Teachers Teaching Teachers

1. Writing Breaks & Exit Slips Teachers Teaching Teachers Jennifer MacDonald & Erin Gates

2. Presentation Overview • Introduction of Writing-to-Learn Strategies and Concepts • Practical Connections • Personal Fitness Appraisal: Writing Breaks in Action • Personal Fitness Reflection: Exit Slips in Action • Discussion and Closing

3. Writing Breaks “Writing breaks are a reminder to me to just shut up every once and a while and let the kids think.” (pg. 31) • At specific points throughout a class, students stop and reflect in writing on the activities happening or the information being presented. • Following individual writing time, quick sharing with partners or whole group helps to solidify understanding and maintain accountability. • Writing breaks allow students the time to actually think about and process what is going on around them.

4. Practical Connections Writing Breaks in PE 10 Writing Breaks in MATH 9 • Development of Personal Fitness Plan • Theory versus Physical • Preparation for tests or used to inform future instruction. • Introduction of new topic • Think-Pair-Share  WRITE-Pair-Share

5. Exit Slips • One of the simplest ways of implementing writing-to-learn strategies in the classroom. • Exit slips are used to plan or inform future lesson content and teaching (highly diagnostic). • Offering students an open-ended prompt they can respond to near the end of a lesson gives teachers insight into what students understand, what their misconceptions may be, and what their attitude is toward the subject.

6. Practical Connections Exit Slips in PE 8 Exit Slips in SCIENCE 6 • Used to target “Valuing” outcomes • Provide an avenue to express understanding for students who may feel challenged by the performance demands of PE class. • “Taking the Temperature” • Responses to videos or presentations. • Preparation for tests or used to inform future instruction.

7. Personal Fitness Appraisal: Where am I now? Writing Breaks in Action

8. Physical Education 10 GCO B (Knowing): Demonstrate a knowledge of the components and processes needed to develop and maintain a personal level of functional fitness. SCO 3.6: Demonstrate knowledge of what health-related physical fitness appraisals measure: cardiovascular endurance, upper and lower body muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and body composition SCO 3.7: Assess their own level of health-related physical fitness

9. Personal Fitness Reflection: Where do I want to be? Exit Slips in Action

10. Physical Education 10 GCO B (Knowing): Demonstrate a knowledge of the components and processes needed to develop and maintain a personal level of functional fitness. SCO 3.1: Apply an understanding of the components of health and skill related physical fitness to activities that develop physical fitness for active, healthy living. SCO 3.8: Set SMART goals to maintain or improve current levels of health related to physical fitness.

11. PE 10 Refresher… • Cardiovascular Fitness: ahealth-related component of physical fitness through which the heart, lungs, and blood vessels deliver oxygen to the exercising muscle in order to sufficiently meet the demands of the workload. • Flexibility: a health-related component of physical fitness in which an individual may move their joints through a full range of motion. Flexibility can be developed over time through practice. • Muscular strength and Endurance: health-related components of physical fitness in which an individual is able to contract a muscle numerous times without fatigue or hold a contraction for a lengthy period of time.

12. PE 10 Refresher… • S – Specific: is your goal clear? • M – Meaningful & Measurable: How will you know? • A – Action – Orientated & Attainable: What steps do you need to take? • R – Realistic: How likely are you to reach your goal? • T – Timely: How long will it take you to reach your goal?

13. PERSONAL FITNESS APPRAISAL & REFLECTION: • Find a partner • Find a station (4 pairs MAX to a station) • 2 minutes to complete exercise (one partner times, one partner does exercise) • 2 minutes to complete writing break (Don’t forget X’s and O’s on continuum!) • Rotate stations to complete circuit • Regroup in base groups • Complete questions on back of worksheet individually • Discuss uses for responses

14. Circuit Exercises:

15. PERSONAL FITNESS APPRAISAL & REFLECTION: • Find a partner • Find a station (4 pairs MAX to a station) • 2 minutes to complete exercise (one partner times, one partner does exercise) • 2 minutes to complete writing break (Don’t forget X’s and O’s on continuum!) • Rotate stations to complete circuit • Regroup in base groups • Complete questions on back of worksheet individually • Discuss uses for responses

16. Discussion • After having participated in the activities (knowing the outcomes targeted) would you agree that these strategies provide teachers with insight into your “true” understandings as a student? • Where have you seen these strategies implemented in your own practicum placements? Where could you have used/plan to use these strategies in your practicum placement or future teaching? • How can you be sensitive to the unique needs to your students while incorporating these strategies (i.e.: students who have difficulty expressing themselves through written language)? • How can you get students to buy into these activities?…especially in courses like PE, Music, Art where they are not accustom to writing much in class?