Teachers learn new classroom techniques

The original: A teacher stands in front of the classroom and lectures to students. The new standard: The teacher gives brief instructions and asks students to participate and think deeply.

The Whitefish School District is embracing this new model as it moves toward meeting the state Common Core Standards, which the state expects districts to fully implement by 2014-15. The common core will replace current state standards and set the learning goals that students must master.

Superintendent Kate Orozco said 45 states have adopted the common core because of an understanding that children need to meet certain criteria to compete in college and career after graduation.

“They have a unique narrow focus,” she said. “There are fewer standards (than in the past), but students are required to have a deeper-level understanding of those standards.”

As an example, instead of proving proficiency through answering multiple choice questions, students will be asked to give short and long answers to a question and then defend their thinking.

“We think we have a moral imperative to serve the children well and prepare them for college, career and citizenship,” Orozco said. “The standards only help define what we need to get kids on that trajectory.”

The district began working toward the Common Core Standards at the beginning of last school year and last November the state adopted the standards. Teachers from the three schools have since been voluntarily participating in the various training options to prepare for full implementation.

“Our first constituent is the kids and to create the best possible learning environment, in service of that, we are providing learning opportunities for the teachers,” she said. “We already have great teachers, but we believe that we can always get better.”

Teachers have attended workshops, some are participating in teacher-mentor sessions and others are working in professional development groups, but all are focused on common core.

In the classroom

One instruction method to work toward deeper thinking is a workshop model. The goal is to switch the approach from teacher-centered to student-centered lessons.

Typically, a workshop begins with a mini-lesson, where a teaching point is displayed on the board and the teacher models the idea for the students. Then students actively work through the lesson and finally the lesson is wrapped together.

During a recent teacher training session, Katy Karschney took over a third grade classroom for one lesson and followed the workshop model. Karschney was contracted by the district to assist with professional development.

She explained to the third-graders that they would be learning to build arguments. “I can support my point of view with reasons,” she wrote on the board at the beginning of the session.

She told them that to be good arguers they had to back up their point of view with three reasons. She posed an idea, “Should third-graders have a cell phone?”

Karschney asked for students to give their answer, yes or no. Then she asked a few students to back up their vote. Then in small groups, the students shared their ideas with each other.

The whole classroom came together and talked about the reasons that came from the group discussions.

They repeated this pattern with several different questions. “Good arguers have three reasons,” she reminded them throughout the session. Much of the lesson was spent with the students giving their ideas as Karschney served as guide to keep them on track.

Finally, students were asked to work independently and write down their opinions with the included reasons why they felt a certain way.

“We want kids to think deeply,” Karschney explained. “We want the kids to talk more and the adults less.”

Lessons for the teacher

During Karschney’s 45-minute session with the students, a group of a half dozen teachers observed her. The teachers gathered together afterward to discuss the session.

“Teachers don’t actually get to see each other teaching,” Karschney said. “This lets them watch each other and learn.”

By Karschney modeling the lesson, the teachers had the opportunity to listen to what the students were saying and how they are reacting. Often if a teacher is presenting a lesson, they can get caught up in that lesson and aren’t able to fully observe the students, she noted.

“It’s not about perfect teaching — real teaching is complex and it doesn’t always go well,” she said. “The goal in mind is for them to watch the kids because the evidence is in the kids. We want them to relax and learn the process.”

The teachers met after the lesson and discussed how it worked. They talked about ways they could implement what they had observed. One teacher noted an issue she was facing in her classroom and several colleagues gave her possible solutions.

Teacher Pam Gianos said participating in the professional development group is invaluable and she enjoys learning to use the workshop model.

“I take a lot away from the sessions,” she said. “I love this style of teaching. The collaboration in our group is huge. We talk about what works best with the kids and how to prepare them for the future.”

She noted that improvement in student test scores can take time to appear, but she has already seen growth in her students.

Gianos said she tells her students they’re are scuba divers who are going to “think deeply, not just skim the surface.”