1. Week 6: Knowing that the students know
1.1. Understanding by Design
1.1.1. We teach and assess for understanding and transfer instead of content regurgitation
1.1.2. What is worth understanding?
1.1.3. How do we properly assess for understanding and how do we teach that way?
1.2. How People Learn
1.2.1. Learner Centered
1.2.1.1. Children construct new knowledge by building upon their own prior knowledge and experiences
1.2.2. Knowledge Centered
1.2.2.1. Teachers help each student “Build a Bridge” from prior knowledge to the new topics they are learning
1.2.3. Assessment Centered
1.2.3.1. Emphasize concepts behind knowledge instead of relying heavily on memorization of facts
1.2.4. Community Centered
1.2.4.1. Respectful learning environments where individual ideas are welcomed
1.3. Assessment
1.3.1. Done Poorly
1.3.1.1. No formative process
1.3.1.2. Targets unclear
1.3.1.3. No student involvement in the process
1.3.1.4. No discussion of results
1.3.1.5. One-shot deal
1.3.1.6. No exceptions or flexibility
1.3.1.7. Humiliation
1.3.2. Done Well
1.3.2.1. Multiple opportunities to improve
1.3.2.2. Provision of useful and timely feedback
1.3.2.3. No marks until the final attempt
1.3.2.4. Clear targets in student friendly language
1.3.2.5. Students able to self and peer assess
1.3.2.6. Affirmation of capability
1.3.2.7. Students know where they stand and what to do to improve
1.4. Big Ideas
1.4.1. 1: Assessment serves different purposes at different times
1.4.1.1. It may be used to find out what students already know and can do
1.4.1.2. It may be used to help students improve their learning
1.4.1.3. Or may be used to let students and their parents know how much they have learned within a prescribed amount of time
1.4.2. 2: Assessment must be planned and purposeful
1.4.2.1. Backward Design
1.4.2.1.1. Three Stages
2. Week 7: Individual differences
2.1. Do Schools Kill Creativity?
2.1.1. Educated OUT of creativity
2.1.2. Purpose of education is to take us to a future that we can’t grasp
2.2. What is Special Education?
2.2.1. Accommodating the special learning and needs of students with exceptionalities
2.2.2. Specialized instruction based on the assessment of student’s abilities
2.3. Intelligence
2.3.1. What is intelligence?
2.3.1.1. Ability to learn from experience
2.3.1.2. Ability to adapt to one’s environment
2.3.1.3. Definition: The ability (or abilities) to acquire and use knowledge for solving problems and adapting to the world
2.3.2. How is intelligence measured?
2.3.2.1. Aptitude Tests – Predict ability to learn a skill or accomplish something with further education
2.3.2.2. Achievement Tests – measure what the student has learned or the skills they have mastered
2.4. Exceptionalities
2.4.1. High-Incidence: Mild disabilities – typically include learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, giftedness, and intellectual disabilities
2.4.2. Low-Incidence: Moderate and severe disabilities – typically include autism, hearing and visual impairments, serious health impairments, and multiple disabilities
2.5. Access to Curriculum – students need both physical and cognitive access in order to succeed in the general curriculum
2.5.1. Physical access
2.5.1.1. Includes sensory and motor access. Individuals with physical or sensory disabilities may encounter barriers when using traditional materials
2.5.2. Cognitive access
2.5.2.1. The ability to understand assignments, plan and execute approaches to tasks, use materials effectively, comprehend content presented in various media, organize work, understand and use feedback, and express ideas effectively
2.5.2.2. Students with learning disabilities may encounter cognitive barriers when using traditional materials or digital materials if they are not designed in a flexible manner
2.6. Inclusion
2.6.1. Acceptance of differences
2.6.2. Instruction focuses on appropriate teacher interventions
2.6.3. Material being taught is made accessible to all students
2.6.4. UNESCO sees inclusive education as a process of addressing and responding to diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing exclusion within and from education
2.6.5. Children are different, all children can learn
2.6.5.1. Different abilities, ethnic groups, size, age, background, gender
2.6.6. Change the system to fit the child
2.6.7. Components of inclusion
2.6.7.1. Teachers who treat each student as a uniquely important individual and who are knowledgeable about research based practices that assist students with diverse learning needs to learn
2.6.7.2. Program philosophy which emphasizes the value of diversity, multiculturalism, social justice, and belonging for everyone
3. Week 8: Socio-cultural considerations
3.1. How Culture Drives Behaviors
3.1.1. “When you conform to a society, then you can benefit from diversity”
3.1.2. Norms are different in different cultures, and emotional feedback changes .
3.1.3. The lens in which we see the world differs on our experience. Understanding is key to embracing and accepting diversity
3.2. The Danger of a Single Story
3.2.1. Be wary of tokenizing minorities
3.2.2. If you are experiencing a culture from a single lens, you are doing that culture a disservice
3.2.3. Important for all people to be represented in pop culture! So that kids can visualize their potential in others
3.3. Socio-Cultural Perspectives
3.3.1. Is knowledge constructed because of socio-cultural influences?
3.3.2. Critical consciousness is crucial
3.3.3. Teachers need to have a culturally responsive practice
3.4. Stereotype Threat
3.4.1. Fear that one’s behavior will confirm a negative stereotype about one’s identity group
3.4.2. Those with strong ties to their identity group are most vulnerable
3.4.3. Can be brought on by seemingly innocuous comments
3.5. Socio-Economic Status
3.5.1. Compared to all other social or cultural attributes, an individual’s socio-economic status has the greatest impact on scholastic schievement
3.5.2. Children from Low SES Homes
3.5.2.1. Development is at risk
3.5.2.2. Economic hardships
3.5.2.3. Scarcity of resources
3.5.2.4. More likely to experience authoritarian parenting style
3.6. Multicultural Education
3.6.1. Developing cultural understandings and mutual respect
3.6.2. Views
3.6.2.1. Diversity valued – no culture considered dominant
3.6.2.2. Dominant culture stressed – surviving in the real world
3.6.2.3. Diversity and dominant culture – valued striking a balance
3.6.3. Dimensions
3.6.3.1. Content integration
3.6.3.2. Equity pedagogy
3.6.3.3. Empowering school culture and social structure
3.6.3.4. Prejudice reduction
3.6.3.5. Knowledge construction process
3.7. Aboriginal Education
3.7.1. Risk Factors
3.7.1.1. Early school failures
3.7.1.2. Moving from school to school
3.7.1.3. Lack of parent support
3.7.1.4. Lack of teachers with knowledge of Aboriginal studies
3.7.1.5. Living in remote communities
3.7.1.6. Lack of resources
3.7.1.7. Special needs
3.7.2. Protective factors
3.7.2.1. Early intervention
3.7.2.2. Resiliency
3.7.2.3. Positive self-image
3.7.2.4. Family engagement
3.7.2.5. Community involvement
3.7.2.6. Relevant programming
3.7.2.7. Aboriginal role models
4. Week 9: End of school year
4.1. Standardized Tests
4.1.1. Criteria
4.1.1.1. Contain the same questions for all test-takers
4.1.1.2. Are administered to all test-takers in the dame fashion
4.1.1.3. Are scored in systematic and uniform manner
4.1.1.4. Are different from teacher0made tests and aptitude tests
4.1.2. Test Types
4.1.2.1. Criterion-referenced: Student’s score determined by comparing performance to establish criteria
4.1.2.2. Norm-Referenced
4.1.2.2.1. Student’s score determined by comparing performance to that of other students
4.1.3. Should…
4.1.3.1. Enhance teaching and learning
4.1.3.2. Improve curricular design
4.1.3.3. Be minimally intrusive
4.1.4. Performance-level scores
4.1.4.1. Classifications of student performance that describe and clarify standardized assessment results
4.1.5. Preparing students
4.1.5.1. Convey positive attitudes about testing
4.1.5.2. Teach test-taking skills
4.1.5.3. Simulate use of time limits during testing
4.1.5.4. Familiarize students with types of questions used
4.1.5.5. Involve students in marking questions of each type
4.1.6. In Canada
4.1.6.1. Federal – Achievement levels of 13 year olds (math, reading, and science)
4.1.6.2. Provincial/Territorial – Different uses including math and literacy testing at certain grade levels and grade 12 exit exams
4.1.7. Purpose – to assess effectiveness of instruction
5. Commitment to Students and to Student Learning
6. Professional Knowledge
7. Leadership and Community
8. The 5 bubbles in the middle relate to the learning objectives of the course and I have connected the content to match where the information I have learned connects to the different areas of my professional practice as a teacher
9. Week 1: Planning for the upcoming school year
9.1. Stop Stealing Dreams
9.1.1. School’s purpose to produce obedient consumers
9.1.2. Greater value should be placed on a student’s experience rather then the outcome itself
9.2. Learners in the Drivers Seat
9.2.1. Promoting learner-driven learning
9.2.2. “Rather then talk about students in terms of deficits, can we think about their experience to date and whether we have helped them master it yet?”
9.2.3. Teaching students to connect vs. collect the dots
9.3. Educational Psychology in our Classrooms
9.3.1. Educational Psychology uses knowledge and methods of psychology and related disciplines to study teaching and learning
9.3.2. The goral of Educational Psychology is to improve the teaching and learning process
9.4. Reflective practitioners
9.4.1. Are open minded and amiable to change
9.4.2. Embrace self-enquiry
9.4.3. Feel they have an ethical responsibility to best facilitate their students’ learning
9.4.4. Choose to analyze and reflect on their practice
9.4.5. Assess the effects of their teaching in order to improve their practice
9.5. What needs planning?
9.5.1. What will be taught
9.5.2. When it will be taught
9.5.3. How and when learning will be assessed
9.5.4. What teaching methods and materials will be used
9.5.5. How to establish the type of learning environment needed
9.5.6. Results of effective planning
9.5.6.1. Excellent instruction
9.5.6.2. Enhanced student learning
9.5.6.3. Exemplary environments
9.6. Instructional Approaches
9.6.1. Teacher-centered approach – Teacher determines content, provides direction, and sets academic and social tone
9.6.2. Student-centered approach – Teacher adopts constructivist perspective and acknowledges that students actively construct their own understandings
10. Week 2: Considering Developmental Differences
10.1. Adora Svitak – Childish Thinking
10.1.1. Childish thinking
10.1.1.1. Bold Ideas
10.1.1.2. Wild Creativity
10.1.1.3. Optimism
10.1.2. I think it is important to ensure that I learn from my students as much as they learn from me. Kids think of great things, without the “insiders knowledge”.
10.1.3. “If you don’t trust you put limitations or restrictions”
10.1.4. “To show that you really care, we listen”
10.2. The Power of Yet
10.2.1. Growth Mindset
10.2.1.1. Leads to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to…
10.2.1.1.1. Embrace Challenges
10.2.1.1.2. Persist in the face of setbacks
10.2.1.1.3. See effort as the path to mastery
10.2.1.1.4. Learn from criticism
10.2.1.1.5. Find lessons and inspiration in the success of others
10.2.2. We are currently trying to educate students to help empower them to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. We don’t know what their reality will look like in our every changing world
10.2.3. I like the concept of the power of yet and using the powers of praise for process rather then end result
10.3. Instructional Approaches
10.3.1. Instruction that both responds to the various needs of a diverse group and precisely tailored to individual needs is needed for student achievement for all students
10.3.2. Three instructional approaches form the basis
10.3.2.1. Universal Design for Learning
10.3.2.2. Differentiated Instruction
10.3.2.3. Response to Intervention
10.4. Development
10.4.1. What is development?
10.4.1.1. Physical, cognitive, and social changes
10.4.1.2. Learning becomes more organized
10.4.1.3. Behaviors become more adaptive
10.4.2. Principles of Development
10.4.2.1. Orderly progression/gradual process
10.4.2.2. Periods of rapid and slow growth
10.4.2.3. Quantitative and qualitative changes
10.4.2.4. Individuals develop at different rates
10.4.2.5. Genetics set developmental potential
10.4.2.6. Environment determines potential realized
10.5. When a student is having difficulty…
10.5.1. Has the student acquired the prerequisite skills?
10.5.2. Does the student typically learn slower than others?
10.5.3. Has the student had enough practice?
10.5.4. Was the material presented in meaningful ways?
11. Week 3: Views of learning
11.1. Cognitive – Focuses on the internal processing of how information is received, organizes, stores and retrieved
11.1.1. Teaching Strategies
11.1.1.1. Mnemonic devices
11.1.1.2. Visual Aids
11.1.1.3. Graphic organizer
11.1.1.4. Scaffolding
11.1.1.5. Self-regulation
11.1.2. Disequilibrium is necessary for learning
11.1.2.1. Balance is the goal
11.1.2.2. Delete irrelevant information in the process
11.1.3. Brain is Like a Computer (Info- processer)
11.1.3.1. Short term and working memory
11.1.3.2. Computer build to mimic brain
11.1.3.3. Built to understand cognitive processes
11.1.3.4. Environmental factors affect how the brain stores information
11.1.3.5. Rejecting Road Learning
11.1.3.5.1. Focuses on the process
11.1.3.5.2. Deeper learning
11.1.3.5.3. Build off the students
11.1.3.6. Assimilation and Accommodation
11.1.3.6.1. Brain’s innate ability to organize and adjust/adapt
11.2. Behavioral – Idea the behavior can be controlled or modified based on consequences or rewards
11.2.1. Positive Reinforcement
11.2.1.1. Classroom Environment
11.2.1.1.1. Respect your peers
11.2.1.1.2. Classroom connections
11.2.1.1.3. Expectations and norms
11.2.1.2. Acknowledge Good Behavior
11.2.1.2.1. Good rewards and praise
11.2.1.2.2. Individual and specific praise
11.2.1.2.3. Teacher Models Behavior
11.2.1.3. Behavior Management
11.2.1.3.1. Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems
11.2.1.3.2. Problem Solving
11.2.1.3.3. Every Student has Potential
11.2.1.3.4. Antecedents, Behavior, Consequences
11.3. Social-Cultural/Constructivist - A learning theory that equates learning with creating meaning from experience
11.3.1. Scaffolding
11.3.1.1. Adjusting support
11.3.1.2. Zone of proximal development
11.3.1.3. Partial independence
11.3.1.4. Challenging yet attainable tasks
11.3.1.5. Building on previous knowledge
11.3.2. Interactive Teaching Strategies
11.3.2.1. Differentiated instruction
11.3.2.2. Teacher is facilitator
11.3.2.3. Engaging and motivating
11.3.2.4. Project based
11.3.2.5. Collaboration
11.3.2.6. Higher – order thinking skills
11.3.2.7. Debates, role-play, real world applications, group projects
11.3.3. Facilitating Self Regulation
11.3.3.1. Stress-performance relationship
11.3.3.2. Increases learning efficiency
11.3.3.3. Aware of own thinking habits
11.3.3.4. Self-reflection
11.3.4. Student Centered
11.3.4.1. Students are active learners
11.3.4.2. Increases student engagement
11.3.4.3. Students construct meaning
11.3.4.4. Blended learning environment
11.3.5. Previous experience
11.3.5.1. Teacher created safe learning environment
11.3.5.2. Learning is more meaningful when created from experience
11.3.5.3. Reflect on past experiences to create understanding
11.3.5.4. Importance of cultural and social context
12. Week 4: Establishing a positive learning environment
12.1. Myth of Average
12.1.1. When we design for the average, we design for no one! Destroys talent
12.1.2. The average hurts everyone
12.1.3. Ban the average and design to the edges
12.1.3.1. Students vary on many dimensions – jagged learning profile
12.1.4. We design our learning environments like textbooks – for the average student
12.2. Most Likely to Succeed
12.2.1. How do we best prepare our kids for the innovation era?
12.2.2. We no longer have a knowledge era
12.2.2.1. No competitive advantage in knowing more than the person beside you
12.2.2.2. What are the skills, dispositions and habits of heart and mind the world demands?
12.2.2.3. Skills matter more and motivation matters most
12.3. Effective teaching and learning cannot take place in a poorly managed and structured classroom
12.4. How does the teacher affect student achievement?
12.4.1. Designs classroom curriculum to facilitate student learning
12.4.2. Makes wise choices about the most effective instructional strategies to employ
12.4.3. Makes effective use of classroom management techniques
12.5. Exemplary Learning Environments
12.5.1. Academic success is dependent on the learning environment
12.5.2. Creating Exemplary Learning environments requires good planning and good classroom management
12.5.3. Goal of classroom management is to provide all students with optimum opportunities or learning
12.5.4. Exemplary learning environments especially important for students with exceptionalities
13. Week 5: Making instructional decisions
13.1. Universal Design for Learning
13.1.1. Provide multiple means of representation
13.1.1.1. Perception, languages, expressions, symbols, comprehension
13.1.2. Provide multiple means of action and expression
13.1.2.1. Physical action, expression, communication, executive function
13.1.3. Provide multiple means of engagement
13.1.3.1. Recruiting interest, sustaining effort, persistence, self-regulation
13.2. What motivates students to learn?
13.2.1. Challenging and meaningful tasks
13.2.2. Bring able to effectively use learning strategies
13.2.3. Having teacher support
13.2.4. Being required to demonstrate knowledge
13.2.5. Feeling that the teacher cares for them
13.3. Bloom’s Taxonomy – Hierarchical classification of cognitive learning objectives
13.3.1. Knowledge
13.3.2. Comprehension
13.3.3. Application
13.3.4. Analysis
13.3.5. Synthesis
13.3.6. Evaluation
13.4. Teaching for Critical Thinking
13.4.1. Ask not only what happened, but how and why
13.4.2. Examine facts to determine if there is enough evidence to support them
13.4.3. Argue in a reasoned way rather than through emotions
13.4.4. Recognize that there may be more than on right answer of explanation
13.4.5. Compare various answers and then judge which is the best
13.4.6. Evaluate and possibly question what others say
13.4.7. Ask questions and speculate beyond what we already know