Final Version

Learning Action Team Results

1.   AISC student learning objectives are fully integrated into the PK-12 curriculum through planning, assessment and reflection and are verified using the curriculum review process.

2.   AISC has a common understanding of inclusion and has identified research-based strategies that support teachers in differentiating instruction for all students. (Andrea, Aarthi)

3.  AISC has identified a philosophy and designed a service learning structure that empowers students to serve their local and global communities. (Jason, Gita)

4.  AISC uses differentiated instructional strategies and structures to help all learners reach his/her potential.(Andrea, Aarthi)

5.  AISC has a strong service learning structure where students are engaged and immersed in service opportunities building authentic local connections and greater global understanding.(Jason)

6.  AISC has a common understanding of inquiry and has provided the necessary opportunities to develop teacher expertise in inquiry-based instruction. (Chris)

7.   AISC embraces and fosters an inclusive culture where differentiated instruction allows each student to achieve his/her potential.(Andrea, Aarthi)

8.  AISC has inquiry-based strategies that are integrated into instructional practice in order to foster a sense of curiosity and inspire action in the classroom and beyond. (Chris)

9.  AISC has established a culture of service where students are intrinsically motivated to transfer their academic knowledge to create experiences that improve the lives of others. (Jason)

10.  AISC empowers teachers and students with innovative practices, in a dynamic, technology-rich environment, in order to inspire action in the classroom and beyond. (Joel, Gita)

11.  AISC Students are motivated to be confident, creative learners who consistently direct their own learning, through questioning and discovery, as they seek understanding of the world around them. (Chris, Joel)

Tech Result 2.0

Starting points:

AISC is capable of providing anytime, anywhere access to essential learning tools and information for all teachers and students

and

AISC creates a technology-rich environment that inspires teachers and students to learn in an increasingly digital world.

first draft: AISC creates and adapts to a dynamic, technology-rich (learning tools) environment where teachers and students innovatively . . .  responds . .  digital  

second draft: AISC challenges and empowers teachers and students, within a dynamic, technology-rich environment,          innovative practices

Third draft: AISC empowers teachers and students with innovative practices, in a dynamic, technology-rich environment, in order to inspire action in the classroom and beyond. (I took this from number 8- pro: it provides consistency in language, con: it is recycled)

Here is Chris' chart for aligning the results

The Tech Result

Here it is, feel free to write additional statements below in another colored font:

AISC is capable of providing anytime, anywhere access to essential learning tools and information all teachers and students

Stefania's color: 
may be too simple...

AISC is capable of providing access to essential learning tools and information for all teachers and students anytime, anywhere.

Question: I heard something about the school intention, for the future, to organize on line courses for the community (something like what is available at the American School in Delhi, I think). Does this come into the picture? If so, we should probably change the recipients with "school community" . 
Or is it something which should not be taken into account by us in the "Learning results"?


"AISC is capable of providing all teachers and students with unlimited access to essential learning tools and information."

The Final Version (minus the tech)

        1.     The AISC student learning objectives are fully integrated into the PK-12 curriculum through planning, assessment and reflection and are verified using the curriculum review process.

2.      AISC has a common understanding of inclusion and has identified research-based strategies that support teachers in differentiating instruction for all students.

3.      AISC has identified a philosophy and designed a service learning structure that empowers students to serve their local and global communities.

4.      AISC uses differentiated instructional strategies and structures to help all learners reach his/her potential.

5.      AISC has a strong service learning structure where students are engaged and immersed in service opportunities building authentic local connections and greater global understanding.

6.      AISC has a common understanding of inquiry and has provided the necessary opportunities to develop teacher expertise in inquiry-based instruction.

        7.      AISC embraces and fosters an inclusive culture where differentiated instruction allows each student to achieve his/her potential.

8.      AISC has inquiry-based strategies that are integrated into instructional practice in order to foster a sense of curiosity and inspire action in the classroom and beyond.

9.      AISC has established a culture of service where students are intrinsically motivated to transfer their academic knowledge to create real life situations that improve the lives of others.

10.   Tech result goes here

11.  Students are motivated to be confident, creative learners who consistently direct their own learning, through questioning and discovery, as they seek understanding of the world around them.

Results 2.0

Learning

We will align expected outcomes, assessment, teaching, learning and reflection on practice in order to support our mission and student learning objectives.

List of Results

1.     The AISC curricular review process is integrating the student learning objectives and aligning assessment practices across disciplines PK-12.
     The AISC student learning objectives are fully integrated into the PK-12 curriculum through planning, assessment and reflection and are verified using the curriculum review process.

are integrated into the curricular review process.  Assessment and reflection practices within each discipline is clearly aligned Prek-12. (chris) 

Integrating the student learning objectives is a great idea, but it is unclear how to align assessment practices.  Make it clearer.  Also – on all documents we should make it PK-12.

Standards and assessment processes are being continuously aligned PK-12 with AISC’s core values, mission and the student learning objectives.

(the curriculum review cycle becomes the means)

• SLO in horizontal and vertical articulation and included in the Atlas map

2.     AISC has identified research-based inclusive strategies and has a plan for staff training in place to meet the needs of all students. (AISC has a common understanding of inclusion and has identified research-based strategies that support teachers in differentiating instruction for all students.

• ear long PD plan to identify learning needs and strategies
• Develop the common understanding

·        AISC has identified research-based inclusive strategies and has a plan for staff training in place to meet the needs of all students- this is a means.
for presentation cover personalized learning (differentiation)

·        What is meant by this.  The team is not sure what is meant by this. 

·        What are we training the staff to do and by whom?

·        This is a plan to plan.

·        Do not limit this to ELLs, but to all learners.

AISC has identified high leverage differentiation strategies and staff are expanding their capacity to use these strategies to meet the needs of all students in achieving the student learning objectives.

3.     AISC has identified a philosophy and designed a service learning structure that empowers students to serve their local and global communities.

Good – keep going on this. Consider prototyping in your means. 

·        Early adopter- roll it over time (Megan is a resource for the plan here)

4.     AISC has inclusive strategies and structures in place to help each learner reach his/her potential.

      AISC uses differentiated instructional strategies and structures to help all learners reach his/her potential.

should we stick with inclusive because we building a common understanding of this term? or should we not use any clarifying word and just say "AISC staff is using strategies..." (chris)

·        Is the popular understanding of inclusion too defining? Is personalized or differentiated, in fact, too defining.

·        Change inclusive to personalized or differentiated

5.     AISC has a strong service learning structure where students are engaged and immersed in service opportunities building authentic local connections and greater global understanding.

·        Great!

AISC is capable of providing anytime, anywhere access to essential learning tools and information all teachers and students

6.     Highly effective strategies have been identified and a plan to develop teacher capacity has been established** clarify

AISC has a common understanding of inclusion and has identified research-based strategies that support teachers in differentiating instruction for all students.

AISC has a common understanding of inquiry and has provided the necessary opportunities to develop teacher expertise in inquiry-based instruction.

·        Unclear

·        It is a plan to plan the way it is currently written

·        AISC has identified high leverage inquiry strategies and staff are expanding their capacity to use these strategies to meet the needs of all students in achieving the student learning objectives.

Parallels differentiation

7.     AISC embraces and fosters a culture that recognizes the unique educational journey of each learner. Word more strongly
        AISC embraces and fosters an inclusive culture where differentiated instruction allows each student to achieve his/her potential.

·        This is unclear – the team is not sure what this means.

·        Is this a result of some of the results before?  You do not use “unique educational journey” in any of the other results.

(culmination of thread for differentiation and inquiry?)

8.     AISC has inquiry-based strategies that are integrated into instructional practice in order to foster a sense of curiosity and inspire action in the classroom and beyond.

·        What is “sense of wonder”?  Cultivate ? Do we always want to create it or are there times we keep it growing? (is the word choice appropriate for all audiences? Are there words from the mission like curiosity be used)

·        Inquiry strategies are being integrated into instructional practice PK-12 in order to cultivate curiosity and ensure all students achieve the student learning objectives.

9.     AISC has established a culture of service where students are intrinsically motivated to transfer their academic knowledge to create real life situations that improve the lives of others.

·        Good

110.      A tech result will be created here

111. Students are motivated to be confident, creative learners who consistently direct their own learning, through questioning and discovery, as they seek understanding of the world around them.

·        1 – it would take more than a year to achieve this.

·        Could student leadership be included (not just understanding)

·        Is this covered through the measurement rubrics?

·        After some discussion, the team understood that this was something that would take many years to accomplish.

Suggestion:

The above is the culmination of all that comes before it. I’d drop it...the means will be difficult as it is really the means from the previous results.

The planning team has requested that you create a result on reflection by students.-put this bluntly in the means

Wonder if reflection can be integrated with inquiry by calling it out in that means or putting it strongly in the means for inquiry. 

Notes from January 15th

Articulate conceptual framework for how to achieve the strategy.  Distill to a high level map of what needs to be addressed

Clear description of what teaching and learning looks like at AISC

Teaching and learning prioritizes student inquiry and a love of learning

Teaching and learning allows for a flexible schedule to discover personal passions

Teaching and learning looks like teachers as facilitator and model

Teaching and learning allows for teachers and students to have time to collaborate and reflect

Teaching and learning is technology-rich

Teaching and learning creates a system that supports community connections and global understandings

Structure

Common understanding about inquiry-based philosophy

Common understanding about best practices  (EAL/Co-teaching/RW workshop/ Service Learnings/scheduling/world languages/ interdisciplinary instruction)

A system to create greater rapport/community so that people feel safe to take the risks.

A system needs to be put in place to increase communication and collaboration within the school community

PD opportunities (all but with tech it is learning about the software and then learning how to use it)

What is the technology vision related to hardware?

How can time be created for people to explore and then share opportunities with colleagues? PLC? Late start/early release? How can we create time for teachers to socialize and "process" without infringing on planning time?

Resources

NUVU Studio.org   

Pseudo results
An activity disguised as a result
An event disguised as a result- a database of community service
A means disguised as a result- a committee

1 Year Chunks

What is the theory about how to create the change in the system?

Theory of action plus theory of change equals success

What is the leverage to actually driving the change the culture of the school?

In order to meet the vision and student learning objectives. . .

High leverage inquiry strategies have been identified and a plan to develop teacher capacity has been established.

Inquiry strategies are being integrated into instructional practice K-12 in order to create a sense of wonder and achieve the student learning objectives.

Students are motivated to be confident, creative learners who consistently direct their own learning, through questioning and discovery, as they seek understanding of the world around them!

AISC has identified a philosophy and designed a service learning structure that empowers students to serve their local and global communities.

AISC has a strong service learning structure where students are engaged and immersed in service opportunities building authentic local connections and greater global understanding.

AISC has established a culture of service where students are intrinsically motivated to transfer their academic knowledge to real life situations that improve the lives of others.

AISC has identified research-based inclusive strategies and has a plan for staff training in place to meet the needs of all students.

AISC has inclusive strategies and structures in place to help each learner reach their potential.

AISC embraces and fosters a culture that recognizes the unique educational journey of each learner.

The Moodle Question

After talking to Kevin Crouch and Ryan Sager, it appears we are just scratching the surface of what Moodle has to offer.  The platform has the ability to be as "virtual school" as we want it to be.  Questions that have come out of these conversations include the role/ relevance of Atlas Rubicon and also the use of Skyward's grade book when in fact Moodle has the capacity to be not just a grade book but also a grading tool in a way that is just not possible in Skywards.

Service Learning

In my research about service-learning, I have come across several good resources and used these to create a PowerPoint for the middle school staff.

Here are some key ideas that we need to keep in mind as we build our program:

• Service and service-learning can co-exist 
• AISC must have a common definition of what service-learning is so that action is focused and purposeful. 
• Community wide training should help people understand the process which needs to be followed for participants to gain the maximum benefit. 
• Students must be involved in the planning- relevance is key
• It needs to be developmentally responsive. AES has created a continuum that allows for students from all three sections to participate, with greater choice beginning in grade 8.
• AISC must create a structure to support teachers and students, that structure includes: 
• A Service-Learning Coordinator to make connections with local groups joined with a committee of teachers, students, parents and others to guide the work.
•  Access to PD surrounding the process of service-learning, pre-service, service, and post-service are all crucial parts of the work. 
• Here is the link to the National Youth Leadership Council website, which provides a host of information on the topic.
• The middle school and high school will probably be having an assembly on January 22 hosted by the Rotary Club as they have approached us about starting an Interact Club. This will probably start off as a service initiative but could certainly grow into a service-learning opportunity.

•  List possible actions
• Begin having conversations with the staff to plant the seed about what service-learning is and is not.
• Begin having conversations about how service might fit into the existing curriculum
• Find allies within the staff who might be willing to facilitate the thinking that is occurring at each grade level and would be part of the committee
• Assess the experience/ expertise within the staff
• Plan PD opportunities and make sure everyone understands the vision and process
• Look for any and all possible connections.  Ideally we want to forge partnerships with quality organizations that will stand the test of time

Ultimately, I would like to see us "go slow to go fast." I think building a solid foundation by creating structures that will support teachers and students will go a long way towards embedding service-learning into our culture so that we fulfill the school vision.

Sense of Wonder and The Brain

How can we instill the "State of Wonder?"

http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/pdf/BranchISection.pdf

Inquiry places students’ questions and ideas, rather than solely those of the teacher, at the centre of the learning experience. Students’ questions drive the learning process forward. Teachers using an inquiry-based approach encourage students to ask and genuinely investigate their own questions about the world. 

The inquiry-based approach is not a rigid methodology or set of procedures. Rather, it entails an overall mindset, one that pervades school and classroom life to foster a culture of collaborative learning and idea improvement. Teachers continually encourage students to contribute their ideas and engage in critical problem-solving processes in a variety of contexts, whether curricular or social.

The process of student learning, more so than the teacher’s focus on ‘covering the curriculum’ is paramount.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/may/31/wonder-room-nottingham-university-academy

The Nottingham University Samworth academy has a room packed with curiosities and puzzles that stimulate pupils' imaginations, and generate a sense of wonder

He firmly believes the idea should catch on. "I think every school should have a place where wonder can be celebrated. Being interested in seeds, literally and metaphorically, I'm keen to see this idea germinate and spread."

The school's principal, Dave Harris, rarely misses an opportunity to talk about the Wonder Room. He first met his "agent" at the nearby campus where McFall is doing his second doctorate in "wonder and learning", based at Nottingham's Learning Sciences Research Institute. "I bumped into Matthew in a corridor there and we started talking about ways of engaging children and changing attitudes," Harris says. "We hit it off and the kids loved him. He's been coming into school since September – once a week because that's all I can afford to pay for. But the room is open at other times and children wander in during breaks between lessons."

The Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia, meanwhile, has been taking its handling collection to schools across the region for the last three years. "They're mainly objects from Papua New Guinea," says marketing assistant Sam Morton. "They're used as ways to get children to think about their own culture and heritage."

What does brain research say?

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/improving-executive-function-judy-willis-md

In the near future, success will depend on accelerated rates of information acquisition. And we need to help students develop the skill sets to analyze new information as it becomes available, to flexibly adapt when facts are revised, and to be technologically fluent (as new technology becomes available). Success will also depend upon one's ability to collaborate and communicate with others on a global playing field -- with a balance of open-mindedness, foundational knowledge, and critical analysis skills so they can make complex decisions using new and changing information.

We have the obligation to provide our students with "activating" experiences that stimulate judgment, pattern recognition, induction, deduction; and activate prior knowledge, analysis, and prediction. Experiences that promote executive function activation include evaluating and doing something with information while they learn, such as discovering relationships between what they learn and what they already know, or transforming new learning into another form, such as writing about math or symbolically transforming a story into a drawing.

What is the definition of a 21st Century learner?

http://www.p21.org/

P21 and its members provide tools and resources to help the U.S. education system keep up by fusing the 3Rs and 4Cs (Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation). 

"Integrated Projects = Deeper Learning ow.ly/fIqLW (via @edutopia)#edchat" 30 Nov

The Framework presents a holistic view of 21st century teaching and learning that combines a discrete focus on 21st century student outcomes (a blending of specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and literacies) with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century.

The key elements of 21st century learning are represented in the graphic and descriptions below. The graphic represents both 21st century skills student outcomes (as represented by the arches of the rainbow) and 21st century skills support systems (as represented by the pools at the bottom). 

Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes

Mastery of core subjects and 21st century themes is essential to student success. Core subjects include English, reading or language arts, world languages, arts, mathematics, economics, science, geography, history, government and civics.

In addition, schools must promote an understanding of academic content at much higher levels by weaving

21st century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects:

• Global Awareness

• Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy

• Civic Literacy

• Health Literacy

• Environmental Literacy

Learning and Innovation Skills

Learning and innovation skills are what separate students who are prepared for increasingly complex life and work environments in today’s world and those who are not. They include:

• Creativity and Innovation

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

• Communication and Collaboration

Information, Media and Technology Skills

Today, we live in a technology and media-driven environment, marked by access to an abundance of information, rapid changes in technology tools and the ability to collaborate and make individual contributions on an unprecedented scale. Effective citizens and workers must be able to exhibit a range of functional and critical thinking skills, such as:

• Information Literacy

• Media Literacy 

• ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy

Life and Career Skills

Today’s life and work environments require far more than thinking skills and content knowledge. The ability to navigate the complex life and work environments in the globally competitive information age requires students to pay rigorous attention to developing adequate life and career skills, such as:

• Flexibility and Adaptability

• Initiative and Self-Direction

• Social and Cross-Cultural Skills

• Productivity and Accountability

• Leadership and Responsibility

2 1 S T  C E N T U RY  S U P P O R T  S Y S T E M S

Developing a comprehensive framework for 21st century learning requires more than identifying specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and literacies.  An innovative support system must be created to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities that will be required of them. The Partnership has identified five critical support systems to ensure student mastery of 21st century skills:

• 21st Century Standards

• Assessments of 21st Century Skills

• 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction

• 21st Century Professional Development

• 21st Century Learning Environments