Comprehensible Input 2

Analysis

The Chief Educational Content Officer met with administrators and in an effort to build materials in consideration of the entire system, wanted to ensure the people evaluating teachers knew what the "C.I." (comprehensible input) is, how to identify it, how to hold teachers accountable for its implementation, and most importantly how to support them as they implement the strategies.

The Solution

After analysis and meetings with the Chief Educational Content Officer and Associate Vide President of Curriculum, it was determined that a mix of micro learning sessions in addition to a job aid would most effectively close the existing gap and help administrators support their teachers.

Design Process

Cathy Moore's Action Mapping was used in approach to this training. It helped from analysis through implementation to close a knowledge and skill gap.

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After meetings with stakeholders the goals were developed, then ​backward design was used once learning objectives were fully formed.

From learning objectives initial training materials were redesigned with SBL techniques in mind and then content and learning activities to carefully scaffold material were selected and designed. 

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Finally, leaning heavily into andragogical principles, learners were left with a job aid that should support them and the staff they support when discussing this model of world language instruction.

Design Principles

Knowles' six principles of adult learning (andragogy) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) were used to guide the design and development of this train-the-trainer session.

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• I immediately set out to establish how the course what relevance this course would have to administrators. That is, all of them support a world language teacher, or are responsible for learners who are enrolled in world language courses. This material enables them to interact confidently with teachers, students, and parents.

• Next, I considered the wealth of experiences my learners are coming to this training with. The principals are skilled at observation and discussion of teaching strategies and effectiveness. This material was meant to complement and build on their rich existing knowledge.

• I also implemented UDL principles to not only reach each learner but provide a sense of autonomy that adult learners crave. The course, while synchronous, provided multiple means of learning about C.I. with additional resources.

• Lastly, I made sure that the training was relevant, pulling the actual supervision template administrators use with teachers, and relating learning material directly to their everyday work. The course was problem-centric "How can we ensure that and support our teachers implement comprehensible input?" while making sure learners knew the answers to that question could be applied the very next day in their meetings.

Next Steps

Learners will be completing post course surveys at three months out and six months out. The surveys will measure participant reaction. Teachers and administrators will also take surveys about their observation and supervision meetings to help measure learning and behavioral change.

Goals

After meeting with the Chief Education Content Officer, I was able to determine she wanted the following questions answered with a micro learning series. ​

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• What is comprehensible input?

• What does comprehensible input look like when implemented?

• How can I support teachers who may be novice or resistant to this approach?

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Based on these questions and learner and gap analysis the following objectives were created:​​

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• identify Comprehensible Input in practice;

• determine what makes input comprehensible;

• analyze live lessons using Comprehensible Input Strategies; and

• make connections between Comprehensible Input learning and teacher's supervision meetings and discussions.

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