Teacher Support Is Just a Click Away! - Paradise Valley Unified ...

Teacher Support Is Just a Click Away! Creating an Interactive Resource Site for Today’s Teachers

Dina Brulles Karen L. Brown

This article describes one school district department’s efforts to train and support teachers in providing effective curriculum, instruction, and assessment methods to their students. This large, K–12 district embraces the spectrum of low to high SES schools, a large number of gifted students from diverse populations, and a variety of gifted programs. Combined, these lead to the need to develop dynamic and readily accessible resources for teachers. Arizona is one of many states that provide no funding for gifted education, which severely limits opportunities for teacher training and curriculum development. However, gifted students need curriculum and instruction that reaches beyond what is typically available in schools; they need accelerated content and enrichment opportunities that embed critical and creative thinking. While these elements are crucial for gifted students, they are useful for all students’ instruction. Through a Gifted Resource Site, these resources are made available to all teachers in the dis-

Dina Brulles (Ph.D.) is Gifted Education Director for the Paradise Valley Unified School District and Gifted Program Coordinator at Arizona State University. Her publications include The Cluster Grouping Handbook: How to Challenge Gifted Students and Improve Achievement for All; Teaching Gifted Kids in Today’s Classroom; Helping All Gifted Children Learn; and numerous articles, chapters, and multimedia courses (e-mail: dbrulles@pvschools.net). Karen L. Brown (M.S.) is the Gifted Program Mentor for the Paradise Valley Unified School District. Mrs. Brown consults with districts on Curriculum Mapping, Common Core Curriculum Implementation, and Differentiation Strategies. She works extensively with teachers to ensure that the instruction and curriculum provides the appropriate challenge and support for all students (e-mail: karbrown@pvschools.net).

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY/July–August 2013

trict using pvLearners, the district’s Google-based intranet site. The Gifted Education Department of the Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD), located in Phoenix, Arizona, developed a creative, effective, and cost-efficient system for constructing and providing training and resources from within the district. The Gifted Resource Site discussed in this article was developed using Google Groups and tools, free resources accessible to schools throughout the world. The resource site expands weekly as teachers continue to access, utilize, request, and contribute suggestions for increasing and enhancing its resources. The intuitive ease of using Google tools accounts for much of the success in this endeavor. Teachers and administrators seeking to duplicate these efforts find comfort in knowing that this robust and interactive site was designed and developed by a teacher and a program administrator, neither of whom had specialized training in instructional technology.

Supporting Teachers Today To effectively reach, teach, and assess ALL students, teachers need resources, guidance, and communication…at their fingertips! We created the Gifted Resource Site (GRS) to support all teachers in the Paradise Valley Unified School District for this purpose. This rich digital repository provides a wealth of differentiated curriculum, tools to help teachers document achievement for students working at and above grade level, and numerous teacher training resources. The site provides Web-based training, a dynamic method for sharing curriculum throughout the district, differentiated lesson plans, digital resources that include videos of classroom demonstrations, examples of student-produced, technology-infused schoolwork, and videos of gifted programming options. Finding time to learn and plan new strategies are the most common challenges teachers face when attempting to differentiate curriculum and instruction. We developed this user-friendly site to overcome these obstacles. As shown in Figure 1, we organized the resources by creating tabs and links that the busy teacher can quickly access and easily maneuver. The Gifted Resource Site (GRS) includes professional development, curriculum development, instructional strategies, achievement documentation, program administration, and communication. The resources housed here support the district’s adopted curriculum and initiatives and align with grade level standards. An important feature of the resource site is its ability to provide ongoing training and resources to teachers, who can access it at their convenience. Teachers are able to participate in workshops, collaborate with each other, study archived presentations, and learn from others’ contributions. Presented here is an overview of the major categories, along with a brief description of their contents.

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Professional Development Tabs designed to further professional development include: • Online workshops • Videos of instructional strategies • Archived f2f workshop presentations • Digital resources Within these tabs, teachers can view clips of instructional strategies, see digital presentations of past workshops, quickly access Web-based tips, take professional development, and receive credit hours for online workshops. Each online workshop involves four steps: viewing the brief videos that demonstrate instructional activities, reading the posted material, answering discussion questions, and creating a lesson or resource to share on the site. Each step is hyperlinked to all of the materials needed to complete the workshop efficiently. The videos demonstrate the instructional strategies highlighted in each workshop. As shown in Figure 2, these online workshops allow teachers to access training opportunities according to their schedules. Created by PVUSD teachers using the district-adopted curriculum, the videos are uploaded in YouTube to a channel created for this purpose (titled pvGifted). Also in the professional development section is a tab titled “Going Digital,” which keeps teachers connected to new and emerging instructional technologies, methods, and activities. We also post presentations from the district’s face-toface workshops on the site so that teachers can return to study previously learned content or access material when unable to attend a workshop. We encourage teachers to take workshops with colleagues so they can learn and practice the strategies with a peer or team at their school.

Differentiated Curriculum Areas of curriculum highlighted include: • Language Arts: a scope and sequence, literary elements, essential maps, grammar/vocabulary plans, teaching schedules • Mathematics: a scope and sequence, essential maps, plans, lessons and projects, curriculum schedules, formative and summative assessment schedules, documentation forms, and procedures • Lesson extensions in core content areas for teachers K–12

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• Common Core Standards, resources, materials, and lessons While the curriculum shared on the site is primarily designed for teaching gifted students, ALL teachers find materials relevant to their instruction. One example is shown in Figure 3, where teachers can access differentiated lessons in language arts for teaching the various literary elements, curriculum maps, and grammar lessons mapped out for a day, week, or entire year. Best of all, teachers can download prepared lesson plans and activities to use with their students who are learning at varied levels, in both elementary and secondary classrooms. The same holds true for mathematics. Another critical component related to developing curriculum today concerns Common Core State Standards (CCSS). We have included a section that contains information to help teachers become familiar with Common Core and the new standards, common formative assessments (CFAs), information on PARCC assessments (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers), descriptions and examples of Depth of Knowledge in the core areas, links to pertinent resources, and FAQs for these areas.

Instructional Methods Instructional methods presented include: • Repository of differentiated lesson plans, K–12 • Lessons, plans, and resources for differentiating digitally • Gifted education instructional objectives • Methods for teaching and learning using technology After forming their flexible learning groups (see below), teachers can then access dozens of differentiated lessons organized by grade level and by content areas. Demonstrated in Figure 4, the “Lesson Extensions” section includes folders for each grade level with subfolders containing lessons categorized by the four major content areas: math, language arts, social studies, and science. The district’s teachers who participate in the workshops create lessons to post here. The lessons are aligned to the state and Common Core standards and utilize district curriculum and resources. In PVUSD, participation in technology pilots is encouraged for early adopters. Teachers and students functioning on the cutting edge with technology learn and then boost others to move beyond their traditional instructional ways to explore current trends in technology. The iPad Pilot tab seen in Figure 5 highlights one of these pilots. The district provides ubiquitous technology in classrooms for


Figure 1. The Gifted Resource Site Home Page, created with Google sites and groups.

Figure 2. Online workshops enable teachers to learn at their convenience.


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Figure 3. Curriculum/lessons archived here enable teachers to address student needs.

Figure 4. Lesson Extensions are archived by grade level and then by subject area.

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Figure 5. Pilot projects enable teachers to develop technology skills and share lessons.

Figure 6. Testing procedures posted here helps ensure that documentation is consistent.


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Figure 7. Comparison of testing data posted here informs curriculum and training needs.

Figure 8. Groups posted here enable teachers and administrators to share information resources.

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student and teacher use in these efforts. The devices employed include iPads, Chrome Books, iMacs, Telepresence, WebEx, Smartphones, video cameras, a vibrant Google-based communication system, Apple TV for teacher and student work projections and discussions, and other resources. Using these devices for teaching and learning frees the students, allowing them to seek and synthesize information and resources to create meaningful learning experiences relevant to their interests. They become unbridled by set curriculum and stagnant instruction; they engage in learning. The following two scenarios portray how teachers and students learn and interact using technology. Scenarios such as these are then shared with other teachers throughout the district via the Gifted Resource Site.

several overarching methods for developing and embedding the following areas into the daily curriculum: creative and productive thinking, problem solving, critical thinking skills, communication, research, and personal development. Each area is broken down into performance objectives and articulated as to when and how they can be introduced, developed, and applied, K–12. Archived video clips demonstrate how teachers can use them to increase depth and complexity in their instruction. A lesson description archived in this site demonstrates Ms. Warner’s sixth-grade Honors class participating in a crime scene scenario. Scenario 2 Ms. Warner’s sixth-grade Honors class:

Classroom Scenarios Scenario 1 Mrs. Mensing’s second-grade class learning about Lewis and Clark in Social Studies: Ms. Mensing decided to take her students on an “in-class field trip” by creating a similar, yet modernized, expedition for the students. Small teams were formed and students used a compass app on iPod Touches to create maps of their route from the classroom to the school pond. Using Google maps, students charted the distance they traveled using nonstandard units of measure. Once students arrived at their destination, they took notes on iPads and captured photos to document their journey and discoveries using iPod Touches. They had specific tasks and took special note of the “flora and fauna” they discovered on the school grounds—just like Lewis and Clark. After arriving back in the classroom, students documented their experience by blogging about it using KidBlog. org. They added the images they had taken using the iPod touch cameras and researched the different types of flora and fauna online. They finished this lesson by having a class discussion, comparing their experience to what the experience of Lewis and Clark may have been like. Higher-level thinking strategies were incorporated and the students eagerly participated in the Socratic seminar. Accessible technology allows the students to find the answers to their own questions. No longer do students have to ask the teacher for answers. They develop the skills necessary to find them for themselves. Sample lessons, student work, and suggestions for incorporating digital tools into teaching and learning are posted. With some practice and time, differentiated instruction becomes routine and an inherent aspect of all content areas and all lessons in the effective teacher’s classroom. Instructional objectives included on the GRS articulate


To introduce the book, “Chasing Vermeer,” evidence of a crime was spread throughout the classroom. Students were told to treat the room as a crime scene and collect the information they felt was valuable for solving the crime. Students documented their findings by taking screen shots of the evidence on their iPads. They then took turns sharing their conclusions by mirroring their iPads to a projector using an Apple TV connection. A flurry of photos bombarded the screen and lively discussion ensued as excited students exchanged information and discussed their findings. The students had taken their pictures from varying perspectives, which led them to consider the same evidence in a different light. In most classrooms the lesson would have stopped there, but in this learning episode the discussion and inquiry continued. A Socratic seminar fueled the fire as students took over with thought provoking questions. Within minutes local police Websites including an FBI investigative evidence site were being explored as students sought answers to their evidentiary questions. Technology opened the door and the students sprang through it, driving their learning to encompass content only dreamed of. Their questions, and the answers discovered, became the catalyst for further exploration and growth.

Articulated Assessment Assessment procedures articulated include: • Testing and benchmarking procedures and documentation • Parent and teacher reporting tools • Repository for state assessment results Essential maps posted in this section define exactly what skills should be addressed within each concept. The

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curriculum is also articulated by skill and performance objective so teachers know precisely what lessons to turn to in their textbooks when addressing each skill. Many teachers struggle to use curriculum maps with students who are working at different grade levels, particularly in mathematics and language arts. Using this site, teachers can access maps that show methods for teaching several grade levels at the same time. Figure 6 shows how a step-by-step procedure is provided, describing how to use district benchmark assessments to form flexible learning groups within the classroom or throughout the grade level. Quarterly assessment processes and documentation forms included here help teachers determine mastery for students working at, and above, grade level. The forms allow teachers to share this information with parents when discussing instructional decision-making. Also included in the assessment category are several years of archived student achievement data for the students in the district. The site houses presentations created yearly for every school in the district with charts showing gifted students’ performance in each subject area tested on AIMS (Arizona Instrument for Measuring Standards, the state’s criterion-referenced assessment system), as related to the general population, by grade level, and by feeder system. This information is used to help guide curriculum development and teacher support, as well as monitor student progress. Figure 7 shows an example comparing a threeyear trend in one school.

and programming information, and provides gifted program videos, and parent, teacher and student resources. A final but important component of the GRS are the “Groups” created for teachers to communicate with each other, as depicted in Figure 8. Teachers in the various gifted programs share information and ideas and build upon what they are learning through these groups.

Program Administration and Communication

Bonk, C. (2009). The world is open. San Francisco: JosseyBass. Culture shift: Teaching in a learner-centered environment powered by digital learning. (May, 2012); Digital Learning Series; http://www.all4ed.org/files/CultureShift.pdf . Digital learning and technology: Federal policy recommendations to seize the opportunity—and promising practices that inspire them. (July, 2011); Policy Brief, Alliance for Excellent Education; http://www.all4ed.org/files/Digital Learning.pdf . Jenkins, H. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Nussbaum-Beach, S., & Ritter Hall, L. (2012). The connected educator: Learning and leading in a digital age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Recommendations for education and the advancement of learning: Taking steps to invest in the promise of their future and ours. (April 2012); TechAmerica Foundation; http://www.techamericafoundation.org/techamericafoundation-real-commission-report-unveiling . Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, W. (2011). Personal learning networks. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. The digital learning imperative: How technology and teaching meet today’s education challenges. (June, 2012); Digital Learning Series; http://www.all4ed.org/files/Digital Learning Imperative.pdf . The nations schools are stepping up to higher standards. (Nov., 2012); Alliance for Excellent Education; http:// www.all4ed.org/files/SteppingUp.pdf .

Sections that support program administration and communication include: • Gifted Program Scope and Sequence • Communication administrators

forums

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teachers

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• Gifted testing procedures • Staffing schedules • Cluster teacher meeting agendas, resources, and articles The PVUSD Gifted Education Scope and Sequence is posted on the site, along with the Gifted Specialist’s schedules, teacher meeting agendas, Gifted Liaison responsibilities, etc., to provide teachers with information pertaining to the different roles and support systems available in the department. The site also links to the PVUSD Gifted Website (www.pvschools.net/gifted) that contains an abundance of information about the district’s gifted services to the school community at large. Information here addresses testing, identification, program placement,

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Conclusion Supporting teachers through technology has become paramount in today’s world. The Paradise Valley Unified School District’s Gifted Resource Site represents a concerted effort to infuse accessible, affordable resources to teachers in all educational settings. The goal is to develop teachers’ digital proficiency to improve their instructional capabilities and develop their students’ abilities. Teachers greatly appreciate having resources prepared for them and available at their fingertips. The PVUSD Gifted Resource Site saves teachers time and keeps them focused on district curriculum, school initiatives, and student learning. Ultimately, this digital resource enhances instruction, provides support for student achievement, and shows administrative support. Fortunately, today, this support is just a click away!

Suggested Readings
