Instruction

Teacher and Paraprofessional Qualifications:

Parents have a right to inquire, and for the district to provide information about whether their students’ teachers have met state qualifications; are teaching under an emergency license or teaching out of their field; and if students are served by paraprofessionals, qualifications of the paraprofessional.   Please contact Human Resources with any inquiries (715-526-3194).

The Shawano School District is focusing on three practices:

1) Formative Assessment

  • District Definition of Formative Assessment - The basic idea
    behind formative assessment is that evidence of student learning
    is used to adjust instruction to better meet students’ learning needs - in other
    words, teaching is adaptive to student needs. (diagnostic)

     

  • District Definition of Summative Assessment - The goal of summative assessment
    is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it
    against some standard or benchmark. (evaluative)

 

2) Student Learning Targets

  • District Definition of Student Learning Targets - Learning Targets are student-friendly
    descriptions of what you intend students to learn or accomplish in a given lesson.

    • What are we learning and why are we learning it?

    • Stated in developmentally appropriate language ("I can ...).

    • Description of what the student is going to learn by end of today’s lesson.

    • Framed from point of view from a student who has not yet mastered the target
      and how close they are to the target.

    • Targets are stated in language that describes mastery rather than grading or scoring.

3) Student Engagement 

  • Engaging Students in Learning (Component 3c of Danielson Framework)
     

    • Activities and Assignments: The activities & assignments are the centerpieces
      of student engagement since they determine what it is that students are asked to
      do. Activities and assignments that promote learning require student thinking that
      emphasizes depth over breadth and encourages students to explain their thinking.

    • Grouping of Students: How students are grouped for instruction (whole class,
      small groups, pairs, individuals) is one of the many decisions teachers make every
      day. there are many options; students of similar background and skill may be
      clustered together, or the more-advanced students may be spread around into
      the different groups. Alternatively, a teacher might permit students to select their
      own groups, or they could be formed randomly.

       

    • Instructional Materials and Resources: The instructional materials a teacher
      selects to use in the classroom can have an enormous impact on students'
      experience. Though some teachers are obliged to use a school's or district's officially sanctioned materials, many teachers use these selectively or supplement them with
      others of their choosing that are better suited to engaging students in deep learning
      - for example, the use of primary source materials in social studies.

       

    • Structure and Pacing: No one, whether an adult or a student, likes to be either
      bored or rushed in completing a task.  Keeping things moving, within a well-defined
      structure, is one of the marks of an experienced teacher. And since much of student
      learning results from their reflection on what they have done, a well-designed lesson
      includes time for reflection and closure.

       

  • Student Engagement Resources: