1. Date and Reflection

I used the framing routine in a guided exercise where I reviewed the different approaches to co-teaching.  I was able to focus on main ideas (station, parallel, and alternative) with details for each idea.  I thought it was important to understand that using different co-teaching methods can increase teaching intensity.  After working through the guided instruction, I independently created a FRAME routine for the key topic of "Source Finding and Analysis."  I labelled my main ideas as Databases, Google/Internet, and Bias/Veracity.  My thinking was that, as I present a Research unit, I need to teach the specific databases used by our school library (Destiny, InfoBase, Gale Group, and Issues and Controversies).  Then, I needed to teach Google/Internet strategies such as using Google Scholar, Reducing hits/narrowing topics, and using Boolean logic as a search method.  Last, I needed to teach students to see bias and check for source veracity.  Under this main idea, they must learn to spot:  author/date, sponsors/multiple sources/references, grammar/spelling, tone/verbs which reveal bias, and consider the ideas of fake news vs. real news.  Ultimately, students must understand that with information at our fingertips, we must, more than ever before, analyze information before presenting it as fact.

While attending the VDOE Excellence in Co-Teaching Initiative summer training, I was afforded the opportunity to receive training in Framing.  We were given great examples of how we can use Framing in our classes.  We then were able to create examples of how we could use Framing in our classes.  As a high school math teacher, I chose to create a Frame for Properties of Parallelograms.  It was a great way to organize the key information that would help to identify if a quadrilateral is a parallelogram or not.  This school year, I used Framing again with my Algebra I students as they learned the steps in solving multi-step equations.

I attended the Framing Routine Professional Development session as part of the Excellence in Co-Teaching training in July, 2017. The training was informative and beneficial. After a clear explanation and demonstration, each participant had the opportunity to complete a framing routine for his/her own class. As a co-teacher in 11th grade English, I chose to use my frame for the writing process. My co-teacher and I will be able to use the framing routine for writing and also for note-taking, background information, and summaries. I feel confident that we'll be able to make use of this training in multiple ways. 

Framing is a wonderful resource that I look forward to using during the upcoming school year. It will not only help my special learning students to learn new information, but also to remember and apply what they have learned. They will also be able to refer back to the informatiion as needed which will further reiterate the information into their schemas. Because it is a visual device, it will appeal to many of my visual learners. Also because it's co-constructed (the teacher really acts as the facilitor) the responsibility for learning is shifted to the student. This will further enhance their learning experience hopefully producing greater student outcomes. Our plan is to use this both in math and reading to make learning easy and accessible.

I like that the Framing Routine organizer can be manipulated to efficiently represent the notes for math students if I have one main idea or four main ideas.  It allows our students to focus on the most essential information for a particular topic.

The training provided plenty of examples on how to use the FRAME routine in a variety of ways across content. During the training, we created a sample of the FRAME routine.  Since the training, my co-teacher and I have decided to use the FRAME routine in our science and VA Studies small group on a weekly basis.  We believe this will improve the students' ability think and talk about a given topic and identify relationships among concepts.  

As we are just starting a new school year, I haven't had a chance to implement the Framing Routine yet. I have a high percentage of students with IEPs this year, and I see some definite benefits of using the framing routine to summarize the most important parts of our units--particularly in math and Virginia Studies. Being able to break down the main parts of our units into concise terms and pictures, will enable my students to better understand the content. It will also help all students to pull out the "necessary," or most important terms.

I attended the training for the Framing Routine on July 19, 2017 in Richmond, VA. The training was clear, detailed, and well-organized. During the training, we were challenged to create our own sample Frame that might be useful in our classroom. Although I could think of a wide variety of uses in an English classroom, I chose to frame the Steps of the Writing Process, focusing specifically on the response to a Prompt. We use these steps regularly throughout the year in an effort to prepare our students for the 8th Grade Writing SOL. The Frame worked beautifully for the overview and the details of this process. My Co-Teacher and I will absolutely use it for a review of our notes from class and to determine if our students have truly understood the steps required for this very important skill. The Framing Routine will be a perfect method for this purpose.

My students and I can develop this as a graphic organizer through understanding the information associated with key topics, main ideas, and essential details.  It can assist my students to learn essential information and focus on the relationship between main ideas and details.  I believe this is a strategy designed to assist students as they organize topics, main ideas, and details through an organized process.  They can collaborate amongst one another by a "think/talk" approach. 
I will introduce the assigned lesson on Place Value.  I will discuss the Frame Routine technique and model the procedure. The students and I will simultaneously fill in information on blank copies of the form. First, we will talk about the topic and main ideas; standard form, written form, and expanded form.  Second, we can determine the essential details of each main idea.  The essential details will determine the level of importance and we can rank each one.  This provides me with the opportunity to monitor the students' level of understanding and to adjust instruction as needed. Last, we can develop the big idea/"So What?" idea.  This will help the students understand how the topic fits overall.  The students will implement the "So What?" through a real-world connection that is relevant to them by playing a Place Value game.  After students have become familiar with use of the Frame Routine, they can use the Frame graphics independently or in small groups throughout the unit on Place Value, such as standard form, written form, and expanded form. 

I completed the Framing Routine professional development on August 24, 2017.  My co-teacher and I made a sample Frame for Author's Purpose during our professional development. We plan on using the Framing Routine first by modeling with students to review context clues.  We will then implement it with the Author's Purpose that we created during professional development. The students we typically work with need extra support to organize and process new information.  The Framing Routine will help the students with this organization and processing.