Webinar #2 - Discussion
by Joanna Schimizzi 2 years, 7 months agoEngage in discussion by commenting and replying to someone else in the discusion board:
- What are common reasons for misalignment/incomplete alignment?
- How can the #GoOpenUSVI platform foster productive discussion about different viewpoints regarding resource alignment?
- How does (could) your PLC use alignment discussions in your planning cycles?
Common reasons for misalignment/incomplete alignment are:
The #GoOpenUSVI platform will provide a medium to facilitate robust discussions of varying viewpoints regarding resource alignment.
My professional learning community uses alignment discussions in planning our learning cycles by reviewing content of prior knowledge from prior courses and anticipating upcoming objectives and the foundation necessary to be successful.
Mario I turly like all of your reasons for misalignment. This could be a rich round table discussion. I would just love to hear ideas of others and to have an action plan to start changing the culture. Let us begin to merge the subject areas together to pull out the standards that can be seen and expressed in the different disciplines.
I agree Ms. Emmanuel. The merging the subject together to pull out the standards is useful to start with.
Very thourough explanation. I definitely agree.
I have to agree that lack of opportunites for collaboration and sharing among peers in support of the change can be a common reason also.
Mario, I like your response to the question for common reasons for misalignment/incomplete alignment. I do agree with your second and last bullets of lack of training and no support of the curriculum. I do believe those reasons can be the top reasons.
I will have to say working in isolation. Teachers and teaching taking on a closed door inheritance (one teacher doing it all). It is easy to misalign concepts and the flow of what needs to be taught to a student if teaching continues to be an isolated process.
Once this platform becomes a familiar and comfortable place for educators, parents, students, and stakeholders in the education process to respectfully and productively express views and ideas about education, then the ideas of what the community really needs and expect from its young, can begin to change the focus and style of teaching and learning in our schools.
When I hear alignment, alignment to the standards come to mind. However I am also thinking that alignment to the students’ needs are critical. Our PLC must be driven by data and that data can only come from the students’ performance. Therefore our focus standards should be picked out based on the needs of the student population. The students must be the focus of any instruction.
I agree with your postion. We need to be provded the time to allow for this necessary collaboration.
PLC should also be focus on data. Sufficent data as you mention to be able to meet the needs of all learners,
I do agree that we need to also look at the students' needs. I don't agree with solely using the data to drive our decisions. Based on experience and through professional discussions, I have found that there are students falling on varying areas of the spectrum which makes the data uncertain.
-Lack of fidelity with the curriculum
- Areas not covered in the curriculum that then creates gap.
- Barriers between teachers - teachers struggling with conflicts during collaborative opportunities.
- Resources can be shared and teachers can give their feedback as to what work and did not work in the instructional learning. You can also clarify which factors support or prevent allignment by viewing and aligning the resources with a colleague.It also helps to have an alignment between grade levels to support achievement.
How does (could) your PLC use alignment discussions in your planning cycles?
By sharing concerns
Working together to create developmentally appropriate tasks that are aligned to curricular expectations.
Discussing student needs
I really appreciate your response. However, as a coordinator, there are times that we ask for assistance from teachers and get no response. Right now we are in the process of reviewing the Elementary Math Curriculum but we are getting little feedback from teahers. That feedback would grealty assist in finding any gaps or overlaps in the curriculum. WOrk like this fosters collaboration among all stakeholders.
I think common reasons for misalignment/incomplete alignment are first, lack of understanding or lack of information about the alignment process and that of the standards.
The #GoOpenUSVI platform can foster productive discussions regarding resources by it allows academic professionals from different grade levels and skill sets to share their views and experiences about a common resource.
My PLC can use the alignment discussions in the planning cycles by helping the teachers share their views on different resources which can help them gain other perspectives on those resources.
2. How can the #GoOpenUSVI platform foster productive discussion about different viewpoints regarding resource alignment?
This site gives teachers the opportunity to have other professionals check and give feedback to a certain resource which will be of big use to the alignment process.