Learning through social-constructivism

GSSD Coaches

Andrea Hnatiuk & Cindy Smith

*Lets Talk About Talking!

*Our Professional Growth

Commitment

*We start and end on time.

*We are a community of professional learners; we have an obligation to participate and collaborate. Please consider how you are contributing.

*We create a safe place to be heard, we can take risks.

*We respect everyone’s point of view.

*We use technology appropriately in the spirit of professional learning.

What will I be able to do when I am done here today?

I can identify and implement instructional strategies that promote collaborative learning in order to increase student learning outcomes

What is important for me to learn and understand so that I can hit the target?

I can learn and understand various forms of communication and its role in helping students construct meaning for themselves

What will I do to show that I understand?

I can implement effective instructional strategies that meet and assist student learning outcomes.

Moss, C., & Brookhart, M. (2012). Learning targets: Helping students aim for understanding in today’s lesson. Alexandria: ASCD.

*Reflective Communication

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*Research-Based Practice

*“Human thinking is inherently social in its origins…”

*There is a “fundamental link between instructional practice and student outcomes”

* Marilyn Goos, Journal of Research in Mathematical Education, 2004

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*Connections*Recognize and use connections among ideas

*Understand how ideas interconnect and build on one another to produce a coherent whole

*Recognize and apply learnings in contexts outside of school

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*Communication*Organize and consolidate their ideas thinking

through communication 

*Communicate their learning coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others

*Analyze and evaluate the thinking and strategies of others

   

* Important Reasons to Promote Communicating

*Students construct meaning for themselves

*Students clarify their ideas

*Students speak to each other and write about learning to reflect on their learning, self-monitor, and set goals

*We can assess students by listening and reading their ideas and understandings. We inform our practice based on what we learn about student understanding

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*Piaget

*knowledge is constructed as the learner strives to organize his or her experiences in terms of pre-existing mental structures or schemas

*For today’s young adolescents, success in school and, later in college or the workplace will demand critical thinking skills and the ability to function as a team member within highly complex social systems….Students who frequently learn within well-structured cooperative environments will be better prepared for the challenges of today’s world.

* Igel & Urquhart, 2012

*Length and correctness of responses increases

*Number of “I don’t know” and “no answer” responses decreases

*Number of volunteered appropriate answers increases

*Student achievement increases

*Teacher questioning quality, strategies and flexibility improve

*Teachers ask higher level questions that require greater complexity of response

Positive outcomes of three seconds of undisturbed wait time (when questioning)

*The secret to successful teaching is being able to determine what students are thinking and then using that information as the basis for instruction.

*Teachers learn what students are thinking through student communication.

*When students communicate…either orally or in writing, they make their thinking and understanding clear to others as well as to themselves.

* -Ontario Ministry of Education

*How can we create a classroom environment that fosters an atmosphere of safe contribution and values communication?

*What does a classroom have to be like for our students to participate and communicate effectively?

*Video

*Before Viewing: Round Table Discussion

*During Viewing:

How did the teacher contribute to an environment that allowed the students learn in this way?

*After Viewing: Create Norms

*Class Norms

*How do we allow students to freely participate?

*Take ownership of their ideas?

*Honour each others contributions?

*Understand that we need to make mistakes in order to learn?

*Respect each others’ opinions and ideas?

*Listen and dialogue with respect?

*Persist?

*Let’s Talk – Group Hosting

*Give One, Get One, Move On

*Inside-Outside Circle

*Closure – Talking Probes

*Reflective Listening