Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Patrick OMahoney on December 7, 2011 at 9:55am

I agree! I think each school community needs to develop a common language and common understanding of the jargon in the rubrics. For example in Danielson's Rubric 3C it states "students are inetrllectually engaged in challenging content." I am sure we all agree that this should occur. However, I think most teachers would feel there classroom tasks were of this caliber even if a supervisor may disagree. Schools need to have frank, transparent conversations and collaboratively develop a set of expectations that represent what this would look, feel and sound like in the school.

Permalink Reply by Judy Dodge on December 21, 2011 at 11:06am

I agree with you, John.   It might look like small groups discussing the same Math problem at 5 practice stations around the room, and then returning to their seats to solve a similar problem on their own.  It might look like a Socratic Circle activity in an English or Social Studies class, where students analyze text during a close reading that is lead by student leaders for the day.  It might look like a Paired Learner Activity in a Science or Math classroom where partners engage in a brief task together, making sense of content the teacher just presented to the whole class.  But, as you said, to make a real difference, teachers need to collaboratively decide which strategies would be most effective for deep learning and, then, use these strategies throughout the grade levels and across the curriculum.