Anthony Muhammed
Sharrocky Hollie
Introduction
"Student ethnicity and social class are not barriers to learning; rather, schools that do not properly respond to the needs of these students are the barriers!"
The student is the center of the school-universe & the learning environment and learning activities must be responsive to student needs if we are to avoid achievement gaps.
Will is the belief that all students can learn and perform academically.
Skill is the use of responsive instruction that is the key to ensuring that students learn at high levels.
We need to engage and reach students on their own terms with attention to their culture, home, and community experiences.
Schools need Will development (focus on developing the learning environment) & skill development (developing instruction).
Must manage frustration - lofty goals bring frustration and obstacles creating a great challenge.
Schools that recognize these obstacles and create norms and policies that effectively confront and minimize them increase their chances of developing a powerful & positive learning environment.
Need to create an environment in which educators are compelled to align their behaviors with the needs of the student body.
Once staff behaviors are aligned with student need, school must establish policies, practices, and procedures that reflect those beliefs and behaviors.
Responsive pedagogy - validates and affirms students and their cultural and linguistic backgrounds creating a bridge to academic success. Must seek to engage students on a deeper level. Avoid deficit thinking!
Steps to responsive pedagogy
Identify part of instruction to improve
Assess quantity and quality of current instruction
Implement responsive activities during instruction (make sharing, collaboration, and student-led discussion a priority!)
Chapter 1
Healthy culture vs. toxic culture
Efficacy- the extent to which a teacher believes all students can learn (has the will) and the skills to reach their desired outcome (how effectively a teacher can produce desired results).
Collective will is also referred to as school culture - the norms, values, rituals, beliefs, symbols and stories that makeup the persona of a school.
Teaching is so complex
Involves classroom management, long-term planning, use of materials, human relations, knowledge of content as well as instructional skill.
4 zones of a positive learning environment
High will/low skills
High belief in learning for all, but lacking instructional skills necessary
Over Celebrate non-academic achievement
Optimistic toward students but sub-par rigor
Value relationships but have low expectations for student performance
Low emphasis on collecting and examining student learning data & attacks on validity of outside measures of student performance
These schools fail to make learning the cornerstone of its purpose
High skill/ low will
This school or these teachers emphasize knowledge acquisition only, discounting the power of motivation & relationships. Educators believe their job stops once students are filled with the information they're dispensing. If a student cares to learn, they learn & students must be prepared to accept the consequences of their actions
High skill/Low-will schools have
Refined/complex curriculum
Staff w/ high knowledge who take pride in that knowledge
Staff members with achievements but students with too few
High #s of students failing w/ no support system
Staff that don't support emotional or personal needs
Combative relationships between staff, students, parents, admin
An admin that protects status quo
Children may not have the intellect or maturity to cultivate personal qualities (such as perseverance, focus, commitment) on their own - they often require the guidance of a caring and qualified adult.
Low will/low skill - drop-out factories
Worst-case scenario
Little belief in student's socially or academically and no ability to cultivate students academically
high will/high skill
All students have capacity to become successful. Educators spend time and energy seeking and implementing practices that are best suited to manifest their collected goal of learning for all!
Staff members who respect the culture of their students & collaborate to become responsive to student's specific needs
Staff members reflect on the quality & effectiveness of their instructional strategies
Need for philosophical agreement
PLCs must have shared vision, values & goals (the will components), which form the foundation of collective inquiry, collaborative culture, action orientation & experimentation, continuous improvement, & a focus on results (the skill components)
Effective schools align Educ philosophy among staff, & move swiftly to align instructional practice w/ that shared philosophy
Ch. 2 - Conflicting Wills
Does everyone truly want every child to succeed?
Students that come from families that value high academic achievement, delayed gratification and compliance with rules do well at school because that is often what school cultures value.
However, some students come from families that don't cultivate these values, which is what turns "learning for all" into "learning for most."
Toxic culture
In a toxic culture, student success is based solely upon a student's level of concern, attentiveness, prior knowledge, and the willingness to comply with the demands of school, and they pass that belief on to others in overt and covert ways.
In toxic cultures students are blamed for not possessing characteristics like
concern, attentiveness, prior knowledge, and the willingness to comply, which releases teachers from any responsibility of properly educating every student.
Toxic cultures believe some students are educable and some are not. Obstacles to student success are not perceived as challenges but rather they are the products of home and community and therefore not the concern of staff.
Determining whether a school culture is Healthy or Toxic doesn't come down to the significance or # of problems a school faces - instead it is based on the willingness and capacity of a school to overcome the challenges they face.
Chapter 3 - Frustration in a toxic culture
Pressuring educators to do things they do not know how to do will not improve productivity.
Frustration increases when teachers:
Feel a lack of support
Have student discipline issues
Low pay
Lack of influence regarding school operations
Lack of respect from colleagues, admin, and parents
Research suggests it would be ideal if every teacher taught in an environment that matched his/her skills, background & temperament but there is a higher population of black and Latino students than there are teachers.
Therefore teachers must become "students of their students"
Teachers deflect blame elsewhere because it is easier than self-reflecting.
Toxic teachers want to control situations that they can't really control. We need teachers to prepare for situations and respond according to that preparation rather than lament the fact that they have lost control.
Complaint vs. Protest
Complaints are instances of deflecting blame. Protests are positive for school culture. Disagreement and philosophical debate are important elements for organizational growth.
We develop new ideas and clear conclusions when we debate issues from multiple perspectives.
Most Complaining is done to solicit sympathy or vent frustration. It is not done in seek of change. Complaining is a coping mechanism of people who are too afraid and in some cases unqualified to overcome immediate obstacles in their paths.
Doing to students, vs. acting with students:
Toxic staff feel need to control their environment and develop policies that seek to do something to students rather than seeking cooperation w/ students.
i.e: punish for wide variety of behaviors including poor attendance, lack of attentiveness, inappropriate conduct, not having paper or pencils, and for not meeting financial obligations (book fines, cafeteria bills, etc.) quasi boot camps that place more emphasis on student control than student cognitive development.
Ch. 4 - school culture framework - creating a culture of collaboration
Collaborative culture - teachers work interdependently to achieve common goals.
See notes on transforming school culture for more info on this framework
Good leaders begin enacting their vision by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and right people in the right seats and then they figure out where to drive the bus.
Collegial culture (or informal culture) refers to the regular and informal practices colleagues have with their peers. This is where alliances develop.
Fundamentalists are the most active and influential lobbyists in school culture.
Believers tend not to engage in changing the behavior of colleagues.
For change to take place, believers have to become more active lobbyists in the collegial culture.
Leadership strategy: love your employees by creating conditions for them to succeed. Remove road-blocks.
Good leaders provide formative feedback & allocate resources to help teachers improve.
I have to believe Eng dept can achieve our organizational goals & increase their desire to do so.
Communication
Leaders share relevant data with all stakeholders
Leaders have thoroughly explained rationale for change
Leaders explore viable alternatives for change w/ staff members & give staff members the opportunity to provide feedback and input.
Relationships
Make decision making a collaborative endeavor.
Resolve trust issues with staff.
Ensure change initiatives will be implemented as presented.
Support
Establish a plan for training for new initiatives
Provide timeline for implementation
Provide resources for assisting staff members if they struggle
Accountability
Establish system for accountability (mid-year/end of year report outs)
Establish expectations for implementation and performance that are clear and fair
Teacher Leaders are guardians of a healthy & positive school culture.
Pd is beneficial when teachers have input into what training they receive & how it is structured.
Principals - cultivate a healthy collective focus, collaborative culture, & accountability
Healthy collective focus at Irondale-efficacy, college readiness, student connectedness.
Part III. Skill to teach (ch.6)
Teachers must master:
Classroom management
Academic vocabulary
Academic literacy
Learning environment
Pedagogy - how or Why of teaching
Responsive pedagogy - going to where the students are at culturally and linguistically and bringing them to where they need to be academically
Student directed and Steeped in two-way interactions
Consider mr. Hollands opus scene for PD- have teachers highlight what holland did to ensure learning took place
Need teachers to reflect more:
What do we want students to learn?
How will we know students have learned it?
How will we respond when students have not learned?
3-step process for developing responsive pedagogy
Step 1) identify area of instruction for improvement
A. Classroom management
B. academic vocabulary
C. Academic literacy
D. Learning environment
Responsive classroom management:
Teacher facilitates collaborative process & students participate in it
Need to use effective discussing & responding techniques
Use effective attention-getting skills
Integrate movement activities (many teachers worry about getting undeserved students back on task)
K-5 move move 2-3 times an hour, secondary 1-2 times an hour
Everyone plays a critical role & is validated in the process.
Call-response (teacher says key-word & students respond in unison
Responsive academic vocabulary (tier 2&3 words):
Builds on word knowledge students bring to school (the words they "own")
Thirsty becomes parched
Need wide and abundant reading, contextualization z& conceptualization of words, knowledge of word parts, and synonym development
Responsive academic literacy
Using text (fiction & non-fiction) to validate & affirm culture & language
Use read-alouds as a form of story-telling, to better engage students
Use strategic supplemental text selections in addition to core text on a regular basis
Responsive learning environment
Environment should reflect the cultures & backgrounds of the students
Step 2) assess the quantity & quality of the activities currently used
What is working, what is not?
Step 3) implement responsive activities during teaching
4 steps that add structure, purpose & responsiveness
1. All students are moving
2. Students greet one another b4 sharing info (students from every background have unique greetings)
3. Use Get One, Give one to add quality
4. Set rule that you can't talk with row mates or neighbors
Shout out & back it up - ask students to shout out Answer in unison and then cold call one student to explain why the Answer is correct.
Ch. 8 - responsive classroom management:
Best class management is an engaging lesson plan
3 types:
Authoritarian- most traditional, primary control rests w/ teacher
Permissive- students in control so much a negative & confrontational environment develops. Admin can't tolerate permissive classrooms & students don't like them.
Democratic - Democratic or collaborative - best aligned with CLR approach. Adult facilitates shared learning, students participate in the process. Lends itself to student choice, collaboration, and eventual independence. Teacher in control, students develop love of learning.
Develop 3 R's:
Respect for teacher
Understood Rapport between student & teacher
Developing bonding relationship
3 P approach
Positive, proactive & preventative
Positive - recognizing & appreciating students (especially under served students). Need a positive vibe & energy. Teacher demonstrates care, empathy, sensitivity, kindness, calmness, humor, forgiveness, patience & joy in work. Teachers that have a spark!
Proactive - always looking ahead - predicting potential problems & knowing where trouble can arise. Opposites is reactivity.
prevention - choosing your battles.
instead of battling take away the behavior. Students stealing? Clear desk of all things. Students coming late, last one to enter, 1st one to be called upon.
Effective discussing & responding techniques:
In clr classroom, never a time when students are not participating (whether whole group or small group).
Make structures for responding & discussing explicit so students will know exactly how to respond in class and conduct discussions & why. Teaches students situational appropriateness (types of cultural & linguistic behaviors & participation are appropriate in different situations).
must also use non volunteer forms of responding (random selection). Show students they are integral members of the classroom community
Exp: Stick Pick, roll em' (students in #'d groups with seat #s.
Other strategies:
Train or pass it on - students call on each other to Answer or ask questions. Students can pass on if they can't answer. This can be done tossing a small soft object.
Raise a righteous hand - raise hand or fist to volunteer info specific to their experience.
Whip around - each student takes a turn on answering an open ended question.
Number heads together - groups of 4-6, # each student, ask question, students in groups work together to find best answer, roll die, all of that # report out (exp: all 3's report out)
Think,pair, share - students think silently about ? Posed by teacher, pair up students to exchange thoughts, share w/ group by explaining what your partner said
Merry-go-round - each student takes very quick turn sharing. Nothing written down. Share personal responses in short time
*Put your two cents in - in groups of 4, each student has two distinguishing markers. They put the first in the middle and express their idea or response to a question. Each member does this and then we go around again and each student responds or adds to a group members input and puts their 2nd marker in.
Circle the sage- group students. poll the class for special knowledge of topic - choose sages (those at mastery), sages stand and spread through out the room, class is then told to go to one of the sages (no two group members go to same sage. Sages explain what they know while classmates listen, ask questions, and take notes. students go back to groups & explain what they learned. Groups that have a disagreement stand - teacher helps them State and resolve disagreements.
* model this with TC2 with reflection on how they were taught:
3-step interview - each member of a team chooses a partner. During 1st step, students interview their partners by asking interview type questions. During 2nd step, partners reverse roles. 3rd step, students share their partners response with the team.
*Jigsaw - groups of 4-5, each student is assigned some unique material to learn and then teach to group members. Students assigned to teach the same concept to their group collaborate to strategize how to teach it. After practice in expert groups, original groups reform & students teach each other. Assessment follows. Provides interdependency and accountability within small group
Team, pair, solo - students do problems first as a team, then with a partner, finally on their own
Inner/outer circle - students form 2 circles, one facing inward & those in the inner circle facing outward. Students in outer circle begin by asking the student facing them a student or teacher prepared question. Rotate inner or outer circle and repeat process until full rotation. Then switch circle asking questions.
Responsive attention signals
Voice check - teacher says voice check in the tone and level of volume in which s/he wants the students to respond. Students then respond one-two, one-two.
Holla back - teacher calls out a phrase from a popular song and the students complete the phrase. Teacher says Holla, students say back.
When I say... I say peace, you say quiet, peace, quiet, peace, quiet (decrescendo)
Chant - teacher chants one, two, students reply "eyes on you" teacher says three, four, students reply "I talk no more, teacher says five, six, students say "we play no tricks," teacher says seven, eight, students say "sit up straight, teacher says nine, ten, students say we're ready to begin.
Give yourself some love - teacher says "hands up! Hands down! Hands out, hands in! Now give yourself some love. Students wrap arms around selves, creating a hug.
Chapter 9 - responsive academic vocabulary -
Traditional approach
Provide definitional & contextual info about a word's meaning
Actively involve student in word meaning through talking about, comparing, analyzing, and using target words.
Provide students w/ multiple exposures to meaningful info about each word
Teach word analysis
For undeserved students
Must activate prior knowledge
Make schematic connections
Build on words students already know
4 key premises:
1. Students have comprehensive knowledge base rooted in their culture, community & life experience
2. Proficient readers use acquisition strategies to figure out an unknown word (rather than going to a dictionary). Acquisition strategies include wide & abundant reading, contextualization & conceptualization of words, knowledge of word parts, & use of synonyms)
3. One word can have multiple meanings (how we think about word usage can be related to our linguistic background or home language. Think AAVE use of bad.
4. Slang is helpful! Slang is a resource for academic expansion. Do need to teach situational appropriateness. Use slang to build bridge between students' conceptual vocab to their academic vocab.
Steps for responsive vocabulary instruction
1. Leveling words (tier 1, 2, 3). Teach tier 2 words!
2. Use vocab acquisition strategies (context clues, word parts, synonyms/antonym development). See below Image.
Another responsive activity for vocab is the personal thesaurus (PT) - a graphic organizer in booklet form that incorporates home language (move from a word with which the student is comfortable to a word that is more appropriate for academic speaking & writing. Best for level 2 words as students will likely have a conceptual understanding of these words.
Also the personal dictionary (PD) or four square for level 3 words is another graphic organizer.
Both PT and PD give students word ownership.
Students take words from column 4 in the above image and then the teacher asks the students to brainstorm additional words for the target concepts that they already have in their vocabulary. A student's words indicate their understanding of the concept of the target word not the exact meaning.
Academization of slang: students provide a slang word & it's meaning, teacher provides a more academically appropriate synonym. Swag = confident. Students add to PT and generate more synonyms.
How to use a personal dictionary for tier 3 words:
Chapter 10 - responsive academic literacy
Engage students w/ culturally responsive texts
Using read-alouds in oral tradition of cultural story telling
Example: a hero ain't nothin but a sandwhich
See www.culturallyresponsive.org for more titles.
Harlem summer
Wake up our souls
On my own journey now
Graffiti girl
Change has come
Afrikan Alphabets
Burro genius
How the Garcia girls lost their accents
Students & teacher need to read aloud!!!
Ch. 11 Responsive learning environment
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