TLC Updates from Kathy and Dana

Update from the Teaching Learning Cycle (TLC) Trainings

From Kathy Devendorf and Dana Lott

·      The “Study” phase has been our big topic for the first three sessions.

·      Important understandings about the study phase:

o   This is not yet about the “what” of teaching (that is considered the planning phase); instead, the study phase addresses the “why” and the “how.”

o   These conversations set purpose for our work with students.

·      Some of you are already participating in this phase of the Teaching Learning Cycle, but we are learning strategies for deepening our understanding of it.

·      We’ve written a few sample Enduring Understandings regarding writing so that you can get a feel for how they sound.

o   We’ve purposely made them:

§  General, broad, philosophical

§  In kid-friendly language—ultimately, we want to share these with students

§  Reaching all grade levels in our building

·      These are only samples of what teams can come up with during the study phase

·      These will be posted in the theater area for us all to view

·      The district may be releasing a few very broad “interdisciplinary” Enduring Understandings (EU’s), but for them to “give these to us” would contradict the purpose for coming up with them in our teams.

·      Most recently, the focus of our trainings have focused on rigor and relevance- these were our group’s definitions based on an activity we did:

o   Rigor=begin with high expectations, focus on deep learning for students, quality vs. quantity

o   Relevance=making connections, kids being able to authentically/genuinely answer the “why are we doing this” question, enthusiasm and passion for a topic are apparent, teachers are able to “hook” the learners

The TLC is not “going away” from the district anytime soon.  It is our primary framework for all of the interactions we have with each other and our students.  We (Kathy and Dana) are a support for accessing ideas for implementation with your teams and colleagues.  We would be happy to meet with you to share more specific materials and information of you are interested. (We don’t want to give materials out of context, as that just gives everyone extra paper. J)  We are all in different places in the TLC process, and we don’t want this to be “one more thing” to get to, since so much is going on in the building right now,

Some materials we have available:

·      Suggested materials to bring to a study session based on content area

·      Unit planner to capture a study conversation

·      Quotes that define what rigor and relevance are

·      TLC Rubric for the study phase

·      DVD recording of a team working in the study phase for a math unit (coming soon)

·      Articles that help define the big ideas in the study phase

That is our quick synopsis for now.  More will come as we have future training sessions.  If you have nay questions, please feel free to see Dana and/or Kathy!  Thanks for reading!