USING CURRICULUM MAPPING TO ASSIST

“AT RISK”STUDENTS

Michelle T. ClantonPresenter

'No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. We need to see the world anew.'

Albert Einstein

'It is our belief that schools in the main are entering the twenty-first century with structures and more importantly, underlying assumptions which are nineteenth century in origins, or relating to the world of the 1950 or 1960s.' Bowring -Carr and Burnham West UK Educators

'Come to the edge', he said.They said, 'We are afraid''Come to the edge', he saidThey cameHe pushed them... and they flew. Guillaume Apollinaire Poet

The eagle has the longest life-span of its’ species

But to reach this age, the eagle must make a hard decision.

It can live up to 70 years

Its’ long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey which serves as food

In its’ 40’s

Its’ long and sharp beak becomes bent

Its’ old-aged and heavy wings, due to their thick feathers,

become stuck to its’ chest and make it difficult to fly.

Then, the eagle is left with only two options: die or go through a painful process of change which lasts 150 days.

The process requires that the eagle fly to a mountain top and sit on its’ nest.

There the eagle knocks its’ beak against a rock until it plucks it out.

After plucking it out, the eagle will wait for a new beak to grow back and then it will pluck out its’ talons.

When its’ new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking its’ old-

aged feathers.

30 more years

And after five months, the eagle takes its’ famous flight of rebirth and lives for

CONTENTWe are in the second decade of the 21st century therefore teachers, schools and districts should be moving from discussing how to prepare students for 21st century skills towards doing. Sylvia Rosenthal Tolisano www.globallyconnectedlearning.com

There must be a change… and it will be painful.

An Essential QuestionWho is the “at-risk” student?At my school it was the over-aged and under-credited student who:

• Is 16 -21 years of age• Usually has dropped out of school• Repeated retentions • Has experienced traumatic situation(s) that has caused him or her to become a disaffected youth

• Is a Juvenile Justice offender, paroled or on probation• Is or has been a Pregnant Teen

• Is or has been a Gang Member

Who is the “at-risk” student at your school?

How do we address the academic needs and or deficiencies of the at-risk

student?

While this is not a new question, we assessed that we needed a different answer. Our process involves:

Curriculum Mapping“Is a process for collecting data representative of the operational(real) curriculum in a school and/ or district.” Heidi Hayes Jacobs

• Calendar Based

• An ongoing process

• Curriculum mapping makes use of a collaborative conversation between teachers and administrators to design the curriculum via ongoing examination of what is occurring in the educational process both horizontally (within a grade level) and vertically (from grade to grade)

• Builds Learning Communities

• Provides a tool to differentiate instruction to meet “Allen’s” specific needs.

Curriculum Mapping provides important components that work especially well with this population who has NOT succeeded in the traditional classroom. It presents the opportunity for students to experience learning in a connected, meaningful, community-based context; and that can make a difference.

The Seven Phases of

Curriculum Mapping

Phase 1:Data

CollectionPhase 2:The First

ReadThrough

Phase 3:Mixed GroupReview

Phase 4:LargeGroupReview

Phase 5:Determine

Points that can be Revised Immediately

Phase 6:Determine Points

that Require Research and

Planning

Phase 7:Plan for

NextReview

Laying the Foundation – Data Collection

Core Curriculum StandardsFormative AssessmentSummative AssessmentPortfoliosAttendance RecordsIncident Reports

We also looked at:

Curriculum manuals or guides;Cluster-based syllabus planning;Evaluation checklists;Weekly planning meetings;Activity archives;Learning objectives

How does what we know about our individual learner shape our

curriculum mapping?

Laying the Foundation

Who do we invite to the table?

• Administrators

• Teachers

• Guidance Counselors

• Representatives from Collaborating Social Service Agencies

• Parent Liaison

• Student Representatives

Let the Data talk to you.•Collect•Assess•Create the Action Plan – Ongoing

Process

WHAT IS YOUR DATA

SAYING TO YOU?

"By concentrating on assets rather than deficits, these scholars argue, teachers are predisposed to see more potential in the children they are teaching and are able to treat the children's experiences and backgrounds as resources for learning rather than constraints on it. By developing more varied instructional routines, which by stages increase student control over learning activities, teachers can decrease learners' dependence on their teachers and broaden the range of learning experiences children encounter. The argument goes on to assert that, by deemphasizing (though not eliminating) repetitive practice of discrete skills, teachers may limit the monotony and lack of meaning that attends much instruction in high-poverty classrooms and elsewhere. Finally, by concentrating early on the 'advanced' skills of reasoning, problem solving, comprehension, and composition, teachers can engage children from the beginning in academic learning that has meaning and application in their lives both inside and outside of school." (p. 184)

Knapp, Shields, and Turnbull (1995):

Focus on Assets

Identify the assets that your students possess to assist you in seeing more potential in the students you teach.

Academically?

Culturally?

Family?

Peer?

Five Wrong Assumptions About Learning

1. People predictably transfer learning from one situation to another.

2. Learners are passive receivers of wisdom—vessels into which knowledge is poured.

3. Learning is the strengthening of bonds between stimuli and correct responses.

4. Learners are blank slates on which knowledge is inscribed.

5. Skills and knowledge, to be transferable to new situations, should be acquired independent of their contexts of use.

Source:Designing Effective Learning Environments: Cognitive Apprenticeship ModelsSue E. BerrymanInstitute on Education and The Economy, Box 174, Teachers College, Columbia UniversityNew York, New

We must create a

SCAFFOLD - something To keep the

student steady

while we are building

skills and assisting in

credit recovery.

“…the most promising alternatives focus on student assets (including their backgrounds and prior experiences), varied teaching strategies, and meaningful learning in collaborative settings. Also of critical importance to each child's success is the school's emphasis on high expectations for all students (Benard, 1995).”

Costello, Mary Ann. "Critical Issue: Providing Effective Schooling for Students at Risk." Learning Point Associates Home. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1996. Web. 14 June 2010. <http://www.learningpt.org/>.

Reflect on the skill levels of your students that lend to successfully completing collaborative work. Identify the strengths and challenges.

Think creatively about how to move them up Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop higher levels of critical thinking (i.e. - analyzing, evaluating, creating).

Knowledge

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

EvaluationTRADITIONALBloom’ s Taxonomy

We must also consider a

continuum of skills that are necessary to incorporate in

building thescaffold.

Remembering

Understanding

Applying

Analyzing

Evaluating

CreatingREVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

Identify bridges that exist in the building (Social Worker, Special Programs), what’s working?)

CHALLENGE

THE Our classes were composed of students from the ages 16 to 21 years, but because they needed to gain proficiency in a particular subject matter they are grouped together. You can have a 20 year student who has repeated 12th grade retentions with a 16 year old 10th grade student. We have to address three concerns:

1. REMEDIATION OF SKILLS

2. CREDIT RECOVERY

3. ADDRESS BEHAVIORS AND MINDSETS THAT IMPACT LEARNING

DO NOW….

List the 5 Biggest Problems You Experienced with Students that

hindered their academic success.

So what can we do about this?

The Challenge for Today’s Educators

We know the problem:

Many students today fall far short of their potential.

The consequence is poor retention and declining graduation rates.

Everyone loses – students forfeit their dreams, faculty are frustrated, and schools scramble to improve retention.

No panacea exists, but educators Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner

offered valuable insight when they wrote:

“Good learners are good learners precisely because they believe and do

certain things that less effective learners do not believe and do.

And therein lies the key.”

But just what is it that good learners believe and do?

And how can educators get students to believe and do them?

As we shape our curriculum mapping consider the

following:

ON COURSE is an intervention process through which educators (re)empower students to be the kind of active, responsible learners who make wise choices at critical forks in the road and, thus, achieve more of their goals in school and in life.

The ON COURSE Success Principles

Synthesizing the best wisdom from innovators in psychology, education, business, sports, and personal effectiveness, the ON COURSE Success Principles represent eight of the essential “things” that good learners believe and do.

By guiding students to adopt these principles and tools, you’ll empower them to become effective partners in their own education, giving them the outer behaviors and inner qualities to create greater success in school and in life.

• The most successful people are empowered people.

• In formal education, the deepest learning is provided by well-designed experiences.

• At the intersection of an empowered person and a well-designed experience lies the path to wisdom and the opportunity to achieve one’s greatest potential.

Going beyond the programs to the heart of the child:

What is your definition of an empowered learner a

well-designed experience ?

Eight Principles of Student Success

Personal ResponsibilitySelf-MotivationSelf-Management InterdependenceSelf-AwarenessLife-Long LearningEmotional IntelligenceSelf-Esteem

Personal Responsibility

Successful Students

Accept personal responsibility seeing

themselves as the primary cause of their

outcomes & experiences

Struggling Students

See themselves as victims, believing that what

happens to them is determined by external

forces such as fate, luck, and powerful others

Self-Motivation

Successful Students

discover self-motivation, finding purpose in their

lives by discovering personally meaningful goals and dreams

Struggling Students

have difficulty sustaining motivation, often feeling depressed, frustrated,

and/or resentful about a lack of direction in their

lives

Self Management

Successful Studentsmaster self-management, consistently planning and

taking purposeful actions in pursuit of their goals and

dreams.

Struggling Students

seldom identify specific actions needed to

accomplish a desired outcome. And when they do, they tend to

procrastinate.

Interdependence Successful Students

employ interdependence, building mutually

supportive relationships that help them achieve their goals and dreams (while helping others do

the same).

Struggling Students

are solitary, seldom requesting,

even rejecting, offers of assistance from those who

could help.

Self-Awareness

Successful Students

gain self-awareness, consciously employing behaviors, beliefs, and

attitudes that keep them on course.

Struggling Students

make important choices unconsciously, being

directed by self-sabotaging habits

and outdated life scripts

Life-Long Learning

Successful Students

adopt life-long learning, finding valuable lessons

and wisdom in nearly every experience they

have

Struggling Students

resist learning new ideas and skills, viewing learning as fearful or boring rather

than as mental play

Emotional Intelligence

Successful Students

develop emotional-intelligence, effectively managing their emotions in support of their goals

and dreams.

Struggling Students

live at the mercy of strong emotions such as

anger, depression, anxiety, or a need for instant gratification.

Self-Esteem

Successful Students

believe in themselves, seeing themselves as capable, lovable and

unconditionally worthy human beings

Struggling Students

doubt their competence and personal value, feeling inadequate to create their

desired outcomes and experiences

SWOT ANALYSIS: STRENGTH, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS

ORIGINATED BY ALBERT S HUMPHREY IN THE 1960S

What is a SWOT analysis and why should you use one?

The name says it: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat. A SWOT analysis guides you to identify the positives and negatives inside your organization (S-W) and outside of it, in the external environment (O-T).

Developing a full awareness of your situation can help with both strategic planning and decision-making.

The Challenge:

Incorporating one or more of the Eight Principles of Success:

Each groups has 15 minutes to brainstorm and fill out their own strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats chart for your school, initiative or effort.

Remember do not to rule out any ideas at this stage, or the next.

 

INTERNAL EXTERNAL

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

What advantages

does your

organization have?

What do you do

better than anyone

else?

What unique or

lowest-cost

resources can you

draw upon that

others can't?

What could you

improve?

What should you

avoid?

What are

families/business

es in your

community likely

to see as

weaknesses?

What good

opportunities can

you spot?

What interesting

trends are you

aware of?

Is changing

technology

improving your

educational

program?

What obstacles do

you face?

What are your

competitors/Charte

r/Parochial schools

doing?

Are quality

standards or

specifications for

your services

changing?

Take a breath,

Count to ten,

and tackle each taskone

Linda Shalaway

DEEP

step at a time.

MICHELLE T. CLANTON

Reconnecting Youth to Their Dreams

10204 Crystal Ridge Drive Watchung, New Jersey, 07069

732-372-9033

mtclanton@yahoo.com