9/18/19 AGENDA 1. Guiding Questions 2. Authentic Communication - - PDF document

9/18/19 1

Jeff Zwiers

September 18, 2019 jeffzwiers.org/september18 jzwiers@stanford.edu

Understanding Language

Jeff Zwiers

Enhancing Instruction with Authentic Communication AGENDA

• 1. Guiding Questions
• 2. Authentic Communication Look-Fors
• 3. Observations and reflections
• 4. Lunch

Jeff Zwiers Understanding Language

Jeff Zwiers

Guiding Questions

Jeff Zwiers Understanding Language

Jeff Zwiers

• 1. Why do many students do the bare minimum

when they communicate (RWLSC)?

• 2. How can we motivate them to authentically

communicate in ways that maximize learning?

• 3. How can we best assess and improve

academic conversations? (e.g., develop

conversation skills in all interaction activities) Structured Speaking & Listening

Reading Writing

Academic Conversations

Typical Model of Learning

Content

Thinking

Agency

Literacies

Language

Social-Emotional

Structured Speaking & Listening Reading Writing Academic Conversations Idea-Building Model of Learning

Content Thinking Literacies Agency Language Social-Emotional

Do students…? Do students...? Do students…? Do students...?

R-W-L-S-C R-W-L-S C

Understanding Language

Jeff Zwiers

R-W-L-S-C R-W-L-S C

Using language to do meaningful things that just one person can’t

• do. (build, create,

change, decide, clarify, negotiate, argue, etc.) (R-W-L-S-C) Using language in non-meaningful ways (e.g., for getting points & praise, showing learning, winning, etc.)

How is authentic communication more effective than pseudo-communication?

9/18/19 2

☑ Requires & helps students to fill information gap(s)

IDEA

Dialogues and actions help to develop themes for us to be better people. Christopher Columbus should not be portrayed as a hero in history books. Whenever I multiply two fractions, the answer is even smaller than them.

Tectonic plate movement often causes earthquakes. ☑ Requires & helps students to clarify & support

Authentic Communication Features

for developing content, thinking, language, and social skills

☑ Requires & helps students to build idea(s) △

Attention to language in service of communication

(Language modeling, practice, feedback, sentence frames, etc.) Clarify Support Clarify Clarify Clarify Support Support Support Support Support Support Clarify

It’ s important to be friends with people who are different from us.

Looked up definition of friend Winn Dixie helped her make friends Older people have lots of stories that teach kids about life Opal made friends with Gloria Dump Class discussion on friends in other stories TV episode on friendships I’m friends with my mother’ s friend Picture of how to be a good friend David’ s poster and explanation Otis had been to jail If they speak other languages, I can learn Pair-share with Manuel

An Example of Idea Building

(This will be different for each person.)

She made friends with the brothers Friends with Otis Opal made friends with Ms. Franny My parents’ Moroccan friends Why doesn’t this happen more? Conversation with mom about friends Short story we read about making friends

Improved farming techniques produced surplus food, which was needed for civilizations to form.

Article’ s description of specialization Video clip from movie

• n ancient governments

David’ s poster and explanation Diagrams in the Lee article Textbook examples Answer text questions Thinking about modern food and jobs Group work on presentation

An Example of Idea Building

(This will be different for each student.)

Writing up what I learned from the simulation How Egyptians used the Nile Forming Civilizations simulation YouTube: irrigation Looked up definition of civilization Timeline of hunter-gathers, farmers, and cities How Mesopotamia formed Greece, Persia, China, Mayans, Why did they fall? Conversation with Lisa about buildings My trip through the valley seeing all the crops

Communication Look-Fors

• 1. How well does the activity or teacher

require and/or help students to build up a meaningful idea?

• 2. How well does the activity or teacher require

and/or help students to clarify and support the idea?

• 3. How well does the activity or teacher require

and/or help students to fill information gaps?

• 4. How much do students push themselves and
• thers to do more than the bare minimum?

Conversation Skills & Features COAT Notes

Collaboratively build one or more ideas to the max Pose one or more relevant & buildable idea(s) & choose the best one(s) to build Support idea(s) with evidence, examples, explanations; accurate content Clarify (define, ask questions, elaborate, paraphrase, etc.) Evaluate and compare ideas to choose strongest/heaviest after building up both/all sides (if it’s an argument) Use disciplinary thinking (e.g., cause-effect, interpret, understand other perspectives, bias, analyze,…) Take appropriate turns (build on; respectfully challenge; don’t interrupt, etc.) Value each other’s ideas Nonverbal communication

Conversation Observation & Analysis Tool

• 1. Purposeful

building of ideas

(clarifying & supporting)

• 2. Information

gaps

• 3. Attention to

necessary language

• 4. Engagement

& Agency READING & Viewing

Just focused on answering questions Could provide different texts Could have used some modeling Not much agency in answering ?s

WRITING & Creating

Students do more than the “bare minimum” Students write to fill gaps Frames useful for #1 Grammar modeling focuses on clarity

LISTENING & Watching

Could have used a “building” focused G.O. Could use A and B forms I need to model listening Just trying to fill in the note page

SPEAKING

Push selves to clarify/support Audience not know the topic Sentence frames do serve 1 & 2 Talks to help build idea

CONVERSING

Not push partners to clarify or support Not enough gap for this convo Text-based notes do support lang. Prompt not engaging enough

SOURCES: Admin/Coach Observation Data; Teacher Data & Insights (PLC results); Student Work & Assessments; Student Reflections, Interviews, & Surveys

9/18/19 3

Improve pair-shares:

A) More prompting for purposeful building of ideas that depends on bridging info gaps B) Listener prompts talker to clarify and support in order to help build up idea C) Structure time for A and B students (e.g., Pro-Con) Have 2nd and 3rd pair-shares (e.g., Stronger-Clearer) in which students practice, push and are pushed to support ideas and clarify, to build up ideas Weave building ideas, clarifying, and supporting into all activities and discussions (whenever students read, write, listen, speak, converse) Model conversations & analyze them for skills (clarify & support ) for building ideas Have students engage in conversations (e.g., collaborative arguments) to build up ideas, and self-assess. (10K hrs) Have students become and benefit from third observers who coach peers in their conversations. Strive to create instruction and assessment that are centered on students’ building of important ideas in the disciplines. Inquiry-Based Professional Learning

How can I develop/improve ____________________, evidenced by _____________, by _____________

Teach/Do & Gather Evidence

• Use new & adapted interventions and

strategies

• Gather data on student learning

(Formative, self-, peer-, summative; from focal students)

Analyze Evidence

• Use student work, case studies,

conversations, video, observations

• Find patterns, surprises, gaps
• What is evidence showing and not

showing?

• Brainstorm factors that caused

the patterns

Reflect & Plan

• Clarify what teaching and learning

should look like

• Agree on evidence to gather that

shows changes

• Create & adjust coaching practices
• Make a plan for observations and

data collection

Let’s Make an Observation Tool Reflecting on What We Observed

1.