Teaching within the CCSS framework requires K-12 teachers to create equity of outcomes as well as equity of access to learning. For teachers to move deeper into teaching within the CCSS it is important that they develop a solid understanding of the principles of the CCSS.
This course has been designed with the goal of providing a framework which operationally defines engagement and promotes the value of maximizing engagement for all learners, providing research-based principles in which teachers can anchor their practices and, providing the characteristics of engagement-minded practices which both teachers and students will find motivating to implement.
Objectives:
Teachers will be able to:
- Summarize the current need for personalization within a standards-based system
- Define the difference between the achievement gap and the engagement gap
- Articulate why what teachers do (teaching) and what students do (learning) are not equivalent
- Understand the need for developing a gauge for engagement
- Recognize why maximizing engagement for all learners requires extensive interactions with learners
- Apply a number of potential pitfalls related to engagement (gaps, traps, wraps, and naps)
- Demonstrate understanding of the need to formulate an engagement hypothesis
- Review current research on the role of emotions in learning
- Develop awareness of elements of a brain-friendly learning environment
- Distinguish between good stress and bad stress levels that impact learning
- Comprehend the role of fear for learners and strategies to help mitigate fear
- Understand the elements of and a rationale for a student engagement self-reflection tool
- Articulate the enduring questions for both teachers and learners and the pivotal nature of students enduring questions
- Identify the features of a cycle of inquiry and the importance of using one to increase student engagement
- Conceptualize success in teaching as interdependent with success of learners
- Recognize the importance of connecting with students to develop strong teacher-student relationships
- List characteristics of learning environments that alter the odds against or in favor of learning
- Demonstrate understanding that a teacher's role is multi-faceted as an advocate, buffer and catalyst within the learning environment
- Delineate the characteristics of a fixed ability mindset and an expandable ability mindset
- Recognize how a growth-minded approach is integral to maximizing engagement for all learners regardless of academic achievement levels
- Implement a teacher reflection strategy to determine whether student orientation is toward a fixed or expandable view of ability
- Prepare a lesson or unit of instruction on the growth mindset for an entire class
- Link the key teacher behavior of providing prescriptive feedback with the need for learners to receive informative communication during their learning process
- Learn steps to providing effective prescriptive feedback
- Recognize the research base that suggests particular kinds of praise can actually decrease engagement
- Understand the benefits of providing prescriptive feedback
- Understand the significance of encouraging student ownership of data about their own performance
- Learn several methods for providing students opportunities to reflect on their own performance data over time
- Describe the statements that may be typical of myths associated with engagement
- Reflect on any overlap between current practice and engagement myths
- Understand the role of behavior as a language for learners trying to satisfy unmet needs through their behavior
- Recognize the covert and overt aspects of behavior and the challenges each can present for teachers maximizing engagement
- Reflect on course content and applications to current teaching context
- Create an engagement map to guide future learning interests
