Lesson and Assessment Design – #T3Learns

What are we intentional about in our planning, process, and implementation?

• Are the learning targets clear and explicit?
• What are important check points and questions to guide the community to know if learning is occurring?
• Is there a plan for actions needed when we learn we must pivot?

On Saturday, a small cadre of T3 Instructors gathered to learn together, to explore learning progressions, and to dive deeper in understanding of the Standards for Mathematical Practice.

The pitch:

Jill and I fleshed out the essential learning in more detail:

• I can design lessons anchored in CCSS or NGSS.
  • I can design a lesson incorporating national standards, an interactive TI-Nspire document, a learning progression, and a formative assessment plan.
  • I can anticipate Standards for Mathematical Practice that learners will employ during this lesson.
• I can design a learning progression for a skill, competency, or process.
  • I can use student-friendly language when writing “I can…” statements.
  • I can design a leveled assessment for students based on a learning progression.
• I can collaborate with colleagues to design and refine lessons and assessments.
  • I can calibrate learning progressions with CCSS and/or NGSS.
  • I can calibrate learning progressions with colleagues by giving and receiving growth mindset oriented feedback, i.e. I can offer actionable feedback to colleagues using I like… I wonder… what if…
  • I can refine my learning progressions and assessments using feedback from colleagues.

The first morning session offered our friends and colleagues an opportunity to experience a low-floor-high-ceiling task from Jo Boaler combined with a SMP learning progression. After the break, we transitioned to explore the Standards for Mathematical Practice in community. The afternoon session’s challenge was to redesign a lesson to incorporate the design components experienced in the morning session.

Don’t miss the tweets from this session.

Here are snippets of the feedback:

I came expecting…

• To learn about good pedagogy and experience in real time examples of the same. To improve my own skills with lesson design and good pedagogy.
• Actually, I came expecting a great workshop. I was not disappointed. I came expecting that there would be more focus using the TI-Nspire technology (directly). However, the structure and design was like none other…challenging at first…but then stimulating!
• to learn how to be more deliberate in creating lessons. Both for the students I mentor and for T3 workshops.
• I came expecting to deepen my knowledge of lesson design and assessment and to be challenged to incorporate more of this type of teaching into my classes.

I have gotten…

• so much more than I anticipated. I learned how to begin writing clear “I can” statements. I also have been enriched by those around me. Picking the brains of others has always been a win!
• More than I bargained. The PD was more of an institute. It seemed to have break-out sessions where I could learn through collaboration, participation, and then challenging direct instruction, … and more!
• a clear mind map of the process involved in designing lessons. A clarification of what learning progressions are. Modeling skills for when I present trainings. Strengthening my understanding of the 8 math practices.
• a better idea of a learning progression within a single goal. I think I had not really thought about progressions within a single lesson before. Thanks for opening my eyes to applying it to individual lesson goals.

I still need (or want)…

• To keep practicing to gain a higher level of expertise and comfort with good lesson design. Seeing how seamlessly these high quality practices can be integrated into lessons inspires me to delve into the resources provided and learn more about them. I appreciate the opportunity to stay connected as I continue to learn.
• days like this where I can collaborate and get feedback on activities that will improve my teaching and delivery of professional development
• I want to get better at writing the “I can” statements that are specific to a lesson.
• I want to keep learning about the use of the five practices and formative assessment.

We want to see more collaborative productive struggle, pathways for success, opportunities for self- and formative assessment, productive conversation to learn. and more.

And so the journey continues…

[Cross-posted on Experiments in Learning by Doing]