Case Study #1 Analysis

Principle #2Worthwhile Work

Evidence from the Case Study

Authenticity

Mirrors the kinds work and/or ways of knowing an expert in the discipline or field would perform

Problems, challenges, issues, questions or ideas for a purpose and/or audience

Fosters Deep Understanding

Requires significant intellectual investment (contemplation, interpretation, meaning-making, critique) & innovative thinking

Demonstrates understanding of important concepts

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Case Study #2 Analysis

Principle #2Worthwhile Work

Evidence from the Case Study

Authenticity

Mirrors the kinds work and/or ways of knowing an expert in the discipline or field would perform

Problems, challenges, issues, questions or ideas for a purpose and/or audience

Fosters Deep Understanding

Requires significant intellectual investment (contemplation, interpretation, meaning-making, critique) & innovative thinking

Demonstrates understanding of important concepts

Case Study Group Task

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With your table group, choose one of the case studies to focus on.

Identify the discipline:

What are some of the key processes related to the discipline that students were engaged in?

What formative assessment strategies were used to move learning forward?

What might you add to the task to strengthen it further?

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Strengthening Task Design and Assessment: Pedagogical Moves

Pedagogical Move The task includes

this pedagogical move.

The task does NOT include

this pedagogical move.

If the move is NOT included, or needs strengthening, how might you embed/strengthen it within the task?

The task designed mirrors the work of the discipline and/or reflects developing conceptual understanding(s) from the discipline

There is a clear learning goal, target or success criteria that is communicated to the students

Exemplars and non-exemplars (contrast) are used to make criteria clear for students

A pre-assessment or “first attempt” is used to get baseline information of what students know or can do

Subtasks (reduction of workload) are used to scaffold learning

Expertise and/or modeling is used to move learning forward

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Explicit instruction is used followed by intentional practice of key skills

Multiple rounds of feedback are used throughout the task (teacher to students, peer to peer, other…)

Students are required to act on feedback and make multiple attempts to improve their work

Intentional triangulation of evidence is used to determine learning needs and gaps as the task unfolded (conversations, observations, products)

Students are asked on an ongoing basis to reflect on their learning and to determine their next steps (metacognition).

Other pedagogical moves:

Math:

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A teacher in your school is starting their geometry unit. The teacher has indicated that they will be approaching the unit as follows: they will work through a few problems on the board while students observe the teacher modeling the formulas required to solve various problems. Students will then be asked to work through a series of problems themselves. Students will be allowed to work independently or in groups on the practice problems. The teacher plans to circulate offering support to those who are struggling while they are working. The students will hand in their work, the teacher will mark it and hand it back. Students will be asked to make their corrections. The teacher will offer a tutorial period over lunch for students wanting extra help. A quiz will follow a few days after the work has been handed back to students.

Science: Students will build a bridge as part of their structures and forces unit.

They will work in small groups to build their model bridge. They will be given 1 week to design and build a bridge that can span 50 cm and support as much weight as possible. The teacher will give the students a rubric related to the project. The students will test their bridge to see who has the strongest bridge in a class competition.

Social Studies: Students will look at the different political parties and explore their

stance on a controversial issue. Students will be asked to prepare a speech defending one perspective on the issue. Their speech needs to be one minute long and will be presented in front of their classmates. Students will be shown how to access the various party platforms. Their speeches need to be persuasive and engaging so that they might convince someone else to support their party’s stance on the issue. Students have 3 class periods to get ready for the delivery of their speech. The teacher plans to circulate and offer support in helping the students getting ready.

English Language Arts: Students will be asked to write a personal reflection piece focusing on

personal identity. Their reflective piece must explore what makes them unique, what factors have shaped who they are, and how their identity influences their passions and interests. Students can choose any format to create their reflective piece and must also have an accompanying written component. They have one week to complete the assignment, at which time they will present their reflection in front of the class. The teacher has encouraged them to be creative.

Health: Using the new Canada Food Guide, students will come up with a meal

plan for a day of healthy eating as a teenager. Students will be shown where to access the new food guide. Students will present their meal plan on a poster, which will be displayed around the school. The teacher indicated they want the posters to be aesthetically pleasing

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and should aim to convince other students to eat healthily according to the new food guide.

Phys Ed. Students are starting a new unit in Phys Ed focusing on basic skills in

Dance. In small groups students will be choreographing and performing a specific genre of dance. Students will be shown videos of 5 different dance styles and will practice some of the key sequences as a whole class. Each group will choose one genre to focus on. They will be given five class periods to work on their original dance. At the end of the five days, students will perform their dances in front of their peers.

CTF Students will work collaboratively to design, create, market and sell a

product, performance or service. As part of the project, students will begin by identifying a product or service to bring to market that meets the needs of a target audience or solves an issue/problem. They will then form a business, create a logo and develop an advertising approach. At the end of 3 weeks, students will take part in a "business fair" where each group will have the opportunity to promote their product, performance or service to potential customers in hopes of making a profit. (Adapted from Alberta Education, 2019)

Music Students will select a song of their choosing that they feel represents

one of Canada’s many cultures. They will complete an analysis of the genre of music and describe how it is representative of the identified culture. They will present their song to the class and discuss their analysis, as well as identify the melody, rhythm, harmony, and form of the song. Before setting out to find their own song, the teacher will model an analysis of three different songs.

PLP Students will work with a partner to practice their interview skills for an

upcoming job interview. They will take turns asking and responding to a series of questions catered to the particular position they will be applying for. The teacher will record the interview and share the footage with the students. Together they will debrief the interview and identify where their strengths are and where there are opportunities for improvement.

SKILL Each student is given a collection of solid coloured objects of the same

size and shape.  Their first task is to organize the objects by colour.  The teacher then works with the class to identify the names of each colour.  Once this has been completed, the teacher introduces new objects of varying sizes and students continue to work on sorting these objects by colour.  The teacher then takes images of the objects

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after they have been sorted which will then be made into small Colour Books that students will each be given (red book, blue book, etc.)

Differentiating InstructionContent: What the student needs to learn or how the student will get access to the information (e.g., reading materials at varying levels, presenting ideas through auditory and visual means, making materials or content accessible online, spelling/vocabulary matches readiness of the student, flexible groupings, etc.)Process: Activities in which the student engages in order to make sense of or master the content (e.g., through explicit instruction, modeling, manipulatives, use of multi-media, and classroom practice, providing more time, etc.)Product: How you expect the students to rehearse, apply and extend what they have learned (e.g., by solving a division problem, using a chosen division strategy to complete an authentic task, teaching another student, etc.)Environment: The operation, tone and physical space of the classroom creates a rich learning environment for all students (places to collaborate or work independently, culture of improvement, configuration, etc.)

Adapted from What is Differentiated Instruction? by Carol Ann Tomlinson

What adjustments does the teacher use in the lesson shown to make the learning more accessible for students?

What adjustments are you currently making in your classroom that you have found to be useful?

Ideas from colleagues.

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Differentiating Instruction: Content, Process, Product, Environment

Consider how you might differentiate the content, process, product, and/or environment in an upcoming lesson to meet the needs of your learners.

Content

Process

Product

Environment

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Differentiating Instruction: Content, Process, Product, Environment

Content use preassessment to determine where students need to begin and provide students with

appropriate activities ensure texts are at various reading levels enlarge reading material provide flexible groupings use texts, audio recordings, online material & videos to make concepts accessible to

learners consider how text heavy the classroom may be and provide “hands on” activities (ie: role-

playing to practice new skills) vary the amount of material to be learned or practiced break information into chunks pair written instructions with oral instructions provide access to a reader

Process intentionally scaffold the learning task in order to reduce cognitive load design activities to engage all learners in the same key understandings and skills but offer

different levels of support, challenge and complexity provide access to a variety of materials that target different learning needs develop personal checklists that include strategies to support the needs of individual

learners vary the length of time a student may take to complete a task to support a struggling

learner or to encourage an advanced learner to pursue a topic in greater depth arrange for a scribe to record what the student dictates allow the use of manipulatives provide desktop number lines and multiplication grids provide access to technology (word processers, spell check, graphics, organizers) use peer partners or tutors demonstrate or model a sample of the required task or activity

Product use a wide variety of assessment practices work with students to develop rubrics reduce the number of questions or output expected of a student allow for varied working arrangements (alone, partner, group) provide or encourage the use of a variety of resources in preparing products access what students have come to understand in the most equitable way (i.e. a non-writer

can respond orally or use assistive technology) Environment

ensure there are places in the room to work quietly and/or to collaborate develop routines that allow students to get help when teachers are busy with other

students establish classroom routines that make the learning environment flexible and supportive provide alternative seating (stand-up desks, vertical surfaces, swivel chairs, etc.)

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consider the physical space (lighting, furniture arrangement, look and feel, etc.) and how it is serving all learners

Adapted from Alberta Education, Knowledge and Employability Studio Teacher Workstation, 2007 and State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Communities, 2015

Applied Learning: Individual Reflection

1. How did you engage students in the discipline? Briefly describe the task, including the hook/provocation you used.

2. Describe the impact this task had on student learning. How do you know student learning moved forward?

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Reflection continues on page 12.

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Pedagogical Moves: Reflection ChecklistReflect on the pedagogical moves you have made/will make through the task.Identify which areas you would strengthen, were you to reenact the task.

Pedagogical Move I used this

move

I did not use this

move

Insights about the impact of this pedagogical move

on learning

The task designed mirrors the work of the discipline and/or reflects developing conceptual understanding(s) from the discipline

There is a clear learning goal, target or success criteria that will be/was communicated to the students

Exemplars and non-exemplars (contrast) was/will be used to make criteria clear for students

A pre-assessment or “first attempt” was/will be used to get baseline information of what students know or can doSubtasks (reduction of workload) was/will be used scaffold learning

Expertise and/or modeling was/will be used to move learning forward

Explicit instruction was/will be used followed by intentional practice of key skills (e.g. drawing the eye multiple times) Multiple rounds of feedback was/will be used throughout the task (teacher to students, peer to peer, other…) Students were/will be required to act on feedback and asked to make multiple attempts to improve their workIntentional triangulation of evidence was/will be used to determine learning needs and gaps as the task unfolded (conversations, observations, products) Students were/will be asked on an ongoing basis to reflect on their learning and to determine their next steps (metacognition).

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Other pedagogical moves you used in your task:

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