So much to consider at this point in my learning. I spent a lot of time this week reflecting on how best to enhance my Driving Question so that my action research is meaningful and useful. First, I saw Tim Shanahan (http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com) last week. Needless to say, I am a ShanaFAN. If you haven't seen him, he is masterful. He was on the architects of the CASS Language Arts Standards, and the drum he is beating these days is all about Text Complexity. We NEED to have students reading more complex text, even if they can't decode it themselves. We are doing our students no favors by continuing to give them text at or below their instructional level. But what resonated most with me was his quote: "Reading is more verbal than visual, student must negotiate the language". That's it, the focus I wanted with my action research. We have a large amount of language learners in our district that need support in accessing complex text. It is more than just a lexile or reading level that indicates what a student should be able to read and comprehend, it is all about the verbal LANGUAGE. We have to give students a chance to interact with rich, complex text. In order to do that we have to more strategically choose the vocabulary we teach, and provide more explicit instruction around sentence structure. They have to understand how language is structured so they can understand what it is saying. How can we support that by explicitly teaching speaking and listening. I am working on enhancing my driving question to say something like this: What is the impact of focused language instruction when leveraging the feedback of a comprehension tool(?) My focus right now is finding a technology tool that will truly provide tiered feedback: both for teacher and student. Hattie's work, which highlights that feedback is within the top 5 highest influences on achievement, is driving this enhancement. All that said, in thinking about how best to share this information with my colleagues. Baggio and Clark's books have provided a great amount of fodder and background for my thinking on Instructional Design. Specifically, Baggio's Chapter 7 titled very appropriately, "If it doesn't go in, it can't come out". She states "Learning is not about your information. It is not about how you know. It is all about what you can get the learners to take in." (p. 63). This goes to support the instructional design model I read this week, Pebble in the Pond, which begins with looking at the whole problem or task, and then breaking it down by identifying the learning progression that is needed (building in rigor), and then identifying the knowledge and skill required to complete the task. This support what our district has focused on with Project/Problem based learning. It begins with the end in mind, focusing a task or problem that faces us. As I think about my Driving Question an action research, that is the way I need to design my instructional outline. Begin with Data that identifies that problem, a group of students that have not met AMAO 1 (growing 1 or more levels on the CELDT), and also are below basic on the Reading Inventory. Also thinking about some case study examples that might better contextualize that data-grounding the need for the learning. Next, in thinking about Clark, I focused on her Chapter 6, which is on How to Teach Process. I find this extremely relevant to what I want to achieve in sharing my action research. Understanding of the process can support learning job tasks. Where does it fit in the process, and what makes it relevant? This will be my focus area when I think about how to structure my Capstone learning. Lastly, I spent a fair amount of time this week understanding the SITE model, and specifically how I might as a designer highlight ALL aspects of Context: Sociocultural (factors that motivate the learner), Informational (skills and knowledge do learners/users need that will help them access), technical ("ways and means" by which learners can accomplish their goals), and lastly the all encompassing E-Educational context. Specifically, how might my learners (colleagues) recognize opportunities offered by tools and techniques and how might they support their goals and values? To me this is essential, otherwise why bother?
2 Comments
Joseph Hall
3/4/2017 07:39:05 pm
"...the drum (Tim Shanahan) he is beating these days is all about Text Complexity. We NEED to have students reading more complex text..."
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Jennifer Wade
3/5/2017 02:17:15 pm
In reading your blog postings, I am always amazed at how you are able to take all of the readings and synthesize them so succinctly with your learning and the learning of the students. I can also appreciate how positive you are in applying all that you are learning in this program to your career practices.
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April 2017
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