Prepared for the Professional Learning Community Members of

PORTERDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL by Dan Mulligan, Ed. D., flexiblecreativity.com, (twitter: @drdanmulligan)

September 2015

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SECOND QUESTION:

RELATIONSHIPS + RIGOR + RELEVANCE =

RESULTSFocus on Learning

Build a Collaborative

Culture

Focus on Results

Excellence for ALL

Students

HIGH EXPECTATIONS“Sometimes the questions are complex but the answers are simple.”

~Dr. Seuss

readworks.org

Porterdale MissionThe mission of Porterdale Elementary School is to

provide a quality, rigorous, and relevant  education to all students so that all may have the opportunity to develop

and succeed in a competitive and changing global society.

The vision of Porterdale Elementary School is that all students become college and career ready individuals, critical thinkers, and

productive citizens who continue to learn for life.

Porterdale Vision

BEGIN WITH THE RIGOR

HELPING STUDENTS DEVELOP UNDERSTANDING

Assessing for Conceptual Understanding (These are…These are not)

Suggestion from Research:

Open (begin) with the rigor…

…but rather than rigor…scaffold the experience for students to foster rigor with nurturing…

If you want a learner to

truly understand

and own essential

knowledge, expand your exploration

from ‘what it is’ to also ‘what it is

NOT’.

page8

? ?

How can you use the Where do I belong? structure to support your

role as teacher/administrator?

A = bh

Opposite sides equal

1 right angle

Right Triangle

4 sides

3 sides

4 right angles

A = ½ bhRectangle

One side is the longest

OPEN TASK AND CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE

page48

OPEN TASK AND CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

Continuously Refining Our Craft

WHYBOTHER?

The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was asked….why he continued to

practice at age 90.

“Sometimes the questions are complex but the answers are simple.”~Dr. Seuss

“Because I think I’m making progress, “ he replied.

Think Pad is a resource designed to:• provide evidence of

understanding and participation during student-to student dialogue

• facilitate student reflection on their thinking

Resources

to

Share

page2

1. Create an Environment for Learning– Helping students know what is expected of them, providing

students with opportunities for regular feedback on progress, assuring students they are capable of learning content and skills

2. Helping Students Develop Understanding– Integrating prior knowledge with new knowledge– Procedural knowledge: constructing a model of the steps

required of the process and practicing its variations; using the process or skill fluently or without any conscious thought

3. Helping Students Extend and Apply Knowledge– Moving beyond ‘right answer’ learning to an expanded

understanding and use of concepts and skills in real-world contexts.

Framework for

Instructional Planning McREL, 2012

Work collaboratively (e.g., construct viable arguments, critique, agree) to identify key

words that capture the essential elements of a functioning thriving

Professional Learning Community with fidelity.

Enjoy working with your new best friend.

Attributes of a thriving PLCCREATING AN

ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING

SETTING OBJECTIVES AND

PROVIDING FEEDBACK

Unpacking the Standard

A. CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNINGADDITIONAL SAMPLE RESOURCES

pages 23 - 25

THE

HOW

page5

UbD

Knowing the Target

Page6

The Power of Our Questions

Pages7 - 12

Second

Question

ELA

Second

Question

MATH

Focus on the Essential (driving) Question

pages 13 - 15

What is Genius Hour?

Genius hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom.  It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school.  It’s not easy to determine where the idea was originally created, but there are at least two events that have impacted genius hour.

Pages31 - 33

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Driving Question

Research on Imagery as Elaboration

637 percentile pts. higher

than… …students who kept repeating definitions.

421 percentile pts. higher

than… …students who were using the terms in a sentence.

Students who used imagery to learn vocabulary, on average, performed

# of studies

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

ThrivingProfessional

LearningCommunity

Continuous Improvement Research-Based Collaboration

Accountability Evidence

Formative Assessment

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/