English II (09)

English I (10)

•District Writing Sample (9th)

•MS Reading Assessments (new this year)•Fiction•Nonfiction

Stage Three: Learning Experiences•Best Practices in Reading•Read widely•$100 Classroom libraries

•Read a lot•Have volume expectations, rewards•Act on the research about Boys

What motivates boy readers?

• Competence and Control

• Appropriate Challenge

• Clear Goals and Feedback

• A Focus on the Immediate

• The Importance of the Social

Making it Matter in the Here and Now• Boys read when there is a pay off now… • What are the real questions of the discipline

of English?

• It’s real if it’s a live question within the

discipline, you revisit it repeatedly with new

ideas, and it allows you to differentiate instruction without embarrassing your students.

Examples

• EQs should be energizing:•Is Huck Finn a racist text?

•What makes me, me?

•Are we responsible for our destinies?

•Can authors write convincingly about characters very different from them- selves?

Competence and Control• Self-efficacy doesn’t transfer across contexts

• You may need self-esteem to be willing to engage,

but you really can’t develop it, without engaging and having success.

• Helping students gain conscious control and independent application of reading strategies is

the goal. (O’Henry, Bobby)

Stage Three: Best Practice Learning Experiences

Interactive “Think Alouds”Using

“Rules of Notice”for

Comprehension Monitoring

21st Century Literacy

• The information age places higher-level literacy demands on all of us….these demands include synthesizing and evaluating information from multiple sources. American schools need to enhance the ability of

children to search and sort through information, to synthesize and analyze the

information they encounter. -- Literacy expert, Richard Allington,

2001

Technology Demonstration Classrooms

• One classroom per HS and MS in each academic content area – SmartBoards, document cameras, recording equipment ….

• Exploration of new relationships of “digital natives” to knowledge, other students, and the teacher through WIKIs, BLOGs, Podcasting….

Brain Research & Technology

V = Varied instruction & assessment I = Immediate, specific feedbackS = Safe (physically, psychologically)A = Active involvement

Emotion + Meaning = Long Term Memory

On-Going Professional Development

for Best Practice• Fontbonne Institute – July 2008

• Parkway Literacy Institute – Summer 2008

• Salary Credit Courses (UbD,Inquiry, Grammar-in-Context)

• Curriculum Coordinator Summer Workshops

• Teacher-led Summer Workshops

• Communication Arts Homepages

• HS Professional Learning Communities• HS Professional Libraries

• MS Literacy Libraries• MS Learning Communities• MS Literacy Coaches

Resources

Implementation of Researched Best Practices

Literacy Coaching (Prop R)

“Effective literacy coaches support teachers in

becoming more thoughtful and knowledgeable about their instruction and help significantly

improve student outcomes.” 

-- National Council of Teachers of English

Role of the MS Literacy Coach

• Support implementation of district curriculum and best practice

instructional strategies in all reading, writing, vocabulary, listening/

speaking, informational literacy.

• Classroom modeling

• Collaborative planning

• Facilitate Data Driven Dialogue -- state data, district data/benchmark assessments, building data/common assessments, and student work samples

• Facilitate building & district level staff development

• Provide input for (classroom perspective)

• Specialize in grade level spans (K-2, 3-5, 6 – 8 … eventually, 9 – 12?)

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Pathways to 21Pathways to 21stst Century Century LiteracyLiteracy

Quote to Ponder

“The question is not, ‘Is it possible to educate

all children well?’ But rather, ‘Do we want to do it

badly enough?’ ”

-- Matthews, 2004 quoting former Central Park East principal,

educational reformer, writer, and activist Deborah Meier