LIS Faculty

When my 2nd grader needs to know the meaning of a word, I tell him to use my iPhone to ask Siri, an artificial intelligence program that's always happy to look it up for him. Siri, in turn, uses the free online program Wolfram Alpha, one of the most powerful data analysis tools in the world. If you enter into the Siri (or Wolfram Alpha) search box, by text or voice, "arable land in world divided by world population," in less than a second the phone or computer will find the relevant data; do the calculations; provide the answer—in square miles, acres, square feet, and hectares per person—and cite you its sources.

Effective Thinking, which would include creative and critical thinking as well as portions of math, science, logic, persuasion, and even storytelling; Effective Action, which would include entrepreneurship, goal setting, planning, persistence, project management, and feedback; and Effective Relationships, which would include emotional intelligence, teamwork, ethics, and more.

With YouTube, for example, students can post their ideas to the world and get rapid global feedback. With tools like Twitter and its cousins, they can follow firsthand details of events unfolding anywhere in the world, from revolutions to natural disasters. With mashups and related techniques, they can combine sophisticated data sources in powerful new ways. One school group I know of created a Second Life model of Los Angeles, using the database of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to show each plane flying in its actual spot! With Skype-like tools, students can connect with experts and peers around the world in real time.

We now only have two staff meetings a year and those are far from traditional meetings. The remainder of our professional learning occurs within school based PLN teams, individually based PLNs, and grade level teams. These teams manage their own learning from content to scheduling. While their time isn’t monitored, their productivity is. Each PLN team reports progress to the building wide school improvement team, and the individual teacher reports progress to the building principal during the evaluation process.

In essence, we have told teachers that WE (school administrators and other outsiders) know what they need to know.

Stage 1: Identify desired outcomes and results. Stage 2: Determine what constitutes acceptable evidence of competency in the outcomes and results (assessment). Stage 3: Plan instructional strategies and learning experiences that bring students to these competency levels.

To what extent does the idea, topic, or process reside at the heart of the discipline? What questions point toward the big ideas and understandings? What arguable questions deepen inquiry and discussion? What questions provide a broader intellectual focus, hence purpose, to the work?

Performance Task— The performance task is at the heart of the learning. A performance task is meant to be a real-world challenge in the thoughtful and effective use of knowledge and skill— an authentic test of understanding, in context. Criteria Referenced Assessment (quizzes, test, prompts) These provide instructor and student with feedback on how well the facts and concepts are being understood. Unprompted Assessment and Self-Assessment (observations, dialogues, etc.).