Professional Development

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• Professional Development
• Activity
• Group 4
• Dena Spickard Anthony Wilson
• Annie Baker
• Domenic Saia
• Heather Lankford

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• The target audience for this project is going to
  be middle school teachers in a rural area.
• The teachers will teach the following subjects
• Math, Science, English, Social Studies.
• There is a gap between the elementary and high
  school grades that needs to be filled. Many
  students go to high school unprepared to reach
  the curricular goals of high schools. Middle
  school teachers within the school district will
  collaborate according to subject. Upon
  collaboration, these teachers will need to meet
  with elementary and high school teachers to fully
  grasp this gap.

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Collaboration

• Collaboration has become a twenty-first-century
  trend. The need in society to think and work
  together on issues of critical concern has
  increased (Austin 2000a Welch 1998) shifting the
  emphasis from individual efforts to group work,
  from independence to community.
• Peter F. Oliva, an expert in curriculum
  development, describes how curriculum change is a
  cooperative endeavor. Teachers and curriculum
  specialists constitute the professional core of
  planners. (Oliva, 2009)
• Significant curriculum improvement comes about
  through group activity. (Oliva, 2009)

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Austin, J. E. 2000a. Principles for partnership.
Leader to Leader 18 (Fall). Accessed Mar. 31,
2004, www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/L2l/fall2000/austin
.html.
Welch, M. 1998. Collaboration Staying on the
bandwagon. Journal of Teacher Education 49, no. 1
(Jan./Feb.) 2638. Accessed Apr. 24, 2004,
http//web7.infotrac.galegroup.com.
Oliva, Peter F. 2009. Developing the Curriculum
(7th edition) Boston, MA Pearson Education, Inc.
Page 33
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What is Collaboration?

• Collaboration is a trusting, working relationship
  between two or more equal participants/groups
  involved in shared thinking, shared planning and
  shared creation of integrated curriculum/
  instruction.

http//www.youtube.com/watch?vNXZS1ktBPqA
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Collaboration Makes us Smarter??

• Introducing a new curriculum or refining an
  existing curriculum is complex and challenging.
• Teacher teamwork makes these complex tasks more
  manageable, stimulates new ideas, and promotes
  coherence in a schools curriculum and
  instruction. (Inger, 1993)
• Schools benefit from teacher collaboration in
  several ways (Inger, 1993)
• Through formal and informal training sessions,
  study groups, and conversations about teaching,
  teachers and administrators get the opportunity
  to get smarter together.
• Schools become better prepared and organized to
  examine new ideas, methods, and materials.
• The faculty becomes adaptable and self-reliant.

Inger, M. 1993. Teacher collaboration in
secondary schools. Center Focus, no. 2 (Dec.)
http//vocserve.berkeley.edu/centerfocus/CF2.html.
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Collaboration Shared Thinking

• When individuals come together to share their
  expertise and ideas in order to construct a fresh
  and innovative way of doing something, they are
  demonstrating characteristics of fully developed
  collaboration. (Montiel-Overall, 2005)
• Shared thinking or joint participation in
  thinking together about how to solve a mutually
  agreed upon problem is what is meant by shared
  problem-solving. (Montiel-Overall, 2005)
• The coming together to think about an issue and
  to plan together as co-planners and
  co-implementors is jointly carrying the plan to
  fruition. (Montiel-Overall, 2005)

Montiel-Overall, P. 2005. Toward a Theory of
Collaboration for Teachers and Librarians. AASL
(Feb.) http//www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aasl
pubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume82005/the
ory.cfm
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What does collaboration look like?

• Attributes of collaboration are
• friendliness
• congeniality
• collegiality
• reciprocity
• respect
• propensity to share (shared vision, shared
  thinking, shared problem solving, shared creation
  of integrated instruction)
• trust
• flexibility
• communication

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The Process of Bridging the Gaps

• Somewhere Middle School will be working in
  collaborative groups to determine gaps in the
  curriculum.
• SMS will start by meeting as a Middle School to
  consider gaps. Collaborative meetings will be
  held in subject specific areas Math, Science,
  Reading, and Social Studies.
• After meeting as a Middle School, collaboration
  will continue with Elementary Schools and the
  High School in the district.

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Where does bridging the gap begin?

• For the most part, curriculum goals and
  objectives develop at any level cut across
  disciplines. It is possible for grades and
  departments to develop curriculum goals and
  objectives that do not apply generally throughout
  the school. (Oliva, 2009)

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The Middle School Curriculum

• The core curriculum is in philosophy and intent
  the secondary school counterpart of the activity
  curriculum of the elementary school. (Oliva,
  2009)
• Focus on blending core curriculum

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Lets compare the standards

• Third grade Science SOL
• 3.5 The student will investigate and understand
  relationships among organisms in aquatic and
  terrestrial food chains. Key concepts include
• a) producer, consumer, decomposer

• Biology SOL Grade 10
• BIO.9 The student will investigate and understand
  dynamic equilibrium within populations,
  communities, and ecosystems. Key concepts
  include
• a) nutrient cycling with energy flow through
  ecosystems

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At your table, discuss a few problems a the
elementary and high school teacher may have in
teaching this standard

• Third Grade Teacher
• Concept learning
• Vague standard

• High School Teacher
• Degree of detail for concept
• Previous misconceptions

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Middle School Life Science SOL

• LS.9 The student will investigate and
  understand interactions among
• populations in a biological community.
• Key concepts include
• the relationships among producers, consumers, and
  decomposers in food webs
• See any similarities?

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Think Pair Share

• 1- Think about how this science teacher can
  bridge a fundamental concept.
• 2- In Pairs talk to your neighbor about how you
  might combat this problem.
• 3- Share

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Collaboration 2.0

• Web 2.0 are technological tools to aid
  individuals and groups communicate and
  collaborate more effectively.
• Some of the web 2.0 technologies that we will be
  discussing and utilizing to aid in bridging the
  gaps in our curriculum are
• blogs
• wikis
• breeze connect groups
• google groups
• facebook community

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Tools to Aid in Collaboration

• Participate in our collaborative wiki site

http//bridgingthegapseducation.wikispaces.com/
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Tools to Aid in Collaboration

• Participate in our collaborative blog

http//www.bridgingthegapseducation.blogspot.com/
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Tools to Aid in Collaboration

• Participate in our collaborative online meeting

https//breeze.radford.edu/sp6154?launcherfalse
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Tools to Aid in Collaboration

• Participate in our collaborative google online
  interactions

http//groups.google.com/group/bridgingthegapseduc
ation?hlen
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Tools to Aid in Collaboration

• Participate in our collaborative facebook
  community

http//www.facebook.com/pages/Bridging-the-Gaps-in
-Education/101114436598058?vapp_2309869772!/page
s/Bridging-the-Gaps-in-Education/101114436598058?v
wall
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Differentiating Lessons

• 1. Differentiating the content/topic
• 2. Differentiating the process/activities
• 3. Differentiating the product
• 4. Differentiating by manipulating the
  environment or through accommodating individual
  learning styles

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Word Study

• Used for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling
  instruction.
• Provides a practical way to study words with
  students. Based on the research on invented and
  developmental spelling.
• The framework of the text is keyed to the five
  stages of spelling.
• Focuses on literacy development

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Instruction for all students

• Filled with examples every teacher can use to
  meet the diverse learning needs of students.
• A resource for teachers that translates powerful
  and complex research and ideas into actual
  strategy and examples that are easily about to
  use.
• Ensures that educators are more
• knowledgeable about best practices
• and are better equipped the address
• the needs of our students.

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Differentiating Lessons

• Ways to work intelligence into your lessons

Musical
Language
Nature
Social
Spatial
Logic/Math
Self
Body Movement
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Language

• Enjoy saying, hearing, and seeing words. Like.
  telling stories. Motivated by books, records,
  dramas, opportunities for writing

• Look at different kinds of dictionaries
• Keep a journal
• Read from books written by or for new readers
• Use a tape recorder or tape stories and write
  them down
• Trade tall tales, attend story-telling events
• Explore and develop the love of words, i.e.
  meanings of words, origin of words and idioms,
  names

• Read plays and poetry out loud
• Write a story for a book or newsletter
• Read together, i.e. choral reading
• Read out loud to each other
• Read a section, then explain what youve read
• Read a piece with different emotional tones or
  viewpoints one angry, one happy. Etc.

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Spatial

• Remember things visually, including exact sizes
  and shapes. They like posters, charts, and
  graphics. They enjoy drawing.

• Write a work on the chalkboard with a wet finger.
  Visualize the word as it disappears. See if you
  can spell it afterward.
• Write words vertically
• Use pictures to stimulate reading or writing
• Visualize spelling words
• Use crossword puzzles

• Write a language experience story and illustrate
  it
• Study and create maps, diagrams, and graphs
• Color code words so each syllable is a different
  color
• Take a survey. Put the information in a chart
• Cut out words from a magazine and use them in a
  letter
• Use the say-copy-look method of spelling
• Use colorful newspapers like USA Today

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Logic/Math

• Enjoy exploring how things are related. Like to
  understand how things work. Like mathematical
  concepts. Enjoys puzzles and manipulative games.
  Good at critical thinking.

• While reading a story, stop before youve
  finished and predict what will happen next
• After finishing a story, mind map some of the
  main ideas and details
• Write the directions for completing a simple job
  like starting a car or tying a shoe
• Write a headline for a story youve just
  completed
• Look for patterns in words. Whats the
  relationship?

• Arrange cartoons and other pictures in a logical
  sequence
• Sort, categorize and characterize word lists
• Explore the origin of words
• Play games that require critical thinking
• Work with scrambled sentences
• Make outlines of what you are going to write or
  of the material youve already read
• Look at the advertisements critically. What are
  they using to get you to buy their product?

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Body Movement

• Like to move, dance, wiggle, walk, and swim.
  Good at sports. Have good fine motor skills.
  Like to take things apart and put them back
  together again.

• Use magnetic letters, letter blocks or letters on
  index cards to spell words
• Take a walk while discussing a story or gathering
  ideas for a story
• Change the place where you write and use
  different tools to write

• Go through your wallet and put out 3 things to
  talk about
• Make pipe cleaner letters
• Write on a mirror with lipstick or soap
• Take a walk and read all the words you find
  during the walk

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Musical

• Like the rhythm and sound of language. Like
  poems, songs and jingles. Enjoy humming or
  singing with music .

• Use a familiar tune, song, or rap beat to teach
  spelling rules, or to remember words in a series
  for a test
• Clap out or walk out the sounds of syllables
• Read lyrics to music

• Create a poem with an emphasis on certain sounds
  for pronunciation
• Read together (choral reading) to work on fluency
  and intonation

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Social

• Like to develop ideas and learn from other
  people. Like to talk. Have good social skills.

• Take part in group discussions or discuss a topic
  one-to-one
• Read a dialogue or play together

• Do team learning/investigating projects
• Set up interview questions, and interview your
  family. Write the results

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Self

• Like to spend time alone. Take in information
  and process it and discuss it later. Like
  working on projects alone. Prefer to learn by
  trial and error. Need time to reflect.

• Go on guided imagery tours
• Set aside time to reflect on new ideas and
  information
• Use brainstorming methods before reading
• Listen to and read how to tapes and books

• Encourage journal writing
• Work on the computer
• Practice breathing for relaxation
• Read inspirational thought for the day books

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Nature

• Enjoy interacting with the outside world.

• Spend time outside noticing patterns in nature
• Take hikes and record significant features about
  what you find
• Read books and articles about nature and the
  environment

• Compare seeds, seedlings, and adult plants. Mix
  them up and ask your learners to match each seed
  to it corresponding seedling and adult.

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Learning Pyramid
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Summary

• Somewhere Middle School teachers have joined
  together with the elementary and high school
  teachers and improved differentiating lessons in
  the classrooms, as well as collaborating with
  instruction in the middle school. Practice with
  these techniques by the middle school teachers
  will continue until the gap of curricular goals
  with the high school has been met.

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• Group 4
• Dena Spickard, Anthony Wilson, Annie Baker,
  Domenic Saia, Heather Lankford all completed
  different parts of this final presentation.

April 26, 2010 EDUC 615-02 Dr. McCracken