Teaching-Learning Critical Pathways
A Kindergarten Perspective
The Human-Being Is A Learning Machine ... If you put him in the right position to learn what you want him to know (Dr. Asa Hillard)
“…education, in a way, dislocates very many people from their natural talents. And human resources are like natural resources; they’re often buried deep. You have to go looking for them, they’re not just lying around on the surface. You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves. And you might imagine education would be the way that happens, but too often it’s not. Every education system in the world is being reformed at the moment and it’s not enough. Reform is no use anymore, because that’s simply improving a broken model. What we need is not evolution, but a revolution in education. One of the real challenges is to innovate fundamentally in education. Innovation is hard because it means doing something that people don’t find very easy, for the most part. It means challenging what we take from granted, things that we think are obvious. The great problem for reform or transformation is the tyranny of common sense; things that people think “Well, it can’t be done any other way because that’s the way it’s done.”
By embedding learning opportunities for ourselves into our classroom practices through TLCPs, we reflect on our own practices, we question why we do things the way we do, and we open ourselves up to new teaching possibilities. In this way, through small changes, we begin to make transformations which allow all students to learn to a high-degree of success.
Teaching-Learning Critical Pathway
But What Is A T-LCP?
These pathways ask us 'how do we know that our actions are resulting in improved student learning?' By collecting data from our students and engaging in moderated marking (in which teachers examine and mark student work together), teachers are better able to plan for student success.
Stage 1: Setting Up The T-LCP
Once these needs are identified, the team will consider where those needs fall within the curriculum documents. The team will consider the following questions:
- How can expectations be clustered and explored simultaneously?
- What do we currently do to teach these skills?
- What research is available and what does it tell us about how to best teach these thinking skills?
The team will then create a plan which considers:
- What high-yield teaching strategies will be used (such as mentor texts, think-alouds, think-pair-share, etc...)?
- What the success criteria will look like for this pathway? What should the students be able to say and do to demonstrate that they have successfully learned this skill?
- How will this data be recorded (such as rubrics, data walls, culminating tasks, etc...)?
Stage 2: Planning For Instruction & Checking In
As the process begins, teachers should be checking in with each other. Consider what has been noticed so far:
- Have the students understanding of the subject improved?
- What strategies have been successful, and which ones have not? What does that tell you about your students learning styles?
- How can you build on what has been happening so far to further develop student learning?
- What issues are arising and how can they be addressed?
Regular check-ins with each other allows for 'just-in-time' conversations to happen: teachers can more easily address any concerns and further embed their own understanding into the practice.
Stage 3: Outcomes
Each teacher will bring work samples with to the meeting. Using the success criteria or rubric created during the first meeting, teachers will examine each artifact and assign a level to each piece. Teacher Moderated Marking like this allows all members of the team a chance to carefully examine work at different levels and discuss/justify why each piece deserves the level that is assigned to it. In return for this hard-work, teachers can then look at the rest of the work their students have produced and assign them levels that are consistent throughout the school. Also, by creating this type of consistency, students develop a clearer understanding of what a level 2 assignment looks like as opposed to a level 3.
Finally, teachers have an opportunity to consolidate their own learning from the pathway. In discussion with each other, teachers will think about:
- how successful their high-yield strategies were;
- what they have learned about their students based on this inquiry;
- what can be done to support students who are still struggling; and
- based on what was learned in this pathway, what the team will focus on next.
What A TLCP Looks Like In Kindergarten
Putting A Play-Based Spin On A T-LCP
The school-wide focus for this T-LCP was to examine 'Point Of View.' The mentor texts used in this room was a variety of 'Big Bad Wolf' stories. At the same time as exploring the importance of voice and point of view in literature, the teacher also want the students to explore structures and the big question 'how do things stand up.'
The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall
Three Little Pigs by Richard Johnston
The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scheszka
The Three Horrid Little Pigs
Understanding Point Of View
The teacher also included props and invitations around the room for students to create their own Wolf stories.
Relating the T-LCP to a Class Inquiry
The children were up to the challenge. Finally they were working together... but their first building was not very strong... the teacher knocked it down by touching just one block.
As the six-week block continued, the class continued to look at Wolf books, and the teacher introduced a variety of Little Red Ridinghood stories as well. At the same time, they went on countless exploration walks around the school and the neighbourhood looking for ideas about how to build a structure that would withstand the strength of the wolf. Their buildings got stronger and more elaborate, their empathy for the Wolf grew, and the teacher collected strong evidence that the students understanding of the subject had increased. She collected work samples, photographs, anecdotal notes, and quotes from the children, which all indicated that they were learning to think and problem solve to a high-degree of success.
A Little Change Makes A Big Difference!
The Process Is Never Really Done...
The last step of a T-LPC is for teachers to plan their next T-LPC, based on what they have learned from this one...