By G. FAITH LITTLE

The sunlight is still Summer while the breeze feels like Fall. Teachers stream in, eager to find their names at check-in and chat with colleagues on their way to hear the keynote speaker frame the day, “It’s not that differentiation is part of the work. Differentiation is the work itself. We all can make progress and we can all grow. Each student deserves a goal that they can work hard to achieve!"
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This excerpt from a previous post about bringing a series of in-person professional development workshops to life evoked memories that seemed to stand in stark contrast against our current teaching and learning situation.

Adapting our plans

​We began our Spring 2020 workshops series on a cold day in February. At the end of the day-long sessions, facilitators reviewed feedback from participants, noted adjustments they would make to their plans, and tucked away sign-in sheets in folders, ready for their next session — a month away. A few weeks later we found ourselves siloed, setting up spaces at home where we could work, on screens, day and night. It felt as if we were living in a snow globe that someone picked up, shook, and set back down, leaving our environment sloshing around us, debris floating through the air, settling at our feet. 

We moved quickly, collaborating from our siloed spaces, pushing one another to reframe our thinking: 

• Instead of, “Can this even work if we’re not all in the same room at the same time?” we asked, “How can this work while we’re in different places with different schedules?”
• Rather than, “I’ll need to start planning all over again for this to work in a new setting,” we wondered, “What can I preserve from this plan?” and “What’s one way I can get this message across with the tools I have?”
• In addition to using high-tech options, like Canvas as a platform for content, we consistently considered what the low-tech and no-tech options would be.

Through connection and communication, we were able to find ways to support teachers who were going through the same process themselves: expanding their classroom from inside the walls of a school building out in the city, across the state, and around the world.

The phrase we're in this together became a mantra not only when it came to wearing masks, washing our hands, and social distancing, but also when it came to our own teaching and learning. Stay-at-home restrictions created an environment in which we needed to open our minds to as many options to meet as many students in need as possible.

As teachers — from early childhood education to graduate school — revised and remodeled their plans, many began to ask, “Why didn’t I think of this before? I could have a distance learning component for each of my lessons.” At CPET, we realized that we could not only offer each of our workshops in an online space, but we could make all of our offerings available at no additional charge to our participants. The limitation of being in a specific session at a specific time was gone, and what was left was the opportunity for teachers to experience as many of the asynchronous offerings as they cared to.
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Our Spring 2020 asynchronous offerings; view upcoming opportunities here

Utilizing practical strategies

​Of course, after plans are adapted into a new space, the work again becomes customizing to our students. What do our first graders need to connect during distance learning? What about our sixth graders? Our seniors? As our snow globe settles and our vision clears, we see that trusted strategies are a foundation we can still hold on to. We can identify practical and adaptable tips we’ve used in the classroom and integrate them into our remote teaching and learning.

• Discussion Strategy: Provide prompts for students to connect to themselves
  • Pose open-ended questions about a text or topic to help students engage in the conversation
  • Turn your questions into writing prompts
  • Support students in asking their own questions through invitation and exploration

 

• Informal Formative Assessment: Peaks & Pits
  • Students articulate one peak and one pit. A peak is something they are excited they now understand or something new they learned during class, invitation, or exploration. A pit is something that’s still troubling them or that they wish they understood more clearly.
  • Possibilities: Pair share, read aloud, or collect through chat, email, Google Doc, or by uploading a picture

 

• Differentiating the way students engage with information: Introduce a topic, concept or theme
  • Step 1: Quote — students interpret a quote about the concept or theme
  • Step 2: Image — students interpret an image that represents the concept or theme
  • Step 3: Question — students answer a questions about the concept or theme
  • Step 4: In groups of three, students compare the quote, question and image; students identify connections between the three

So, we end where we began: differentiation is not simply part of the work — it is the work.

Each student deserves the opportunity to grow, demonstrate progress, and work hard toward an achievable goal.

Each teacher deserves the same. 

TAGS: DIFFERENTIATION, G. FAITH LITTLE, INITIATIVES, REMOTE LEARNING, RESOURCES

By G. FAITH LITTLE
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In a recent letter to the community, CPET Director Roberta Kang shared her childhood memory of the Challenger Space Shuttle’s explosion, and her experience as a teacher in the classroom during 9/11. She wrote, “As educators, we are not unfamiliar with working through a crisis. We know that some crises are visible, and some are invisible. We know that some are explosive, while others are slow burns that dismantle a sense of safety bit by bit. We know that some have villains attached, and others are just, well, science.”

Our children will have strong memories of this time. They will recall what it was like when their school closed, when they had to wear masks, stand far away from people, or when open air parks were locked to visitors. Already, children are telling stories about when they went to school, “before the virus came” and what they want to bring to school, “after the virus is over.” Having conversations with children about what is happening around them and within them will support their growth and learning during this challenging time.

Although COVID-19 is a new type of coronavirus, talking with children about scary situations is not new. To support our conversations, we can lean on reliable resources and use age-appropriate methods. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) connects their general principles for talking to children to the National Association for School Psychologists guidelines:
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• Remain calm and reassuring
• Make yourself available
• Avoid excessive blaming
• Monitor television viewing and social media
• Maintain a normal routine to the extent possible
• Be honest and accurate
• Know the symptoms of COVID-19
• Review and model hygiene and healthy lifestyle practices for protection

There are many resources online to support our conversations, and it can be overwhelming to sift through for “the perfect one.” During this time of emotional, mental, and physical overload, it’s important to remember there is no such thing as perfect. Using a reliable, science-based option will give you a starting place for you and your kids to generate questions and keep the conversation open. 

Pre-K — Elementary

Support your younger students with ready-made resources from PBS. Sesame Street’s Caring for Each Other page has informative, age-appropriate videos and free e-books to support your conversation about what COVID-19 is and what we can do about it. Use their infographic to prepare for your conversation if you are feeling concerned about what to say.

Older elementary students can learn more about germs and build their vocabulary by reading an article together, like What are Germs? — available in English and Spanish, with an option to listen to the article while you read. 

Middle school

Middle school students are moving into a space where they question the answers they are given. Use this natural developmental stage to engage kids with inquiry cycles. Consider not only a focus on COVID-19, but a student exploration into a simple history of viruses. 

Whether you adapt lessons from online sources, like three lesson plans for science, math and media literacy focused on COVID-19, or you set students on a path to conduct their own research, trying out an inquiry cycle can help students gather information and generate real questions that lead to deeper exploration.

Don’t have a template of your own? Give ours a try — within this template, students can share their findings in discussion groups while you use the written information as formative assessments, make adjustments to lesson plans, and provide supplemental materials or advice for students as they explore. 

During this time of distance learning, we have the opportunity to see what happens when self-discovery and experimentation places learning in our students’ hands. As students get more autonomy, we get to see firsthand what teaching looks like when students are at the front of the class.

High school

Students at this age can do their own research on the topic starting with the CDC’s Coronavirus-19 page (available in at least five languages), which covers symptoms, how to protect yourself, slowing the spread, daily life, and coping and is updated regularly to include subjects like cloth face coverings.

​As new questions arise, students can create a simple art project, like an infographic. With them, you can research to find answers, add them to your infographic and draw, color, or paint for emphasis. If infographics aren't your thing, consider having kids create one of the following to illustrate their research: 

• PSA poster
• Top 10 list
• Illustration
• Graphs & charts
• Slideshow

​Above all, listen to children at every age. Listen to their words. Listen to their behavior. Meet them where they are, in the best way you know how. That will be more than enough for the moment we’re in.


​TAGS: COVID-19, G. FAITH LITTLE, INQUIRY, RESOURCES

By G. FAITH LITTLE


​Fear of change is real and challenging.

Fear manifests itself in different ways for each of us, whether it means becoming defensive in the middle of a coaching conversation, avoiding a colleague you’re paired with, or becoming paralyzed at the prospect of dealing with conflict directly and openly. As Roberta Lenger Kang noted in Don't take it personally: de-escalating conflicts in the classroom, “The more fear we have, the more likely we are to become hyper-vigilant micro-managers in the classroom, which can sometimes magnify small issues and escalate conflicts…”

Whether you’re affected by a change taking place or you’re implementing change that will affect others, treating the process as if you’re training for hurdles is a practical way to address and overcome fear of change in yourself and as you lead others.

This training can be broken into three parts.

Before change: flexibility and preparation

Before enacting a change, stretch, practice, and count. 

Stretch: Whatever the change, find where you already have some flexibility and elongate it.

• Example: You’re tasked with finding a new way to address the social-emotional learning (SEL) needs of your students. Even though the task is daunting and feels far outside your content area, you locate your own practice of writing for full presence before you start the day and connect to that as a healthy investment you make in your own SEL.
• Outcome: You find you're not actually starting from scratch after all.

Practice: When preparing for a change, implement small steps on your way to the starting line or implementation date.

• Example: The announcement is made that your grade level team is going to implement an advanced literacy plan and will start by incorporating I used to think, but now at the end of each unit. You’re anxious to implement another new idea in your classroom and aren’t sure how your students will respond. Instead of waiting for the end of a unit to jump that hurdle, introduce the I used to think, but now tool after a lesson. Frame the idea as a practice for your students and solicit feedback so you can customize the experience at the unit’s end to be most helpful for your class.
• Outcome: You get to practice and the added bonus of an additional formative assessment built into your lesson plan.

Count: When leading change, you know your teachers will have some level of anxiety or fear of change. It’s normal.

• Example: Instead of asking teachers to ignore their fear or push down their resistance, consider what their reasons may be and count them up. Name them. Name them for yourself and for your teachers. Ask your teachers to add any other reasons they are experiencing discomfort around the change ahead.
• Outcome: Teachers can express their concerns and you'll know exactly what you'll want to address prior to and during the shift ahead.

During change: keep moving forward, but pace yourself

During a process of change, speed up toward the first hurdle, run steady through the middle, and finish strong.

Speed up: After laying the foundation for the change ahead, consider taking the first hurdle of actual change with excitement, energy, and speed. With a little extra energy, you can leap through the discomfort and make it over the first goal.

• Example: If you’re trying a new guided reading technique, you might tell your students how excited you are about something new you’re trying and that even though they might not notice, you are learning and growing just like they are. Then go for it, welcoming any mis-take is an opportunity to learn.

Run steady: After the initial hurdle, move forward steadily, pacing yourself as you go. You’ve already entered into a new way of teaching, so keep the changes to a minimum.

• Example: Consider a simple cycle to help you stay focused when shifting from asking students questions during a discussion to students asking one another questions. Notice that changes aren’t the focus here, but staying steady, encouraging students, and making observations keeps the process moving forward.

Finish strong: As you round the corner toward a natural check-in point, gather some energy.

• Example: If the change you’ve been working toward is implementing weekly formative assessments, what about adding them daily during the final week? At the beginning of the week, have your students start a Know, Want to Know, Learned chart, completing the first two columns (Know, Want to Know) only. Then, each day during the last few minutes of class, have students add to the third column (Learned). This will allow you to get daily information, as well as an overall look at the end of the week.

After change: celebrate and reflect

After implementing change, allow yourself time and space to reflect on your experience and celebrate your successes. 
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Celebrate: Pick a finish line. The finish line may be obvious, like the end of a unit or the semester. It may be decided by administration based on an outside deadline. It could be ongoing, like making a change that lasts the entire school year and beyond. If that’s the case, choose a check-in as your finish line. When you get to the finish line, celebrate. You did it! You engaged in change.

You may or may not feel like it went well, but that doesn’t affect the celebration. To celebrate, you simply share with yourself, and others if possible, that you made it to a finish line! Find a way to concretize the celebration, whether in writing, capturing your success using social media, or sending an email to people who care about you. If you’re leading change, consider making a well-deserved certificate for your teachers or students to commemorate their progress.

Reflect: To make the most of your experience, find the time to reflect. Find ways to adjust your practice going forward, and ask more questions about what is possible. What went well? What would you like to see more of? What questions came up that you’d like to explore? Journal, use a template (create your own or download our What, So What, Now What tool), or make a list of what you want to talk about with your academic coach or colleagues.

Hurdle after hurdle, make a habit of attempting your jumps. Whether you sail over them, tip them, or knock them over, you’ll give yourself the opportunity to learn from every leap and fall.

TAGS: CHANGE, G. FAITH LITTLE, RESOURCES

By G. FAITH LITTLE

We want our students, parents, and teachers to experience these benefits.

Challenges are easy to list, and we likely have a long list beyond these, but here are some of the big ones. 
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• Time: how do I find it outside of parent/teacher conferences?
• Training: what do I do when the discussion goes beyond my content area?
• Expectation: the reasons I became a teacher didn’t include communicating with families, so how do I manage this in a way that’s aligned to my personality and content area?
• Planning: how do I begin to fit this in with my other teaching responsibilities?

Start by planning

Strengthening your communication with students and families can start as simply as organizing your approach. Whether you’re approaching the beginning of the year, a new term, or are in the middle of a course, trying a new tool that can be customized to your unique communication style and your school’s expectations for family contact will support your work.

• Create a communication table (sample below) for each student. Update this electronically to save time when adding your notes, or print out the pages and keep them in a binder for easy access at your desk, especially if you prefer to write by hand. You can always scan in the documents later when you need to share your communication practices with leadership. Download our Family Connection template to get started.

 

• Establish a communication goal. Perhaps your school already has a certain number of contacts required for each student. If so, integrate those into the template. If not, consider for yourself what a reasonable goal would be, based on your unique situation and number of students.

 

• Choose a natural time you can merge a check of this document into your practice. Is it when you take attendance, or during the last few minutes of class? Is it every Friday afternoon or Monday morning? What’s the best time to integrate it into your schedule?

 

• Organize your chart in a way that makes sense for you. Do you need to make contact at least once a month? Do you need to make a specific type of contact (text, email, portal)? Shift your template to fit your needs.

Communication goals

In the example below, our first goal was to start with listening, in this case using a baseline survey to the student’s parents that establishes a connection and supports us in understanding our student from the parent’s perspective. Our second goal was to have three positive contacts with the family, in addition to any contacts necessary to discuss issues that may arise in the classroom.

From here, we would continue to add our notes and check in on communication that may be needed in order to meet our goals. This template can continue to be streamlined or expanded as practices change over time.
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While the content of parent/teacher conversations may not always be easy, simply getting started can give you confidence and increase the ways in which you can connect with families.

TAGS: CLASSROOM CULTURE, COMMUNICATION, G. FAITH LITTLE

By G. FAITH LITTLE

​We check for understanding constantly, don’t we?

“Does that make sense?”
"Know what I mean?”
“Get it?”

When it comes to our classrooms, we’re looking for more precise ways to check for understanding. Here are some simple ways and a few tools to use in your class as soon as tomorrow!

Thumbs up!

A simple and positive hand gesture can check to see who is hearing your instruction and who needs more support to move forward. You can use this: 

• on the board: Thumbs up when you’re on page 49 and ready to read.
• out loud: Thumbs up if you remember two rules of volleyball. Three? Four? More?
• on a slide: Thumbs up if you’ve written down a question about the periodic table. 

Choose your emoji

Expressions are a helpful way for students to share how they’re feeling or thinking about new or challenging content. It is especially useful for English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities. Using emojis (which can be individual cut outs or together on one piece of paper), ask students to choose the emoji that best represents their current experience.

As you move around the room, you can customize your questions and support. Find out more about what the happy faces understand, what the thinking faces are working out, and what the sad faces need to make their struggle productive.

Entrance tickets

See how the homework informed thinking or where yesterday’s mini-lesson landed by collecting a little data at the beginning of class. You can even combine this tool with the emojis you've used previously:

• On the board: Choose the emoji that best describes your experience as you work out today’s problem.
• Out loud: Show your emoji! Let me know how you’re experiencing this reading.
• On a slide: Which emoji represents where you are with writing up your experiment notes?

Whatever the tool, getting clear feedback is key to differentiating your instruction and increasing communication with your students!

TAGS: ASSESSMENTS, CHECKS FOR UNDERSTANDING, COMMUNICATION, G. FAITH LITTLE

By G. FAITH LITTLE

An exit ticket is like an Instant Pot. You hear about how great it is — it saves time, it’s simple, it’s flexible, and it doesn’t need many ingredients. It seems to be a staple tool at this point, so you pick one up and start using it. So it goes with exit tickets. When we start using them, it may be because of both convenience and necessity. They’re quick and easy, and they allow you to breathe for a couple of minutes before your next class period starts or you need to switch over to the next subject you’re teaching.

Exit tickets also provide a supportive rhythm to your class. They signal to kids that they will be transitioning soon, and this is invaluable to many students — especially if they struggle with change during their school day. Exit tickets provide a natural way to move from one space into the next, figuratively (if students stay in the same classroom) and literally (if students move to a new room). 

Sometimes that’s as far as we get with using exit tickets. It feels like enough, especially at the start of the school year or in the first year of your teaching career. But we can improve our use of exit tickets by taking them from simple (and valuable!) classroom tools and morphing them into invaluable formative assessments. 

What is an exit ticket? 

Backing up for a minute, let’s define an exit ticket. An exit ticket is a task that typically requires a short response from students. Teachers use exit tickets after an activity or learning period, and it can literally be the ticket to exit the room at the end of a period or a way for students to exit a part of the lesson. Exit tickets are not graded. Because they are not associated with a grade, students take on very little risk and can be honest about what they do and don’t understand, and may be more likely to ask questions they wouldn’t on a graded piece of writing. 

Using exit tickets as formative assessments

Exit tickets can be used in any subject area at any grade level as formative assessments to provide teachers with authentic data, in real time. 

Making exit tickets your own means designing (or using templates) for short responses that you can read fairly quickly. This can be as simple as a sticky note on which students respond to a prompt with a few words or a What, So What, Now What chart. 

​​At the end of a day, class period, or activity, you can engage in a quick cycle of inquiry with the data. 

1. Sort the data based on your own criteria from the lesson or for your specific students.

• Example: students who demonstrated they understand the concept, students who demonstrated they somewhat understand, and students who provided no evidence of understanding.

2. Examine each set of data. What do you notice? What needs attention?

• Example: a third of the students mentioned key terms from the lesson. 

3. Identify areas that need to be taught, retaught, or further investigated.

• Example: need to revisit primary colors

4. Adjust your next lesson to accommodate your findings.

• Example: start tomorrow’s lesson pairing students to share their knowledge

5. Revise your next exit ticket (if needed)  if you see that your prompt isn’t yielding useful data.

• Example: “Did you learn what osmosis was?” didn’t show me what they knew, only if they thought they learned the concept. Revise to an open-ended prompt.

​Using exit tickets as formative assessments is a promising practice that can be quick and can also support deep and differentiated learning in your classroom. Share with us your exit ticket practice below. Similar to Instant Pots, when you learn new ways to use them, it’s fun to share your findings with others!

TAGS: ASSESSMENTS, EXIT TICKETS, G. FAITH LITTLE