Chapter 11

Flashcards

Links to Video Clips

The following videos provide information about the role of professional development for all content area teachers.  Additional videos are included to showcase the 2014 National Teacher Finalists.

2014 National Teacher of the Year Finalists: Profiles in Practice

Catch a glimpse into the classrooms of three middle and high school national teacher finalists—Sean McComb was named the 2014 National Teacher of the Year.

Links to Classroom Resources

Pedagogy from the Book

Chapter 11: Teaching Discipline-Specific Literacies and Professional Development

Chapter Highlights

  • Professional development should be at the center of educational reform.
  • Effective professional development is cohesive, relevant, job- embedded, ongoing, collaborative, and discipline-specific. Teachers need time, support, feedback, and opportunities to collaborate with colleagues on improving teaching and student learning.
  • Professional development needs to be learner-centered, knowledge-centered, instruction-centered, and assessment-centered.
  • Professional development is closely connected to teaching and learning standards, teacher evaluation, accountability, and school improvement plans. Evidence of teacher effectiveness should use multiple sources of evidence, be collected over time, and be discussed at all times with the teacher. Feedback is vital for teacher growth and reflection.
  • Different types of professional development include Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), study groups, data or leadership teams, lesson study, and collaborating with instructional coaches.
  • A collaborative professional culture is a must for ongoing teacher and student success. Teaching is a complex process that warrants collaboration among all stakeholders.

Classroom Life

Persistence of Vision:

As a novice English Language Arts teacher when courses such as “The Novel,” “The Short Story,” “Journalism,” “Literary Criticism,” were the norm of the times, I had the opportunity to teach a course entitled, “Introduction to Film.” Because this was a survey course introducing the history of the motion picture, and concluding with film genres, I spent the entire summer prior to that school year, reading everything I could get my hands on about film history and criticism. I planned extensively. Daily lessons, units and activities were all designed to engage, excite, and inspire tenth graders to study film from a precise literary point of view. But not long into that first day of class, I realized most had registered for the class thinking they would watch movies every day. As I led the class through the syllabus, I was interrupted by, “What is with all this reading and writing? Aren’t we supposed to be watching films, miss?” Needless to say, as teachers do, I reflected, and then refined my lessons, brokering a compromise with my students about the balance of “movies” and authentic reading coupled with writing about the content. When I consider the vision and the promise that could; and, should occur with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, I mull over those lessons from my early teaching days. The expectation of the CCSS is that all students will be prepared to meet the demands of colleges and careers in an ever- evolving world. Our instructional practice shifts beyond what the teacher desires to teach to what students really need to be able to know and do when they leave us. Who can really argue that coherent, cohesive, content rich curricula might just lead to improved student achievement, and better prepared citizens? But will that hope become a reality? What will our schools look like in the coming years? One definition of vision is the ability to see things that are invisible. Like the potential in our children. Teachers who have vision see what is beautiful in all things. Teachers are the ones who helped us learn to see. We hear it far too often about our kids . . . they will never be able to get this concept, or complete this rigorous work or pass the test. Why? “Because it’s too hard.” Or she doesn’t have a good home life. Or he is too lazy, or too mean, or too aloof. And that perception is dangerous and unfair, because it impacts kids in ways we can’t even imagine, and therefore, impacts their entire future. Goethe wrote, “Treat people as if . . . they were what they ought to be. . .and you help them become . . . what they are capable of being.” And that holds true for our kids. We must remember that we have every opportunity to transform ourselves and our practice. We have to understand daily that our frame of mind and vision for our students is essentially up to us. And it is this opportunity to refresh, reinvent, and refocus that is well within the reach of teachers who seek daily to do what we should ask of all students: take a risk, test your limits, stretch your thinking, and push a bit beyond the comfort zone. As teachers we know that achievement has a direct correlation to expectation. When we set high standards for our students we challenge them to reach heights they perceive as: unimaginable. It is that relentless, persistent pursuit of excellence, that refusal to accept anything less than the best effort that creates outstanding teaching. Now back in my Introduction to Film days, we learned that your eye and brain retain a visual impression for about 1/30th of a second. This ability to retain an image is known as persistence of vision. The eye retains the image of each frame long enough to give us the illusion of smooth motion. In film and video, this phenomenon is widely believed to account for our ability to perceive a sequence of frames as a continuous moving picture that sparked the concept of animation and eventually led to the development of motion pictures. The anticipatory hook used was inadvertently simplistic. Take a quarter, turn it up on its side, hold the top of the quarter with one finger, take your other finger and flip that two dimensional object. What does it turn into? If you are skillful enough and persistence of vision occurs, you will see the flat coin appear to be a spinning sphere. My vision for that class was something different than that of my students. As we worked together throughout the course, the content became the vehicle to observe with a critical eye, to think about connections to broader concepts, to engage in real debate about what the director, actors or the screenwriter intended. And yes, we watched some film clips only to find evidence to support student assertions. Although I have no way of knowing, I doubt that any of my students went on to Hollywood, but perhaps some of that “reading and writing” we did helped them to succeed in their chosen path. So today what we see in our classrooms are kids with the same dreams and aspirations as we had. The learning opportunities we provide will fill in those gaps between what we see and what we can’t see. Let’s quit making excuses. We need to set and maintain high standards and expect no less from each and every student. Instead of saying all students can learn, let’s say all students will learn. Let’s focus our instruction on the specific needs of our students with no other judgment. Let’s stop allowing any child to “opt out” of his or her education. Yes, we definitely have students with needs beyond our comprehension but what better way to help them escape from these issues then to construct avenues for success. Let’s commit to these essential expectations . . . an environment where teaching is a passion and learning nonnegotiable, where the focus is placed upon the needs of our students, where a supportive atmosphere thrives for students and adults alike, where an outstretched hand is the rule of the day. The vision of the Common Core will always remain two dimensional unless we remain persistent towards our vision. (Ms. Karen Nolen, Coordinator of Professional Development, Seminole County Public Schools, Florida).

College, Career, and Workforce Connections

  • Teacher professional development should focus on the complexities and demands of college-, career-, and workforce-readiness in a technologically driven global economy.
  • Teachers should prepare all students with the knowledge, skills, dispositions and behaviors necessary for educational, career, and civic engagement.
  • Student preparation for college, career, and the workforce should also include preparation in media, technology, and Web 2.0 tools students will need to communicate, collaborate, share, produce, and present in the 21st century and beyond.
  • The field of hospitality is very broad and encompasses many different types of businesses, including hotels, restaurants, theme parks, and vacation ownership. All of these businesses require employees who have a desire to serve others. Event management, while related to hospitality, is a different business model and requires great attention to detail and the ability to juggle multiple tasks (Deborah Breiter, Professor, Hospitality, University of Central Florida).

Applying Discipline-Specific Literacies

  • Discipline-specific literacies should be one of the main foci of professional development for content area teachers.
  • Teachers need to have a solid knowledge of core disciplinary concepts, structures, relationships, development of disciplinary knowledge over time, and major challenges.
  • They also need to have effective pedagogical skills about how to engage students in learning, doing, inquiring, and reflecting about disciplinary knowledge, skills, processes, and habits of mind.

Think Like an Expert

  • English Language Arts teachers need professional development on (a) the role of narrative and informational text in student learning; (b) ways to motivate and support students to do close reading of texts; (c) how to engage students in academic discourse; and (d) how to develop students’ writing skills. (English Language Arts)
  • Math teachers will benefit from professional development that expands their understanding of mathematics, encourages them to view mathematics as a problem-solving, student-centered and inquiry- based process, and provides teachers with opportunities to reflect on, and develop, their own teaching practice. (Mathematics)
  • Science teachers need to develop a strong understanding of scientific ideas and engineering practices, cross- cutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas and practices. They need to learn how to teach them in engaging and relevant ways, including how scientists inquire, and collaborate to develop new theories, models, and explanations of natural phenomena. (Science)
  • History teachers need to learn how to teach historical inquiry, how to promote historical thinking, how to read and analyze primary and secondary sources, and how to think, write, and communicate in historically appropriate ways. History teachers need professional development that will help them deliver instruction that will develop deep understanding of content and will promote historical habits of mind. (Social Studies)

Digital Literacies

CCSS Connections

  • The CCSS implementation will require comprehensive and ongoing professional development for teachers in grades 6–12.
  • The new standards require teachers with deep content knowledge, ability to personalize learning for diverse learners, use of formative and summative assessment, new leadership roles for teachers and school administrators, and a culture of collaboration.
  • The CCSS do not prescribe how teachers should teach the standards but mastery of the standards requires rigorous instruction, effective ways to engage students in learning and inquiry, the development of disciplinary dispositions, and various forms of assessing and monitoring student progress.

Summary

  • The implementation of new educational standards and the pressures for improved student performance place a strong focus on the types of professional development teachers will need to successfully prepare students for postsecondary education, work, and life. Effective teacher evaluation systems should have professional standards that are aligned with student learning standards, describe excellent teaching, and provide a common language for teacher and administrator dialogue about effective teaching practice.
  • Data or leadership teams, study groups, PLCs, communities of practice, lesson study, and collaborating with instructional coaches are major types of school- based professional development. Analyzing student data, monitoring student progress, and setting short term, measureable and attainable goals, are effective ways for teachers to collaborate on instructional improvements and student learning growth.
  • Content area teachers need discipline-specific professional development that builds their knowledge of content and pedagogy, and is founded on discipline-specific inquiry, habits of mind and dispositions, and collaborative inquiry. Discipline-specific professional development should also be closely linked to standards, disciplinary ideas, curriculum, assessment, and student and teacher needs. Preparing all students to succeed in grades 6–12 and beyond requires ongoing collaboration and reflection among all stakeholders.

Differentiating Instruction

  • Teachers need professional development that will increase their knowledge of ELLs’ needs, and the needs of students with learning exceptionalities.
  • Teachers need help understanding students’ background knowledge, and learning appropriate strategies, teaching, interventions, and assessment.
  • Teachers will also benefit from learning how to create a culturally responsive learning environment, select diverse materials, teach in discipline- specific ways, analyze and reflect on student data, and plan for improved instruction.
  • Students who receive ESE (Exceptional Student Education) services for their learning needs have true learning needs. Some can read, but have difficulties with comprehension, while others have excellent verbal and upper- level thinking, but have difficulties decoding words. Teachers can benefit from professional development on the nature and needs of adolescent ELLs, ESE, gifted, ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), dyslexia, language and communicative disorders, and others with varied exceptionalities.
  • Key topics for all content area teachers include: (1) how exceptional education students perceive, process, respond, and produce information and knowledge; (2) ideas for assessments; (3) learned helplessness; (4) how to scaffold instruction; (5) behavior and classroom management; (6) flexible cooperative learning; and (7) RtI.

Reflect and Apply

  1. Think about the teachers you have had so far in your educational career. Which teacher stands out? Why? Would you characterize that teacher as a “good” teacher or not? What were some of his, or her key attributes, knowledge, skills, practices, and dispositions? What would you like to emulate in your practice from that teacher and why?
  2. Revisit the Classroom Life vignette. What are your thoughts about Ms. Nolen’s Persistence of Vision? Discuss your reaction to her vignette with a group of peers.
  3. What type of professional development would an art, career and technical subjects, English language arts, history, math, physical education, or social studies teacher need to have to help his or her students develop a deeper understanding of content knowledge? Describe the elements, duration, and type of professional development, and provide evidence from the text to support your suggestions.

Extending Learning

  1. Observe an excellent content area teacher from your discipline in his or her learning environment. Using evidence from this chapter, develop an observation protocol by identifying the areas of teaching and learning you would like to observe. Conduct the observation, record your notes, analyze them, and present them to class. Also identify areas of improvement, and use your knowledge of effective practice in that discipline to provide specific instructional improvements.
  2. Get together with some of your peers and suggest five ways an instructional coach, a school principal, or a mentor could use to support content area teachers in your school to meet the needs of ELLs, and other students, who are having difficulty learning. Describe your rationale, strategies, and ways to implement them. Offer specific ideas to teachers about ways to collect data on student progress. Share your plan with the class.
  3. Write a letter to a policy-maker at the state, or school district level about the need to provide discipline-specific professional development for content area teachers. Use research evidence to explain the importance of effective professional development for teacher and student learning, and request the types of support teachers will need in order to help all students succeed. Present your letter to a group of peers, obtain feedback, and revise as needed.
  4. Using information from this chapter, develop a plan for making department group meetings more collaborative, relevant to each discipline’s challenges and demands, and instruction- and assessment- centered. Anticipate teacher resistance due to negative or unproductive experiences with professional development. Your plan should span over a nine week period of time and it should include elements of effective, collaborative, and relevant professional development. Share your plan with a department head, or content area teacher from your discipline, and discuss their feedback to your plan with a group of peers.