SW1 FOS Networking Session Dec. 16, 2011

Islington Junior Middle School

DATA GAN Focus/Inquiry Question

How did you take your GAN (Greatest Area of Need) and formulate a focus and/or an inquiry question for your Pathway/Professional Learning Team Focus?

How did the data inform this focus?

At the Primary Level:-a continuation of last year’s pathway focus on math; problem solving-our data showed us that word problems with multi-steps were an area of need-wanted to focus on the language of the word problems; What is the question specifically

asking?

At the Junior/Intermediate Level:-an extension from last years math problem solving “Thinking”, but with a focus on

“Communication”-after analyzing EQAO results, the data confirmed and informed our practice that

communication was an area of need

Rationale for the Focus/Inquiry Question

What research, resources or educational experiences helped you

to formulate this focus and/or inquiry question?

• Differentiated Learning by Marion Small

• SW1 Wiki Website

• Introduction to Problem Solving K-2 by Susan O’ Connell

• Islington’s Math Pathway Binder from 2010

• Effective Guides to Teaching Mathematics (various strands)

• EQAO Sample Questions

• LNS Video: The Three-Part Lesson in Mathematics

• Professional dialogue during CPT meetings

Formative Instructional ImproveAssessment Strategies Understanding

How did you use a balance of assessment tools and strategies along the Pathway to monitor and improve student thinking and understanding?

• Math student assessment “wall”

• Success criteria

• Three-part lesson

• Think, Pair, Share (math buddies)

• Descriptive feedback; discussed orally with students

who were not clear

At the Junior/Intermediate level:

Learning goals;

-students were able to formulate their own goals, which became

the success criteria

-if they do not come from the students they are meaningless

Differentiating for Marker Students

How did you provide differentiation (instruction and/or assessment)specifically for your Marker

Students at any grade?

• One-to-one math conferencing/discussions

• Choice of Strategy: pictures, numbers, t-charts, ten-frame, words, graphic organizer…

• Parallel tasks• Math keywords anchor charts• Prior Assessment; what they already

know• Pre-Teaching vocabulary and duo-

language dictionaries for ESL students• Chunking• 3 part-lessons• Smart boards• Visual presentations

Reflection

How did this Pathway inform your thinking and practice?

“as a teacher I found myself paying more attention to math this year”

“as a special ed teacher, realizing how important it is to teach the math vocabulary to students so they know what to do no matter how the question is phrased”

“as an administrator, the need to go deeper when dealing with specific questions”

“as a life-long-learner, to recognize that when students work in a group they are all helping to contribute something; sometimes students learn better in groups than from the teacher”

“give students the opportunity to be the teacher; when they feel they have to teach it, they have to know it”

“as a teacher always questioning; When providing students with a choice of question (parallel tasks), do you adjust the marking criteria according to the degree of difficulty?”