Unit Design for the 21 st Century Learner: A Team Approach

1. Unit Design for the 21st Century Learner: A Team Approach Kathy Boguszewski School District of Janesville kboguszewski@janesville.k12.wi.us

2. 21st Century Skills Symposiums • Teams from 9 Elementary Schools, the 3 Middle Schools, 2 High Schools, 2 Charter Schools, 1 School Board Commissioner • 7 Elementary Principals and 5 Curriculum Coordinators • 130 teachers, 16 library media specialists, 7 ELL and 35 Special Education Teachers • 3,861 students. • Goal: all K-12 teachers, administrators, and students

3. 10 Modules (20 hours) • Course Content on Google Site (All handouts, reflections, final projects) • Teacher Pre assessment from • Tammy Stephens • Next Generation Assessments • http://nextgenassessments.com

4. The way we were • Lecture or discussions, based on textbook information, library books, movies • Library Skills taught separately not 21st Century Skills taught collaboratively • Students communicated facts they copied in reports, speeches, with artistic visuals to the teacher or class

5. What has changed? • Research on brain development • Research on how children and adults learn • Access to multiple and powerful technologies • Roles of teachers, library media specialists, technology coordinators

6. 1. Peer Teaching Collaboration • Designing • Implementing • Assessing

7. The Three C’s • Building Collaborative Teams - handout • Cooperation • Coordination • Collaboration

8. Collaborative Team Roles - Handout • Clarifier • Compromiser • Elaborator • Encourager • Gate-Keeper • Harmonizer • Initiator • Opinion Giver • Summarizer • Tension Reliever • Tester

9. Why Collaboration Is Critical -- Learning Environment Is Changing • Evolution of teaching roles • From sole information giver > co-learner and co-investigator • From being the fountain of all knowledge > becoming the facilitator of active learning experiences • From evaluator of end products and tests > co-assessor of the learning processes

10. Library Media Program Evolving to Meet Needs • Library Media Specialist’s Role • From thegatekeeper of traditional print information > information specialist in all formats • Fromwarehouse manager> instructional partner for 21st Century Skills • From isolatedlibrary media specialist > collaborative unit planner and staff developer • From Library Media Specialist > Innovative Learning Specialist

11. 2. Simulation - Compared Skills • 21st Century Learning Partnership • ISTE - NETS.S • AASL – 21st Learner Standards

12. 3. Problem Based Learning • Students learn content knowledge along with skills in • Inquiry development • Creative and critical thinking • Problem solving • Collaborative learning • Time management

13. The major components of PBL (http://www.tweedmouthpriorpark.northumberland.sch.uk/industry.htm)

14. PBL Focus • “Doing” something while learning “about” something • Honing Skills for the 21st Century Learner • Challenging us to find solutions to real problems that are “messy” andreflective of the content • Securing Research Skills – Eisenberg’s Super 3 or Big 6, Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process • Securing inquiry skills – Curriculum Based Questions

15. Think Rigor • Student as consumers and producers • Go beyond glitz • Does the content have substance worth sharing? • Did the students go beyond fact and demonstrate what they deeply know? Porter, Bernajean. “Where the Beef?: Adding Rigor to Student Digital Products.” Learning and Leading with Technology. Sep/Oct 2010.

16. Curriculum-Based Questions • To target higher-order thinking skills • To require comparison, synthesis, interpretation, evaluation, etc. • To ensure student projects are compelling and engaging • To require more than a simple restatement of facts • From Intel Essentials Training Why Use Curriculum Based Questions?

17. Curriculum Based Questions • Essential Question • HOTS: Broad, Open ended, Big ideas, Can be addressed by more than one content area • Unit Questions • HOTS: How, Why, Compare and Contrast, Tied directly to standard and content, Answers Essential Question • Content Questions • LOTS: Facts, Who, What, Where, When, Answers Unit Questions

18. Early Explorers Unit Question: Why leave one’s home and family to make a new life in a strange land? Civil War Unit Question: Why would someone fight to the death against brother, neighbor, and friend? French Revolution Unit Question: What could move the masses to revolt? How did the French Revolution change their world and yours? What does it take to change the world? Essential Question - One Subject– How Does Conflict and Change Impact our Lives?

19. Essential Question – Various Contents – How Does Conflict and Change Impact our Lives? Social Studies Unit Question: How does war change the economy? Language Arts Unit Questions: In literature, how do the characters in [book title] respond to conflict? Why do humans often react to conflict with violence? How does [book title] help us to understand our complex human nature? Science Unit Question: How do animals adapt to a changing environment? Essential Question: How does conflict produce change?

20. How Do Content, Unit, and Essential Questions Support Learning?

21. 4. Universal Design for Learning • “UDL is a framework for designing educational environments that enable all learners to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning. This is accomplished by simultaneously reducing barriers to the curriculum and providing rich supports for learning.” http://www.advocacyinstitute.org/UDL/CAST.org

22. Examples: Curb cut Self opening doors

24. Principal 1 Expression Various ways to demonstrate knowledge

25. Principal 2 Representation Various ways to get information to students

26. Principal 3 Engagement Various ways to challenge and motivate

27. What Learning Style are You?

28. 5. UDL Tools • Google Wheel and Google Timeline • Write Out Loud • Co-Writer

29. Google Wheel

30. Google Timeline

31. 6. Digital Resources • Thinkfinity, • Destiny, • BadgerLink (ECB Videos, Encyclopedia Britannica, Sounzabound, Teaching Books etc. etc. etc), • Culture Grams, • NetTrekker, • SIRS Discoverer and SIRS, • World Book Online

32. 7. Web 2.0 and Social Networks Policy – “Certain Web 2.0 services, such as social networking sites, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds and blogs that emphasize online educational collaboration and sharing among users, may be permitted by the District for curriculum related learning activities; however personal use is restricted.”

33. Glogster

34. Edmodo

35. iEtherPad

36. Prezi

37. Mixbook

38. ANIMOTO

39. Xtranormal

40. Wordle

41. Tagxedo

42. Critical Information 1. UDL Learning Environment 2. Unit Focus 3. Planning Process 4. CBQs or Problem Scenario 5. Assessment Strategies 6. Tools and Resources 7. Reflections 8. Collaborative 21st Century Learning Unit Plan

43. 9. Collaborative 21st Century Learning Assessments • Journals or Learning Logs • Rubrics • Scoring Guides • Conferencing • Checklists • Portfolios

44. Difference between assessment and evaluation or testing? • Assessment: • “the careful judgment from close observation: results from sitting down beside someone.” • Evaluation: • “lacks ... collegialityand instead means literally to place value.” (Dr. Jean Donham)

45. 10. Critical Friends Protocol • Purpose • Improve instruction through reflection on student work, • Share and gather input on our collaborative lesson plan, the assignment directions, the evaluation criteria and student work samples

46. Lessons Learned • Quotes from schools who have completed student projects

47. Wilson – 4th and 5th Grade Project Fair Parent Reflection 1. What surprised you most about your child’s work this year? 2. How did your child demonstrate what he/she learned about the subject? 3. What recommendations do you have for us as teachers that would improve your child’s learning?

48. Wilson - 5th grade “For the Influential Person’s Project we need to include pictures with the names of American and World Leaders. Students saw a connection with people who shared the same nationality, culture or skin color.” SO

49. Washington – 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th, 5th grade teaching teams “From the start, the students were engaged and wrote a friendly letter to their parents informing them of the projects that they would work on and why such projects were selected.” RB

50. Lincoln – 4th grade “This science project really helped us to focus our instruction. We all feel that through this opportunity, the students have gained a much greater knowledge of the material than in previous years.” KF