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It's a Balancing Act"The frequent "stop and go" nature of reading assignments" . The standards call for the "wide and deep reading of literature and literary nonfiction". Both of these are important and serve a purpose.  However, like most things, its about balance.  If teachers get too comfortable with one type they may not create opportunities for students' experiences to grow.  It's the same balancing issue  w/ note-taking, writing short sentence answers, and extended writing; they're all important but we have to make sure we're creating opportunities for both.In reference to discussions: few and far between:  "...pockets of staff were actually afraid of providing students with this level of autonomy and independence." Is it the loss of control?  Is it not feeling prepared if the conversation goes in a certain direction?  Is it the belief that they need to be able to answer all questions that result from conversation?  Is it the assumption that students aren't interested in  talking or they can't do it? I wonder how we can provide support to teachers so that they don't feel this way.   

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It's a Balancing Act"The frequent "stop and go" nature of reading assignments" . The standards call for the "wide and deep reading of literature and literary nonfiction". Both of these are important and serve a purpose.  However, like most things, its about balance.  If teachers get too comfortable with one type they may not create opportunities for students' experiences to grow.  It's the same balancing issue  w/ note-taking, writing short sentence answers, and extended writing; they're all important but we have to make sure we're creating opportunities for both.In reference to discussions: few and far between:  "...pockets of staff were actually afraid of providing students with this level of autonomy and independence." Is it the loss of control?  Is it not feeling prepared if the conversation goes in a certain direction?  Is it the belief that they need to be able to answer all questions that result from conversation?  Is it the assumption that students aren't interested in  talking or they can't do it? I wonder how we can provide support to teachers so that they don't feel this way.   

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Does our district and schools provide enough time for teachers to collaborate, lesson design, and provide effective student feedback to meet the needs of the new standards?

At the secondary level, have teachers in all content areas been provided with opportunities to learn and practice the instructional shifts, especially with regards to the 6-12 Literacy Standards (reading and writing)?

Units of Study: Would our assignments perform any higher on a similar study? Do our units include multicultural texts?

Quotes to Ponder:

“In the absence of detailed guidance, districts, schools, and teachers are replicating what they hear at workshops or conferences promising ‘Common Core-aligned’ resources. In classrooms across the country, lessons from the Internet labeled as aligned are being taught again and again, whether or not they are really worthy.”

“The honest reality is that deeper work around lesson planning and pedagogy is desperately needed.”

“... only rarely did a writing assignment require students to employ their previous notes or annotations.”

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"The frequent "stop and go" nature of reading assignments" . The standards call for the "wide and deep reading of literature and literary nonfiction".

Both of these are important and serve a purpose.  However, like most things, its about balance.  If teachers get too comfortable with one type they may not create opportunities for students' experiences to grow.  It's the same balancing issue  w/ note-taking, writing short sentence answers, and extended writing; they're all important but we have to make sure we're creating opportunities for both.

In reference to discussions: few and far between:  "...pockets of staff were actually afraid of providing students with this level of autonomy and independence."

Is it the loss of control?  Is it not feeling prepared if the conversation goes in a certain direction?  Is it the belief that they need to be able to answer all questions that result from conversation?  Is it the assumption that students aren't interested in  talking or they can't do it?
I wonder how we can provide support to teachers so that they don't feel this way.

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Thoughts on Why carefully planned assignments are important for student achievement.

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Thoughts on Why carefully planned assignments are important for student achievement.

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The statement: "After all, students can rise no higher than the assignments they are given and instruction they receive." is definitely thought provoking.  I feel that teachers have not had the time to fully digest what the common core standards are requiring of our students.  They are feeling the pressure of never having enough time to devote to planning their instruction.

"Many-if not most-assignments were over-scaffolded."  For some teachers it is difficult to even decide what providing productive struggle for students in assignments would look like.  According to this study-
"Assignments often kept students together in lockstep fashion rather than allowing them to experience autonomy or independence." I believe that our teachers are in the
same mode when it comes to assignments. The question is how do we help our teachers move forward.
I think digging deeper to find the  answers to the following questions would help:
"Do we offer opportunities for students to bring their own ideas, experiences, and opinions into the work they do?"
"Do academically rigorous discussions occur in the classroom?"
"What role does student choice play?"
I am not sure how we go about getting teachers to do this when they are planning their assignements.

I really liked the following statement:
"Engagement and relevancy hold a powerful role when we consider the texts we ask our students to read.  We  embrace the powerful metaphor of texts as "mirrors and windows". At times a student must see himself reflected in the text being read or discussed and at other moments, the reading or discussion must offer a "window" into a place or situation far different than his."

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1. Common Core aligned and "embrace the instructional shifts articulated by the Common Core"
2. Students have the opportunity to interpret and respond to text, and draw evidence from text to justify thinking
3. High level of cognitive demand and extended writing piece
4. Motivation and Engagement: student choice and relevancy

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This document makes me think about the work we do as Instructional Coaches. Particularly in supporting teachers and the Units of Study. "What is happening in our classrooms, and how have instruction or assignments changed in the era of the new standards?" As we continue to support our teachers in their planning with the Units of Study, I find myself asking the teachers I work with how they are implementing the instructional shifts. Allowing teachers to reflect upon their own practices has been more beneficial to them rather than providing them with the "lockstep" procedures on how to implement Common Core. Being honest about what is happening in their classroom and engaging in collaborative conversations with their teams can help teachers move towards the deeper shifts that are to be made.

Food for thought...
- Are we over-scaffolding for our students?..."Second, over-scaffolding reduces or eliminates any opportunity for students to experience the nuances that complex texts provide."
- Writing should be done in all content areas..."This work cannot be left to ELA classrooms. Science and social studies assignments must embrace these shifts as well."

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This article speaks directly to the feedback I have been receiving from teachers:  "What do I do differently to meet the expectations of the new standards?'  Many times, they are seeing the strategies they have been shown in a vacuum and struggle with how to integrate these strategies into more complex lessons.

This article speaks to the deeper shifts that need to happen in instruction and points out key needs such as exposure and access to appropriately complex texts and tasks.  Yet many of the structures in place at school sites limit this deeper more prolonged interactions with reading and writing.

"The honest reality is that deeper work around lesson planning and pedagogy is desperately needed."

"In classrooms.... lessons from the Internet labeled as aligned are being taught again and again, whether or not they are really worthy."

These 2 statements are connected because we provide minimal time for teachers to plan and think about their pedagogy.  This results in teachers going to the Internet and finding what they can that is labeled CCSS aligned and trusting that these resources are adequate.

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"These initial transitions toward Common Core, however, may be fueling unintended consequences worth noting."

- brief reading assignments do not provide enough time to "engage over longer periods of time" with rigorous text

-and interrupted reading process instead of "a more fluid and autonomous process"

- "annotations and note-taking were an end rather than a means to an end"

+ the above- mentioned strategies should be used as "tools to support future discussion or written work"

Questions to ask: "When and how often do students read without interruptions? What choices do they make about their note- taking or annotations?"

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That is my response but I wasn't logged in when I wrote it. Happy Friday everyone :)

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-clear window into classroom practice
-represent what teachers know and understand
-give insight into school leader's expectations for what and how to teach
-reflect what teachers believe students can do independently
-show how students interact with the curriculum

Even if teachers have made small shifts in instruction but not to the assignments it could be an indicator of surface level change.

"In the absence of detailed guidance, districts, schools, and teachers are replicating what they hear at workshops or conferences promising 'Common Core-aligned' resources..."

The honest reality is that deeper work around lesson planning and pedagogy is desperately needed.

Problem-many assignments teachers are doing more work than the students, over-scaffolding!

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I really liked the Literacy Assignment Analysis Framework and the examples/exemplars. It seems like something we can use and build out for other grade spans or content areas.

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Checking in on CCSS implementation progress

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Checking in on CCSS implementation progress

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"The best way to check on the progress of implementation isn't to count hours of training, but to look instead at the actual work students are asked to do on a day-to-day basis and to compare those assignments with the demands of the standards themselves."
Wow...what a different way of looking at it! This would really provide a clear window into classroom practice and represent what teachers know and understand about the shifts.