At the end of the summer, I had the opportunity to
attend Jim Knight’s High Impact Instruction conference that was in Lawrence.
This was the second conference I have attended that was facilitated by Mr.
Knight and once again I came home with some valuable information. If you have not already, I would strongly
encourage you to read his book High Impact Instruction: A Framework for Great
Teaching. There is a wealth of
information in the text and the resources that are available with the book
are invaluable if you plan on overhauling curriculum.
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The conference focused on the “Big 4” of high impact instruction: Content Planning, Instruction, Formative Assessment and Community Building. What really helped me grasp how these components are intertwined and necessary was the analogy he made with them to a road trip. We were told to think of the Content Planning as the destination, Formative Assessment as the GPS, Instruction as the fuel to the destination, and Community Building as the smooth ride throughout the trip. To me that made perfect sense especially in the fact that if you are poor in one of these areas, the trip/lesson/unit will not be as successful or as enjoyable.
Each of the Big 4 is valuable and we could argue over
which one is the most valuable. For
me, the two I really believe have the most impact are Content Planning and
Formative Assessment. I believe that
is most important to know where you want your students to be and how they are
progressing on their journey to the destination. Not that the other 2 are not important, I
just feel success is more attainable if you have a good plan in place and are
constantly monitoring progress.
During the Content Planning part of the conference we
watched a clip of farmer in Idaho talking about a potato harvest. Even though he was talking about farming,
he could have just as easily been speaking about education. The part of the video that stood out the
most to me was when he was talking about preparation. The farmer mentioned that the industry is
only looking for the best product and to produce a superior product it takes
quality preparation. A quality product
was the result of 3-4 years of preparation and that there were no
shortcuts. Those last two sentences
could just as easily have been an educator talking about students. The main point obviously is that regardless
if you are a farmer or an educator, if want to produce a product that the
public wants and deserves, it takes quality preparation.
After preparation is complete and you begin your journey,
it’s absolutely vital to constantly evaluate where you are in relation to
your desired goal or destination. For
this to happen, regular and frequent formative assessments need to take
place. By continually assessing “for”
learning, teachers can provide clear feedback to students and can use the
data collected to make the appropriate modifications to the teaching and
learning in the classroom. In the
book, there are a plethora of formative assessments that you can implement in
your classroom. Just as important as
constantly assessing is using a variety of techniques to assess. As we broke into small groups to discuss
strategies, we identified the need to differentiate how you were formatively
assessing.
Even though there are many components that are necessary
for a quality lesson or unit, quality content planning and continuous
formative assessments will help students reach the desired outcomes. Before you plan another unit, think about
using High Impact Instruction as a tool before you start.
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Reference/Resources:
Knight, J. (2013). High-Impact Instruction: A Great Framework for Teaching. Corwin Press. High-Impact Instruction Toolkit High-Impact Instruction Videos |
