Contextual Teaching and Learning
2015 NDE DAY ADMINISTRATORS’DAYS
How do you respond when a student asks… Why do I need to learn this?
How do you respond when a teacher asks… What’s the best way to teach my content standards?
Contextual Teaching & Learning “…enables students to connect the content of academic subjects with the immediate context of their daily lives to discover meaning.” (Johnson, p.24, 2002)
Contextual Teaching & Learning • Meaning emerges from the relationship between content and context • A teacher’s job is to provide context • Learning “in order to know” should not be separated from “learning in order to do”
Components of CTL 1. 2. 3. 4.
Making meaningful connections Doing significant work Self-regulated learning Collaborating
Components of CTL – cont. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Critical & creative thinking Nurturing the individual Reaching high standards Using authentic assessment
Framed by Science • Interdependence • Differentiation • Self-Organization
What does it look like? • Students in a world history class placed into groups to create historically accurate travel brochures for specific places within a specified time-period (e.g., California in 1848) • Students in a construction class tasked with writing a proposal to a local school district to build an addition to an existing building, including cost estimates, timeline, sketches, etc.
How can we help students master the Nebraska English Language Arts Standards through context?
LA 8.1.6.a Analyze the meaning, reliability, and validity of text considering author's purpose and perspective.
• How could we help a student learn this standard in a contextual experience? – What would instruction of this standard look like in a non-ELA classroom? How can it be reinforced in a non-ELA classroom? – What’s the value?
How Does It Align with AQuESTT?
How Does It Align with AQuESTT? College & Career Ready • Infuses rigorous college & career ready standards into all content areas • Promotes technological & digital readiness • Supports career awareness and career/college goals
Assessment • Individualized/ adaptive • Authentic, classroombased • Supports statewide assessments • Prepares students to be more competitive and prepared on and for national/international assessments (ACT, SAT)
How Does It Align with AQuESTT? Educator Effectiveness • Improves pedagogy • Provides a foundation for building-wide collaboration and professional development • Creates tools for leadership • Breaks down instructional barriers between content areas
HOW CAN WE LEARN MORE?
English Language Arts Standards Instructional Tool • Content specific teaching strategies that support ELA standards across all disciplines
English Language Arts Standards Instructional Tool • Part 1:
– ELA teachers wrote strategies that support the Nebraska ELA Standards • 9-10 Grade Band, Indicator Level
• Part 2:
– Content teachers contextualized the strategies written in Part 1
• For example, how would the specific strategy be used in a science classroom? A fine arts classroom? A health science classroom? http://bit.ly/NDEStandardsTool
Turnkey PLC • NDE webinar series, hosted and created by Catapult Learning • Built on foundational and contextualized strategies developed by Nebraska teachers • Individual and group options • Additional documents for leadership and support
Topics for Webinars • Core Instructional Model* • Formative Assessment* • Monitoring and Adjusting Instruction* • Close Reading • RAFT • Text Coding/Think Alouds *Foundational Series
• Self-Check Paragraph Writing • Peer Editing • Class Glossary Mixer • QAR • Inquiry-Research Process Writing • Informative Speaking
THINK BROADER Holistic view of each student Equal access to information Collective impact
EXPERIENCE BOLDER New system for measurement Customized for Nebraska Outcome-based approach
BE BETTER Continuous improvement Sharing of best practices Focused on every student, every day
Let us know how we can help! Cory Epler, Ph.D. Director, Curriculum & Instruction [email protected] Tricia Parker, M.Ed. Director of Language Arts Education [email protected]
References Johnson, E.B. (2002). Contextual Teaching and Learning: What It Is and Why It’s Here to Stay. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Nebraska Department of Education. (2015) AQuESTT for Nebraska: Accountability for a Quality Educational System, Today and Tomorrow. Retrieved from http://aquestt.com/.
How do you respond when a student asks… Why do I need to learn this?
How do you respond when a teacher asks… What’s the best way to teach my content standards?
Contextual Teaching & Learning “…enables students to connect the content of academic subjects with the immediate context of their daily lives to discover meaning.” (Johnson, p.24, 2002)
Contextual Teaching & Learning • Meaning emerges from the relationship between content and context • A teacher’s job is to provide context • Learning “in order to know” should not be separated from “learning in order to do”
Components of CTL 1. 2. 3. 4.
Making meaningful connections Doing significant work Self-regulated learning Collaborating
Components of CTL – cont. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Critical & creative thinking Nurturing the individual Reaching high standards Using authentic assessment
Framed by Science • Interdependence • Differentiation • Self-Organization
What does it look like? • Students in a world history class placed into groups to create historically accurate travel brochures for specific places within a specified time-period (e.g., California in 1848) • Students in a construction class tasked with writing a proposal to a local school district to build an addition to an existing building, including cost estimates, timeline, sketches, etc.
How can we help students master the Nebraska English Language Arts Standards through context?
LA 8.1.6.a Analyze the meaning, reliability, and validity of text considering author's purpose and perspective.
• How could we help a student learn this standard in a contextual experience? – What would instruction of this standard look like in a non-ELA classroom? How can it be reinforced in a non-ELA classroom? – What’s the value?
How Does It Align with AQuESTT?
How Does It Align with AQuESTT? College & Career Ready • Infuses rigorous college & career ready standards into all content areas • Promotes technological & digital readiness • Supports career awareness and career/college goals
Assessment • Individualized/ adaptive • Authentic, classroombased • Supports statewide assessments • Prepares students to be more competitive and prepared on and for national/international assessments (ACT, SAT)
How Does It Align with AQuESTT? Educator Effectiveness • Improves pedagogy • Provides a foundation for building-wide collaboration and professional development • Creates tools for leadership • Breaks down instructional barriers between content areas
HOW CAN WE LEARN MORE?
English Language Arts Standards Instructional Tool • Content specific teaching strategies that support ELA standards across all disciplines
English Language Arts Standards Instructional Tool • Part 1:
– ELA teachers wrote strategies that support the Nebraska ELA Standards • 9-10 Grade Band, Indicator Level
• Part 2:
– Content teachers contextualized the strategies written in Part 1
• For example, how would the specific strategy be used in a science classroom? A fine arts classroom? A health science classroom? http://bit.ly/NDEStandardsTool
Turnkey PLC • NDE webinar series, hosted and created by Catapult Learning • Built on foundational and contextualized strategies developed by Nebraska teachers • Individual and group options • Additional documents for leadership and support
Topics for Webinars • Core Instructional Model* • Formative Assessment* • Monitoring and Adjusting Instruction* • Close Reading • RAFT • Text Coding/Think Alouds *Foundational Series
• Self-Check Paragraph Writing • Peer Editing • Class Glossary Mixer • QAR • Inquiry-Research Process Writing • Informative Speaking
THINK BROADER Holistic view of each student Equal access to information Collective impact
EXPERIENCE BOLDER New system for measurement Customized for Nebraska Outcome-based approach
BE BETTER Continuous improvement Sharing of best practices Focused on every student, every day
Let us know how we can help! Cory Epler, Ph.D. Director, Curriculum & Instruction [email protected] Tricia Parker, M.Ed. Director of Language Arts Education [email protected]
References Johnson, E.B. (2002). Contextual Teaching and Learning: What It Is and Why It’s Here to Stay. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Nebraska Department of Education. (2015) AQuESTT for Nebraska: Accountability for a Quality Educational System, Today and Tomorrow. Retrieved from http://aquestt.com/.
