Give Students Ownership of Their Learning School Practice School Improvement Summit Cathy J. Lassiter, Ed.D. June 3-5, 2014
ACTIVITY Student Ownership of their Learning What comes to mind when you think of students owning their learning? What do you see happening in a classroom where students have ownership? Responding To the Quote Meaningful student learning happens when students know their learning target, understand what quality work looks like, and engage in thought-provoking and challenging performances of understanding. These experiences help students deepen their understanding of important content, produce evidence of their learning, and learn to self-assess. When students self-assess, they internalize standards and assume greater responsibility for their own learning (Darling Hammond et. al 2008). Reflection:
Foundations for Learning Goals and Targets Unit Title Grade Level/Course # Days Date Understanding Literature Grade 4 10 3/10/14 Step 1: Priority Standard Standard RL.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Standard RL.4.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. Step 2: Unwrap standard for skills and concepts and determine DOK ceiling ( ) DOK 1 ( ) DOK 2 ( x ) DOK 3 ( ) DOK 4 Refer (1) Explain (2) Skills (students will do verbs) Draw inferences (3) Determine (3) Summarize (2) Concepts (students will know nouns) Details and examples in a text What the text says explicitly From the text A theme of story, drama, or poem from the details The text
Goal Success Criteria Students will demonstrate their proficiency by reading two stories, Cricket and Cougar and Kira-Kira, where one family member saves another. They will write an essay describing the mosquito from Cricket and Cougar and one of the main characters from Kira-Kira. For each character: Explain how the thoughts, words, and/or actions of the character help you understand what the character is like. Explain why the character chooses to save his or her family member. Be sure to include specific details from each story to support your ideas. Rubric for Determining Proficiency Advanced (4) Proficient (3) Progressing (2) All of the 3-4 of the 5 proficient Proficient criteria plus Criteria Includes which author s details more strongly illustrates the character Describes the thoughts, words, or actions of Mosquito and how they help the reader understand him Describes the thoughts, words, or actions of either Lynn or Katie and how they help the reader understand the character Explains why the character (Mosquito and Lynn or Katie) saves his or her family member Uses 2-3 details from Kira- Kira to support their ideas Uses 2-3 details from Cricket and Cougar to support their ideas Needs More Practice (1) Less than 3 of the 5 Proficient Criteria Proficient Students Will:
ACTIVITY Creating the Learning Target for Each Lesson Step 2: Unwrap standard for skills and concepts and determine DOK ceiling ( ) DOK 1 ( ) DOK 2 ( x ) DOK 3 ( ) DOK 4 Refer (1) Explain (2) Skills (students will do verbs) Draw inferences (3) Determine (3) Summarize (2) Concepts (students will know nouns) Details and examples in a text What the text says explicitly From the text A theme of story, drama, or poem from the details The text What are the expected learning outcomes for each of the 10 days which build student proficiency to the goal criteria? Day Target Success Criteria Day 1-2 Day 3-4 I can explain a story read to me by my teacher by using details or examples to support my explanation. I can read excerpts of a story, explain to my partner what is said using details and examples from the story, and I can determine an inference for each excerpt we read. Listen to a short story. Explain the story out loud and use 2-3 details and examples from the story to support my explanation. Read excerpts from a story. Explain what each excerpt says to a partner using 2-3 details and examples to support my explanation. Listen and support my partner as he explains his excerpt and shares 2-3 details and examples to support his explanation. Determine an inference for each excerpt using a graphic organizer to organize information from my head and information from the book.
Participants complete the chart below for the remainder of the targets. What are the expected learning outcomes for each of the 10 days which build student proficiency to the goal criteria? Day Day Day REFLECTION How is this kind of planning similar or different to the current process you use to plan your unit and daily lessons?
ACTIVITY Learning Targets Source: Connie M. Moss, Susan M. Brookhart and Beverly A. Long, What Students Need to Learn. Education Leadership. March 2011 Volume 68 Number 6 Pages 66-69 Constructing a Learning Target A shared learning target unpacks a lesson-sized amount of learning the precise chunk of the particular content students are to master (Leahy, Lyon, Thompson, & Wiliam, 2005). It describes exactly how well we expect them to learn it and how we will ask them to demonstrate that learning. And although teachers derive them from instructional objectives, learning targets differ from instructional objectives in both design and function. Instructional objectives are about instruction, derived from content standards, written in teacher language, and used to guide teaching during a lesson or across a series of lessons. They are not designed for students but for the teacher. A shared learning target, on the other hand, frames the lesson from the students' point of view. A shared learning target helps students grasp the lesson's purpose why it is crucial to learn this chunk of information, on this day, and in this way. Students can't see, recognize, and understand what they need to learn until we translate the learning intention into developmentally appropriate, student-friendly, and culturally respectful language. One way to do that is to answer the following three questions from the student's point of view: What will I be able to do when I've finished this lesson? What idea, topic, or subject is important for me to learn and understand so that I can do this? How will I show that I can do this, and how well will I have to do it?
ACTIVITY Formative Feedback Source: Connie M. Moss, Susan M. Brookhart, 2012 Expert teachers partner with their students during a formative learning cycle to make teaching and learning visible and to maximize opportunities to feed students forward. Learning targets propel a formative learning cycle in today's lesson. Once students understand the concept and skills, the teacher engages them in a performance of understanding, provides formative feedback about the performance, and gives students the opportunity to improve their work. It is this golden second chance that makes the difference. A formative learning cycle embodies the following research-based factors that improve student learning and achievement: Learning targets and success criteria A classroom learning team Consistent, targeted feedback that feeds learning forward A built-in chance for students to use feedback to improve their work Goal-setting and goal-getting opportunities that promote self-regulation and selfassessment The formative assessment process
ACTIVITY Developing Assessment-Capable Students One of the most effective steps we can take to close the achievement gap is to teach all students how to self-assess and give them plenty of feedback as they are doing so (Hattie, 2009, 2012; Moss et al., 2011c). Assessment-capable students engage in the lesson as active partners who co-construct learning with the teacher. They understand and continually use student look-fors the success criteria for today's lesson to recognize how well they are doing. When they discover they are not progressing, they ask effective questions. They seek feedback from a variety of reliable sources, including their teacher, their peers, and information resources like rubrics, books, and media. Then they use that feedback to figure out the next steps to take in their learning. During a formative learning cycle, student questioning is taught, valued, and expected as one of the indicators of meaningful learning (Moss & Brookhart, 2009). Assessment-capable students are resilient, have stick-to-itiveness, learn how to thrive on challenge, and develop a can-do attitude. Each day, they pursue a slightly more challenging learning target and benefit from being fed forward to meet it. They understand that meaningful learning is a deliberate pursuit of increased knowledge and skills that requires successful learning strategies. They also realize that their errors and missteps are important sources of information that they can use to learn about what is working and what is not, and to decide what they should do next. Assessment-capable students develop in classrooms led by expert not necessarily experienced teachers (Hattie, 2002). Expert teachers consistently make decisions that increase student achievement and motivation to learn. They intentionally help students hone their metacognitive and decision-making skills and provide appropriate degrees of challenge and support to help students master targeted concepts and learn to monitor their own progress. Reflection: Circle or list 5 words or phrases in the excerpt above that resonate with you. Be prepared to share your list and the reasons for your selections with the group.
REFLECTION Conclusion & Next Steps Graduating a class of self-regulated, assessment-capable, and lifelong learners doesn't just happen because we say it will. It happens when students set specific goals during today's lesson to reach their learning target, select appropriate strategies to help them get there, receive quality feedback that helps them gauge their progress against a set of student look-fors, and then use their new learning to meet the challenges in tomorrow's lesson. The long-term goal gives us something to shoot for, but what's happening in today's lesson makes or breaks our chances for raising student achievement in significant and meaningful ways. Reflection: What are your next steps for your NEXT lesson, which will build student ownership of their learning?
References Dweck, C. (2008). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York. Ballentine Books. Hattie, J. (2008). Visible Learning. London. Routledge. Moss, C. & Brookhart, S. (2011). What Students Need to Learn. Educational Leadership, March 2011, vol. 69, pp. 68-69 Moss, C & Brookhart, S. (2012). Learning Targets: Helping Students Aim for Understanding in Today s Lesson. ASCD.