Visit to WiseWood

1. Student Success
Area V AP -- Group 2 Meeting
“Is work students undertaking worthwhile”
VISIT TO HENRY WISE WOOD SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
On March 12th, our cohort visited Henry Wise Wood Senior High School. We split into 2
groups of five and had the opportunity to visit 2 classrooms, a grade 9 Traditional
Learning Center (TLC) and a Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program. We
utilized the “Effective Teaching rubrics” (Friesen, 2009), specifically looking at the “task”
students were asked to do. We rated the task according to the rubric performance
indicators in the following two areas:
 Work is Authentic
 Work Fosters Deep Understanding
WHAT DID YOU SEE?
Chem 20
Small class with all students actively working at the task
- collaboration
- hands on
- teacher as facilitator
- students keen to solve the problem
- students exploring
- students asking each other questions
- students able to explain what they were to do
- authentic science experiment
- students working with the real tools of science
After conversation with the teacher we learned this was the first task of the unit- appeared to be a
great hook! We talked about assessment and the teacher appeared to allow students multiple
ways of demonstrating their learning- not based on the traditional lab write-up
The teacher was actively observing the students and based on their actions and conversations
she was able to plant new questions or share a simple bit of information that helped students
build on what they were already doing. We heard l “Why didn‟t I think of that” or “Now that
changes everything” “ Let‟s try that again”
Social 9

2. We saw a group of students actively engaged in small group and mostly partner conversations
regarding a current issue. They had selected an issue off the board. Students were able to
explain the task and the ones I talked to explained how the task connected to the Canadian
Charter of Rights. Students were using text books and their own ideas to support their arguments.
They were preparing to present to the class opposing views on a topic.
After talking with the teacher we found out that this was a final task for the unit. Students were
generally very keen. One pair returned from another space and handed out their summary sheet.
They were the first presentation and they were keen to have us stay. They appeared to be well
prepared. One student was very shy and appeared very nervous about answering my questions.
The other students were forthcoming with information.
GATE 11 Chemistry

st
1 day of new unit
 Practical scientific method (hands on labs and follow up collaboration
 Excellent examples of „bonding‟ project of molecules
 Constructivist in nature (like grades 1 and 2)
 Assessment is ongoing and informative
 Offering hints as frustration heightens
 Even those who may be socially awkward (GATE) worked well together
 Many students had been together since Nellie McClung
 Very authentic and enjoyable.
TLC – Grade 9 Social Studies
 Debate on Charter of Rights and Freedoms
 Presentations for/against scenarios of violations of C of R&F
 Collaborating pairs/3 to defend/present their sides
 Highly engaging and motivating tasks
 Some groups were less engaged, some boys n one group had superficial answers but
other group member enhanced the dialogue. Perhaps the presenter of public debate will
change this.
Science 9 TLC Class
 Students were taking notes and answering questions from the text book when we entered
– we missed the preamble to the activity. Topic review questions.
 The teacher was preparing for the next part of the3 lesson.
 The students were sitting primarily in pairs
 The text book was a Science 9 text book from 2002
 What would be the purpose of writing notes from a text book into a journal when students
have access to the text book all the time?
 When the students were done they sat having side conversations while the other
students were finishing up
 The students were then given opportunities to ask questions – many of them were about
the test that was coming.
The teacher then transitioned into the next part of the lesson
 She asked a question “How has industrialization changed the agriculture industry?
 Put up on the screen : Pesticide, Herbicide…all from the text book – the students were
copying these down
 Talked about DDT – this was the topic from the text book – showed a video from the 50‟s
about how the gov‟t would support the use of DDT – st made many comments about this.
 Showed a second video regarding DDT

3.  As an instructional leader this class has spurred me to ask the question with regards to
the question around students taking notes and the interplay between providing
information and allowing the students to play with that information to help understand it
personally.
We missed the intro to the lesson today on the effects of industrialization on agriculture. We
walked in as students were answering topic review questions from textbook on environmental
chemistry. Following this, students watched a video on the effects of DDT on organisms in the
environment. A list of relevant vocabulary was given for this topic and was prevalent throughout
the remainder of the lesson.
This lesson definitely connected with the outside world. Did not see the culminating or
summative task after this lesson.
Task viewed was an assignment from last week on nutritional intake. Examine a meal that u ate
and use a website to analyze vitamins and minerals.
GATE Chem 30
Lesson on redox reactions: lab #8
Using fingers on chart for redox reactions re: electrode potentials. Redox reactions were
explained in context of batteries and used to power electronic devices. Batteries reach 0 voltage
when they die. They are able to be recharged, they have just reached equilibrium. Question re:
lithium ion batteries and what the other chemical is. Students having open conversation and
discussion in class about some of the answers.
Cute: chemistry clock on wall using atomic numbers.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
I learned a great deal about GATE and TLC at the high school level. I appreciated how much the
background information shared with us, helped me to “view” the tasks more thoughtfully. For
example, I felt I had a better understanding of how the TLC program teaches the vocabulary and
background info before engaging students in higher level tasks. The students we observed were
at the end of the unit and they were able to bring this background to the higher level thinking task.
If we had seen an early in the unit lesson I might not have observed the collaboration and rich
and authentic question/ issue they were working to uncover. Understanding the structure of TCL
is critical to better understanding the task students are asked to undertake. The conversation with
the science teacher was critical in understanding the role of formative assessment in that class.
Work is Authentic
Task had connections to the outside (personal) world for the students. Was an application of
their learning outside of textbook.
Work is Authentic - definite connection to outside world through discussion of batteries. There
is collaboration amongst themselves while analyzing redox reactions to come to solutions.

4. Chemistry 20 GATE
 Chemistry can be constructivist
 Collaboration is a huge part of this class and the GATE program
 It would be hard to manage 2 such diverse programs in GATE and TLC
 Confidence in reading your class is essential in providing questioning
TLC – Social Studies 9
 Teacher presents the tasks in ways that are real-world and have authentic
application
 Using material from the text does not necessarily mean static and dull learning
opportunities
 Very vibrant learning
WHERE TO NEXT?
I am going to share the experiences with my PLC group at Midnapore. This is a grade 2-6 team. I
am going to share the engagement continuum we have been using and ask them what they might
learn from visiting each other? Where on the continuum might they expect to see each other?
Where would they most likely see themselves? What would they want people to know about the
lesson before they started the lesson? What aspects can be observed? What can‟t be observed?
I will ask them if they are willing to host the next AP visit.
Questions: The role of technology in the high school core classes? Technology was absent.
Work fosters deep understanding.
The summary of the assignment was a bar graph displaying the various vitamins and minerals
consumed. No conclusion or solution to a problem was present in the exemplar provided.
Discussion with students revealed that there was an opportunity for students to discuss results
thereby providing an opportunity to come to a cursory examination of results/implications.
Work fosters deep understanding.
The equations they are balancing are complex enough to require thoughtful analysis. Students
are formulating solutions/conclusions based on evidence.
Grade 9 social studies class: question was how can racial profiling contribute to the overall
betterment of Canada?
Further conversations about dichotomy in multi-program schools. How do we effectively inspire
best practice when the needs of the students and teachers are so drastically different --
A school with TLC, GATE, IB vs AP, ACCESS, PLP, community wow!!!!