An Overview of Effective Teaching Strategies

1. An Overview of Effective Teaching Strategies Developed by: Jane Cook EASTCONN Staff Dev/Literacy & Ed Tech Specialist Adapted from materials from The Leadership and Learning Center and the CT State Department of Education

2. Objectives for Our PD Session As a result of participating today, teachers will be able to: • Explain the Effective Teaching Strategies (ETS) that are supported by Marzano and his colleagues meta-analysis of research studies • Describe how Effective Teaching Strategies fit into the “Big Picture” of the CT Accountability for Learning Initiative (CALI)

3. CT Accountability for Learning Initiative(CALI) The Big Picture in Connecticut

4. Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle Together: What Every Learning Team Must Know and Do KNOW What must be learned – Power Standards DO Meet individual student needs – Differentiated Instruction DO Monitor learning, Providefeedback - Common Formative Assessments KNOW How to teach – Effective Teaching Strategies

5. What Does “Effective” Mean? “The reflective process is at the very heart of accountability. It is through reflection that we distinguish between the popularity of teaching techniques and their effectiveness. The question is not ‘Did I like it?’ but rather ‘Was it effective?’… and…..’How do you know?’” (Reeves, D. B., Accountability for Learning, 2004, p. 52)

6. What are Effective Teaching Strategies? • EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES are: Actions of the teacher that elevate or lift cognition of learners • The simple question is, “Is it working for you and your students as evidenced by learning outcomes?” • This is the heart of Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM) – Analyzing data from student learning outcomes and using that data to inform planning, instruction and assessment so that students are successful

7. Effective teaching strategies can be used to teach: • Concepts – Building blocks of knowledge or “Big Ideas” found in every content area, e.g., Culture is transmitted across generations is a concept taught in Social Studies. • Skills – Abilities and proficiencies acquired or developed through training or experience, e.g., Two column addition is a skill taught in Math. • Strategies – Methods used to teach or learn skills, e.g., Re-reading is a comprehension strategy taught when students are learning to read.

8. Applying Effective Teaching Yields a Reflective Practitioner… “The reflective practitioner consistently approaches the problems of teaching in a thoughtful, curious manner and believes that one of teaching’s main outcomes is a greater understanding of the teaching-learning act.” John Dewey (1933)

9. 1) Similarities and differences * 2) Summarizing and note taking 3) Reinforcing effort and recognition * 4) Homework and practice 5) Nonlinguistic representation 6) Cooperative learning 7) Objectives and feedback * 8) Generate and test hypotheses 9) Questions, cues, advance organizers 10) Nonfiction writing What DOES Work?“Top Ten” Categories of Effective Teaching Strategies * = District-wide focus in Windham for 2008-09

10. 1) Similarities and Differences • Helping students identify similarities and differences activates students' schema (background knowledge). • Having students independently identify similarities and differences helps them connect their schema with new knowledge. • Having students represent similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic form (non-linguistic representation) helps them understand and apply new knowledge. • Identifying similarities and differences can be accomplished in a variety of ways: comparing, classifying, creating metaphors, and creating analogies.

11. 2) Summarizing and Note taking • Requires higher order thinking • Ability to analyze information • Decisions to keep, delete, substitute • Structure of information linked to structure of notes • Many approaches to taking notes • Two-column, Cornell, mixed, outline

12. 3) Reinforcing Effort and Recognition • Teachers need to teach and model the connection between effort and achievement • By keeping track of their effort and achievement, students can see the relationship. • Make recognition as personal to the individual student as possible

13. School Climate to Support Effort • Teacher responsibilities…. • Demonstrate enthusiasm for youth and learning • Build personal, social, and academic relationships between self and among youth • Respect power-authority relationships • Ensure students have hope • Teach and reinforce effort Mendler, Motivating Students Who Don’t Care

14. Turn and Talk • Compare your ETS Bingo card with a partner. Which terms do you have checked off? What do those terms mean?

15. 4) Homework and Practice • Positive Effects • Immediate achievement and learning • Long-term academic and non-academic benefits • Allows practice, preparation, extension, and integration with/links to other content areas

16. 4) Practice • Massed practice—skill, process: frequent repetitions • Distributive practice—concepts: develop understanding over time • Mastering a skill requires a fair amount of focused practice • 24 repetitions = 80% competency

17. 5) Nonlinguistic Representations • Visual imagery • Kinesthetic or whole-body • Visual representations help students recognize how related topics connect (NCTM, 2000) • Thinking Maps (Concept Maps) help students organize key concepts in a visual way (Hyerle, 1996)

18. 6) Cooperative Learning and Flexible Grouping • There may be no other instructional strategy that simultaneously achieves such diverse outcomes as cooperative grouping including achievement, time on task, motivation, and transfer of learning (Cohen, 1994a; Johnson, 1970; Johnson & Johnson, 1974, 1978, 1989, 1999a, 2000; Kohn, 1992; Sharan, 1980; Slavin, 1977, 1991) • "Positive interdependence" includes mutual goals, joint rewards, resource interdependence and role interdependence • Membership in a learning group means that students either succeed or fail—together. (Deutsch, 1962)

19. 7) Objectives and Feedback What will I do to establish and communicate learning goals, create a positive learning environment, track student progress, and celebrate success?

20. 7) Research on Objectives • Narrow the focus (Marzano) • Not too specific (Marzano) • High expectations (TESA) • Aligned with standards (CSDE) • Know and be able to do (Marzano)

21. 7) Objectives and High Expectations In examining 1500 K-12 classrooms, 24-7 consultants found that clear learning objectives were established in ____________ which is ____% of the total. 60 classrooms 4

22. 7) Feedback should be… • “Corrective in nature” • Timely • Specific to a criterion ________________________________ And….. • Students can effectively provide some of their own feedback. Marzano, Classroom Instruction That Works, p 96

23. 8) Generate and Testing Hypotheses • By generating and testing a hypothesis, students are applying their conceptual understanding (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001) • This strategy is not just for Science class; it can be used in all content areas • Teachers use this strategy when they are going through the DDDM process

24. 9) Questions, Cues, and Advance Organizers • Research/Foundation • Preview activities • Help students to access what they already know about a topic • Activation of prior knowledge is critical to learning • Background knowledge influences what we perceive and learn

25. 10) Nonfiction Writing “Generous amounts of close, purposeful reading, rereading, writing, and talking are the essence of authentic literacy. These simple activities are the foundation for a trained, powerful mind—and a promising future.” Source: Mike Schmoker, Results Now (2006), p. 53

26. Benefits of Nonfiction Writing • Writing is thinking while connecting the dots • Writing is reflection • Writing and revision result in complex thinking, the making of connections, the interpretation of patterns, the production of thought • Meier: “Children are driven into dumbness by our failure to challenge their curiosity.”

27. Applying the Non-fiction Writing Strategy – Not Just in English/LA • Writing to assess prior knowledge • Writing to connect new learning to current knowledge – relevance • Writing to learn – clarify thoughts • Writing to expand, enhance • Writing to demonstrate, show thinking

28. Now it’s your turn to participate in a Cooperative Learning activity… • Your Grade Level Team will be the “Expert Team”. You will research one or more effective teaching strategies and complete the What-So What-Now What Frame. • You will then move to your Vertical Team which will be your “Home Team” where you will present your research on your assigned strategy/ies.