WELCOME2015-2016 Washington State Puget Sound ELA Fellows

Convening #1 / October 27, 2015 / 9:00-3:00pm

Welcome

Dr. Marion Smith, Jr.Director, Learning and InnovationPuget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD)msmithjr@psesd.org Aira Jackson

Director, English Language ArtsOffice of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)Aira.Jackson@k12.wa.us

Setting the Stage

“Imagine that upon your arrival at an airline ticket counter, you are

told that only 65 percent of the flights to your intended destination

actually even arrive. The remainder crash en route. And, if you are a

child of color, or poor, you are required to fly on special, poorly

Maintained planes—of which only 35 percent make it. Sounds crazy,

right? But this is exactly the deal that, as a nation, we are serving up

daily to millions of children in thousands of our public schools.”

from Crash Course by Chris Whittle

How am I working to interrupt the pattern?

Agenda

Targets

ELA Strand

• Calibrate a shared understanding of close reading

• Expand knowledge of writing text dependent questions

• Enhance understanding of drawing evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis and reflection

Leadership Strand

• Form a community of learners focused on equity

• Identify and understand personal leadership skills to build adult capacity

• Understand the elements of the Action Plan and outline a plan for creation and implementation

Silent Circle Activity

• Form a circle• Listen to various

statements• If the statement

represents you raise your hand

• Notice who else raises their hand

Quick Chat:Think-Pair-Share

• Why might it be important to “start from a place of same?”

• As you think about your context, what systems and/or structures are maintained by Academic Language?

• As we continue to implement CCSS-ELA, what conversation(s) and/or work is or is not happening in your school / district to attend to the needs of all voices?

Introductions

• Individual introductions: name, role, schools / school district

• Share an idea from your Think-Pair-Share conversation

Community Agreements

• Stay engaged

• Speak your truth

• Have a learners stance

• Experience discomfort

• Intent vs. impact

Through line to Student Learning

ESD District +

School Leaders

Teachers Students

Grounding Our Work

1. Alignment

2. Personal Accountability

3. Collective Responsibility

4. Elevating Content Knowledge

5. Instructional Leadership

Larger Context

Advocate and SystematizeCollaborate and

ImplementLeadership of Self

Leadership of Others

Leadership in the Extended Community

PurposeOn-going, Job-Embedded Professional Development

• Learning together • De-privatize our practice and take risks in order to facilitate high

quality, equitable ELA instruction • Building skills around Best Practices / Research-Based Practices in

ELA

Build Leadership Capacity in School, Districts and Among Colleagues• Intentional focus on instructional leadership • Increase evidence of implementation and professional

development in support of CCSS/WSLS at regional, district and state levels

Leadership in the Extended Community• Providing feedback to the state-wide system• Supporting collegial capacity for all of Washington’s schools

Fellows and District Commitments

• Collaborate throughout the year with district leadership and/or school principal to discuss, create and document the ongoing District Fellow Action Plan.

• Implement learning from the Fellows meetings within your own instructional practice and in supporting teachers in Washington State Learning Standards (CCSS or NGSS) implementation.

• Submit completed District Fellow Plan to your Regional Coordinator at the end of the year.

• Attend and participate in a minimum of four regional Fellows Convenings

Content Focus • English Language Arts:

– ELA fellows will grow their instructional practice in the area of writing, specifically with drawing evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis and reflection.

• Math:– Math fellows will work on supporting productive struggle in

learning mathematics and facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse.

• Science:

– Science fellows will work to develop a vision of what 3-dimensional teaching and learning looks like in their building/districts.

Lessons from the Field?

• Share out from returning Fellows

What types of support were you able to provide to your school or district because of your involvement as a Fellow?

What types of learning formats have you used to share information? Professional Development trainings, PLCs, team meetings, etc…

Fundamental of Learning Activity

• Making Meaning

• Participating and Contributing

• Managing Learning

Instructional LeadershipOur work will be anchored in the Fundamentals of Learning by Margaret Heritage and the WestEd Team.

FoL Text

Making Meaning Thinking critically, creatively and meta-cognitively Connecting Prior Knowledge to New Learning Using language, symbols and texts

Participating and Learning Engaging with Others in Learning Communication Ideas, Feelings, and Perspectives Relating to Other People’s Ideas, Feelings and Experiences

Managing Learning Taking personal responsibility for learning Adapting learning tactics Persevering with challenges

Where I Fit In?

• Core Work as a WA State Fellow:

– To elevate educator practice through the development of courageous teacher-leadership and transformational teaching for learning resulting in improved student achievement.

How can we work together to provide equitable access to ELA learning opportunities for all students??

Shift Thinking

Where we go depends on what we see.

Where we go depends on what we choose to see.

Blue

Blue

Green

Please state the color of the text

Black

Red

Green

Blue

Black

Blue

Black

Red

Green

Green

Green

Red

Black

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4

Awareness Test

What does this have to do with our work?

• It’s “easy” to miss something you’re not looking for.

• We focus on (and make-meaning) based on what has or has not been “called-out”

• Our implicit and explicit ways of thinking shape our practices and views about students

• The opportunity gaps between White students and students of color continue to widen

• Leading with racial equity and engaging in these critical conversations is THE WORK if we are coaching and supporting others in shifting instructional practices

Environmental Scan

• When I think about being an ELA Fellow, and the realities of my school / district, what do I see as immediate challenges or barriers?

Break

Content Strand

• Exploring the Neglected “R”- Close Reading and Writing

Activating Prior Knowledge:Three ELA Instructional Shifts

1. Building content knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

2. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text both literary and

informational.

3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

Three Shift Review

A check for understanding with your peers:

• What did you do to share the shifts in your building?

• How have you changed your instructional practice?

• How do you plan to use this knowledge to shape your future work?

• Any suggestions for the group?

2015 Regional Report Card

SBAC Data Share • What does your district data show you about student

performance in ELA?

• What trends do you notice in regards to reading?

• Does this align with your thinking?

• How does your district’s data compare to the regional data?

• What questions do you have?

Focused CLAIMS

• Claim #1 – Reading “Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts.”

• Claim #2 – Writing “Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences.”

Close Reading

• How has your understanding of close reading impacted your instructional practice?

Funnel Strategy: Introduction to the Passage

• Read the article silently. Then apply Funnel Strategy.

• Go back and underline the sentence that stood out the most for you.

• Circle the most important phrase in the sentence.

• Draw a square around the most important word in the sentence.

• Discuss at tables.

• Be prepared to share out with the group.

Video

Getting Ready to Write: Citing Textual Evidence

Video Response

• How does each part of the lesson prepare students for writing?

• What skills do students develop in the lesson?

• How do the scaffolds Ms. Norris puts in place be taken away as the students gain fluency?

What are “text-dependent” questions?

1)Questions which point to the most salient aspects of the text.

2) At higher levels of the taxonomy

3) Powerful questions that drive the CCSS in the classroom.

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Text-Dependent Questions…

• can only be answered with evidence from the text. Should not require background knowledge.

• can be literal (checking for understanding) but must also involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation.

• focus on word, sentence, and paragraph, as well as larger ideas, themes, or events.

• focus on difficult portions of text in order to enhance reading proficiency.

• can also include prompts for writing and discussion questions.

Text-Dependent Questions are not…

1) Low-level, literal, or recall questions

2) Focused on comprehension strategies

3) Just questions46

Non-Examples and Examples

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•In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something.

•In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King discusses nonviolent protest. Discuss, in writing, a time when you wanted to fight against something that you felt was unfair.

•In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln says the nation is dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Why is equality an important value to promote?

•What makes Casey’s experiences at bat humorous?

•What can you infer from King’s letter about the letter that he received?

•“The Gettysburg Address” mentions the year 1776. According to Lincoln’s speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?

Not Text-Dependent Text-Dependent

Creating Text-Dependent Questions

Step One

Identify the core understandings and key ideas of the text.

Step Two

Start small to build confidence.

Step Three

Target vocabulary and text structure.

Step Four

Tackle tough selections head-on.

Step Five

Create coherent sequences of text-dependent questions.

Step Six

Identify the standards that are being addressed.

Step Seven

Create the culminating assessment.

Text-Dependent Questions

• When you're writing or reviewing a set of questions, consider the following four categories:

1. Questions that assess themes and central ideas

2. Questions that assess knowledge of vocabulary

3. Questions that assess syntax

4. Questions that assess structure

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Formative Assessment

Instructional LeadershipOur work will be anchored in the Fundamentals of Learning by Margaret Heritage and the WestEd Team.

FoL Text

Making Meaning Thinking critically, creatively and meta-cognitively Connecting Prior Knowledge to New Learning Using language, symbols and texts

Participating and Learning Engaging with Others in Learning Communication Ideas, Feelings, and Perspectives Relating to Other People’s Ideas, Feelings and Experiences

Managing Learning Taking personal responsibility for learning Adapting learning tactics Persevering with challenges

Leadership Strand

Self-Assessment

Sphere of Influence

• Article – “Ten Roles for Teacher Leaders”

While reading the article note in the margin where you could make an impact in your school or district

Change?

• Perspective #1http://youtu.be/SByymar3bds

• Perspective #2http://youtu.be/SFUZ-xiXqHA

Actualizing Dreams

• The world is full of people who have dreams of playing at Carnegie Hall, of running a marathon, and of owning their own business. The difference between the people who make it across the finish line and everyone else is one simple thing: and action plan (John Tesh).

CSTP Teacher Leadership FrameworkLeadership of Self

• Working with Adult Learners

• Communication• Collaboration• Knowledge of Content

and Pedagogy• Systems Thinking

Exploring the Framework

Please divide up your table of 5 so that each of you is responsible for learning in more depth about one of the components of the framework

• Working with Adult Learners• Communication• Collaboration• Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy• Systems Thinking

Exploring the Framework

Step 1: Each table will send one person to each poster

Step 2: At the poster, your group will discuss what the skills described at that poster look and sound like in context with leading ELA work

Step 3: At the poster, your group will write a brief vignette that captures those skills

Step 4: Return to your table for a share out

Move to “your” poster

• You have 10 minutes to complete steps 2 & 3:

Step 2: At the poster, your group will discuss what the skills described at that poster look and sound like

Step 3: At the poster, your group will write a brief vignette that captures those skills

Table Talk

For each set of skills:

• 1. Describe to your group what they might look and sound like (and maybe provide non-examples)

• 2. Read your vignette to your group and discuss

3-2-1 Reflection

• On a notecard please refer to the framework to list:

– 3 specific strengths you bring to this work– 2 specific areas in which you will need to push

your practice– 1 question you may have about next steps

Action Plan: Getting Real

• What skills do you need?

• When and how will you talk with your principal/ supervisor?

• What barriers/obstacles might there be? How will you overcome them?

• What can you leverage in your conversation?

Success

Questions, Comments or Suggestions

Break

Work Session

Hope ≠ Plan

• What do you hope to accomplish?• Who do you hope to support?• What are your hopes and dreams?

* “Hope” is not a strategy; we need a clear and compelling vision with a plan! *

Observing the Fellows Plan

Action Plan: Part A3 Step Process

Action Plan: Part B

Next Steps

1. Meet with Admin and complete Action Plan: Parts A and B

2. Read What Works in Writing Instruction: Research and Practices (Dean, 2010)

3. Part II: Coaching Along the Continuum (Hall & Simeral, 2008)

Question(s):

What are you thinking about Next Steps to move this work forward? What additional resources may you need?

Final Word

Every Kid Needs a Champion

AESD Participant Survey

ELA Participant Surveyhttp://tinyurl.com/q48vn3z