Infographic: IPRC Reviews

Copyright: Laura Beal

Co-Teaching in Secondary Schools

Teachers co-planning, co-teaching in a grade 7 UGDSB classroom

Imagine a classroom, full of students with a variety of academic, social-emotional, and psychological needs. For many Applied level secondary classrooms in Ontario, this is the reality. Some have formal identifications, some do not.  Students are rarely removed from the classroom for extra support (in many cases, there simply isn't support available). Not only is inclusion of students with identifications the law in Ontario, it is also the morally right thing to do. Segregation of populations is rarely beneficial to anyone.  To encourage student success for all, co-teaching is an effective practice that not only creates a positive environment for student learning, but also promotes highly reflective educators who are engaged in improving their own practice.

Although focused on Minnesota schools, the ideas espoused in “Supporting co-teaching teams in high schools: Twenty research-based practices” (Nierengarten, 2013) apply in Ontario given the focus on integration of students into “regular” classrooms rather than in specialized, withdrawal settings. As an example of the similarities, both jurisdictions have passed legislation for inclusion, both require Individualized Educational Plans for identified students, and both focus on a collaborative approach to providing support for student success. Co-teaching as a strategy would focus on all students in the classroom, not just students who are formally identified, which is fully supported by the Ontario Ministry of Education’s idea of “good for some, great for all”. Co-teaching is defined as “two or more professionals delivering  substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended,    group of students in a single physical space” (Cook & Friend, as cited in Nierengarten, 2013).

At a recent conference, I was able to hear of a successful co-teaching project in Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, which focused on Applied classes. They were able to create a sustained, supported program which embedded a co-teacher into classes to support the learners and the teacher with literacy. Many of the students were those with IEPs and this enabled the teachers to provide support in a timely and reasonable manner as opposed to having the students withdraw and access help via a resource room teacher. Much of the success of the KPRDSB program (and it wasn’t always successful) was due to careful planning, timetabling (to ensure common planning time), and the support of the administration (at the school and board level), all of which was supported in Neirengarten’s summary of the strategy. Another key part of the strategy is the use of peer coaching and observation between the co-teachers; since the teachers are focused on improving student success for students, they are working to constantly improve their practice through collaborative inquiry. Fundamental to improving outcomes for students with IEPs is ongoing support and professional learning. New technologies, new pedagogies and new understanding of adolescents (brain research continues to evolve our thinking about learning) is leading to exciting changes in secondary schools such as co-teaching.

Reference:

Nierengarten, G., E.D.D. (2013). Supporting co-teaching teams in high schools: Twenty research-based practices. American Secondary Education, 42(1), 73-83. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1462773619?accountid=14391

How Can We Engage Parents/Guardians in Education?

Copyright Bhaskar Peddhapati

I cannot recall all of the conversation, but I recall freezing and not knowing what to say. In my first phone call home as a teacher, I was attempting to find out why Dylan was having trouble in class. I knew that Dylan had ADHD and was significantly behind in reading and writing (his IEP told me that, but unfortunately, not much else). He was struggling with everything: from academics to classroom behaviour to social interaction, nothing was going right in my grade 8 English class for Dylan. And I was stumped. I thought that calling home to talk to his parents would help - after all, I reasoned, they must know what works to help him calm down, focus, and get something done.  I called, explained Dylan's latest blow-up in class, and well, it turned ugly pretty quickly when mom asked, "What did you do to set him off?" 

I made some pretty big assumptions and errors in that phone call. Firstly, I really didn't have a plan; I assumed that all parents would offer some form of support for my travails and challenges as a teacher, completely neglecting the idea that a) they might not be supportive of me; b) they possibly wouldn't have strategies for helping me - after all, school and home are very different environments; and c) maybe I did "set him off". 

15 years later, I still reflect on that first experience as I continue to dislike phone calls home. Let's face it: most aren't for positive feedback. But, I did manage to work out a few key ideas for communicating with parents and guardians, whether it's in a phone call or a face-to-face conference.

What are the 5 most important criteria for communicating with parents/ guardians?

Kindness - start with something positive, or better yet, call home with good news. Be sure to offer some concrete examples of something that is going well in class. Clearly establish that you are trying to help Dylan or Susie succeed in your class. Avoid judgement statements while stating the problem: focus on the behaviour or the issue (which can be corrected).

Honesty - be honest about what's happening. The purpose of the phone call or conference is to ensure that everyone knows that Susie or Dylan is struggling and why. Don't speak in edu-babble, but outline what the problem is clearly and succinctly. Use specific, curriculum based examples if it's an academic issue. If it's a behavioural concern, reference the learning skills, and again, use specific examples. Ensure you know the student's IEP or history as outlined in the OSR.

Ask questions - if you are unsure of why a student might be struggling, try to determine what might be contributing to that issue. But, of course, there could be things happening at home that a parent or guardian simply may not want you to know. Hopefully, a kind approach and a focus on solutions will help create a positive relationship so that you might get more information. But, we can only go so far in our questioning. 

Offer solutions - explain what you intend to do, what you thing might be done by the student, and what supports the parents/guardians could offer for the student's success. Be sure to have specific next steps. Solicit their feedback to ensure that everyone understands what needs to happen in order for the student to be successful. Provide resources if possible.

Listen - most importantly, be sure to listen carefully to what is being said (and what isn't!). Be responsive to what the parents/guardians are expressing. Rephrase what you are hearing in order to clarify and summarize so that there is no misunderstanding. 

Have other suggestions? What would make your list of success criteria for effective communication with parents/ guardians? 

What Are the Elements of Good Professional Learning?

What characterizes a great learning experience for adult learners? It's not that different than what is great for students. Aside from the obvious - you cannot please everyone, all the time - there are a few key things that can be done to create an environment in which adults will want to learn. Luckily, educators and researchers like Michael Fullan, Thomas R. Guskey, John Hattie, and even the Ministry of Education (among many others!) have written extensively on engaging educators in their professional learning.

1. Provide Choice: allow educators to "choose their own adventure". No one likes being told they have to do something, so forcing someone to participate in a new initiative isn't likely to yield results. Differentiate professional learning opportunities to appeal to your audience. Sessions need to range from ballroom delivery models with "experts" to job-embedded collaborative inquiry.
2. Create a Professional, Respectful Environment: treat educators as the professionals they are. Have high expectations of staff, but honour their experience and knowledge. Build on it to help develop new knowledge and understanding. Invite teachers to reflect on their practice in a non-judgmental forum. Assume positive intentions.
3. Foster a Growth Mindset: Use a strength-based approach (sometimes referred to as appreciative inquiry) to help educators identify what they do well and build from that strength. Foster positive mindsets in staff, especially if significant change is happening. See Carol Dweck's work on growth mindsets in students. The same assumption - that people have the ability to grow and learn - is true of our educators.
4. Facilitate Discussions: Provide ample time for teachers to talk about what new learning they are experiencing. Let them learn from each other. Use protocols (such as those explained by the National School Reform Faculty) to structure these conversations and ensure that all voices are heard.
5. Model Effective Practice: Demonstrate and model new strategies for teachers. Encourage them to engage in the activities and effective practices we would like to see replicated in our schools.
6. Purpose/Audience: Make the purpose of the learning relevant, meaningful and authentic for the intended audience. Plan and communicate clear intended outcomes. Share the outcomes with participants. Everyone should know why they are participating in professional learning. Big ballroom sessions rarely lead to transformative change, but they can introduce new ideas to people. It's important to follow up with next steps. Guskey points out the importance of planning for intended outcomes:

"...the first thing people need to do when they plan professional development is to specify what impact they want to have on student learning. They begin planning by asking, “What improvements in student learning do we want to attain and what evidence best reflects those improvements?” Then they step back and ask, “If that's the impact we want, what new policies or practices must be implemented to gain that impact?” Next, they consider what types of organizational support or change are needed to facilitate that implementation, and so forth. This planning process compels educators to plan not in terms of what they are going to do but in terms of what they want to accomplish with their students. All other decisions are then based on that fundamental premise.

"Know thy impact" 

John Hattie, through his comprehensive meta-analysis, tells us that there are many effective and ineffective teaching and learning practices. Hattie's research tells us that we "need to retain learning at the forefront and to consider teaching primarily in terms of its impact on student learning." (2011, 1). All educators (including those who deliver PD) need to recognize that their practices have impact on learning; further, all educators need to constantly question whether or not they are having positive impacts on learning.

“The teacher’s role is to change students from what they are to what we want them to be, what we want them to know and understand – and this of course highlights the moral purpose of education” (Hattie, 2012).

Fullan references "the moral purpose of raising the bar and closing the gap for all students" (2013, 3). Appealing to educators' motivation for teaching makes sense. Fullan also discusses how new technologies, new pedagogies, and what he calls "change knowledge" will help motivate staff to further their own learning:

"Change will become more enjoyable when it proffers experiences that are engaging, precise, and specific; high yield (good benefit relative to effort); higher order (stretching humans in creativity, problem solving and innovation); and collaborative for individual and collective benefit." (Fullan, 2013, 3).

And finally, while it might not seem important to everyone, good food and coffee help. If we are going to pull teachers from their classrooms to engage in their own learning, the least we can do is feed them!  

References:

Fullan, M. (2013) Stratosphere: Integrating Technology, Pedagogy, and Change Knowledge. Toronto: Pearson.

Hattie, J. (2011). Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning. New York: Routledge.

Kreider, H. and S. Bouffard (Winter 2005/2006). "A Conversation with Thomas R. Guskey," The Evaluation Exchange: A Periodical on Emerging Strategies in Evaluation. Volume XI, Number 4. Harvard Family Research Project.

No Technology Without Good Pedagogy!

"Emergent technology use is different. It requires time spent deeply considering the instructional value added by new tools and time spent crafting instruction that puts content and instructional goals ahead of teaching the technology." (Kadjer, 2007, 216).

I often wonder how to best help teachers focus on effective pedagogy with technology.  Sara Kadjer writes about how to incorporate technology into the English classroom in meaningful, authentic ways through the use of blogs, wikis, podcasts, websites , and social media through the creation of artifacts like book trailers. Other authors (and a whole host of Tweeting educators!) concur. Catherine Imperatore points to research which confirms that "students feel a greater sense of ownership and pay greater attention to detail when they know that their work will be published online" (2009). 

New media tools - including social media - offer students opportunities to learn these new formats (which will be necessary for their futures, I believe), but they breathe new life into great pedagogy. There's a reason why book reports have been used for so long: it's a great way to summarize a book and provide one's opinion. But really, by the time adolescents hit high school, is the book report still necessary? Kadjer would suggest we use new tech tools and substitute the book trailer or have kids podcast their reports. 

"Teaching with technology in the English classroom is about always looking, whether it's seeing kids and the range of talents and literacies that they bring into our classrooms or it's seeing the possibilities in a new tool that allows me to amplify curricula for the better" (Kadjer 2007, 229).

Will Richardson's book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Webtools for Classrooms, is an indispensable tool for educators wanting to marry good pedagogy and technology in the classroom. There are umpteen edu-bloggers writing about the successful integration of technology and pedagogy.

Of course, there is also the need to teach the technology. Many teachers want to simply put the technology in the hands of kids and let them demonstrate their learning. I agree that some kids have the capacity to figure out the technology and use it to demonstrate their learning. But not all will be able to do this. Our students need direct instruction in how to use tech tools if they are going to demonstrate successfully their learning. I think that exploration of tech tools is a great thing and that students should be given opportunities to try different tools, even if the teacher doesn’t always know how to use that tool themselves. This is learning. However, I worry that teachers we sometimes ask students to demonstrate learning using a medium they don't know and we give an unfair advantage to some over others. Consider a situation where we ask students to demonstrate their learning in a video and then evaluate that video as evidence of learning. This can be problematic: did the teacher instruct about how to create a good video? What are the evaluation criteria? I worry that the slickest video will get high marks, even if it’s not based a deeper understanding. This isn’t necessarily a new problem — many students have learned how to create good looking posters or presentations, but the content was cut and pasted from the internet. 

I have been learning how to help teachers use technology to effectively assess and evaluate student work, promoting a deeper understanding of material. We need to ensure that teachers are giving students opportunities to demonstrate their learning in creative ways, using technology, but with guidance and feedback. I think it’s important to ensure that teachers understand things like the TPACK model in order to use tech mindfully. 

"As the literacies that kids bring into our classroom change (alongside the literacies that they need in order to be productive and competitive in the world outside of school), there is a very real pressure to make sure that what we teach is relevant and helps to push them to develop the skills to be self-directed, ubiquitous learners" (Kadjer, 2007, 229).

Today's students are pretty tech savvy; is your classroom tech savvy, too? Is your tech use pedagogically sound? 

References:

Imperatore, C. (2009). "Wikis and Blogs: Your Keys to Student Collaboration and Engagement." www.acteonline.org.

Kajder, Sarah. B. (2007). "Unleashing Potential with Emerging Technologies." Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. pp. 214-229.

Richardson, Will (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Webtools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.