The+4+Key+Components


 * // THE QUALITY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT MODEL IS COMPRISED OF 4 KEY COMPONENTS: //**




 * //1. CLEARLY IDENTIFIED KEY OUTCOMES//****:** //TQS:// 3 //(understand the subject disciplines they teach); 7 (translate curriculum content and objectives into meaningful learning activities)//


 * //Essential Questions//****:**


 * **What will students learn?**
 * **What will I do to establish and communicate the learning goals?**

- Teaching is informed by the front matter of the programs of studies.

- The teacher recognizes not all outcomes are of equal importance, therefore a teacher or team of teachers examines their programs of study to determine the essential outcomes (the rocks, sand and water outcomes).

- Instruction is focused on the essential outcomes (rocks).

- The teacher clearly communicates outcomes with students. Students are able to explain what they are supposed to be learning and why it’s important to learn the goals/outcomes.

- The outcomes drive the choice of instructional and assessment strategies. There is alignment.

- The teacher plans for cross-curricular integration whenever appropriate.

- The teacher has an understanding of “surrounding” curriculum (outcomes at the grade level below and above) – where students are coming from and going to next in their learning.

- It is important for the teacher to know the outcomes his/her students are aiming for but it may not be the same for each child in each classroom. Outcomes may need to be adapted or modified for specific students in the classroom depending on their learning needs (e.g. life/functional skills focus, social/ behavioral focus).

- The teacher recognizes that the enrolled grade outcomes may not be appropriate for all students therefore adaptations for these students may include selecting outcomes at a grade level below the enrolled grade or providing enrichment opportunities for students who are mastering or excelling within their enrolled grade.


 * 2. //BALANCED ASSESSMENT PRACTICES://** //TQS: 5 (engage in a range of planning activities); 9 (gather and use information about students’ learning needs and progress)//


 * //Essential Questions//****:**


 * **How will we know learning has occurred?**
 * **How will we collect and provide evidence of learning according to outcomes?**
 * **How will students demonstrate their learning?**
 * **How will students receive ongoing formative feedback?**
 * **How will students receive summative feedback?**

- The only way for The teacher to know if students are learning is through regular assessment. This may be formal or informal but it must reflect the instructional goals of the lesson or unit.

- Assessment must be used to adjust future teaching as it provides the teacher knowledge to tailor the learning environment to meet individual needs. Assessment must //first// be used for informing the instructional process (as a diagnostic or formative process) rather than as a means of score keeping.

- The types of assessments must match the instructional outcomes (a variety of methods are required based on the intent of the outcomes, for example: observations, learning logs, performance tasks, projects, tests, written /oral/visual communication of learning).

- The teacher engages students in the learning process by encouraging students to self-assess and think about their learning (Government of Alberta, 2011a).

- If the outcome has been adapted or modified for a student, then the assessment used to measure the achievement of the outcome must be adapted or modified as well//.//

- Criteria (in the form of scoring scales, rubrics) must be determined and created/shared with students prior to engaging in the learning process. This allows students to self-assess and encourages clear communication to students about the criteria expectations.

- Exemplars are used for reference and to guide and celebrate great student work (Curtis, 2011).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- The teacher provides meaningful, respectful, explicit and timely feedback to learners and parents and has a variety of strategies to invite family support for learning (Government of Alberta, 2011a).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- Feedback should be quick and specific for maximum effectiveness (comments, verbally and in written form).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- The most critical use of feedback is for the teacher to adjust instruction accordingly to meet the needs of individual students.

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- Many successful “at bats” – Students have ample, successful opportunities for learning so that they get to practice the outcome or goal independently. The teacher moves around the classroom constantly during independent practice to assess mastery and provide individual help (Curtis, 2011).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- Grades (summative assessment, report cards) must reflect a student’s demonstrated mastery of identified outcomes/goals (Teaching Effectiveness Framework).


 * 3. //PURPOSEFUL INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES://** //TQS: 1 (application of pedagogical knowledge);3 (understand the subject disciplines they teach); 4 (know there are many approaches to learning); 5 (engage in a range of planning activities); 7 (translate curriculum content and objectives into meaningful learning activities); TQS: 8 (apply a variety of technologies to meet student’s learning needs)//


 * //Essential Questions//****:**


 * **What will I do to develop effective lessons organized into a cohesive unit?**
 * **What activities will enable students to learn?**

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- The teacher implements new ideas, theories and techniques that engage learners in inquiry and problem solving (Government of Alberta, 2011a).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- The teacher designs and facilitates a variety of purposeful group and individual structures that facilitate student engagement and make content meaningful (Government of Alberta, 2011a).

<span style="color: red; font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 15px;">- <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">The teacher uses a varied repertoire of strategies (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, etc.) to meet the diverse learning styles and needs in the classroom <span style="color: red; font-family: 'calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">.

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- The teacher selects instructional strategies purposefully based on the outcome(s) and needs of their students.

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- The teacher must understand how, when and why to use a particular instructional strategy (Goodwin, 2011). Strategies are purposefully selected to:


 * 1) Motivate and focus learning actively and authentically
 * 2) Introduce new knowledge
 * 3) Deepen and expand knowledge
 * 4) Check for understanding and guide learning and reteaching (Goodwin, 2011, p. 32).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 15px;">- <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">The teacher can clearly articulate the rationale for selecting the instructional strategy utilized.

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 15px;">- <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Planned, rigorous questions guide student learning – The teacher plans his/her key questions in advance which reflect a range of question types consisting of both lower-level knowledge (recall and basic comprehension), and higher-level (application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). Questions are posed with maximum student participation and engagement.

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 15px;">- <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">A rigorous learning environment is established. The work students engage with requires them to be active, reflective and collaborative with each other and connect their learning to the real world (Westerberg, 2009).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 15px;">- <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">The teacher purposefully uses technological resources to enhance and support instruction, assessment and learning.

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 15px;">- <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">As new technologies prove useful and become available in schools (including assistive technologies), the teacher develops his/her own and his/her students’ proficiencies in using the technologies purposefully.


 * 4. PERSONALIZATION OF LEARNING:** //TQS: 4 (know there are many approaches to learning)//


 * //Essential Question://**


 * **What will I do to build on students’ individual strengths and passions?**

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- “The basic difference between personalized learning and individualized learning lies in the control. In personalized learning, control lies largely with the students; in individualized learning, control lies with adults” (Goodwin, 2011, p. 36).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- Personalized learning is a combination of teaching strategies which include: //differentiated instruction, backward design// (beginning with the end goal in mind, designing the criteria and then building the steps, strategies, content and skills towards the learning product) and //authentic instruction and assessment// (DiMartino & Clarke, 2008).

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'times','serif';">- Personalized learning includes opportunities for:


 * Students to build on individual strengths and achievements, to pursue their passions and interests, and learn in ways that are consistent with their individual learning styles and which are developmentally appropriate.
 * Authentic learning experiences for students that include and extend beyond traditional education settings that enable students to apply their learning in real-life contexts (DiMartino & Clarke, 2008; Government of Alberta, 2010b).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- Personalized teaching is based on the belief that each student is unique and strives to build on this (DiMartino & Clarke, 2008).

<span style="font-family: 'times','serif';">- The teacher makes connections to students’ interests, background and needs to help connect learners and important content (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006).

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'times','serif';">- Personalized teaching involves:


 * The teachers working to ensure the needs of every student are met. Differentiation involves “differentiating the intensity of instruction according to student needs and mastery of content” – checking for understanding during instruction, identifying those students who are experiencing difficulty, providing those students with additional instruction and support (Goodwin, 2011, p. 43).