OR Use Math Learning Standard Series

Using Integrated Instruction to Accelerate Learning Support Materials for Sharing with Colleagues Our presenters, Greg Brazell and Lynette Hanson from Pierce College in Washington, team teach a course on Early Childhood Education (ECE).

Greg and Lynette overlap 100% in the ECE course. Lynette also teaches the basic skills/ ESL students for 5 additional hours of academic support. Greg overlaps 25% in her classroom. Models of integrated instruction vary in how much instructor overlap there is.

Greg and Lynette shared their expertise with the group.

First, participants brainstormed what they already knew and what they wanted to know about integrated instruction. This activated everyone’s prior knowledge and helped them identify their own learning questions.

1. Engaged learning: Students learn through authentic tasks and materials: writing a newsletter for parents, accident report on an injured child, keeping records, etc. In our class, disruption, frustration, and absenteeism dropped. 2. Marriage of ABE and content: They are woven together. The content provides the context for learning the ABE. 3. Contextualized learning: Not pulling out random contexts to use; the context is clearly the professional applications. 4. Focus on learner needs and identity: Help students realize that they belong there/can do it, help them feel like “college students.” 5. Soft skills training: Students become part of a team (modeled by instructors); they learn that we don’t all think alike and have to work through barriers with each other. It includes showing up for work, expressing needs effectively. 6. Transferring new knowledge: Discuss how what’s learned can be used in a variety of real-life situations – not just the one practiced. Use the Discussion Questions for Modules 5 and 7 to initiate the value discussions that instructors need to have in order to understand their own perspectives. Here are some points that were made during the preconference discussions:

Module 5  Define, explain, and model everything. Non- IBEST students benefit from this as well.  Need to teach the college culture – financial aid, syllabus, family support  Effective instruction requires building relationships.  Education is a second language. They all feel like impostors.  Use peer learning so that students can support each other – easier to reveal that you don’t know something.

Module 7  Do educational interviews to find out students’ preparation/experience with college.  Take them to the resources: the writing center, financial aid office.  Teachers need to appreciate that providing support is part of their job.  Need to train instructors to support student learning, not just disseminate their content.  Need to prepare students for generic college readiness (not just this team class). Integrated instruction requires on-going instructor collaboration to plan, implement, and evaluate an integrated curriculum.

Programs need to find technical content instructors that buy in to the belief that all students can and should be served, and basic skill instructors who know how to make difficult materials (texts, lectures, assignments) accessible to students.

The I-BEST model includes at least 50% teacher overlap in instruction (both teachers together in one class). However, where team teaching is not possible, teachers can plan together to integrate the objectives/outcomes for a course that will then be taught by one instructor.

An on-line course focused on Team Teaching is in development and will be offered during the winter of 2012.

Here’s an introduction to the six models. Traditional team teaching modeled: Greg lectures about the EC theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. While he’s talking, Lynette creates a Venn diagram on the board based on what he’s teaching.

This technique:  Makes explicit what’s often implicit in the curriculum  Teaches that you need to write things down  Models using a graphic organizer  Addresses diverse learning styles.

This was modeled by a teaching team, but one instructor could do it alone.

Collaborative teaching modeled: Greg lectures on effective discipline - teaching self-control rather than by setting and enforcing rules.

Greg and Lynette have a planned, respectful conversation about which approach they believe in, modeling a constructive give and take, active listening, and reconsideration of their own views in light of new perspectives. (Lynette front-loaded some instruction on summarizing a point.) Complementary/Supportive Team teaching: Greg lectures on the value of play. Lynette follows up by talking about how to put a poster together for a childcare center (discussing grammar, design, photo release, plagiarism).

Parallel instruction modeled: Greg talks about spanking. They split the group by whether or not they agree with spanking so that they can have their own discussions. Each group presents its position. Their assignment is to write a position paper on a debatable topic (Lynette preps them for the assignment – finding articles, what’s fact/opinion, summarization, using computer to find information, representing a view that’s not your own.)

Differentiated Split class modeled: Greg talks about setting up an indoor learning environment. WA law says we need 35 sq. feet per student. What does that mean? How do we figure it out? Split the group by level of understanding of area and perimeter. Higher level works on more complex problem. Monitoring teacher modeled: Greg talks about food as art. Is it okay? Students debate at tables. No: Allergies, throwing out food, kids learn that putting food in glue is okay, or that playing with food at the table is okay. Yes: Tactile, motor skills, you can eat your mistakes, art has no definition, creative, motivational Assignment 1: Need to write a letter to parents about this issue. Assignment 2: Write a paragraph about whether you changed your mind or not (and why).

The process that Greg and Lynette use to integrate instruction is to look at the expected outcomes from their respective courses.

We looked at the Integrated Basic Skill Outcomes they use and the Outcome Guides for two courses: ECE 215 (Art for Young Children) and ECE 240 (Nutrition, Health & Safety for Young Children).

Crosswalking the two sets of Course Outcomes should go both ways. Greg showed us how they identify a Basic Skill Competency and then look for the ECE Outcomes for which that Competency would be needed.

In their “food as art” lesson, they practiced this competency so that they could meet ECE Outcome #10: “Discuss the ethics and cultural implications of using food as art in centers for children.”

Every time you give an assignment, you’re addressing several ABE competencies. For example, in Culinary Arts, students need to measure ingredients proportionally. Showing the measurements on a pie chart addressed ABE skills. In Basic Sanitation, learning about the qualities of antiseptics also involved ABE practice of prefixes and of calculating ratios of bleach to water.

Here’s another example from the Pierce Course Outcomes. As you are designing your course, you should carry out this process in both directions: 1. Find the Basic Skill outcomes that match up with each Content outcome, and 2. Find the Content outcomes that match up with each Basic Skill outcome.

This will give you ideas for course assignments and classroom activities. It will also alert you to gaps – outcomes that have no matches and need to be addressed in another way.

Now crosswalk your own Outcomes documents to help you develop an integrated course plan.

(This topic will be explored further in the online Team Teaching course.)

Challenges we discussed:  There are some competencies that can’t be contextualized – this is where ABE pullout fits.  It’s easier to contextualize English than math. Students that get contextualized math are less fearful of math. In College Welding Math, the IBEST students made twice the gains as non- IBEST.  Instructors need to help students transfer their learning out of the narrow course context and into other life situations. The National College Transitions Network (NCTN) uses a four-part model of college readiness for adults. It includes:

Academic Readiness - the possession of the content knowledge, and study skills and strategies needed to do college level reading, writing and algebra. Career Readiness - the ability to articulate a realistic goal that is aligned with labor market data and identify the steps along one's education and career pathway. College Knowledge - the ability to navigate college culture and admissions and financial aid processes. Personal Readiness - the ability to anticipate challenges and secure supports proactively, and juggle multiple commitments while managing stress and time. Group Q & A

Q: What’s the benefit of two teachers if you’re a good teacher? A: The content instructor is not an ABE specialist. This model brings together two sets of expertise.

Q: What gets lost when you merge two courses? Are you dumbing down the content? A: This model improves the quality of instruction. Content instructors often have to repeat material over and over because they didn’t provide enough support to students the first time around. It takes longer to get through a lesson, but by doing it better, we save ourselves the time it takes for repetition. The integrity of the integrated course is better; we don’t have two compromised courses.

Q: Do you need even number of instructors to match up? A: No, Lynette works with several content instructors.

Q: Does the ABE instructor need to know the content? A: No, it can be beneficial not to know anything because then can ask questions that students would have.

Q: Over time, as you learn more about each other’s content, can one teacher teach the class? Is team teaching a transitional model? A: I-BEST sees an evolution. It’s become clear that content instructors need PD in effective instruction. Student outcomes will improve if content instructors improve their teaching. Eventually, perhaps we’ll be able to have “integrated” instructors that can teach as effectively on their own.

Q: What is the entry level of the I-BEST students? A: This varies by college, but our I-BEST is ABE/ESL levels 4, 5, 6. We do an entry interview that includes goal-setting. At the end of the quarter, we interview again to discuss what they need to work on.

Q: How do you share the grading? A: The two instructors may grade one paper for different things, using rubrics. Greg grades for content; Lynette grades for language use. Lynette works with students to improve the assignments they turn in. For final grades, the course content outcomes need to be met. CASAS scores are also reported.

Q: How do you support GED completion in the integrated classes? A: Online tools (GED prep, remedial math and reading/writing) help to build the tech skills needed for new GED. We work to help students see the GED as a stackable credential rather than the end goal. In integrated courses we say, “You are working on your 2-year degree right now.”