Category: Presentations

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Principal Academy – Rigor and Relevance Walk-Through Training

This past week I conducted a series of walk-through training sessions for principals. Our workshops were hosted by North West Regional ESD and they took us through NWRESD's four-county service area in the northwest corner of Oregon – Washington, Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook.

Each day opened with a discussion of rigor and relevance "look-for's." I used videos of classrooms that allowed the local principals to generate observations with "virtual walk-throughs." Then we traveled to a local school where we could work in small teams to hone our observations skills using this basic guide. (16 kb pdf.) The day closed with a full-group session where we processed our reflections. Our goal was to assist principals in fostering dialog with teachers about a more shared vision of teaching and learning.

Evaluations from the principals were positive  - they wrote:

The real walkthroughs were beneficial because I was practicing what we discussed in the morning.

This will push me to look for a deeper level of instruction from staff – a deeper level of learning in students.

Just the nudge I needed to "refocus" my professional conversations. I'll be looking at classrooms with a more focused lens.

It makes me want to go back to teaching students – I would be a much better teacher.

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Using Apple Keynote with TurningPoint Audience Response System

For many years I've used TurningPoint (TP) ARS in my presentations using PC PowerPoint. I'm a convert to Keynote from PowerPoint and I figured out a way to use TP along with Apple Keynote (KN) presentations.  I thought I'd share my work-around with others.

Software and equipment:
I make two presentations – a Keynote talk and a PowerPoint for Mac with TP questions.  Since I usually work with large audiences and move around a lot, I needed a solution that did not force me to stay at my laptop. I run the show on my MacBook using a Keyspan Presentation Pro Remote (PR-Pro3 $79). I have programed the remote to run both shows and serve as an application switcher. I switch between the two programs and the system has worked very well. I now use the graphic power of Keynote and the audience engagement of TurningPoint!

Presentations: Make a KN presentation. Make a PPT question slide show with TP questions.

System PreferencesScreenSnapz002 Laptop settings: Open System preferences / Keyboard and Mouse. Set the mouse tracking to slow. Set secondary button to application switcher. (Note: you will only get these choices is you are using have an Apple wireless mouse and turn it on.



Controls on the Keyspan remote:Prpro3_ext01_r_hi
You will be using three sets of controls. Listed in order starting at the top of the remote.
1. Left and right mouse – Use the left mouse as you normally would – to select. Your MacBook system preferences setting have converted your right mouse to an application switcher.
2. Mouse track button – use to move the mouse
3. Right and left triangles – use to advance either the PPT or Keynote presentation. Also use to navigate between programs when you are in application switcher mode.

Using the remote to make your presentation.
1. Open both the KN and  TP/ PPT presentations in presentation modes. Close all other programs.

2. I'll assume you begin the presentation in KN. Advance the show using the right triangle. When you are ready for your first TP question, press the Keyspan's right mouse. Your open applications will appear as icons over the top of the KN presentation. Use the right / left triangles to navigate to the PPT icon. Press the Keyspan right mouse a second time and PPT will open in presentation mode.

Continue reading “Using Apple Keynote with TurningPoint Audience Response System”

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Strategic Thinking In Social Studies: Rigor, Relevance and Literacy

The Texas Social Studies Supervisors Association held its 2008 Spring Conference March 27-28, 2008 at the Hilton Austin Airport. I gave the keynote address on the 28th.  Participants requested that I post a PDF download of my notes. Here it is – Keynote.pdf 2.5MB pdf  Other conference sessions  included content and strategies designed to:

  • Alternative strategies for dealing with TAKS failures
  • Strategies for teaching students from a poverty background
  • Reading in the content area
  • Integrating primary sources
  • Strategies for teaching English language learners
  • Closing the achievement gap
  • Project-based learning
  • Revising the TEKS
  • Implementing technology in the social studies classroom
  • Pre-AP and AP social studies
  • Building academic vocabulary in social studies
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A Comprehensive Approach to Rigor, Relevance and Literacy

Learning time
Learning time

2007 wraps up with a week long series of workshops at Lakeland High School in White Lake, Michigan. On Monday, I’ll do an opening session on rigor, relevance and literacy strategies in the content area for the entire high school faculty.  But it doesn’t stop there.

On Tuesday, I’ll guide a group of about 15 teachers in classroom walk–through training. They will form a peer support group to assist teachers in reflecting on their instructional practice. Wednesday, I work with the Lakeland ninth grade team designing interdisciplinary approaches to integrating the themes across the curriculum. On Thursday and Friday, I work with selected departments to assist them in developing lessons in their disciplines. In addition, I’ll be giving an evening presentation for parents, school board and community. They need to have an understanding of new perspectives in teaching and learning.

I have to congratulate school principal, Bob Behnke, on his comprehensive approach to supporting his teachers. He’s leveraging one professional development day and a rotating pool of subs to give his faculty a variety of settings to reflect on instructional practice and develop new approaches.

The week proved to be a very rewarding opportunity for me to work with a creative group of teachers in workshops and walk-through sessions. Here’s some of the follow up emails I’ve received from teachers at Lakeland –

Peter,
It was a pleasure to meet with you today.  Thank you for conducting the inservice in a way that was engaging.  It was a special treat to attend an inservice for something that will definitely benefit me, my students, and our school community.  Too often we are asked to attend workshops that have great ideas and, I’m sure, the best intentions, but they fall short.  I really appreciated having the opportunity to discuss freely the state of education, identify areas where we can apply rigor and relevance in our classrooms, and time to work with my peers.  Walking out of the inservice with materials, resources and ideas I can implement tomorrow is icing on the cake.
Thank you!
Brigid

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Peter,
I wanted to thank you again for the work you did this past week at Lakeland.  I know that the vast majority of the faculty found your information useful and several informed me that they had already incorporated some of the rigor and relevancy into their lesson plans.  This shows me their willingness to realize that they can improve the way they teach to really reach students at a higher level.  This would not have happened if you had not put a mirror to their faces and let them know that they are good teachers who could be doing more.
Sincerely,
Marc

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Peter –
I just wanted to thank you for spending a week in our building, and in particular for the work you did with us on Wednesday regarding the 9th grade teams.  So often our professional development is mostly talk with very little time for application, but I truly appreciated the resources, ideas, and opportunity for professional discussion that your session provided for us.  I particularly loved the digital book idea.  In fact, I’m planning to implement it right away in my current unit.
Thanks again, and take care,
Maggie

Image credit: flickr/Temari 09

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Rigor, Relevance and Content Area Literacy in Green Bay

This week I head to Green Bay Wisconsin to conduct a full day workshop for middle and high school teacher in strategies to increase rigor and relevance while supporting literacy in the content areas. The talk is sponsored by the Literacy Center at CESA 7

The Literacy Center is pleased to bring Peter Pappas back to our region after resounding requests from last year. Boost student achievement with rigor, relevance and literacy strategies. This workshop is designed for secondary school teachers of all disciplines. It will demonstrate that teachers don’t have to sacrifice content to help their student achieve academic success. Participants will find out how to support their subject area while building student literacy skills in defining, summarizing, and comparing. This engaging workshop guarantees to be rigorous and relevant to teachers. You’ll leave with many new ideas and loads of strategies ready for use in your classroom.

I’ll bring along a TurningPoint audience response system courtesy of Christina Stellers at Turning Technologies. It allows us to engage our audience of 160 in a Socratic seminar.

I’m always making last-minute updates to my presentations, so I’ve posted a full color handout for the participants. cesa-07.pdf 1.9MB pdf

Too bad I’ll miss the Packers!