1. Suppor&ng
Student
Diversity:
Classroom
and
collabora&on
strategies
that
meet
the
needs
of
all
learners
English
and
Humani&es
Dept.
Heads
Surrey
March
2,
2011
Faye
Brownlie
2. How
the
world’
best
performing
school
systems
come
out
on
top
–
Sept.
2007,
McKinsey
&
Co.
1. GeLng
the
right
people
to
become
teachers
2. Developing
them
into
effec&ve
instructors
3. Ensuring
that
the
system
is
able
to
deliver
the
best
possible
instruc&on
for
every
child
3. McKinsey
Report,
2007
• The
top-‐performing
school
systems
recognise
that
the
only
way
to
improve
outcomes
is
to
improve
instruc&on:
learning
occurs
when
students
and
teachers
interact,
and
thus
to
improve
learning
implies
improving
the
quality
of
that
interac&on.
4. • Coaching
classroom
prac&ce
• Moving
teacher
training
to
the
classroom
• Developing
stronger
school
leaders
• Enabling
teachers
to
learn
from
each
other
5. Individual
teachers:
• Become
aware
of
areas
to
grow
in
their
prac&ce
• Gain
an
understanding
of
best
prac&ce
–
most
effec&ve
when
demonstrated
in
an
authen&c
seLng
• Are
mo&vated
to
improve
– Teachers
have
high
expecta&ons
– Share
a
common
purpose
– Have
a
collec&ve
belief
in
their
ability
to
make
a
difference
6. • How
the
world’s
most
improved
school
systems
keep
geLng
beWer
– Mourshed,
Chijioke,
Barber
– McKinsey
&
Co.
– Nov.,
2010
7. Good
to
Great
Systems
• Focus
on
the
professionalism
of
teachers
• The
values
and
behaviors
of
the
educators
propel
the
system
forward
(not
centrally
controlled)
• Develop
common
language
about
the
cra
of
teaching
• Teacher
and
administrator
coaches
8. Great
to
Excellent
Systems
• Learning
communi&es:
peer-‐led
support
and
accountability
• Focus
on
student
learning
• Move
to
school
and
teacher
self-‐evalua&on,
away
from
standardized
tests
• Open
up
classroom
prac&ce
–
de-‐priva&ze
• Ac&on
research
• Collabora&ve
prac&ce
among
educators
• Encourage
innova&on
in
teaching
9. Professional
Collabora&on
• Interac&ve
and
on-‐going
process
• Mutually
agreed
upon
challenges
• Capitalizes
on
different
exper&se,
knowledge
and
experience
• Roles
are
blurred
• Mutual
trust
and
respect
• Create
and
deliver
targeted
instruc&on
10. Together
we
are
beWer…
By
sharing
our
collec&ve
knowledge
about
our
classes
of
students
and
developing
a
plan
of
ac&on
based
on
this,
we
can
beWer
meet
the
needs
of
all
students.
11. Together
we
are
beWer…
By
sharing
our
collec&ve
exper&se
about
teaching
and
learning
we
can
beWer
implement
plans
of
ac&on,
and
thus
we
can
beWer
meet
the
needs
of
all
students.
12. Informa&on
Circles
• Students
are
reading
a
variety
of
different
texts
• Students
read
their
text
and
record
their
thinking
on
the
thinking
paper:
images/ques&ons/vocabulary
• Students
meet
in
groups
with
others
reading
the
same
text
and
talk
about
the
text
using
the
notes
from
their
thinking
paper
• Together
students
decide
on
the
key
ideas
of
the
text
• Students
can
meet
in
new
groups,
represen&ng
the
different
texts,
and
share
the
key
ideas
of
their
text
14. Erica
Foote,
Princess
Margaret
Secondary,
Pen&cton
• If
students
were
given
the
opportunity
(4
&mes
per
semester)
to
show
what
they
know
in
different
ways,
would
it
not
only
increase
their
interest
and
effort
but
also
increase
their
understanding?
15. English
10
• 4
wri&ng
assignments,
4
choice
assignments
– PowerPoint
presenta&ons,
drawing,
poetry,
collages,
crea&ng
their
own
test
with
answer
keys,
presen&ng
their
informa&on
orally
or
using
drama
to
represent
their
thinking
• 6
students
• AFL
strategies
– Ranked
exemplars
with
the
PS
– Analyzed
the
exemplars
to
co-‐create
criteria
– Used
the
criteria
for
their
work
– Ownership
–
with
choice
16. 2
wri&ng
2
choice
assignments
–
demonstrate
your
knowledge
&
understanding
of
various
literature
Not
yet
Approaching
Mee4ng
Exceeding
%/#
Wri&ng
16/2
41/5
25/3
16/2
(essay/
paragraph)
Choice
0/0
16/2
33/4
50/6
17. Erica’s
Reflec&ons
• 100%
of
students
reported
they
liked
the
choice
and
wanted
to
do
have
choices
again
in
another
semester
• 91%
of
students
felt
they
did
beWer
with
choice
• About
50%
s&ll
chose
some
form
of
wri&ng
when
given
a
choice,
but
liked
the
choice
• Fewer
complained
about
the
non-‐choice
wri&ng
assignments
• Fewer
assignments
were
handed
in
late
18. Andrea
DeVito,
Pen&cton
High
• My
findings
are
based
24
students
randomly
selected
from
four
classes:
an
English
9,
two
11’s,
and
one
12.
The
students
were
first
given
a
wri4ng-‐response
to
a
piece
of
literature,
and
then
the
end-‐task
with
choice
to
a
piece
of
literature.
19. Show
an
understanding
of
your
novel
Literature
Circles
Not
yet
Approaching
Mee4ng
Exceeding
%/#
Fixed
0/0
17/4
75/18
8/2
wriWen
assessment
End
task
0/0
8/2
25/6
58/14
with
choice
20. Andrea’s
reflec&ons
• Some
challenged
by
finding
a
meaningful
connec&on
between
themselves
and
the
novel
• Some
challenged
by
the
idea
of
students
doing
different
products
for
the
same
assignment
• Most
wanted
to
do
this
kind
of
assignment
again.
21. Naryn
Searcy
&
Pat
Whitely,
Princess
Margaret
Secondary
• Co-‐taught
English
12
and
IT
9
• Assignment:
demonstrate
the
key
elements
of
a
grade
12
poem
in
a
video
montage
• 12’s
responsible
for
the
poem’s
key
elements
and
the
vision;
9’s
for
the
technical
aspects
• 12’s
teach
the
poem;
9’s
teach
the
technical
aspects
• Subjects:
8
grade
12
students,
2
NY,
2A,
2M,
2E
on
a
tradi&onal
wri&ng
assignment
of
poetry
22. • Projects
shown
to
both
classes.
Grade
12
students
introduced
and
explained
the
video
• AFL
strategies:
– descrip&ve
feedback
at
each
stage
(i.e.,
storyboard)
– ownership
23. Communicate
your
knowledge
of
the
various
elements
of
the
poem
Not
Yet
Approaching
Mee4ng
Exceeding
%/#
Wri&ng
25/2
25/2
25/2
25/2
(essay/
paragraph)
Video
0/0
12.5/1
37.5/3
50/4
Montage
24. Naryn
and
Pat’s
Reflec&ons
• Increased
mo&va&on
and
increased
responsibility
for
all
students
in
both
grade
9
and
12
• Students
disappointed
when
the
collabora&on
ended
• Mo&va&on
con&nued
…
success
breeds
success
25. References
• Grand Conversations, Thoughtful Responses –
Brownlie
(2005).
Portage
and
Main
Press.
• Student Diversity, 2nd ed (2006)
–
Brownlie
and
Schnellert.
Pembroke
Publishers
• It’s All about Thinking – Humanities, Social
Studies and English (2009)
–
Brownlie
and
Schnellert.
Portage
and
Main
Press.
• Assessment Instruction of ESL Learners –
Brownlie,
Feniak,
McCarthy.
Portage
and
Main
Press.
