Problem-Solving Delivery Model—Redefining Cyclic Teaching and Learning

By Dr. Vin Hawkins
Educational Consultant, Former District Leader

In a previous post, I indicated the necessity of problem recognition and solution, going to the reservoir of real, current problems rather than contrived, pre-packaged ones. Problems were categorized as utilitarian, humanity, and global community. 

This post focuses on the optimal instructional environment for this higher-level learning. Problems that make the cut for consideration, and their subsequent solutions, have the following components: embedded content standards, critical and creative thought, inquiry and investigation, information gathering, analysis and synthesis, and collaboration and debate.

In the real world of the 180-day school year, labor-driven education budgets, and glacial movement toward true blended learning, the typical school year and use of personnel is modified the following way:

A cohort of 100 students is taught by four instructional advisors and supported by two learning coaches. Accommodating developmental appropriateness, these cohorts are found at the Foundational (ages 5-8), Exploratory (ages 9-13), and Focused Inquiry (ages 14+) levels. There are three competency tiers within each level: Novice, Intermediate, and Proficient.

This is a dynamic, not static, model. Each size-100 cohort rotates through a series of three interdisciplinary majors (IM) during an academic year, 12 weeks each. For example:

IM1: Mathematics, economics, engineering, science

IM2: Civics & international history, languages, literature, religions & cultures

IM3: Entrepreneurialism, environmental studies, health & physical well-being, performance & visual arts

Adapting the Saturation Learning model, a balance of leveled (Foundational, Exploratory, or Focused Inquiry) instruction and problem-solving occurs daily for 12 weeks for each IM.

Within each Level, students must progress through all three competencies for their particular IM (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) during their 12-week rotation. A demonstrated competency of “proficient” is a student's entrance ticket to the next level (i.e., Exploratory to Focused Inquiry). Cohort groups have the same four-member instructional advisor team and two learning coaches for at most four years (e.g., ages 5-8), an entire level experience. Thus, depending upon age or time-in-level, students can rotate through each IM as much as four times within a particular level, with increased depth at each experience.

An example:

September 1 - November 30: Cohort A experiences IM1; Cohort B (another 100 students) experiences IM2; Cohort C (a third group of 100 students) experiences IM3

December 1 - March 15: Cohort A experiences IM2; Cohort B experiences IM3; Cohort C experiences IM1

March 16 - June 15: Cohort A experiences IM3; Cohort B experiences IM1; Cohort C experiences IM2

Annual "proficiency evidence" determines advancement to subsequent levels, where cohort rotations continue. Each "novice-intermediate-proficient" experience within each level is, of course, more sophisticated and complex than that at the previous level.

Each four-member team's instructional advisors' content knowledge goes beyond one specific subject area in the interdisciplinary major. They are confident and adept at using technology within the context of developmentally appropriate levels, and are competent collaborators among colleagues.

The two instructional coaches are indispensable, and primarily responsible for the following:

· Behavioral support

· Real-time intervention (to prevent any subset of any IM 12-week experience to lag behind)

· Enrichment protocols

· Parent, community, business, higher-education liaison

· Internship and community service requirements

· Senior projects and e-folio monitoring

· Collaborate with the instructional advisor team to determine proficiency validation for level advancement

The advantages to this re-calibration model are compelling. The cumulative learning experience, for each interdisciplinary major, consists of approximately 5000 hours of skill and concept-embedded problem recognition, solution, and justification. Compare this with at most approximately 2300 hours of cumulative exposure to mathematics, 1200 hours of science, and 150 hours of economics in the typical current K-12 experience.

Teaching to Learn and Learning to Teach

Students Achievement Best Practices in Small Group Setting

 By Elena Leonido, Special Education Teacher

image courtesy of www.principalspage.com

Teaching to Learn:

“I don’t want to do work!!!” and a loud ohhhh!!!! filled the whole fourth grade room, after one kid dropped his book on the  floor, threw his chair and stood still. The general education teacher was furious and sent that kid to the principal’s office. Shocked and tongue tied, I wanted to cry in disappointment. I believe I was sad both for the teacher and for the child. It was my first year teaching in America but definitely not my first in teaching profession. After a whole day of teaching, a big question was circling in my mind: “How can I help these kids?”

At first , I looked back at my 15 years of teaching, back in the country where poverty is high and but the regard for education is high too .I remembered my students from the Home Study Program who walked and swim to cross the river and walk again to get to a simple school building. These kids still want to do school work after a long hours of walking and drying their clothes and walk again everyday to get to a teacher and learn something.

I convinced myself that kids are the same everywhere. That these kids are in school because they want to learn too. After several days I found myself teaching in small group and “Johhny” was one of them sitting and waiting for whatever I have to say.

Expectations :

“Do you know that you are so lucky to be American students?”I asked and all of them looked at me with a question on their faces. Then I described how are they different from other kids of their age in some other countries. I explained how  lucky they are to have all the resources provided for their education. The school buses, materials, hard bound books, materials and not to mention their teachers. That taking all of these for granted does not make any sense at all.That I expect them to believe that they can help not only themselves but other kids in some other time, if they get a good education. That they need to give their  best shot in whatever we do in that small group to learn.


Consistent and ongoing reinforcement:

Since then, I challenged my group of students including Johnny to look for their awesomeness. To empower themselves by believing they are too blessed to be upset, too smart to be left behind and too good to be ugly. Before I start my lesson I ask this question.” What made your day today?” “What can you do to improve yourself?”I prepare  interesting activities that can move their cognitive, and psychomotor domain and most importantly at the end of each lesson I touch their affective domain by letting them feel that they can do it. We usually sing the lines of the song that says ‘Give me all best shot !!! “ Yes, yes, yes, yes “when they encounter challenging question from me.

Learning To Teach:

“When I grow up, I will be a teacher and I will help kids in your country, Ms. Leonid.o” A voice from a child beside me echoing in my ear, while I was getting all the assignments that my kids completed in that small group .I was certain that was the most sincere remarks that I have ever heard from a kid in my teaching years. Yes, it came from Johnny’s mouth and believe it or not I had goose bump all over me.

I praised Johnny immediately and reassured him that he will make  a good teacher and teach students like him.

Reality check ? Yes, kids are the same everywhere. Reassurance, motivation and support and empowerment still work with them. Adults should give them chance to discover themselves and blossom. Like an ugly caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly.

Youth?

Still the hope of the future!!!

Ma. Elena Leonido
Special Education Teacher
Norfolk Public Schools
Virginia ,USA
(After grading, planning and teaching, I continue to learn by taking up professional courses and trainings and continue to teach students no matter what their circumstances are)

Student Achievement Best Practices--Going Old School

Student Knowledge Increases with Simple Twists of Old School Practices

by Sara Roesler, Teacher

image courtesy of spencer.lib.ku.edu

Want a 45% increase in student achievement? The use of similarities and differences is a best practice that surely creates results. Surprised? Me too.  However, the more I thought about the breadth and depth of knowledge with which comparing and contrasting can support, it seems that students need more time with these types of tasks. 

Students must draw on prior knowledge to think about how the topics are the same and different.  Adjacent to that idea is locating, analyzing and evaluating new information to be used in the process of compare and contrast. Thus, they are practicing reading comprehension as well. They must organize their thoughts clearly which can be supported with the application of a graphic organizer. They may also have to justify their reasoning to a small group or as a short presentation to the class. The possibilities seem endless!

Compare and contrast works for every content area on almost every topic. Obviously finding similarities and differences among characters in a story or comparing and contrasting multiplication and division will support clear understanding of basic ideas. But, to take the idea farther, why not use a book, made in to a movie and possibly a graphic novel and have students compare the three mediums. Think of all of the breadth and depth in thinking that would occur! Or, using two completely feasible math solutions from a group-worthy or cooperative learning activity examine the similarities and differences between the answers. In this case, the students will need to draw from what they know about solving the problem and analyze if another solution is possible even before taking on the task of applying the practice of finding similarities and differences. How would you add more complexity to a compare and contrast structure?

No matter how you use the simply complex idea of similarities and difference - as a quick formative or a more in depth examination of a concept – I would say keep it up, and even ramp it up. Be creative about this simple format because a 45% increase is a 45% increase any way you compare it!

Sara Roesler has been teaching for nearly 4 years and holds a Masters from Michigan State University. She is an active reflector focused on how to better teach each child. She strives to build and support positivity and loving-kindness in the students she works with. 

Application to Be College and Career Ready?

Hi, readers. It's Jared Heath, here, and I came across something very . . . peculiar? odd? disturbing, even? . . . from a school district implementing the Common Core Standards.

It's an application to receive a College and Career Ready diploma, much like an honors, AP, or IB diploma. You can read the application here (and this is the article that describes the classifications and the "College Readiness Benchmark Scores").

Image courtesy of www.ucdthetatau.org

Here's my confusion: why are districts now preparing to put a "college and career ready" stamp on a diploma? Does a diploma not already indicate (in theory, anyway) that a student is college and career ready? If we are now indicating that a "special" group of students is college and career ready, then what does that mean about the others without that stamp--that they turned 18 and got kicked out?

And if we make college and career ready a classification, then that does nothing to encourage those students who aren't currently performing well to suddenly up the ante. What it comes down to is that college and career readiness is not the privilege of the elite few; it is the province of every child.

I find it peculiar, odd, and even a bit disturbing that "college and career readiness" is not seen as inherent in every class period, every homework assignment, and certainly every diploma. That's not just missing the boat--that's more like missing the entire ocean.

Apply to be college and career ready? Come on. Common Core Standards or not, being prepared for what comes after high school is the very reason that every student walks into a classroom, and it's why you and I do what we do.

Of course we've heard--and probably said--the opposite before. "100% is impossible." "What about the kids with lower IQs and the children in special ed classes?" "I'll never get 100% to pass my classes if they don't want to." But teachers aren't there to babysit these students. You're there to teach them. To prepare them. To make them ready. And no, they won't all go on to become Rhodes scholars, but that's not what anyone is asking for, is it?

I realize this has been a rather passionate post, and you may not agree--I'd love to hear where you stand on the issue. Each of you educators deserves a voice in this issue that is sweeping the United States. Let's sound off in the comments!

How Do We Determine Teacher Effectiveness?

National leaders, teachers’ unions, state officials—all have tried to come up with the most effective method for evaluating teachers. What will ensure quality educators for the students in our schools? Although there is no simple, ready-made solution, Nancy Folbre argues in an article in the New York Times that rating teachers according to their students’ performance on standardized tests and firing those who don’t make the grade will likely backfire.

Too much pressure to improve students’ test scores can reduce attention to other aspects of the curriculum and discourage cultivation of broader problem-solving skills, also known as “teaching to the test.” The economists Bengt Holmstrom and Paul Milgrom describe the general problem of misaligned incentives in more formal terms – workers who are rewarded only for accomplishment of easily measurable tasks reduce the effort devoted to other tasks.

Advocates of intensified teacher assessment assert that current practices leave too many incompetent or ineffective teachers in place. But many schools suffer from the opposite problem: high teacher turnover that reduces gains from experience and increases the costs of personnel management. As Sara Mosle pointed out in a recent review of Mr. Brill’s “Class Warfare,” about 40 percent of teachers in New York City quit after three years.

Is there a solution?

To read the full article, click here.