EDU 6945 Crafting Historians in a Variety of Ways - Differentiation

EDU6945                    Crafting Historians in a Variety of Ways - Differentiation                     Ian Lewis

Social studies and history offer complex subject matter for many students and even some adults*. Not just chronology is at play, but a vast series of relationships and interactions, causes and effects, patterns, and trends are also at work. Additionally, the subject matter texts are linguistically complex. They are rife with content specific vocabulary - cultural, political, geographical, etc. in nature – and often incorporate compound sentences, concise yet artfully detailed with facts, and complex sentence fluency strategies in order to portray history as a narrative. Finally, historians read and write. Read and write. Read and write…And then do it again. Thus, students in social studies and history classrooms are already faced with course content that can be as ugly to slog through as the wars, plagues, disasters and such it portrays, in addition to the necessity to have developed and finely tuned literacy skills with which to comprehend, interpret, and analyze said texts. And this is where much differentiation should be inserted into instruction and learning activities, as the variety of students’ cultural, individual intellectual, and social development in any given classroom is highly variable; while varied, such differences (individual, group, and among the whole class) always should be considered in order to provide all students an engaging learning experience, while also engaging in culturally competent teaching, in the process of crafting students into potential historians, proficient in reading and writing about history.

Differentiation comes in a variety of forms, but all should be equally integrated throughout lesson plans for direct instruction and associated practice. Teachers need to recognize the specific skills their individual students and groups of students possess. Such specific skills may include culturally relevant information (e.g. A Muslim student may offer to bring his family Quran to share when studying the Islamic Empire of the middle ages), practical skills (e.g. A student may know how to embroider and could explain the process it would have required to detail an embroidered scene on a medieval tapestry presented as a graphic aid in the textbook), and scaffolded (theoretical) background knowledge provided during the course of the year (e.g. Students should be able to explain how Native Americans used different resources of different land regions because they previously learned five regions of Washington and the useful resources associated with each), all of which should be celebrated and utilized in general, not just in history courses. Additionally, deficits such as gaps in knowledge, low literacy level, and language development are often present and must be addressed.

Students with special education services, IEPs, and 504s, as well as ELLs, often require extra attention and specific differentiation, including many language supports that may be particularly useful in tackling the complexities of historic content and texts (Figure 1). While some students may not qualify for the legal modifications provided by 504 and IEP plans, regarding differentiation, some students and/or groups of students, such as students recently exited from special education or ELL services, struggling readers, and students with gaps in background knowledge must also be of utmost concern and the targets of differentiation approaches and strategies. Furthermore, while employing various means of differentiation through planned instruction and support activities, it is necessary to be able to adapt smoothly and incorporate lesson adjustments as needed throughout the course of delivery, especially taking into consideration differentiation strategies with key focus students/groups of students that may or may not serve them well. Based on the analysis and reflection of which strategies lead to success, teachers may further provide assistance when differentiating for individuals and groups of students by drawing on a multitude of strategies, some that may fit better in certain situations, and others more applicable elsewhere.

Figure 1: Cloze notes key, the blank version of which would be an example of language support provided as part of differentiation to special education, ELL, and select students with low literacy/reading comprehension.

* e.g. Even the President of the United States has been befuddled by the subject, such as when he mused on the Civil War, “People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?” – but discussions and critiques of such are for another time...another blog perhaps.

EDU 6945 Social Studies PLCs and Internees - Professional Practice

EDU6945                            Social Studies PLCs and Internees                                        Ian Lewis

Throughout the course of the school year, I have had the opportunity to collaboratively engage in the educational community at Narrows View Intermediate at many levels. Regularly scheduled, whole-building staff meetings provide opportunities for professional development, positive behaviors interventions and support (PBIS) learning, and a wide variety of other topics necessary for a smoothly functioning school. Professional learning community (PLC) meetings are scheduled on a rotating system so that teachers responsible for multiple subjects may attend both of their subject meetings, and I have had the opportunity to attend both social studies and English PLCs on a regular basis (and occasionally science). Finally, at the classroom/mentor level, I have been able to collaborate and reflect with both of my mentor teachers in a variety of ways. In collaborating at such levels, I have been able to work with peers to better instructional practices with the net goal of increasing student engagement and success.

While the whole-building staff-meetings have provided practical experience for an understanding of the holistic operation of the school, especially with regard to goals and growth tracking, testing, the PBIS system, and regular updates, I have particularly enjoyed the close-knit experience of collaborating with the individual social studies PLC group, as well as my two social studies (and ELA and science, respectively) mentors. Working at the subject-specific level has allowed for much in-depth planning, creation and innovation, and reflection and revision in an effort to further enhance professional practice and student learning.

Over the course of the year in the social studies PLC, a main goal has been to track student growth in a few major areas that were decided as critical for success at the outset of the year based on student pre-assessment data and the overall social studies requirements for the year. For example, recognizing the difference between, and analyzing primary and secondary sources, has been a primary concern for growth tracking, especially as the culminating classroom based assessment (CBA) on government policy toward Japanese-American internees requires the knowledge of, and ability to analyze, a multitude of source material to express and support social studies perspectives and argue a point. Therefore, PLC meetings regularly include collaboration around resources and the analysis of student data on progress with analyzing sources. Before and after tests, the PLCs discuss backward planning (Image 1) in order to cover necessary content, as well as edit/create tests to better assess the primary goals for the year (e.g. analyzing sources). Including more questions that ask students to utilize, make observations about, and explain/analyze primary  and secondary source material, for example an analysis of a painting and letter of the Whitman Massacre, would provide students an opportunity to show what they know about the goal of explaining history using multiple sources. Based on students test results, reflection over assessment has included revising or reorganizing tests in hope that they are clearer for future use. 

Image 1: Example of PLC agenda, in which backward planning employed to rework curriculum map and CBA timeframe.

In addition to the specific work with student growth goals, such as those pertaining to sources, the social studies PLC has provided a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and practice creating new curriculum. The three social studies teachers have been very accepting and encouraging of new ideas for lessons and materials. On multiple occasions I have been able to create/edit curriculum and put it to use in multiple classrooms with the support of the group. When studying the Native Americans of Washington state, all in the group were on board to let me take over and teach all nine seventh grade classes (over the course of two days) about artifacts and native technology in an experimental, hands-on, and highly cognitively-demanding learning experience. Worksheets and study guides I have created have also been utilized by the entire team to augment the existing curriculum materials. Additionally, new methods for student engagement have been experimented with the PLC (e.g. “speaker cards” - see Image 3), as well as new methods for working through the textbook material have been employed. 

Image 2: Example of my lesson observation notes, and mentor's notes about my lesson, from beginning of year.

At a finer level, the work with my mentors has been phenomenal in establishing a sense of community based on collaborative support and reflection. Throughout the course of the year, both of my mentor teachers have provided countless, written notes about lesson observations, all of which were discussed in detail afterward so that positive reflection and growth could occur (Image 2). Whether positive or negative, notes about delivery of content, level of student engagement, how to support diverse learners, strategies for questioning, strategies for correcting assignments, or any other myriad material, were welcomed as they could be deconstructed, analyzed, and reflected upon in order to further grow as an educator (Image 3). Conversing with my mentors daily also has allowed for immense reflection. Lesson debriefs and planning sessions all continue to contribute to breaking down and analyzing what one does to better instruction and practice with the ultimate goal of increasing student engagement and success.  

Image 3: Series of mentor notes about lessons (blue) with my annotated reflections (black) for future consideration.

EDU 6945 Helping Students Kick Assessment in the A** - Assessment

EDU6945                              Helping Students Kick Assessment in the A**                     Ian Lewis

Throughout the school year assessments are not simply at set intervals, after a lesson sequence or unit, to test recall. No, it is far more complex than this. Assessment is embedded and interwoven throughout each segment of a lesson, both formative and summative assessment having key roles, to not only provide quick assessment on the go to guide instruction and gauge student learning, but formally/summatively to track student growth points across time. This is exactly what is expressed in Seattle Pacific University program standard 6. Assessment.

Within the internship experience at Narrows View Intermediate, it has been present since the start that Narrows View students are held to exceptionally high standards, and the formal standardized tests, if you agree with the idea that they are an adequate measure of student growth and success, would suggest NVI students consistently surpass state standards. Certainly though, there are other venues with which students may prove they have understanding of what is the central focus for assessment. Thus, as with many situations where it seems there are but two options, the best option could be a hidden (or obvious) third: a combination. Whichever way though, it is important to integrate formative and summative assessment to monitor students and guide practice. With the central focus and end goal in mind first, assessment can be built and/or planned around that which is necessary for students to comprehend in order to be successful. To begin with, plan pre-assessment that will provide information about student background knowledge and allow for measuring student progress and skill acquisition.

At the beginning of the year in social studies we administered a social studies skills pre-assessment. The assessment utilized a student atlas, which students would later use in coursework, but from a section they would not normally experience. The corresponding battery of test questions resembled those that would be encountered on a standardized test, including the multiple choice, true/false, and short response, geared around reading and interpreting text, text features, and primary/secondary source material. The results of the pre-assessment  revealed that students needed most practice with interpreting text features and visual aids, such as maps, charts/tables, and graphs, as well as differentiating primary and secondary source material. As a result of this pre-assessment data, these skills have been continually emphasized and monitored throughout the year, and incorporated across each lesson sequence. The seventh grade classroom based assessment (CBA) we have yet to complete places emphasis on differentiating and effectively utilizing primary and secondary source materials, as do Social Studies CCSS, and therefore it has been of utmost importance to continually monitor student progress in this area. Therefore formative assessment in lessons on multiple occasions, for example, has been geared at student differentiation and interpretation of sources (e.g.: The caption for the graphic aid says, “Miraculously embroidered on soiled dressings in 1428 by a triple amputee soldier in a field hospital during the Battle of Orleans (1428-1429), this medieval tapestry depicts the horrors of medieval combat”, so it must be what type of source?). Informal summative assessments throughout the year have also focused on utilizing multiple source materials. So far students have shown much growth in this area, and come time for CBA, they’ll be ready to kick some assessment a**.

While pre-assessment may be utilized at set points, such as an entry task that serves as a lesson/lesson sequence pre-assessment, other formative assessment must be integrated throughout daily lessons. After all, students (and adults alike) lose attention after a set amount of time (~7  minutes), and therefore, in most instances, stop learning the desired material. Therefore, it is important to consistently and periodically utilize a vast array of formative assessment. By breaking apart lessons into scaffolded segments of direct instruction and associated learning activities interspersed with formative assessment (there’s a reason the SPU standard lesson plan outline is written the way it is…alternating instruction/learning activity and formative assessment), the effect of students’ natural loss of attention is mitigated; the periodic integration of formative assessment helps to keep students engaged in learning while checking loss of natural focus and allowing for continual monitoring of student learning. Examples of formative assessment could include pair/group sharing and then calling on students who raise hands, or randomly selecting a student for response after a pair share, thus practicing ways of covert engagement of all students. Students can physically engage in formative assessment, for example from one lesson in WA state history this quarter, by making a wave motion with a hand to represent a natural boundary or a gaveling motion to represent a political boundary. Choral response can be used as formative assessment and simply traveling amongst students and monitoring their work is also formative assessment. All of these methods have been used successfully throughout the year. Not only do these critically integrated assessments help keep student focus and provide practice, but they allow for on-the-spot feedback for guiding the lesson further, as well as guiding next lessons for the benefit of the teacher.

Regarding summative assessment, the internship has provided much experience in planning and creating assessments (especially in collaboration with staff PLC members), as well as tracking and analyzing student data, and finally reflecting on assessments and student growth. As mentioned earlier, assessment should align with the central focus and goal of any lesson sequence or unit. Prior to giving the last unit assessment, the PLC edited existing test questions and incorporated more questions about Native American spatial patterns and geography, as that was the central focus of the unit. Pre-assessment questionnaire results from the start of the unit about two Native American groups’ spatial patterns could be compared with data from the summative unit assessment to monitor whether students gained proper understanding of the learning targets aligned with the overall focus of the unit. Student responses to questions related to interpreting graphic aids and source materials were monitored to note overall improvement in this area, as was a focus for the year as mentioned prior. Assessment data from classes was also discussed and analyzed at the PLC meeting, at which point reflecting on the data and the test led to more editing. For example, an entire page was rearranged to make a caption clear, as it seemed it had been viewed as a separate, short article, unrelated to its image simply based on poor location. A final means for reflecting and adjusting for the future as a result of assessment came from the end of unit student voice questionnaire; the questions were as follows:

1.       What do you wish would have been asked on the test that you knew about Native Americans, their associated spatial patterns, or the formation of Washington territory?

2.       What instructional strategies and/or activities helped you best understand Native Americans, their associated spatial patterns, or the formation of Washington territory?

3.       Would you change anything if you could, regarding how you engaged in learning/studying about Native Americans, their associated spatial patterns, or the formation of Washington territory?

Results from this survey were quite beneficial for planning the next unit. The questions about beneficial instructional strategies and changes, in particular, revealed interesting information. While many students mentioned the usefulness of the guided and cloze notes for use while reading the lessons in the textbook, a few students explicitly mentioned they did not prefer this method because it was too constraining, slow, and/or not stimulating, nothing we want for our students. Therefore, for the next lesson, multiple styles of note handouts were provided so students could choose how to take notes to better fit their own needs. One student was incredibly appreciative to, “Not be bored”, and I was certainly glad to remedy that with a more engaging instructional tool.

Student suggestion against using cloze notes (red), an example of response from unit end student voice questionnaire.

From pre-assessment to post-assessment, and all the formative in between, assessment is an integral and staple part of any teaching experience. The internship experience at NVI has allowed for much practice with formative and summative assessment methods/strategies, as well as the creation of assessments, analysis and reflection of assessment data, and use of student voice in assessment to better guide overall teaching and assessment practice.