June+24

June 24, 2009 Notes

Framework for Today

Introduction to the project
 * want to model interactions like we want to see in classrooms--collectively we'll develop expertise about critical thinking assessments with technology
 * final product is not pre-defined--will be developed by people in this room (Is really hard thinking a deliverable?)
 * may connect at Edustat (group from Va Beach is doing similar work and will be there)
 * Icebreaker


 * who you are, where you teach, story about engagement in school
 * Brian Nagel AHS
 * Deanine Lahham Broadus Wood
 * Jeff Prillaman MESA (new Math, Engineering and Science Academy)
 * Lisa King Hollymead
 * Harri Wasch Cale
 * Jenn Sublett WAHS
 * Chris Gilman DART (Department of Accountability, Research and Technology)
 * Janelle Catlett one of our new Instructional Coaches
 * Michael (Trevor) Przyuski one of our new Instructional Coaches
 * Jonathan Wamsley Jack Jouett
 * Kimberly McLaughlin B. F. Yancey
 * Sherica Jones-Lewis B. F. Yancey
 * Laurel Gillette Red Hill
 * Paula White Crozet **Live blogging [|Reflections of the TZSTchr]**
 * Darcy Sanderson Henley
 * Susan Uland AHS - Uland's Random Thoughts
 * Melissa Techman Broadus Wood
 * Becky Fisher DART (Department of Accountability, Research and Technology)

Chris - How do we re-shape; how do we assess? Darcy - How would my students change what they do - it would become more about the process. I think it would really change students' attitude and approach. Harri - We should teach them how to use the technology. It should be about how to think! Sherica - It would be scored more on what their analysis is. Are they able to repeat the process? Jenn - It should become more about analyzing the source. As a history teacher, it shouldn't be a clutter of dates, it should be a structure for historical understanding. Their skills could encompass a bigger set of skills, without losing the deeper engagement. Jon - content creation; deciding what is the BEST answer - learning should be a 2-way street. Jen - important skill - ability to ask good questions. Laurel - They would have to know their direction and understand where to go with their question. Susan - We should be careful to address how to use their information to solve problems or create something new. How do you teach and scaffold problem-solving? Sherica - We teach early on that there are right answers. It's very ingrained. "Why, doesn't mean you're wrong." How do we get them comfrotable taking risks? They need to know what they are doing. Trevor - "What's the next why?" - asking kids to go further with their questioning.... Mae - It would definitely change the kind of questions we're asking - but those higher level questions are the ones we're shooting for anyway, right?
 * What if students could google in a standardized test?**

It's ill-defined as in we don't know yet how to assess, what are the parameters. We want to construct a technology-rich assessment that gets at the thinking. we want to get our students to the point where they have "real life" skills - and you can't know exactly which skills they will need
 * Introduction to the "ill-defined problem"**
 * application agnostic assessment: it doesn't depend on a certain technology.
 * there is no required reading, but the books given are good starting places

Step one: processing the problem thinking about parameters reading and thinking
 * Work to understand "the problem"**

NOTEs from Janelle... What if…Google is the official search engine for SOL assessments… What would we do / judge / assess? · Thoughts on reshaping the assessment tasks? o Analysis of information o Exploring Credibility **comparing sources? (mae)** o Critical thinking about what’s important o Focus on process and collaboration o Moving toward innovation o Must be Scored on their rationales o Focus on metacognition o Validation of sources o Different types of reading… need to move back and forth with varied literacy skills (scanning, keyword, thought) o Summarizing lots of information o Exploring for right answer is not the real focus anymore o Plagerism is an issue as they need to synthesize information and analyze… o The purpose may be different than what we are accustom to… what is the purpose or direction or big idea is o How can we use information to solve problems… o Why really means why… students must be comfortable with taking risks and accepting different answers; not just a right answer scenario o Use what you know to explore what you don’t know o Using experiences blended with knowledge… making connections · What is a critical thinking assessment?? It is an ill-defined problem. RESOURCE: Steven Levy’s //Starting from Scratch // explores how[|Steven] starts a year of teaching with an ill-defined problem and throughout the year students learned math, writing, science, etc.

From Laurel: Do we need to think about questions? How we formulate and ask them?

Darcy: I've been sitting here trying to figure out how all of this can fit into a mathematics classroom. How can a math teacher move away from just teaching specific skills to really making it about problem solving. Wagner writes in __The Global Achievement Gap__ "How many students graduate from high school today knowing hot wo solve algebra problems by rote, but do not understand math as a way of thinking about ow to solve problems?" Even though algebra is required for just about all colleges, mathematics knowledge didn't even make the top ten list of important skills in a major study of 400 employers' expectations.

So how do math teachers do the dual job of teaching all of the skills //required// for the SOL, while simultaneously getting at TRUE problem solving skills necessary for real life? How can looking for solutions to this 'ill-defined' problem be a catalyst for making this happen?

Based on your think time, share **one thing** we need to develop shared understanding (hash out) of before we move forward with this work...

Chris - Googled "critical thinking" and got 50 million hits...what if we don't all agree? Develop operational definition. Jon - I did the exact same thing. It crosses multiple disciplines and multiple domains. I tossed this around on my page. Harri - I asked Jeff (math person) about critical thinking because I am a reading person Trevor - Because we already have developed a concept-based curriculum, that lends itself to critical thinking because of the connection finding. Perhaps we create assessments that allow us to measure this. Critical thinking lends itself to idealism. We can use critical thinking to rationalize what we see to be right as opposed to critical thinking being general questioning. Is our purpose to teach information or the way kids think about information? Kimberly - Creating situations where there is not a single right answer is a start. How do we keep track of it all? Sherica- Making the determination of a critical task or a critical question vs critical thinking - we can ask a critical question and get a closed answer. Melissa - There's a trap involved with using 21st century skills or learning. We're really after something that is beyond this. Jenn - FQL - how do we right the concept-based curriculum, we developed the structure to create these units in order to allow the creativity. How do you create a structure/support for assessment that allows creativity? Trevor - How to you create an objective task and be subjective about it? Susan - How do we get the by in? It is going to take a lot more time beyond what it takes to scan a sheet. Brian - We need to model it as well. ...technical difficulties... Trevor - If they can think critically, the SOL assessments will take care of themselves. Jenn - It will take care of itself if we are purposeful in what we choose to do. There is a need for structure. Jon - Are we looking for the higher level of Bloom's or something else? Jenn - I think we'll have stems. We have performance assessments - put Martin Luther on trial, for example. How do we look at patterns and continuity of themes and link them through current events? I think we need something more authentic than what we have traditionally seen as performance assessments. Sherica - We read the story How Baseball Saved Us and the kids asked if we were going to take all of the people in Iraq and put them in jail now. When I write and assessment, I write up all of the "Google stuff" that kids need to know. Then, I go back and ramp it all up. Then, I go back through and eliminate items that don't matter as much. If we look at the social studies and science process skills that are not assessed on the SOLs is where we need to look. Jenn - The social studies vertical team looked at habits of mind. Sherica - These are things that carry over. Janelle - To Jeff - Do you have a resource for a STEM approach to lesson planning? Jeff will post something to the wiki. Janelle - If we really taught so we were building something or designing something, it would be amazing. Jeff- It's amazing how much kids can learn from a failure. The engineering process is what we would like to see, but it's tough for kids to buy in to this. Janelle - They are not used to failing. Perserverance is important. That's what our tasks need to be - something you have to keep at so kids can see they have gone from one place to another. Sherica - And they have learned something. Jeff - I would love to see us look at failure as a better learning opportunity than we go. Teaching is not "great job" and a smiley face sticker. We need to challenge and stretch the kids. Chris - Would you be thinking more about a process-based assessment instead of an outcome-based assessment? Jeff - Is it ethical for me to give partial credit? Does a doctor get partial credit? How about an engineer? Think about the space shuttle. Should the engineer who dropped the negative sign get partial credit? I am constantly looking for ways to have kids collaborate and learn in teams. Jenn- The metacognition for kids tackling a multiple choice college board quiz together is amazing. When they have assessments that are collaborative, they hear each others thinking. This is important. Janelle - Thinking out loud has so much power. Trevor - The almighty grade is in the way. I know one question that will come up from kids and parents is how will this effect my grade. Not all assessments are designed to result in grades. Why are we doing this? This has to be discussed and outlined. Harri - What do we report to parents? Chris - That makes me wonder as a parent. It's nice that you like my daughter so much, but what is she capable of? What if we didn't see reporting this work out as an obstacle but an opportunity? Trevor - It would be interesting to create the language that shows parents and kids what the assessment taught us. It could be a rubric or an alternative report card. Sherica - I have kids analyze their tests and identify what they did and didn't do well with and develop a plan of action. Having kids do some sort of analysis is important. Jon - Are we going to score on growth or mastery? Trevor - Some of this ties in to setting objectives. You can tailor an assessment to show growth or mastery, depending upon what you want to show. Tying this in to SMART goals or TPA objectives might be interesting. This could be an assessment tool of YOU and not a grade for the students. Susan - I like the growth concept because that is where we have to go. Melissa - Academic passivity can over take kids. Janelle - Intellectual laziness... Trevor - A healthy amount of narcissism is a good thing - what's in it for me? This might get kids off of the academic laziness. Janelle - When you try out a new tool in technology, it's usually for a personal reason. Chris - I think we're starting to land on some things. By the end of the lunch time, let's start generating a list of non-negotiables and a list of desireables. By the end of the day, we want to begin to define our problem so we can start tackling the problem when we go our separate ways. 