Studying Skillful Teaching, Wiedel, Summer 2019 (Chittenden County)

Note: Please register directly with Research for Better Teaching. Tuition payment due and payable to Research for Better Teaching (RBT). Please notify RBT that you wish to take the course for credit and RBT will give you the link to Castleton's online registration.

Course Description

This course is foundational in building teachers’ capacity – the knowledge and skills as well as the courage and conviction - to promote learning and increased achievement. It is based on the belief that teaching is a process of decision-making, not a prescriptive list of do’s and dont's; skillful teachers never stop learning through experimentation, data analysis, study, and collegial sharing about what works best for their students. While providing an overview to a comprehensive model of the knowledge base on teaching, Studying Skillful Teaching: Using Data Day to Day focuses on a few areas in depth;

1) Planning lessons that are clear and accessible to all students:
2) Communicating high expectations; and
3) Using a variety of assessments to inform planning, teaching, and reflecting on lessons.

Participants will learn both how to collect and analyze data and how to respond to data by drawing on research-based instructional strategies. In addition, a strong theme throughout the course is strengthening understanding and respect for our students’ diverse cultural backgrounds.

There are no prerequisites for the course.

Course Objectives

This course will address the dispositions of the Conceptual Framework in the following way(s):

Knowledge: As a result of the learning experiences in the course, you will become more cognizant of:

• A framework for studying and reflecting on the complex relationship between teaching and learning - the Knowledge Base on Teaching.

• Pedagogy and a varied repertoire for engaging all students in learning experiences that enable them to synthesize complex knowledge and skills and meet standards and expectations.

• A framework for establishing a classroom and a school environment in which students respect and affirm their own and others’ differences, and are supported to share and explore differences and similarities related to background, identity, language, strengths, and challenges.

• Dimensions by which to know students – academically, culturally, meta-cognitively, and personally.

• Classroom cultures and routines that create and maintain intellectual environments where students take academic risks and play an active role—individually and collectively—in promoting ownership of their learning.

• Student self-assessments to identify strengths, interests, and needs - how to ask for support, take risks, embrace challenge, determine learning goals, monitor progress and adjust effort.

• Constructive feedback loops with students that create dialogue about performance, progress, and improvement.

Collaborative protocols that allow teachers to analyze student work, to reflect on instructional decisions that influence student learning, and to plan appropriate next steps in student learning.

Please contact the Vermont Learning Collaborative for a complete syllabus or a list of required texts.

For additional course and registration information

Pat Wiedel
540-287-4039

Register online now!