OLD-Professional Development
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Effective Practices
- PL Toolkit
- PL-1 Develops Student Learning Goals
- PL-2 Data-driven instruction
- PL-3 Design Effective Lesson Plans, Units & Assessments
- I-1 Objective Driven Lessons
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I-2 Check for Understanding
- Assess Mastery
- Begin with the End
- Checkpoints
- Chunking Text
- Closure
- Cold Call
- Exit Ticket
- Graphic Organizer
- Guided Practice
- Non-Verbal Signals
- Open-Ended Responses
- Post It
- Randomizing Responses
- Right is Right
- Running Roster
- Stretch It
- Structured Peer Conversation
- Student Conferences
- Student-Generated Questions
- Teach Back
-
I-3 Differentiation
- Chunking Text
- Double Plan
- Exit Ticket
- Flexible Grouping
- Graphic Organizer
- Grappling
- HOT Question
- Independent Practice
- Leveled Text
- Multimedia
- Open-Ended Responses
- Post It
- Product Menus
- Right is Right
- Running Roster
- Stretch It
- Structured Peer Conversation
- Student-Generated Questions
- Take a Stand
- Tiered Assignments
- Workstations
- I-4 Higher Level Thinking
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I-5 Maximizing Instructional Time
- 100 Percent
- Academic Posture
- Call and Response
- Cold Call
- Do Now
- Entry Routine
- Exit Routine
- Job Assignments
- Material Organization
- Non-Verbal Interventions
- Non-Verbal Signals
- Open-Ended Responses
- Pacing Tools
- Right is Right
- Stretch It
- Strong Voice
- Student Conference
- Teach Back
- Tight Transitions
- Work the Clock
- Workstations
- I-6 Communicating Content/Concepts
- I-7 High Academic Expectations
-
I-8 Student Engagement
- Academic Posture
- Call and Response
- Closure
- Cold Call
- Do Now
- Engage and Connect
- Graphic Organizer
- HOT Question
- Independent Practice
- J-Factor
- Job Assignments
- Leveled Text
- Non-Verbal Signals
- Open-Ended Responses
- Product Menus
- Randomizing Responses
- Real-World Connections
- Reinforcers
- Structured Peer Conversation
- Student-Generated Questions
- Workstations
- Work Hard, Get Smart
- I-9 Classroom Management
- I-10 Classroom Climate
- Literacy Routines
- Academics
- Swivl Pilot Program
- Professional Development
Description
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Take a Stand involves getting students to express a personal stance or opinion on answers that other students in the class have given. It motivates everyone to do as much mental work as the student who is actually answering the question. After a student has given a response to a question, teachers should follow up by asking the rest of the class to “take a stand,” challenging the students to further their thinking by defending their position or elaborating with a rationale. Take a Stand helps students process more content, keeps students engaged, and helps the teacher see how indicative of the rest of the class an individual student’s answer is. Teachers using this practice should aim to make the classroom a place where errors are accepted and the challenge of disagreement is praised and celebrated.
- Determine the objective of the lesson.
- Mark several places in the lesson plan where more participation could be achieved with Take a Stand, and create questions that will allow students to take a particular position. Questions can be evaluative ("How many of you think Sandra is correct?), or analytic ("Can anyone tell me how Sandra can make sure her solution is correct?").
- Ask the questions during the lesson.
- Invite the student or group of students to take a stand. Examples of ways to solicit student responses include:
- “Thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs sideways”
- “Two snaps if you agree, two stomps if you don’t”
- “Stand up if you agree.”
- Periodically ask students to defend their responses. Ask questions like:
- “Why?”
- “What made you think that way?”
- “How did you arrive at that position?”
- “What influenced your opinion?”
- “What would make you change your mind?”
- Praise and acknowledge students for participating to encourage future participation.
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Alerts
Sometimes it is challenging for teachers to hold back their own opinions, so try not to give any hints or show bias towards one opinion or another as these cues can easily influence the response of students.
Remember to have students Take a Stand at times when the original answer was right and at times when it was wrong. Use various methods to solicit responses from students, and follow up on stands of any sort to avoid letting Take a Stand become a cursory routine.
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Quick Tips
Be sure to block off enough time in the lesson for students to answer, defend, and reflect on their positions when planning.
When there are students who are not participating, script a brief reminder to students, “Since we’re all scholars, I’ll expect to see everyone’s hand. Let’s try it again.”
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Other Strategies
Classroom Debate
Students take opposing positions on a topic or issue. The teacher provides opportunities for students to research and learn about the topic/issue. Students then take a stand for one side or the other in a structured discussion over the topic where both sides have an equal opportunity to defend their position.
Classroom debates provide students with opportunities to build their skills in leadership, team building, group problem solving and oral presentation. Embedding debate skills into the curriculum increases student engagement and rigor.