Performance Based Classroom

Session 13

This class will continue next fall as we learn and grow in our knowledge of Performance Based Instruction (Learning) in the classroom.  The overview that was given to our staff this year helped them to grasp the basic concepts of what should be happening behind the doors of our classrooms to increase student achievement and motivation for learning.

The last session was comprised of doing assessments that were done in session one so that we could see the growth in our teachers, gather information for our SIP and help me to monitor my effectiveness as a trainer.

Session 12

Continuing with the Learning Plan of The Performance Based Classroom, today we talked about the power of collaboration and how this can be used in their classroom. Teachers were asked prior to the meeting to pair up with a colleague and between the 2 of them, to bring one laptop to the meeting .

Points about collaboration that were stressed:

1. This can take place in pairs or in groups.

2. The teacher can have control over the formation of the pairs and the groups if she/he chooses to.

3. There are various ways to form them (clock buddies, eye color, birth dates, scrunchy buddies-the more colors the more control the teacher would have on the groups)

4. Children are twice as successful working with pairs than alone.

5. They love it and it keeps them focused.

To experience first hand the power of collaboration, the following excel document (How Smart are You? 1) was e-mailed to the teachers:

Download howsmartareyou1.xls

After they saved it to their desktop, they were told to look at this ALONE for 5 minutes to see how many they could complete (no talking!).  Then they paired up with their colleague to see how many they could complete working with someone else for 5 minutes.  They were twice as successful working with in a pair.

Then they discussed as a team how they could incorporate collaboration in their classrooms.

By the way here is the same excel document (How Smart are You? 2) with the answers:

Download Howsmartareyou2.xls

Session 11

Session 11 took place on Tuesday, March 20th. They were asked to sit in groups of 6.

I purchased a set of nesting dolls at  www.bitsandpieces.com and used Sharon's (from Metro RESA) idea to demonstrate an overall picture of Performance Based Instruction (PBI).  The whole doll/first doll I said depicted PBI and then "unpacked" the doll as follows:

the second doll was "Standards" and how the WHOLE process has to start with these, then

the third doll was, "Enduring Understandings"

the fourth was, "Essential Questions"

the fifth was, "What students will know and be able to do"

the sixth was, "Assessment Evidence"

the  seventh was the, "Learning Plan"

They have seen this before in the document that was given out in session 4, "Understanding by design final document".  But the use of the dolls helped them to see the overall connection of all of these parts.

As we began our movement into the Learning Plan, I included our SIP focus of learning about Blooms Taxonomy.  Then they were given their CRCT Desk References (fabulous resource, www.gaedtools.com) and we had a chance to peruse through them, I used the Jigsaw strategy (they counted off by 6's) and each group was given a level of Blooms.  They then joined their colleagues with the same number and they became "experts" on their assigned level of Blooms using the desk reference as a resource.  After about 10-15 minutes they came back to their original group and shared their knowledge of their Blooms level with their original group of 6.  I used this timer (thanks, MIT classes!) in both group sharing sessions: http://www.cobbk12.org/~mit/Timer/timer.htm

Session 10

As we are moving into Stage 3 which is the Learning Plan a Power Point developed by Lori Chastain based on the book Through the Cracks was shown to the staff.  This was impactful because throughout the year I have heard from teachers that they are unable to reach some students.  That they appear to be unmotivated or uninterested in what is happening in the classroom.  This book is a great example of reaching all kids through Performance Based Instruction.

I reminded them that the single assumption of Performance Based Instruction is that people are most likely to learn when they are fully engaged and interested in the learning task.  The use of this book is a great example of this.

I left them with this question, "Imagine you are the students how would your teacher motivate you?" and this bonus.  I told them that as their "teacher" I asked myself the same question and I decided I could motivate them (the teachers) by providing them with Performance Based Activity ideas and resources.  These were the favorites:

Grades 1-5 Math Performance Tasks: http://www.rda.aps.edu/mathtaskbank/start.htm

2nd Grade: http://jmeacham.com/writing.mini.lessons.htm

4th grade: The GREAT unpacked standards, assessments and activities on the Science blog:

http://cicobb.typepad.com/es/2006/11/index.html

Session 9

This session took place on February 13th.  Continuing with Stage 2-Assessment Evidence the following articles were used as a basis of this session.  This talks about what Performance Assessment is, how it works, why we should try it, what the research says, what it costs, and some examples.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/perfasse.html

Other great resources for Performance Assessment are these articles:

http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/files/performasm2.html

http://research.cps.k12.il.us/cps/accountweb/Assessment/IdeasandRubrics/PerformanceTasks/Selecting.html

After whole group and team discussions of these articles each team developed a Performance Assessment that they would use for their next topic of study.

Session 8

This session was started with a discussion of obstacles and how they can get in our way.  One of the biggest obstacles could be attitude. A personal example was given of how I chose to react to an obstacle that I had.  I invited the staff not to become a part of the...ta da..."the Whine and Complain Club".  A t-shirt was held up that said "An Official Member of the Whine and Complain Club" and it was suggested that they do not become a member of that club.  If they wanted to be part of the "drawing" for the t-shirt they were to put their name in the basket and a drawing was made at the end of the session.

We re-capped the information on how our assessments should be balanced so we can get a complete picture of each student.  We assessed ourselves on where we thought we were on the 3 types of assessments that we have talked about last week.  We agreed that we were having no problem with the traditional and portfolio assessments and that our biggest need was in the performance assessment category.  We referred to the handout that we distributed last week and talked about how rubrics were one type of performance assessment.  The following web site was shared as having  links that are user friendly to create rubrics.

http://teacherweb.com/ga/timberridgeelementary/paasen/links5.stm

The teachers used this resource to create a rubric that they could use with their students.  This was their "ticket out the door".

Session 7

The article "How Classroom Assessments Improve Learning" by Thomas Guskey was used for this session with an emphasis being placed on how to make assessment useful for teachers and students, how to follow assessments with corrective instruction, how second chances should be given to demonstrate success and the overall benefits of assessments.

The handout Balanced Assessment and End Products for Performance Assessments was distributed and discussed.  (I do not have an electronic copy of this.  If you would like a hard copy, email me, Patrica.Aasen@cobbk12.org)

Session 6

OK, Here is the a great kick off to this meeting given that it is the Holiday season and all.  Go to www.elfyourself.com and IF you have an administrator with a sense of humor put their picture in here for a little Holiday cheer for the staff.  Great way to get some laughter and joy going in the room!  Enjoy!

Then you can get serious and follow the rest of the plan....

Following the UbD graphic organizer posted in a previous session the focus of this session is "What students will know/understand and What students will be able to do".

At the front of the room displayed on chart paper and given to each teacher was the following organizer:

Download students_will_knowbe_able_to_do.xls

On the "Students will Know/Understand" side of the chart paper the following was listed:

Students (in this case the teachers in the room) will know:

That we are still in the "Plan" stage of our original Performance Based Classroom diagram (posted in Session 2).

This step of UbD is necessary to help generate the assessment pieces which will come next.

The previous steps, Standard, Elements (broken down in nouns and verbs), Enduring Understanding(s), Essential Questions(s), will be necessary to complete this step.

The "Students will be able to do" part is what the students will do or produce to let you know that they know or have the understanding of the standard/elements.

On the "Students will be able to do" side of the chart paper the following was listed:

Students (in this case the teachers in the room) will be able to do:

Complete this form by creating a list of things on both sides of the organizer that are tied to the standard and the steps they have completed on their standards throughout this class.

The teachers then worked in their group using the standard they started with to complete this step.

Session 5

Following the UbD organizer posted in a previous session today's session was on Essential Questions.  The standard that each grade level unpacked was used for the development of essential questions.

The following document was used to explain the basics of essential questions and to also give examples of questions at each level of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Download essential_questions.doc

It was emphasized that even in kindergarten you can develop questions on the higher level.

In Understanding By Design (Wiggins and McTighe) page 121 was used to give samples of Essential Questions.

The teams then developed essential questions for the standard that they have been working on and added those to their red notebook under the "plan" tab.

Session 4

Using the UbD organizer:

Download understanding_by_designfinal.doc to guide us we are proceeding to the next step.  In session 2 we listed the standard/elements and unpacked it by looking at the nouns, verbs and the vocabulary.

This session today focused on Enduring Understandings.  The following document was handed out to be placed in their red notebooks under the first tab (Plan):

Download enduring_undserstandingfinal.doc

The definition of Enduring Understanding was presented and the examples were discussed.  The task for each team was to look at the standard that they had unpacked and develop an Enduring Understanding for their standard.  They were given 12 minutes to do this.

Then each team shared their Understanding with the staff.  At first they struggled with this because they were trying to be too specific, but the more conversation they had the more they understood the concept.  They recorded their Understanding in the proper spot on the UbD form and placed it in the front of their notebooks.