WICORizing Instruction Lesson 3

Objective

Learners will be able to identify the components of a portfolio of lessons that stimulates thinking through Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading and write a reflection on how it propels student engagement and relationship building.

Materials

• Pencil/Pen
• Highlighters
• Portfolio of Lessons

Introduction

This portfolio chronicles learning experiences around “WICOR and Student Engagement in Learning in English Language Arts Classrooms”. Being part of the program, AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) teachers of my school are required to design instructional activities around WICOR, which is an acronym for Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading. Thus, any instruction should hit at least three of these letters. I am particularly interested in how it captures the whole concept of creating an environment of learning where students are engaged because at any point in time, they are directing the learning and the teacher is the facilitator. It is learner-centered, knowledge-centered and assessment-centered. Among other things, the concepts of WICOR is captured in the following;

Inquiry

Higher-level thinking, elicited by skilled inquiry, should be both teacher- and student-driven. Teachers pose questions and guide students into deeper levels of thought. Students use questioning processes to probe the meanings of texts, solve problems, or design investigations. Ultimately, higher-level thinking is revealed through questioning, analyzing, and constructing of knowledge and understanding. Using these resources, learners will be able to:

• Use effective questioning techniques in the classroom to promote students’ critical thinking or higher order thinking skills.
• Create a classroom culture that nurtures thinking and inquiry.
• Engage students in using Costa’s Levels of Thinking to think more deeply and broadly.
• Teach students to identify and employ the strategies and skills of successful learners.

Resource

Socratic Seminar for Inquiry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_cMLxT71AQ&feature=youtu.be

Philosophical Chairs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY2LVPlFU5U&feature=youtu.be

Collaboration

In an educational context, collaboration affords students the opportunity to work with peers in various group configurations as they engage subject matter across content areas. Collaboration is essential for student success as it entails experiencing the challenges and opportunities associated with a diversity of perspectives and working styles, which can deepen metacognitive thinking, accelerate learning, and broader perspective. Utilizing collaborative structures to provide students with the opportunity to work with different peers—from diverse backgrounds and with varying experiences—strengthens not only the class community but enriches the learning experience for every student involved. Using these resources, learners will be able to:

• Create a community using collaborative structures
• Explain how collaboration supports and honors student differences that benefit the classroom community
• Engage students in creating and monitoring the norms for successful collaboration
• Develop students’ abilities to utilize collaborative structures

Resource

File:Collaborative Groups.pdf

Organization

The process of becoming an organized person can begin by learning skills and systems for managing materials. Students (and educators) are often frustrated by lost assignments, inability to find materials, and general disorganization. As proficiency with an organizational system for materials increases and begins to eliminate these frustrations, the benefits of organization become apparent. In turn, this can motivate persistent use of these skills and systems and development of long-term organizational routines, which translates to college and career readiness. Using these resources, learners will be able to:

• Develop students’ skills around the use of tools for organizing materials
• Support students as they synthesize these tools into a system for organizing materials
• Provide accountability for routine use of these systems, refining them, and adapting them to any task/goal requiring organization

Another component of organization is, focused note-taking, which empowers students to take charge of their learning. When teaching the focused note-taking process, educators need to determine how students will use their notes and set up the format appropriately. Thus, using these resources, educators will be able to:

• Teach and facilitate the five phases of the note-taking process to maximize student learning
• Integrate collaboration into the note-taking process so students are engaged in learning content and have the opportunity to learn from one another
• Teach students best practices for note-taking that ensure students’ notes are a tool for learning
• Reading and Writing are at the core of the WICOR Instructional process. Therefore, they form the pivot around which all the other components of WICOR revolve.

Resource

Note Taking

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1silINJDu2X9Qwqsf8RsVzCYI-MEYNoWM/view?usp=sharing

Reading

Reading

Directions:

 1. Read the Portfolio of Lessons. 
 2. Annotation- highlight instructional strategies that induce engagement and relationship building.
 3. As you read, write down any questions you have. 
                   

Portfolio of Lessons https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gOUtq1XvtBGSaAH7ncEWoQgGkY41jg9aSZez19tISNU/edit?usp=sharing

Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport

An essential skill of teaching is that of managing relationships with students and ensuring that relationships among students are positive and supportive. Teachers create an environment of respect and rapport in their classrooms by the ways they interact with students and by the interactions they encourage and cultivate among students. An important aspect of respect and rapport relates to how the teacher responds to students and how students are permitted to treat one another. Patterns of interactions are critical to the overall tone of the class. In a respectful environment, all students feel valued, safe, and comfortable taking intellectual risks. They do not fear put-downs or ridicule from either the teacher or other students.

“Respect” shown to the teacher by students should be distinguished from students complying with standards of conduct and behavior. Caring interactions among teachers and students are the hallmark Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport; while adherence to the established classroom rules characterizes success in Managing Student Behavior. Through Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading, students are engaged instruction which enables teachers to monitor students, conference with them and help build quality relationships.

Resource Helping Trios

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TC8NQnBcFQGuVFO1bBty6ChQG3WmIOgX/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13IQkH2pdb3GLFP3Vozd-W-iMycm3aUcj/view?usp=sharing

Learner Review

Directions:

                   1. Write a 2 page refection on the lesson, answering all the questions in the questions section.
                   2. Discuss your reflective piece with a group (3 people) of participant for this lesson.
                   3. After your discussion, give feedback to each other on what was missed or any other noticings

(Reading & Writing)  (Inquiry Questions)- 
            * What ideas from the portfolio speaks to relationship building?             
            * How do the portfolio lessons speak to designing a Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization & Reading lessons?
            * What evidence from the lessons aids student engagement?                              
            * What questions or concerns do you still have about exploratory learning after reading these articles?

References

Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998b). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80 (2): 139-148.

Bransford, J. D., & Schwartz, D. L. (1999). Chapter 3: Rethinking transfer: A simple proposal with multiple implications. Review of research in education, 24(1), 61-100. Danielson, C. (2011). Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching. ASCD.

Houts, P. S., Doak, C. C., Doak, L. G., & Loscalzo, M. J. (2006). The role of pictures in improving health communication: a review of research on attention, comprehension, recall, and adherence. Patient education and counseling, 61(2), 173-190.