1.2 Organize instructional plans

1.2   Organize instructional plans to promote standards-based, cognitively engaging learning for students

This standard requires the teacher to plan lessons that are rigorous and engaging to students.  Put yourself in the position of the students.  What will they be experiencing?  Will it be cognitively engaging?  All students should be given the appropriate amount of time to meet the objective, requiring the teacher to plan for both struggling and advanced learners.  The design of the lesson should include direct instruction as well as opportunities for students to work both independently and collaboratively.

A.      Designing and sequencing learning experiences

Considerations for Practice at Level III

• Write out the steps of the lesson and include the estimated time which will be allotted to each step.
• Lessons should include an anticipatory set, some direct instruction, guided practice as appropriate, independent work and/or collaborative work, and closure.

Considerations for Practice at Level IV

• Time should be included for reteaching, if the checking for understanding indicates any student requires it.
• The design of the lesson should include differentiation in content, process, or product.  Consider different resources or different teaching/learning modalities.

B.      Creating cognitively engaging learning experiences for students

Considerations for Practice at Level III

• Most worksheets are not engaging to students.  Students like to engage in argument and debate.  They like to solve problems.  They are inquisitive.  They like challenges.  They like to construct and create.  They like to compete.  Conley states that students need many experiences researching and writing. Include activities such as these in your lessons.
• The majority of time in the lesson should be devoted to the students’ learning experiences, not merely listening to the teacher and taking notes.
• The plan should include the supports the teacher will offer so all students can achieve mastery of the objective.  Supports might include pairing strategies, SDAIE, calculators, word walls, geometric formulas or multiplication chart or periodic table posted for easy reference, 5-minute mini lessons for selected students, etc.

Considerations for Practice at Level IV

• The plan must include an opportunity for students to construct their own knowledge to achieve or exceed mastery of the objective.  Constructivists advocate learners’ participation in context-bound, real-world problem solving and call upon students to engage in meta-cognition.  Instructional techniques such as interdisciplinary teaming, curriculum integration, problem-based learning, cooperative learning, Socratic seminars, and inquiry are viewed as constructivist as long as they are rigorous and support student learning.   The dimensions of Depth and Complexity lead students to construct their own knowledge.

Resources

Teacher training module:  Questioning for High Levels of Cognition

• This module includes information about questioning, but included in it is a full explanation and samples of Depth and Complexity.

Conley, Redefining College Readiness

• This article describes the key cognitive strategies students need to know and use as part of their college-readiness.

Reeves, Anne, Where Great Teaching Begins: Planning for Student Thinking and Learning

• This easy-to-read and teacher-friendly book leads teachers through the crucial, intellectual work necessary to make instruction truly effective and help students learn deeply and meaningfully.  It is available through www.ascd.org.

Marzano, Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement

• Marzano and his colleagues explain the nine categories of strategies that have a high probability of enhancing student achievement for all students in all subject areas at all grade levels.

Tomlinson, The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners

• In this book, Tomlinson explains how teachers can provide specific ways for each individual to learn as deeply as possible and as quickly as possible, without assuming son student’s road map for learning is identical to anyone else’s.  Strategies are given for differentiating by content, process, or produce.

Tomlinson, Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom

• The author offers proven strategies to set up and manage a differentiated classroom.  Teachers will find chapters 6 and 7 particularly helpful.

ASCD Online Course: Differentiated Instruction: An Introduction

• This course is designed to enhance understanding of how to better meet the needs of the many different learners in classrooms and schools. It provides opportunities to examine the characteristics of a differentiated classroom; how to frame instruction around concepts; and some techniques for differentiating content, process, and product. Participants will also have the opportunity to reflect on their own beliefs and practices relative to differentiation, and to read and analyze examples of differentiated learning activities.  Most courses cost $99.  www.ascd.org/professional-development/pd-online.aspx.

ASCD Online Course: Differentiated instruction: Learning More

• The differentiated classroom provides a systematic approach that enables teachers to become more effective educators. When teachers deepen their understanding of their students and their subject matter, they become flexible with their teaching matters. In this course, go beyond the basic elements of differentiation to investigate the flow of instruction. What does the flow of instruction look like in a traditional classroom?  In a differentiated classroom?  Participants will review various strategies that will help provide for and support a high-quality learning environment that promotes achievement for all learners.  Most courses cost $99.  www.ascd.org/professional-development/pd-online.aspx.
• ASCD Online Course: Differentiated Instruction: Responsive Instruction

Differentiated instruction offers students and teachers responsive instruction that responds to students’ needs. With increasing numbers of English language learners, an expanding achievement gap for minority students, more inclusive classrooms, and public pressure to adequately prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century, knowing who students are and how best to teach them has become a critical issue for educators. And if students are to master content, building relationships is essential.  Most courses cost $99.  www.ascd.org/professional-development/pd-online.aspx.

ASCD Online Course: English Language Learners in the Mainstream

• This course aims to prepare teachers to work more effectively with English language learners in mainstream classes. Among other goals, participants will learn how demographic changes affect schools, the importance of culture when teaching ELL students, and supportive strategies that can be implemented in any classroom.  Most courses cost $99.  www.ascd.org/professional-development/pd-online.aspx.

Marzano, Reviving Reteaching

• In this article from the ASCD journal, Educational Leadership, Marzano offers various strategies for reteaching.

Hackmann and Brewer, Constructivism and Learning: Two Perspectives

• This 2-sided article tells you what constructivism is and what it isn’t.  It’s brief, easy to read, and informative.