Meeting the needs of 21st century learners

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Meeting the needs of 21st century learners

• Collaborative Conference on Student Achievement

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Opening Activity Awareness

• Think of the most difficult task you would ask
  your students to complete this year.
• On the activity sheet, write down five students
  you believe would easily succeed in the task and
  five students you believe would struggle.

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Todays Agenda

• Introduction
• High Expectations
• Awareness
• Student Needs
• Reflection

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Todays Objectives

• Understand the core beliefs of high expectations
  for all students
• Gain an awareness of possible disparities and
  biases
• Learn about student needs for the 21st Century

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Participant Expectations

• Be Responsible
• Return promptly from breaks
• Be an active participant
• Use electronic devices appropriately
• Be Respectful
• Maintain cell phone etiquette
• Listen attentively to others
• Limit sidebars and stay on topic
• Be Kind
• Enter discussions with an open mind
• Respond appropriately to others ideas
• Honor confidentiality

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Attention Signal

• Please make note of time limits and watch your
  clocks!
• Trainer will raise his/her hand.
• Finish your thought/comment.
• Participants will raise a hand and wait quietly.

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Safety Assumptions

• You are all high-quality educators.
• We want all students to succeed.
• All ideas will be heard without judgment.
• Confidentiality will be honored.
• We are not here to fix you.
• Others?

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Meeting the needs of 21st century learners

• High Expectations for All Students

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Basketball Activity

• Break into pairs and choose one person to be the
  teacher and the other will be the student.
• Teachers instruct students on throwing the ball
  into a basket. All of the students will stand
  behind the same line to throw.
• Follow the instructions on the activity sheet
  when modifying the task.
• Collaborate with fellow teachers as needed.
• If time allows, switch roles.

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High Expectations

• Definition
• The belief that any student, regardless of
  characteristics or circumstances, can and will
  succeed in a rigorous learning environment.

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Meeting the needs of 21st century learners

• Core Beliefs Poll

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Core Beliefs Poll

• Walk around the room, reading the core belief
  statements on the chart paper around the room.
• Select an answer that best describes your
  opinion.
• Put a dot next to that answer.

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Core Belief We have the tools to close the
achievement gap.

• Standard Course Of Study
• Collaboration
• Formative Assessments
• High-yield teaching strategies
• Remediation
• Enrichment
• Student/Teacher Interactions

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Core Belief Quality teachers outweigh student
barriers

• the fundamental finding from the Education
  Trust studies is that however important
  demographic variables may appear in their
  association with student achievement, teaching
  quality is the most dominant factor in
  determining student success. (Reeves, 2000)

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Core Belief District and school leadership
create the climate that supports high
expectations

• Research has consistently shown that principals
  are the key to an effective school (Seyfarth,
  1999 Sergiovanni, 2001)
• Principals who focus on developing a culture of
  adult learning, positive relationships among
  teachers, and a relentless focus on instruction
  were shown to play a key role in increasing
  achievement in difficult circumstances (Newmann,
  2000)

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Core Belief It is the responsibility of everyone
in our school to remove barriers to learning.

• It is important to make the necessary
  adjustments in the school environment to
  neutralize predictable problems for these young
  people. To do that, educators have to be
  cognizant of how they arrived at the school door
  and do whatever is necessary to minimize the
  obstacles that their worlds or the school places
  in their path
• Dr. Mary Montle Bacon,
• Working with Students from a Culture of Poverty

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Core Belief It is the responsibility of everyone
in our school to remove barriers to learning.

• Achievement is influenced by four factors.
• Educators have the ability to influence three of
  the four factors.
• We spend the most time trying to change the one
  on which we have the least influence.
• -Dave Tilly, Keynote Address NC Leadership Forum,
  November 2008

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Core Belief We can move beyond personal biases
towards groups or individuals

• The most effective teachers are those who know
  themselves, are willing to reflect inward to
  determine causes of problems in classroom, and
  ultimately change behavior/practice/lessons after
  reflection. (Farr, 2010)
• It is entirely possible to change behavior
  towards students so that students-regardless of
  the teachers level of expectation for
  them-receive the same behavior in terms of
  affective tone and quality of interactions.
  (Marzano, 2007)

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Core Belief High Expectations are conveyed not
only through words but through actions

• Student performance is linked to teacher/student
  interactions.
• We all have biases that result in subtle
  differences in the way we behave towards certain
  students.
• Expectations are conveyed through body language
  and voice tone without self-awareness.
• These behaviors influence student performance,
  and result in our beliefs being realized.

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Core Belief Student success is the
responsibility of the teacher

• The quality of a teacher in the classroom is the
  single most important factor in determining how
  well a child learns. (Vandervoot, et al., 2004)
• Quantitative analysis indicate that measures of
  teacher preparation and certification are by far
  the strongest correlates of student achievement
  in reading and mathematics before and after
  controlling for student poverty and language
  studies. (Hammond, 2000)

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Core Belief A students life circumstances
and/or characteristics do not predict his/her
ability to learn

• schools that are highly effective produce
  results that almost entirely overcome the effects
  of student backgrounds. (Marzano What Works in
  Schools, 2003, page 7)
• While environmental factors can alter rate of
  learning they do not affect the ability to
  learn. (Susan Levine, Professor of Psychology at
  the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

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Core Beliefs Reflection Activity

• Using the activity sheet, take a moment to
  consider your feelings and thoughts about each of
  the core beliefs.
• After youve completed the reflection sheet, if
  you are comfortable doing so, talk with the
  person next to you and share some of your
  thoughts.

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Meeting the needs of 21st century learners

• Awareness

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Awareness Activity

• On your own
• Refer to the list of students you created at the
  beginning of this session.
• Identify characteristic of each student (e.g.
  race, sex, socio-economic, etc.).
• In small groups
• Discuss common characteristics of the perceived
  high achievers and perceived low achievers.
• Do you have similar groupings to others or
  different ones?

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Awareness Honesty

• People may not always say what is on their minds
  when it comes to sensitive topics.

• Some people are either unwilling or unable to
  honestly express their thoughts.

• Unwilling people deceive others, while unable
  people deceive themselves.

• This deception is attributed to the types of
  associations sensitive topics have.

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Awareness Honesty

• Our experiences either indirectly or directly
  impact how we think about certain groups.
• We are unaware of how indirect or implicit
  associations can impact our behavior toward
  certain groups.
• The Implicit Association Test (IAT) helps us
  recognize how indirect associations have impacted
  our thinking.

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Awareness How do expectations affect learning?

• Communication consists of
• Text
• Tone
• Body Language
• Which of these do you think is the largest
  component of communication?

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Expectations/Performance Cycle
climate
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Awareness Breaking the Cycle

• Identify your expectation levels for students.
• Accept that you are interacting differently with
  students who you perceive as low performing.
• Focus on changing your behaviors through specific
  instructional strategies.
• Collect data to ensure that your interactions are
  changing.
• Does my differential treatment suggest that I am
  a terrible teacher? The answer is no if, once
  I recognize my differential treatment, I take
  corrective measures.
• The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Robert T. Tauber

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Meeting the needs of 21st century learners

• What do modern students need for the future?

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Thoughts about 21st Century Learning

• Oh, sure, Id love for my kids to have a class
  set of Ipod Touches.
• Our students may not have computers at home.
• Im not comfortable letting them handle the
  equipment.
• My school doesnt have the money to buy paper,
  let alone computers.

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What do students really need?

• The Five Cs

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Collaboration What is it and why is it
important?

• Think of all the times during the day that your
  job requires you to work with other adults.
• Think about other jobs that require the workers
  to collaborate.
• Can you think of any job that does not require
  collaboration?
• Find a partner and discuss how people collaborate
  in a social network.

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Collaboration What does it look like in a 21st
Century Classroom?

• Reciprocal teaching (teachers enabling students
  to learn and use self-learning)
• Feedback accepted from all (specific response to
  student work)
• Student self-verbalization or self-questioning
• Use of meta-cognition strategies
• Problem-based learning

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Activity

• What are we already doing to encourage
  collaboration?
• What could we do better?

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School Example

• Brentwood Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Lake Myra Elementary School, Wendell, NC
• Fred A. Smith Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Wilburn Elementary School, Raleigh, NC

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Communication What is it and why is it important?

• In order to collaborate, students need to be able
  to communicate ideas coherently and
  diplomatically.
• At the very least, a person needs to be able to
  communicate with a boss or superior in order to
  be successful.
• Communication is through oral, written, drawn,
  and can be conveyed through tone and body
  language.
• Find a new partner and talk about what helps you
  present your ideas to others effectively.

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Communication What does it look like in a 21st
Century Classroom?

• Using video production to assess learning
• Translating material into text messages
• Creating graphic novels about lessons
• Hand-draw story boards about concepts learned
• Climate that encourages everyone to give and
  receive feedback
• Learning to address a global audience
• Theres a fallacy that kids arent reading and
  writing anymore, says Bruce. They are, but they
  just are reading and writing differently than
  what weve traditionally done in schools. . . . A
  21st-century approach doesnt say that print
  writing is bad. Its not competing literacies
  its complementary literacy.

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Activity

• What are we already doing ?
• What could we do better?

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School Example

• Brentwood Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Lake Myra Elementary School, Wendell, NC Book
  Club
• Old Providence Elementary School, Charlotte, NC

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Critical Thinking What is it and why is it
important?

• This is also called problem solving.
• While we cant predict what type of job the
  students of today will have, we can prepare them
  by teaching critical thinking and problem
  solving.
• A boss gives a work team a new machine or
  software or program or project and tells the team
  to figure out how to use it or complete it. Is
  this a realistic scenario?
• Turn to the person next to you and talk about how
  you use critical thinking in your job.

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Critical Thinking What does it look like in a
21st Century Classroom?

• Problem-solving in conventional and innovative
  ways
• Identifying and asking significant questions
  which lead to better solutions 
• Use of various types of reasoning (inductive,
  deductive, etc.)
• Analysis of the interaction of parts of a whole
  to produce overall outcomes in complex systems
• Effective evaluation of evidence, arguments,
  claims and beliefs
•  Synthesized connections between information and
  arguments
• Solid interpretation of information and
  conclusions drawn on the best analysis
• Critical reflection on learning experiences and
  processes

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Activity

• What are we already doing ?
• What could we do better?

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School Example

• Brentwood Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Centennial Campus Middle School, Raleigh, NC
• Lake Myra Elementary School, Wendell, NC
• Old Providence Elementary School, Charlotte, NC

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Creativity What is it and why is it important?

• Most people assume that creativity has something
  to do with the fine arts.
• In order to build new systems or programs or
  products, thinking must be done outside the box.
• Think of a teacher you had who encouraged this
  type of creativity.
• Find a partner and tell what that teacher did to
  encourage creativity.

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Creativity What does it look like in a 21st
Century Classroom?

• Originality and inventiveness in work
• Developing, implementing and communicating new
  ideas to others
• Openness and responsiveness to new and diverse
  perspectives
• Acting on creative ideas to make a tangible and
  useful contribution
• Understanding and application of Gardners
  Learning Styles

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Activity

• What are we already doing ?
• What could we do better?

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School Example

• Brentwood Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Lake Myra Elementary, Wendell, NC
• Old Providence Elementary, Charlotte, NC
• Wilburn Elementary School, Raleigh, NC

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Caring What is it and why is it important?

• People work best in environments in which they
  feel safe.
• Safety ensures that risks can be taken.
• Classrooms should have a climate of democracy, in
  which all people feel valued.
• Most students do not necessarily remember every
  lesson taught, but they will remember the
  relationships between the people at the school.
• Take a minute to write about a teacher that you
  had who you felt truly cared about the students.
  What did that teacher do to convey regard?

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Caring What does it look like in a 21st Century
Classroom?

• Equitable
• Organized
• Nurturing
• Cultural responsiveness
• Clearly defined expectations that are taught
  directly
• System in place to recognize positive behavior
• Instructive, not punitive, classroom management
• Student-driven and teacher facilitated

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Activity

• What are we already doing ?
• What could we do better?

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School Example

• Brentwood Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Lake Myra Elementary School, Wendell, NC
• Old Providence Elementary School, Charlotte, NC
• Vance Elementary School, Raleigh, NC

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Video
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Reflection

• What needs to happen to encourage a 21st Century
  learning environment at your school?

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Resources

• http//edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2012/01/collaboratio
  n-1-collaboration-is-the-key-influence-in-the-qual
  ity-of-teaching.html
• http//lornacollier.com/TheShiftto21stCentury
  Literacies.pdf
• http//www.edutopia.org/blog/creativity-in-classro
  om-trisha-riche
• http//davidwarlick.com/wordpress/?page_id2
• www.p21.org
• https//implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

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Special Thanks

• Kathy Bauer, Third Grade Teacher, Old Providence
  Elementary School, Charlotte, NC
• Candace Buchanan, Second Grade Teacher, Fred A.
  Smith Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Katie Bush, Second Grade Teacher, Fred A. Smith
  Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Matthew Carlyle, Kindergarten teacher, Brentwood
  Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Amy Dressel, Dance Specialist, Centennial Campus
  Middle School, Raleigh, NC
• Rachel Fruend, Fifth Grade Teacher, Vance
  Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Christina Palmer, Fourth Grade Teacher, Lake Myra
  Elementary School, Wendell, NC
• Melissa Purtee, Art Specialist, Wilburn
  Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
• Sandylee Singletary, Seventh Grade Language Arts
  Teacher, Centennial Campus Middle School,
  Raleigh, NC

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Contact Information

• laura.winter_at_dpi.nc.gov
• 919-302-9334