This integrated approach is designed to transform basic instruction to provide learning strategies and motivational techniques to support high academic performers and to encourage the demonstration of potential in students in regular classrooms.
PRACTICUM IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Component 1 and 2: Retreat and Centralized Sessions (Large Group Workshops)
LEAD teachers will come together at the district office to solidify the instructional program. NUA consultants recognize and will build on the professionalism and expertise these teachers bring to the sessions. Opportunities for exploring new strategies and sharing the expertise of each member are facilitated through reflective professional development and practice. Presentation formats are workshop-oriented using a balance of large and small group processes. Care is given to help participants recognize both the theory and rationale behind the strategies. Ample time is scheduled to practice strategies and to allow for the meaningful internalization of the processes explored by the consultants and participants.
Team building is addressed during each session. Time is set aside to allow participants in each school to get together and reflect on what they have learned. Teams will be asked to make plans on how to effectively implement the instructional strategies and opportunities.
Component 3: The Site Visits
A unique feature of the NUA Practicum model is the site visit that consultants provide. The schedule of site visits will be set up between the consultant and the school. There are a variety of activities that consultants may be engaged in during a site visit including demonstration lessons, mentoring, workshop presentations, instructional planning and curriculum design, organizational planning, and faculty meetings.
Component 4: The Demonstration Lesson.
The most important site visit activity is providing demonstration lessons. Consultants will visit the LEAD classes to demonstrate to teachers how to apply the strategies presented at the large group sessions. A maximum of two demonstration lessons is recommended for each visit. Before each lesson, a briefing meeting is held by the consultants to explain to observers what the lesson is all about, the strategies that will be used, and the rationale for selecting the strategies. The briefing meeting lasts for approximately 30 minutes. The demonstration lesson lasts a minimum of one hour. All demonstration lessons have the following criteria:·
- Are conducted in front of observers from the LEAD classes (as well as others the principal may invite).
- Use authentic instructional materials.
- Are cued to existing courses of study and curricular demands.
- Vividly illustrate the significant differences in advanced level thinking that these cognitive strategies make possible.
After the lesson, a briefing session is held to allow observers to describe what they saw, recall and identify important details of the lesson demonstrated or fostered advanced thinking. Observers are encouraged to question the NUA consultant if unsure or uneasy about the application of the strategies demonstrated. This is an important part of the visit since it allows teachers to engage in conversation regarding the instructional issues in reading and language arts in their schools.
THE SYMPOSIA IN ENRICHMENT
The Symposia will provide strategies for regular classroom teachers to help student to realize their potential by increasing their performance. Teachers will explore mediated cognitive learning strategies that guide students in how to think and learn rather than what to think. These mediated learning strategies will be specifically selected to address learning strengths and needs by:
- providing the concepts, verbal tools and relationships necessary for academic performance, critical thinking, problem solving, creative thinking and decision making;
- providing bridges between cognitive skills and strategies using various forms of representation; and
- producing an intrinsic need for applying thinking strategies for independent and interdependent learning.
The Symposia will provide participants with the opportunity to:
- Identify the factors that motivate and support learning;
- Analyze the connection between thinking, understanding and the learning process;
- Create bridges between the cultural experience of the student and the skills and content to be learned and mastered;
- Integrate strategies for accelerating and intensifying reading and learning;
- Design instructional enrichment to expand communication skills (oral, visual, and written) and creative thinking;
- Guide student self-discovery; and
- Design performances to demonstrate and assess student learning.
The Symposia will guide teachers in applying mediated learning experiences and enrichment within a context of nine supportive practices:
- Expectations of excellence
- Continual search for patterns
- Insistence on working towards mastery
- Teacher modeling of skills and processes
- Intensive direct instruction and practice
- Creative and symbolic "deep" thought
- Focus on discourse and inquiry
- Using knowledge for social criticism and community action
- In-depth study of the student's culture.
SYMPOSIA SESSIONS
The Symposia for this academic year will be comprised of three sessions for identified teachers from regular classrooms.
Active Participant Involvement and Reflection
Strategies presented will be limited to those that are the most generative and effective. Participants will be guided through the learning and application of the strategies to ensure competence and confidence in their use. They will practice these strategies during the workshop sessions. Participants will discuss and write during the day to reflect on the activities that they are participating in and the strategies that they are learning. This reflection will help participants analyze, interpret and articulate what they are learning and will serve as a model of the kind of discussing and writing they can ask their own students to engage in to enhance learning.
Each session will include:
- hands-on exploratory activities;
- lesson and project designing;
- materials development; and
- guided reflection.
Selection of Participants for Large Group Workshops
The success of the school-wide implementation of the cognitive strategies and enrichment practices for advanced thinking will depend greatly on the skills, attitudes, and behavior of the participants. Principals should take the following into consideration during participant selection:·
- Including the lead teacher or coordinator in the selection process.
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- Having representatives from as many grade levels as possible.
- Selecting teachers who commit to attending all three large group sessions.
- Selecting teachers who are willing to share with the rest of the staff.
SYMPOSIA TOPICS
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND NURTURING GIFTED POTENTIAL
- Potential And Expanding Learning
- Dynamically Assessing Potential (Exploring the implications of culture, developmental level, intelligence, thinking and understanding.)
- Defining and Observing giftedness (Characteristics of the gifted)
- Creating a Talent Portfolio
- Designing Enrichment with the Enrichment Triad Model
- Creating Pathways for Integrating Enrichment
- Developing Process Skills for Accelerating Learning
- Guiding Critical Thinking
- Supporting Learning For Enriched Literacy
- Building the Literacy Classroom (Developing the value of reading and writing)
- Motivating Reading and Writing
- Applying Literacy Enrichment Across the Curriculum:
- Integrating Creative Thinking
- Creative Problem Solving
- Telescoping Curriculum To Integrate Divergent Thinking
- Identifying Content Bridges
Component 5: Summer Institute
The summer institute will provide the LEAD teachers the opportunity to:
- Explore strategies for increasing rigor
- Design differentiated curriculum
- Plan program enhancement
- Create opportunities for advanced research
NUA, the district Coordinator of Gifted Programs, and a subcommittee of LEAD teachers will design the institute.
SYMPOSIA IN GIFTED PARENTING
Parents are critical in supporting the nurturing the application of the abilities and interests of their children. The Symposia is designed to assist parents in:
- Developing self-concept;
- Identifying and nurturing interests and strengths;
- Creating opportunities for developing various intelligences;
- Guiding proficiency in learning how to learn and advanced research;
- Assisting in independent inquiry; and
- Encouraging creative thinking.
NYC District 13 Project Overview