Weekend Workshop with Kathy Gardner

Large Group, teachers from BKK, Japan, China, and Korea 3 teachers from TCIS creating Essential Questions

-29- Educators from various parts of Asia met at Thai-Chinese International School in Bangkok, Thailand for an EARCOS sponsored workshop presented by Kathy Gardner, international consultant with the Instructional Training Company. The topic was “Development of Quality Assessments Aligned to School Standards.” Over the course of two invigorating days on February 16 and 17, forty teachers and administrators explored what makes curriculum align with their school’s standards.

This workshop examined a five step process for developing assessments that accurately measure the school’s established stan dards. In the course, participants learned 1) Assessment vs. evaluation; 2) Levels of assessment; 3) Types of assessment and their appropriate use; 4) The concept of backward design; and 5) The five step assessment development process. This collaborative, ‘hands-on’ approach implemented in the workshop was met with rave approval by the participants. Participants were given ample time to discuss the importance of essential questioning and how this will tie into the assessment of students. Small groups were formed by teachers instructing common grade levels and departments. Teachers carefully processed how their style of instruction must reach all styles of how students learn. Also examined was the thinking process of students will retain information using the theories of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Teachers were given information and proven strategies of how to organize classroom instruction to meet the expected assessment results. It was determined by the administrators who attended the workshop that Kathy’s message contained applicable instructional strategies that teachers should use to maximize student’s thinking so the most effective student learning will take place.

On September 19 and 20 of 2008, Kathy returned to TCIS to present greater details in “Building and Following a Great Cur riculum Map.” This workshop was attended by 103 teachers and administrators from the Bangkok area. Mrs. Gardner instructed the group in detailing components in writing Essential Questions, and linking the vision of the end result as the tool to design the curriculum map backwards. An extensive explanation of how to select cognitive action verbs found in Bloom’s Taxonomy was clarified and discussed by the participants. The large group then worked in small groups of grade levels or departments to create essential questions. This was followed by the instruction of using the complex thinking skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy as the basis to achieve learning results in writing the Skills, Contents, Learning Activities, and Assessments in curriculum maps. Included was the weaving in of Expected School-wide Learning Results into the as sessment results. A large group discussion followed in the instruction of where to cite standards and benchmarks into the curriculum maps. The day ended with small groups creating T-charts to illustrate what their grade levels/departments need to do to articulate individual maps into school-wide curriculum maps including consistent, common language and understanding.

The second day was spent applying what was learned on the first day, and the examination of how assessments are established in achieving benchmarks to show how curricular standards are met. It is noted that benchmarks are evaluated in summative as sessments, while formative assessments show the teacher how to measure learning results. Kathy advised that schools may want to differentiate map designs to include the evaluation process in addition to the assessment process in building curriculum maps.

Kathy willingly offers her vast knowledge and expertise as a curriculum consultant by making herself available to answer teacher’s questions during the workshop and after the workshop has ended and questions arise while developing curriculum maps. She once again received some of the top evaluations from the par ticipants who attended this EARCOS sponsored workshop.

It is quoted from one of the participants of Kathy’s presenta tion: “Kathy has a unique way of coordinating the best of McTighe’s Understanding by Design, Heidi Hayes-Jacob’s curriculum mapping using higher order of thinking strategies, and Morzono’s standards-based classrooms into a process that is not difficult for teachers to understand and readily implement into their classroom instruction.” Kathy Gardner does have a special way to communicate complex details into no nonsense, direct approach.