Meeting 9/12/12

Agenda

PLC Meeting #2

September 12, 2012

1. Set goals for the meeting using this agenda as a guide.

Feedback Form (link)

1. A short time at the beginning of this PLC meeting and each of the remaining four PLC meetings this semester will be devoted to exploring the 21st Century Skills embedded in your standards. The 21st Century Skill to explore today is Critical Thinking and Reasoning. Review the definition of this skill for your content (see attached document) and discuss the following three questions:

Critical Thinking and Reasoning (Reading, Writing and Communicating)

Critical thinking and reasoning are vital to advance in the technologically sophisticated world we live in. In order for students to be successful and powerful readers, writers, and communicators, they must incorporate critical thinking and reasoning skills. Students need to be able to successfully argue a point, justify reasoning, evaluate for a purpose, infer to predict and draw
conclusions, problem-solve, and understand and use logic to inform critical thinking.

• How does the skill of critical thinking connect to something you already do in your classroom?

• How might you integrate this skill more explicitly in your lessons?

• What will you do to help students become better with this skill?

Common Assessment #1

Essential Learnings from last meeting (we should build an assessment from one of these.)

1. Students will write thesis statements that are clear, specific, debatable and provable. Through this process students
2. Students will display the ability to read and interpret literature critically by evaluating such literary elements as plot, characterization, motif, and conflict.
3. Students will develop the ability to think abstractly about such literary elements as theme, symbol, and figurative language.
4. Students will develop the ability to speak formally to their peers by presenting information concisely and logically, supporting presentations with evidence, and integrating technology effectively, and interacting with an audience actively.

Which one do we want to use? Is the thesis a slam dunk, or are there other options?

Which Rubric?

If time: Coolest English Teacher Ever (link)

Note: Next Meeting is 10/3. We need to have data for a common assessment