FAQ from Thoughtful Education Overview March 26, 2010
1. What is it? And how will this influence my classroom management and make me a better teacher?
Answer: Thoughtful education is about developing a classroom that engages students in critical thinking by implementing interactive strategies that require thinking, collaboration, and decision making. Students will be making greater connections to the content and learning skills for success in life. A better teacher is one whose sole purpose is to foster learning. Any time we learn to use research strategies that increase student involvement and get results we are improving our craft as a teacher.
2. If we are trained, how many days will I be pulled out of my classroom? Along with being pulled out for test scoring, mapping, CSE, PBIS, Model Schools etc. It seems like I’ll never be in my room.
How thoughtful is it to pull teachers from the classroom five times a year?
Answer: Research has shown over the last thirty years that attending a one day workshop makes no change in classroom practice or increase learning. It’s not because teachers don’t want to implement researched strategies, it is that changing habits and doing new things is hard and requires support and practice. If we want to learn and get better at what we do than we have figure out a way to embed staff development within the job. To be pulled out 5 times a year for three hours seems like a good investment in attaining high quality teaching practices.
3. What do I need to do to have a thoughtful classroom?
Answer: A thoughtful classroom is one that takes the time to be clear about the purpose of the lesson, how the assessment will provide evidence of meeting the purpose and designing experiences made up of the best possible strategies to engage students in thinking and doing the work to develop understanding. The thoughtful part is also working with your colleagues to analyze the effectiveness of the lesson and make changes based on the quality of the student work as evidence of the achieving the purpose.
4. What are the main indicators that “Thoughtful Education” is more successful than other methods?
Answer: It’s more successful because it provides for job embedded staff development and coaching that can support teachers to more effectively implement research strategies. Also, the whole approach is based on a design that allows all of the researched practices to come together in a complete unit plan. The strategies are all from Marzano, Grant Wiggins, Ellen Keene, and Howard Gardner. It is successful because it focuses on actually incorporating all of the tools at the appropriate time to engage students in thinking.
5. What instructional strategies can I use when I only have one or two students?
Answer: It may be harder to promote the collaboration but is still possible with only two people. You may focus on those strategies that are similar to think pair share and knee to knee sharing. Also you could implement the knowledge of teaching to different styles through your questioning and planning so you meet the individual needs of their particular learning style.
6. All the support I need….What will that be?
Answer: The support would be varied, some would be in the form of working with Harvey or his associates to review research strategies, working with your colleagues to learn from one another, having time in your contract to meet after school and collaborate with your colleagues on research strategies in the classroom. The idea of thoughtful education is to develop skillful leadership throughout the district so each of us can support one another.
7. Is there a building focus or a small group focus?
Answer: There is a district focus on a two strategies for one year but it is addresses through small group learning club meetings. We spend learning club time writing lessons, reviewing the process, analyzing student work for evidence of effectiveness. We also focus on implementing some of the tools in the tool book as they apply to individual teacher content and purpose.
8. What should a thoughtful education classroom’s major observable feature look like?
Answer: Students would be initiating and guiding the discussion/work, and content would have a real life application.
9. What makes it thoughtful versus other types of education?
Answer: Thought is purposeful and the classroom is continually seeking a purpose. Thought is natural and is fostered through challenge, competition, creativity, cooperation and curiosity. Thought is strategic and is a dialog with self and others with a deep focus on quality instruction in every classroom for every student. The focus of having everyone involved in a learning club with a focus on this is what makes it different.
10. Is this something else we have to do?
Answer: No, this is a design process that brings years of research together in a thoughtful manner to have high quality instruction for every student, high levels of learning for every student and skillful leadership throughout the district. There is nothing new in this process just a recognition of the fact that we all need support and job embedded staff development to learn and change our habits.
11. What are some good strategies to effectively teach vocabulary when you can’t use pictures?
Answers: Thoughtful Ed uses the sixe steps of vocabulary instruction we have used in this district for several years. The process involves the first three steps as ways to interact with the words and the last three are ways for students to use the words. They incorporate students putting words into their own words and playing with them in a variety of settings to develop competency. They do not all require pictures.
12. How can I use Differentiated Instruction?
Answer: One of the research strategies is teaching to different students learning styles. Thoughtful education gives you ideas and ways to ask questions, plan assignments and learning activities that give all students an avenue to success by offering different paths to the purpose and the understanding. It does this by incorporating all of the styles into a single lesson or assignment with making four completely different tasks.
13. How is this different from what we are already doing?
Answer: It’s not. The thing that is different is the way we will be providing staff development in the future. Instead of sitting in workshops we will be meeting in small learning clubs focused on implementing and refining research strategies with our colleagues.
14. What will we be doing next year? Will it involve everyone? When will training occur, especially if we do not work this summer?
Answer: 2010 – 2011 each of the current BLT members will start their own learning club (BLC). They will meet twice a month and practice using research strategies and supporting one another. There will be five half days of training one day will be a teacher round. The third year we will expand again and form new learning clubs until we have every teacher involved in a club.
15. Is there an opportunity to train outside of summer days?
Answer: There is an on-line course offered through the Teacher Center as well as a book study which can be taken as a Teacher Center course or summer work.
16. How many times does the new team meet?
Answer: Twice a month.
17. How are teams formed?
Answer: Staff can sign-up for summer work or participate as an 11 month employee. Teams are formed by grade level or department – which ever works best. This may change next year, because the goal is for every teacher to be a part of a learning team by 2012.