Rigor – Page 4

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

21: Standardized Test Prep

Ellis, Shelby, and Jenna Shinners. “EOC by the Sea.” Lead4ward. Corpus Christi. 15 Sept. 2015. Lecture

“Lead4ward on the App Store.” App Store. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

2 Skills the Support Success of Students on Standardized Tests:

Access: being able to use and find information in your brain; good to have because standardized texts are like the equivalent of academic hopscotch because of the random assortment of topics
Transfer: being able to apply information to varied contexts

Strategies that promote Access:

Use the reporting categories or the header standards as file drawers for organizing the rest of the standards
- use header standards to create course syllabus
- use header standards and this notebook hack to physically file all notebook pages into file drawers
Give students standards lists divided into categories (readiness, supporting, process).
- Have them circle keywords in the standards
- Then make flash cards using the keywords – 1 word per card
- Then have students divide cards into piles – don’t know, sort of know, know (can teach)
Tic Tac Toe Tally
- place various stimuli related to standards on squares of tic tac toe board
- draw lines connecting items and explain connection on lines – can also number the lines and create a legend that has the numbers and reasonings for each line
- teams can compete to generate the most connections
- can use a different color marker for each team member to see each individual’s contribution

Strategies that promote Transfer:

Use PLC menu (see Lead4ward app) to present content using different stimulus tied to different types of thinking
Amplification – teach same content using multiple contexts and multiple stimuli (see Lead4ward app for ideas)

Other strategies

Provide a stimulus related to a standard and have students add a caption that turns it into an educational meme
Assign teams a letter (ABCD) and display a multiple choice question. Have each team explain why their letter choice is correct or incorrect.
See lead4ward.com/eoc_handouts – password: hope4students

Strategies related to stimuli

Provide graphic (diagram, graph, table) – have students give other students clues to determine what graphic type they are looking at
9 squares – given a stimulus, list 5 details, 2 inferences, 2 conclusions

Tools for Developing Aligned Content

Academic Vocabulary sheets – content and non-content words that appear in STAAR tests for each TEKS – see Lead4ward app
Scaffold document (see Lead4ward app) – shows vertical relationships between standards in multiple grade levels
Investigate the questions – guide for analyzing release questions – see Lead4ward app

The scaffolding ideas in the Lead4ward app can be used to scaffold content related to all standards, not just the high stakes ones. Designing and implement activities that promote access and transfer will enable students to apply knowledge and skills to more contexts.

Preparation Steps

Use Scaffold doc (see Lead4ward app) to investigate related standards from previous grades and infer what might make up students’ related prior knowledge
Analyze NOUNS, VERBS, and CONTEXTS in standards
Research scaffolding activities in Lead4ward app and select variety of activities that go with targeted standards
Prepare handouts, resources, etc that go with scaffolding activities
Plan time in project calendar for scaffolding activities
Design formative assessments related to scaffolding activities

Early Implementation Steps

Implement scaffolding strategies that teach content and promote access and transfer
Use formative assessments to provide timely feedback to students and to adjust learning activities (as needed)

Advanced Steps

Teach students what transfer and access are and why these skills are important
Have students reflect on processes they use that enable them to transfer and access information

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

18: Lesson Plan Model for Cognitive Engagement

Garner, Betty K. Getting “got It!”: Helping Struggling Students Learn How to Learn. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2007. Print

Lesson Plan Model for Cognitive Engagement:

Explore: Students notice and gather sensory input.
Describe: Students make connections with prior knowledge
Explain: Teacher clarifies and builds on student associations, introduces new concepts and asks students what sense they are making of it all
Demonstrate: Students analyze and integrate information to demonstrate understanding by applying it
Evaluate: Students and teacher reflect on and evaluate effectiveness of lesson, how to improve it, and what questions come to mind as a result of learning experiences

For more scaffolding ideas related to specific cognitive structures, see:

This lesson plan model can be used to design scaffolding activities that practice using cognitive structures to develop deep understanding of content. This model may support EL learners because it connects new knowledge to immediate experiences and prior knowledge.

Preparation Steps

Analyze skills embedded in standards and in project context
Identify which skills could benefit from this lesson plan model
Design learning experiences that align to targeted standards and work well with lesson plan model
Create and gather resources related to lesson plan
Identify cognitive structures that relate to targeted standards: See 16: Cognitive structures part 1 of 2 and 17: Cognitive structures part 2 of 2.
Use targeted cognitive structures to plan specific open-ended questions that encourage students to practice targeted cognitive structures
Design formative assessments that can be used to determine how students are learning new content

Early Implementation Steps

Implement lesson plans based on lesson plan model
Use formative assessment results to give students timely feedback and to make adjustments to lesson plan

Advanced Implementation Steps

Design lesson plans that simultaneously address targeted standards, related cognitive structures, and related project products
Integrate lesson plan model with skills embedded in 6 facets of understanding
Teach students cognitive structures and to be aware of when they are using them to learn new content

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

17: Cognitive Structures Part 2 of 2

Garner, Betty K. Getting to “got It!”: Helping Struggling Students Learn How to Learn. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2007. Print.

This is a continuation of the discussion in 16: Cognitive structures part 1 of 2.

Spatial orientation: cognitive structure that helps people identify and compare objects and places and relate them to each other:

4 types of space:
1. material space (real, 3D),
2. representational space (abstract, 2D),
3. abstract space (uses mental images to transcend real spatial relationships),
4. virtual space (uses social or personal norms to establish relationships)
All coding systems (music, writing, free body diagrams) rely on representational spatial thinking
Students who struggle with this cognitive structure have trouble with relationship, spatial, virtual and abstract relationships
Building Spatial Orientation Strategies:
- Ask students: What do you notice? How would it look different from a different point of view?
- Students describe objects relative to other objects
- Students recognize when they need spatial orientations to complete tasks
- Give directions in terms of spatial relationships
- Students provide verbal instructions to another student to build a structure with blocks
- Students draw what they see
- Students draw floor plans of familiar spaces
- Students plan how they move from one location to another
- Student manipulate and represent information using various representations
- Students connect virtual space in terms of personal space, family relationships, etc.
- Students use knowledge of physical location to organize physical world
- Play tic tac toe while students use verbal directions to describe moves.
- Use tic tac toe grid to have students predict position of dot after several rotations
- Students use globe, maps, GPS to locate objects
- Students measure distances using different units
- Students draw things from different points of view

Temporal orientation: cognitive structure of processing information by comparing how things occur in time

3 categories: traits (physical ex: on clocks, timers, circadian, psychological perceptions), movement (linear, sequential, circular, simultaneous), type (chronology, change, duration)
Essential for record keeping, planning, and organizing tasks
Enhances learning of all subjects
Helps students delay gratification and moderate impulses
Building Temporal Orientation Strategies:
- Students recognize time pieces and how they work
- Students experiment with different ways of measuring time
- Students notice the relationship between the clock and the calendar
- Students practice using time to schedule tasks and activities
- Model how to use time management to complete tasks more efficiently and with less stress
- Students notice how verbs express tense
- Students notice how events are related in time
- Student practice noticing time durations – e.g. trip planning, scheduling
- Students notice sequences, series, and ordered relationships
- Students notice recurring cycles – e.g. seasons, water cycle, etc
- Student use timelines to recognize events occur at same and different times

Understanding the cognitive structure that underly skills and knowledge in standards can help teachers develop scaffolding for students that struggle (or not). Recognizing underlying cognitive structures can help teacher identify foundational skills related to standards. Developing these foundational skills may make it easier for students to learn related skills.

Preparation Steps

Analyze NOUNS, VERBS, and CONTEXTS within targeted standards.
Identify what cognitive structures are needed to efficiently learn knowledge and skills in targeted standards.
Pre-assess students to see if they have the cognitive structures needed to learn new knowledge efficiently
Brainstorm strategies teacher can use to develop cognitive structures related to targeted standards

Early Implementation Steps

Use pre-assessment results to determine number and degree of activities needed to develop cognitive structures
Implement activities with elements aimed at developing targeted standards skills and related cognitive structures

Advanced Implementation Steps

Teach students cognitive structures and encourage them to recognize then they are using them to process information
Encourage students to deliberately practice specific cognitive structures in order to learn things more efficiently

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

16: Cognitive Structures Part 1 of 2

Garner, Betty K. Getting to “got It!”: Helping Struggling Students Learn How to Learn. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2007. Print

Cognitive Structures:

Basic mental processes people use to make sense of information
3 categories: comparative, logical, and logical representation
Used to make connections, find relationships & patterns, formulate rules, and abstract generalizable rules. These are used to make meaning of new information
Strategies for Developing Cognitive Structures:
- Build caring relationships with your students
- Encourage students to be reflectively aware
- Encourage students to use their imaginations to visualize
- Encourage use of cognitive structures by: making connections with prior knowledge, explaining problem solving processes and why they make sense, look for patterns that connect information, formulate rules to process information automatically & quickly, abstract generalizable principles to transfer ideas from one context to another
- Determine what cognitive structures are needed to master standards and scaffold these as foundational skills
- Encourage students to ask questions and wonder
- Instead of telling, use open ended prompts

Recognition: cognitive structure that allows one to match or fit 2 or more pieces of information; can recognize items without fully knowing them (like being able to answer multiple choice questions without having deep understanding of content)

when kids say they know something, they usually mean that they recognize it
recognizing the familiar builds confidence
recognizing patterns enables people to process information more quickly
Recognition Building Strategies
- Students consciously aware of observations related to the 5 senses
- Students compare new information to information they already know
- Students reflect upon and visualize information. Visualizing information allows brain to manipulate information even when original stimuli is not near.
- Students use recognition of what’s familiar to build confidence
- Play games that let students recognize and match familiar words: matching games, sound recognition games, scavenger hunts, bingos, puzzles

Memorization: cognitive structure for storing and recalling information It’s not like a file cabinet (passive storage), more like digestion (active storage).

Levels of memorization: imitation (without transfer) and remembering (with transfer)
Builds confidence and makes learning easier
Memorization Building Strategies:
- Students memorize with understanding – interact with information by asking questions and finding personal meaning
- Play memory games with information that is good to memorize
- Explain relevance of specific information
- Students notice things and build connections with prior knowledge & experiences
- Students are reflectively aware of what senses tell them
- Students visualize information they want to remember – pictures are easier to remember than words
- Students attach feelings to what they want to memorize
- Provides hands-on, multi-sensory learning experiences
- Teach association strategies such as: mnemonics, rhymes, concept mapping, outlining, sequencing, cartooning, and contextual referencing
- Students systematically rehearse and practice using what they remember
- Students teach others

Constancy of Constants: cognitive structure that helps one understand which characteristics of things change and which stay the same

Lack of this skill can make learning confusing and make it difficult to abstract and transfer information
This skill is needed to learn big ideas in math, science, ELA, and social studies
Constancy of Constants Building Strategies:
- Constancy of volume: Ask students if volume changes if a piece of clay is shaped like a ball or a snake and then explain their reasoning
- Constancy of amount: Ask students if moldable object (e.g. a candy bar) changes amount when it changes shape and explain their reasoning
- Constancy of length: Ask students to compare sticks of same length at different orientations and explain their comparisons of the objects
- Constancy of weight: Weigh 2 pieces of clay. Change the shape of one piece and ask students to explain whether or not they think the 2 pieces of clay still weigh the same.
- Constancy of counts: Ask students to count blocks. Rearrange blocks into different configurations and ask students to explain whether or not they think the counts changed and why.
- Constancy of area: Use 2 equal sheets of paper. Fold paper in different ways and ask students to compare their areas and why.
- Constancy of constancy: Ask students when constants are important. Ask how constants relate to the concepts in the current lesson.
- Give students opportunities to identify quantities that change and stay constant (can occur in labs)

Classification: cognitive structure that makes meaning of information by identifying relationships between pieces of information

Help students make meaning and formulate / remember relationships and rules
Students who struggle to remember skills that appear repetitively in the curriculum may have lacked opportunities to perform classifying tasks (e.g. matching socks)
Order in thinking makes thinking faster and more efficient
Classification Building Strategies:
- Ask students: What do you notice? How are things alike and different?
- Students classify collections of items
- Students perform practice classification tasks – e.g. putting away lab equipment
- Students recognize classification systems in everyday life – e.g. phone numbers, addresses, etc.
- Model classification and explain how classifying things makes thinking more efficient
- Make students more conscious of how they process information
- Play games that involve classification: SET, Connect 4, Memory, etc.
- Talk about and draw family trees and concept maps
- Practice using time and space as criteria for classifying things
- Ask student to classify things at home and at school

To see other cognitive structures and related structures, see 17: Cognitive Structures Part 2 of 2.

Preparation Steps

Analyze NOUNS, VERBS, and CONTEXTS within targeted standards.
Identify what cognitive structures are needed to efficiently learn knowledge and skills in targeted standards.
Pre-assess students to see if they have the cognitive structures needed to learn new knowledge efficiently
Brainstorm strategies teacher can use to develop cognitive structures related to targeted standards

Early Implementation Steps

Use pre-assessment results to determine number and degree of activities needed to develop cognitive structures
Implement activities with elements aimed at developing targeted standards skills and related cognitive structures

Advanced Implementation Steps

Teach students cognitive structures and encourage them to recognize then they are using them to process information
Encourage students to deliberately practice specific cognitive structures in order to learn things more efficiently

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

15: Understanding by Design Project Planning Form

Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998. Print.

The following project planning form was inspired by the backwards design process in Understanding by Design:
- Blank project planning form: link
- Sample completed planning form: ink

Section 1: Standards: This section is used to highlight key concepts and verbs in standards.
- Underline nouns and bold verbs in the standards

Section 2: Essential Questions: This section is used to brainstorm authentic project contexts that relate to standards.
- WHAT concepts will student learn? See NOUNS in standards.
- HOW will students interact with concepts? See VERBS in standards.
- WHO will do the WHAT and WHO? Brainstorm list of experts who have a reason to do the NOUNS and VERBS.
- WHERE will the pros perform the skills and use the knowledge? Brainstorm contexts where experts will apply NOUNS and VERBS in standards.
- WHEN will the pros perform the skills and use the knowledge? Brainstorm instances and events that cause experts to apply NOUNS and VERBS in standards.
- WHY will the pros perform the skills and use the knowledge? Brainstorm lists of probable causes for pros call to action to apply NOUNS and VERBS in standards.

Section 3: Problem Statement: Select a specific project context by choosing from the lists above to populate a sentence stem for a problem statement that includes the WHAT, HOW, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY

Section 4: 21st Century Skills & Products: Brainstorm project projects that align to standards and are expressions of 21st century skills: critical thinking, written communication, oral communication, agency, and collaboration.

Section 5: Rubric: Design a three-level rubric. Level 1 has Foundational skills, prerequisite skills needed to achieve mastery in targeted standards. Level 2 has Mastery skills, skills embedded in the standards as written. Level 3 has Transfer skills, skills that transfer knowledge and skills in standards to authentic contexts. The WHAT & HOW responses to Section 2 make-up part of the Mastery rubric criteria. The WHO, WHEN, WHY, & WHERE responses to Section 2 can inspire the Transfer rubric criteria.

Section 6: Assessments: List Foundational, Mastery, and Transfer level skills. Brainstorm assessments that will produce evidence of student mastery of each of the skills.

Section 7: Scaffolding: List Foundational, Mastery, and Transfer level skills. Brainstorm learning tasks that will help students achieve mastery of each of the skills.

The project planning form can used to make sure design of project is based on an analysis of standards and based on contexts (professionals, settings, events) that plausibly relate to the standards. This form helps teachers design products that are expressions of 21st century skills. It uses essential questions to facilitate brainstorming that can help one write the Proficient section and the harder-to-write Advanced section of the project rubric. Breaking skills into Foundation, Mastery, and Transfers levels helps teachers develop sequences of learning tasks and assessments that build from low to high rigor skills.

Preparation Steps

Study sample project planning form to learn how to complete project planning form
Use blank project planning form to analyze standards, brainstorm project contexts, project products, assessments and scaffolding
Create scaffolding and assessment resources
Create a project calendar that contains time slots for all scaffolding and assessments

Early Implementation Steps

Implement scaffolding and formative assessments
Use formative assessment results to evaluate success of learning tasks and to make adjustments as needed
Use formative assessments results to give timely feedback to students that they can use to improve their understanding and products

Advanced Implementation Steps

Integrate elements of Human-Centered design into design of project. See HCD resources below.
Integrate 6 facets of understanding into design of project. See 14: Six Facets of Understanding.

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

14: Six Facets of Understanding

Chapter 4 in Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998. Print.

Explanation:
- Can describe apt theories and illustrations that provide knowledgeable accounts of events, actions, and ideas
- How does this work? To what is this connected? What does this imply? How did this happen?
Interpretation:
- Can offer up narratives and translations that provide meaning
- What does it mean? Why does it matter? What does it illustrate? Why does this make sense? How does this relate to me?
Application:
- Ability to use knowledge in varied and novel contexts
- How and where can I use this skill, process or idea? How should my thinking be modified to meet the constraints of the situation?
Perspective:
- Critical, insightful and multiple points of view
- From whose point of view? What is assumed? What is justified or warranted? is there adequate evidence? Is it reasonable? What are the strengths and weaknesses of an idea? What are the limitation of an idea? Is idea plausible?
Empathy:
- Getting inside another’s feelings and worldview
- How does it seem to you? What do they see that I don’t? What do I need to experience if I am to understand? What was the author feeling and trying to make me feel?
Self knowledge:
- knowing what one knows and doesn’t know
- knowing how one’s thought patterns inform and also limit/prejudice understanding
- How does who I am shape my views? What are the limits of my understanding? What are my blind spots? What am I prone to misunderstand because of my habits and prejudices?

The 6 facets of understanding can be used to investigate what understanding specific learning goals really means. Knowing what facets of understanding apply to specific learning goals can help one design the right questions, appropriate assessments and learning tasks to scaffold and assess these goals. The 6 facets can be used to evaluate the end products of projects. Knowing what facets are required to develop good products can help one plan the appropriate content and 21st century scaffolding and assessments.

The 6 facets can also be used to create rich project contexts and scaffolding sequences that get students to understand learning goals at many levels. These can also be used to get more ideas for the Advanced section of project rubrics. The Proficient section could cover the standard as written. The Advanced section could require the student to demonstrate concepts using 1 or more of the 6 facets listed above.

PREPARATION STEPS

Analyze targeted standards – analyze nouns, verbs, and contexts in the standards
Determine which of the 6 facets best align / relate to targeted standards
Brainstorm what assessments and learning tasks go with the standards interpreted as written and interpreted through the lenses of the 6 facets that make the most sense
Design assessments and learning tasks that are aligned to standards and have high rigor level (involve several facets of understanding)

EARLY IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

Implement learning tasks and assessments that are aligned to standards and employ several facets of understanding
Use assessments to give students feedback and make adjustments as needed
Gather evidence of student mastery of learning goals throughout the project

ADVANCED INTERPRETATION STEPS

Analyze evidence of student mastery of learning. Divide into 3 piles – low, medium, high. Note common characteristics within each pile and see if these relate to supports / instructions in learning tasks. Use this analysis to improve strategies in future projects.
Use a project planning form inspired by Understanding by Design to brainstorm contexts that naturally create opportunities for facets of understanding. See 15 – Understanding by Design Project Planning Form

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

13: Backwards Design

Chapter 1 in Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998. Print.

.Why apply Backwards Design to curriculum design?

Curriculum needs to meet constraints such as:
- state / national standards,
- class size,
- 504 and Special Ed. accommodations,
- student interests, etc.
Need to deeply understand WHAT to teach, before selecting HOW to teach
Shift focus from Teaching first to Learning first
Need to deeply understand WHAT students will learn and WHY it’s important to learn it

Common Pitfalls of Traditional Design:

Hands on without minds on (no rigor)
Coverage instead of un-coverage:
- Textbook used as a framework for ideas
- Lack of intellectual framework for ideas means that students never learn big ideas and relevance and transfer of these ideas

3 Stages of Backwards Design:

Identify Desired End Results:
- Study standards and learning goals
- Identify learning goals and desired enduring understandings
- Prioritize learning goals
Determine Acceptable Evidence:
- Determine what evidence we will accept to show that students have achieved mastery of goal
Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction:
- What foundational skills will students need to reach goals?
- Purposefully design and analyze learning tasks: how will formative assessments be used to develop student learning? what tasks will help students develop a deep understanding of learning goals?
- Avoid common errors (see pitfalls above)

Developing a clear picture of the end results of a project in terms of student learning is a key step in designing effective projects. Projects present many opportunities to teach transfer and relevance of concepts, but these oppotunities rarely come about by accident. These understandings can only emerge if projects are intentionally designed to meet constraints that directly relate to student learning. Understanding what standards say, how the content in them is connected to a larger framework, and using that framework to make prioritizing decisions can help one design projects that focus resources on the most important ideas and skills students need to learn.

Preliminary Steps

Learn more about Understanding by Design’s approach – see related articles below or read the book
Study the standards: analyze nouns, verbs and contexts in standards; analyze standardized and performance assessments related to the standards
- What will students need to be able to do and understand to demonstrate mastery of standards?
- Why are these skills and understandings important?
- How do these skills and understandings relate to the big ideas and themes in the discipline?
- What foundational skills are needed to approach content mastery?
Connections to products and 21st century skills?
- What products naturally fit with learning goals embedded in the standards?
- What 21st century skills will students need to develop to enhance their learning and application of learning to developing products?
After a clear vision of learning goals is found, decide what evidence will be investigated to check if students are developing mastery.
After assessments are planned, select learning tasks that are aligned to learning goals, that help students develop targeted 21st skills, create products, and demonstrate mastery of goals in assessments
Document the key analyses in the bullets above in a project planning form

Early Implementation Steps

Implement learning tasks and assessments while avoiding pitfalls of hands on/minds off and coverage as opposed to un-coverage
Use assessments to evaluate whether or not learning tasks are effective and to make adjustments as needed

Advanced Implementation Steps

Integrate design principles from Understanding by Design with design principles from Human Centered Design
Study assessment results over time and design assessments that assess whether or not students are learning big ideas and how these are connected in a conceptual framework

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

12: HCD: Inspiration Phase

Class 2 Readings in “Design Kit_The Course for Human-Centered Design.” Dropbox. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Choose a design challenge:
- define what you know and don’t know
- review constraints and barriers
- brainstorm how to overcome barriers
Plan research methods:
- Learn from the people: define your audience, investigate outliers and mainstream examples, capture evidence (videos, photos, quotes), investigate environments, build trust, build recruiting tools
- Learn from an expert: interview experts to learn about systems levels frameworks, technical advice, and new & innovative related solutions, plan/research smart interview questions, use secondary research to explore recent innovations & solutions
- Immerse yourself in context: choose observational experiences that will yield key quantitative and qualitative data, capture many details of what’s seen, reflect on what’s observed
- Analogous solutions: brainstorm analogous solutions and experiences, immerse oneself in experience
Build Interview Guide:
- Brainstorm questions related to objectives
- Organize questions: start general and then go deep
- Use open-ended questions to get more information
- Sketch conversations – include conversation starters and interview questions
- Assign key roles – interview, note taker
- Establish trust with interviewee
- Use 5 Why’s to get to root cause
- Encourage interviewee to show as well as tell
- Capture what you see and hear
Additional Research Methods
- Personal diaries
- Photo essays
- Card sort – prioritize and explain
- Feedback on concept drawings
- See Research & Design links at page bottom.
Capture Learnings
- Share interesting findings without interpreting them
- Illustrate new ideas

The steps in the inspiration phase of the human-centered design process can be used to investigate student experiences and needs in order to design better processes. These steps can also be taught to students so that they can investigate the needs and experiences of project clients. Many of the steps in this process are similar to steps in project such as: list knows and need-to-knows, gather and interpret data, and design solutions that meet constraints. The detail in the steps in the inspiration phase can be used to deepen students’ investigations of their audiences and stakeholders prior to designing products.

Preparation Steps

HCD Inspiration Steps applied to Designing Better Projects
- Apply steps in Inspiration phase (see above) to develop a deeper understanding of students who are not being reached by mainstream projects (could be struggling students or bored, gifted students)
- Design questions that gather information on student experiences, interests, and needs
- Develop culture of trust and experimentation that helps students feel safe while you research their experiences
Scaffolding HCD Inspiration Steps for Students
- Research / design activities and tools that scaffold steps (see above and articles linked below) for students
- Design informal / formal assessments that can assess how well students are applying steps
- Develop empathy and scaffolding ideas by trialing inspiration steps to solve a problem (example: use steps to learn more information about students that can be used to design better projects)

Early Implementation Steps

HCD Inspiration Steps applied to Designing Better Projects
- Be transparent with students on how research will be used to design better learning experiences
- Interview students to develop deeper understanding of their needs and experiences; can also get similar information by studying responses to reflection prompts
- Observe how students act, speak, and write during project activities and take notes
- Can do a card sort activity to identify student preferences in activity types
- Can investigate student journals/blog entries to learn about their thinking, needs and experiences
- Can use challenge vs. support chart to guide students to evaluate project activities
Scaffolding HCD Inspiration Steps for Students
- Implement scaffolding activities related to inspiration steps
- Use assessments to provide timely feedback to students on their implementation of inspiration steps and to refine activities

Advanced Implementation Steps

HCD Inspiration Steps applied to Designing Better Projects
- Analyze student reflections and responses over time to evaluate various project activities
- Use student data to identify strong practices and practices in need of revision
- Use gathering / interpreting student data as a model to scaffold how students implement similar processes in their projects
Scaffolding HCD Inspiration Steps for Students
- Use assessments to determine what scaffolding activities and tools are helping students effectively apply inspiration steps
- Convert high yield tools and practices into standardized tools and routines that students use in several projects
- Use student reflections to refine tools and practices
- Use tools such as Ignite by DiscoverSTEAM to create more authentic contexts & to create more access to experts

March 15, 2016May 10, 2016

11: Human-Centered Design (HCD)

Class 1 Readings in “Design Kit_The Course for Human-Centered Design.” Dropbox. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

What is Human-Centered Design? design process + empathy

The Design Process Phases:
- Inspiration: How do I ask questions and stay human-centered? What key constraints can I use to set benchmarks and objectives? How can I balance concrete constraints while staying open to exploration? What research studies can I conduct to identify what my clients truly need?
- Ideation: How to I interpret what I’ve learned in order to develop concrete ideas and prototypes? How can I keep my mind open to generate many ideas? How can I evaluate ideas to determine best solutions?
- Implementation: How can I develop sustainable solutions? How can I assess whether or not solutions are working? How can I use prototypes to reveal unforeseen consequences and constraints?

Design Process Implementation:
- Phases often overlap
- Cycling between convergent and divergent thinking is normal
- Find solutions that relate to needs of community
- Postive deviance – use positive outliners for inspiration
- Do not forget to consider distribution systems while designing sustainable solutions

Mindsets of a Human-Centered Designer:
- Learn from failure
- Make it – tangibility is good
- Creative confidence – everyone has ideas and the power to implement them
- Empathy – clients are roadmaps to innovative solutions
- Embrace ambiguity – not knowing creates opportunities to explore
- Be optimistic – the solution exists
- Iterate often – use feedback to revise often

Human-centered design (HCD) is an approach that can be used to develop projects that engage students AND teach content & 21st Century skills. This approach is also a problem solving model that can be scaffolded for students to develop better products. The HCD phases can be used to organize projects into phases – especially projects aimed at designing products for specific clients. The mindsets of a human-centered designer can be cultivated within teachers and students in order to make them better problem solvers.

Preparation Steps

HCD Applied to Designing & Implementing Projects:
- Use multiple data sources to identify needs of students
- Use needs of students to develop criteria/constraints for evaluation of project design
- Design assessments based on student needs for assessing success of project activities
- Develop ideas based on constraints for scaffolding content and 21st century skills

HCD Applied to Developing Project Scaffolding:
- Develop scaffolding ideas and empathy by going through HCD cycle first – can apply it to designing and implementing a project
- Research methods for teaching phases of HCD process. See Design Process articles for ideas.
- Develop activities and tools that scaffold student application of HCD phases. See Design Process articles for ideas.
- Design activities and tools that focus on HCD mindset(s) that will be honed and applied in upcoming project
- Develop assessments for determining whether or not students are successfully learning content and applying HCD steps

Early Implementation Steps

HCD Applied to Designing & Implementing Projects:
- Implement project and use assessments and constraints to measure success of project and make adjustments as needed
- Use student input throughout the project to assess project effectiveness and to fine tune project

HCD Applied to Developing Project Scaffolding:
- Implement scaffolding tools and activities that guide students to apply HCD processes
- Use assessments to determine if HCD is helping students develop better understandings and better products

Advanced Implementation Steps

HCD Applied to Designing & Implementing Projects:
- Uses experiences from implementing HCD to design scaffolding that helps students apply HCD
- Reuse effective HCD practices to design other projects

HCD Applied to Developing Project Scaffolding:
- Use student input to refine HCD tools and processes
- Use programs such as Ignite by DiscoverSTEAM to connect students with corporate clients to make HCD applications more relevant
- Develop routines that give students opportunities to deliberately practice HCD steps

March 14, 2016May 10, 2016

09: Classroom Conversations

Holcomb, Cynthia. “Classroom Converations.” Region 13 Instructional Coaching Network. Austin. 15 Nov. 2016. Lecture.

Pitfalls of Many Classroom Discussions:
- mainly teacher monologues
- 80% teacher speaking, 20% students talking if lucky
- missing student explanations
- uses quick checks for comprehension without elaboration
- struggling students talk the least
- focus on fast delivery of information

Benefits of Facilitating Classroom Conversations:
- can assess student understanding in real time
- less reteach
- students are more active in their own learning

Strategies for Facilitating Good Classroom Conversations:
- Break up teacher monologues with student processing time. During student processing time, students discuss with their neighbor what they think is important and what they find confusing. After giving students pair discussion time, call on individual students randomly to share what they thought was confusing and what they thought was important.
- Use rich visuals and vocab cards (see p. 9 and 10 in slides). Ask students which words on vocab cards appear in visuals and explain why.
- Use vocab cards with research and workshops. After reading a passage or going through a couple workshop slides, ask which words were featured and what was learned related to those words.
- Use sentence stems to scaffold conversations.
- Use Better Together protocol: Periodically pause during workshop that students are annotating. During pause, students compare notes with a partner. Using comparison to add missing details to notes.
- Always / Sometimes / Never: Display statements that are true or true-ish. Ask students to identify which statements are always, sometimes and never true. Also, ask students to create statements about topics that are always, sometimes, and never true.
- Use sentence stems and vocabulary cards to scaffold synthesizing academic conversations within teams or between partners.

Knowing common pitfalls of classroom discussion can help teachers identify these and replace them with better practices. Knowing many strategies for facilitating good classroom conversations can help one scaffold academic conversations without becoming too repetitive. Facilitating good academic conversations can help students become more active agents in their own learning and can provide another form of formative assessment.

Preparation Steps

Identify key vocabulary for upcoming project
Create vocabulary cards for key vocabulary – see page 9 in slides
Research and select scaffolding strategies for learning vocabulary and for facilitating academic conversations – see above for examples
Develop resources (graphic organizers, sentence stems, question sequences, etc) for selected scaffolding strategies

Early Implementation Steps

Implement strategies for extending and deepening classroom conversations for ALL students
Use formative assessments to determine if classroom conversations are developing accurate content knowledge
Listen carefully to classroom conversation to determine if students are learning new content

Advanced Implementation Steps

Identify practices that can be used repetitively (routines) to extend and deepen frequent academic conversations
Have students reflect on how practices are helping them achieve specific learning targets
Reflect on which strategies are creating the most engagement and most achievement for students
Use tech tools such as Wiki Talki to create more opportunities for students to get peer feedback on their academic oral responses to questions