Prepared Especially for the Professional Learning Community of the
MONTANA EDUCATORS’ INSTITUTE
by Dan Mulligan, Ed. D.
June 2010
Principle #1: Know the Learner
The Mental State of:
Montana
Educators in
June
Benefits of Focus Activities
• Help students focus and pay
attention
• Eliminate distracters
• Open “mental files”
• Provide choices
• Encourage self-directed learning
Algebraic Logic Puzzle
Use your number sense to discover
the value of each shape.
Puzzle 1
Discover the value of each of the shapes.
The total weight is 32.
Clue:
-
2 =
+
Rules to remember:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The right and left sides of each
horizontal beam must balance.
Each shape has a unique and consistent
weight within the puzzle and no shapes
weigh zero.
There are no ‘useless’ clues.
All weights are either one- or two-digit,
positive whole numbers.
A piece hanging below the fulcrum does
not affect the balance between the left
and right arms. Although this piece has
its own definite weight.
Size of pieces has no relation to weight.
There are three parts to
any research-based
lesson:
•Beginning – ‘check for’ and ‘build’
background knowledge of each
student; (BL)
•During – teach and actively engage
each student in new content –
making connections to prior
knowledge; (DL)
•End – check for understanding -
provide each student with an
opportunity to summarize (in their
own way) and practice the essential
knowledge and skills conveyed in the
lesson. (EL)
Matter!
Page 12
Structure BL #2
SAMPLE
Pre-assessment
that includes
differentiation
Personal Learning Goals
• I will recognize the benefits of obtrusive, unobtrusive, and
student, and student-generated assessment;
• I will understand strategies to create assessment for
learning and assessment of learning;
• I will support my peers by offering constructive feedback
to improve their efforts;
• I will create assessment samples that will best elevate
learning for my students; and
• I will enjoy working with my colleagues!
Types of Classroom Assessments
• OBTRUSIVE Assessment – instruction/learning STOPS
while students ‘take the assessment”;
• UNOBTRUSIVE Assessment – instruction/learning
continues as the teacher observes students performing
a task; and
• STUDENT-GENERATED Assessment – students generate
ideas about the manner in which they demonstrate
understanding.
Premise of the Workshop
As the United States continues to compete in a global economy
that demands innovation, the U.S. education system must
equip students with the four Cs:
1. critical thinking and problem solving,
2. communication,
3. collaboration, and
4. creativity and innovation.
"For as long as assessment is viewed as something we do ’after’
teaching and learning are over, we will fail to greatly improve
student performance, regardless of how well or how poorly
students are currently taught or motivated."
Grant Wiggins, 1998
MOVING from ETCH-a SKETCH Learning
Learning is a
process …
not an
event!
to Each STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
Unobtrusive Assessment
Build the Tallest Freestanding
Structure:
The winning team is the one that has the tallest structure measured from
the table top surface to the top of the marshmallow. That means the
structure cannot be suspended from a higher structure, like a chair, ceiling
or chandelier.
Things to Understand
 Build the Tallest Freestanding Structure: The winning team is the one that
has the tallest structure measured from the table top surface to the top of the
marshmallow. That means the structure cannot be suspended from a higher
structure, like a chair, ceiling or chandelier.
 The Entire Marshmallow Must be on Top: The entire marshmallow needs to
be on the top of the structure. Cutting or eating part of the marshmallow
disqualifies the team.
 Use as Much or as Little of the Kit: The team can use as many or as few of
the 20 spaghetti sticks, as much or as little of the string or tape. The team
cannot use the bag as part of their structure.
 Break up the Spaghetti, String or Tape: Teams are free to break the spaghetti,
cut up the tape and string to create new structures.
 The Challenge Lasts 18 minutes: Teams cannot hold on to the structure when
the time runs out. Those touching or supporting the structure at the end of the
exercise will be disqualified.
 Ensure Everyone Understands the Rules: Don’t worry about repeating the
rules too many times. Repeat them at least three times. Ask if anyone has any
questions before starting.
The FINDINGS
• Kids do Better than Business Students: On virtually every measure of
innovation, kindergarteners create taller and more interesting structures.
• Prototyping Matters: The reason kids do better than business school
students is kids spend more time playing and prototyping. They naturally
start with the marshmallow and stick in the sticks. The Business School
students spend a vast amount of time planning, then executing on the plan,
with almost no time to fix the design once they put the marshmallow on top.
• The Marshmallow is a Metaphor for the Hidden Assumptions of a
Project: The assumption in the Marshmallow Challenge is that
marshmallows are light and fluffy and easily supported by the spaghetti
sticks. When you actually try to build the structure, the marshmallows don’t
seem so light. The lesson in the marshmallow challenge is that we need to
identify the assumptions in our project – what students must know and be
able to do, how we will know when they understand it, what we will do if they
do not understand it, what we will do when they understand it, the real
student needs - and assess them early and often. That’s the mechanism that
leads to effective assessment innovation.