Description
Performance Learning’s Strategic Instructional Model (SIM) Training service provides professional development in the Strategic Instructional Model learning supports system.
Most strategies take one day of professional development to learn. Some are half a day to one and half days. All require follow-up training and coaching.
History has shown that few successfully implement the strategies without support and coaching. The follow-up and coaching can fit into before or after school professional development times or during team time. Coaching can occur in the classroom, face-to- face meetings, or through the use of technology. The support and coaching are designed to best meet teacher and district needs, while ensuring effective implementation.
The strategies do have a suggested sequence, but can be selected based on district and student needs. The layering of strategies creates a powerful accumulative effect for improving school performance for low-achieving students. However, the strategies can benefit the entire class and be school wide. This approach creates a common academic language for strategic instruction in addition to a common instructional framework.
High performing students can learn the strategy and apply during general instruction and then through general reinforcement of use for coursework. Students with tier II and III needs can be provided with more explicit instruction and feedback, along with progress monitoring and generalization activities. Classrooms can be set-up to incorporate the various levels of instruction.
Considerations for selecting strategies are
- Based on a student(s) immediate instructional concern to meet a curriculum demand.
- Begin with a strategy that can be learned quickly. The sooner students see the benefit of how a learning strategy can meet academic demands successfully their motivation increases for learning additional strategies.
About THE STRATEGIC INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL
“The over riding instructional goal of learning strategy instruction is to have students become active and independent learners and performers.” Schumaker, Knight, & Deshler – 2007
SIM is about promoting effective teaching and learning of critical content in schools. SIM strives to help teachers make decisions about what is of greatest importance, what we can teach students to help them to learn, and how to teach them well.
We advocate trying to teach a little less content, but teaching it better.
Skill Strands
There are three strands, or skill categories, of Strategic Instructional Model Learning Strategies:
- Acquisition
- Storage
- Expression and Demonstration of Competence
Each of these strands is designed to help students meet the demands of the classroom.
Learn more about additional strategies and descriptions of each strategy at: http://sim.kucrl.org/products
Acquisition
-
- Word Identification
- Visual Imagery
- Self-Questioning
- Fundamentals of
- Paraphrasing &
- Summarizing
- Paraphrasing
- Summarizing
- Inference
Storage
-
- First-Letter Mnemonics
- Paired Associates
- LINCS Vocabulary
- Strategy
- Listening and Note-taking
- Paired Associates Strategy
Expression
-
- Fundamentals of Sentence
- Writing
- Proficiency in Sentence
- Writing
- Paragraph Writing
- Error Monitoring
- Theme Writing
- Assignment Completion
- Test-Taking
- Essay Test Taking
How It Works
Group Participation
Group participation is in small and large groups, up to 30 participants.
Two Ways
Duration is 20 hours in a blended face-to-face and online model.
On-Site
The learning activities will be implemented at the work site according to the expectations of the leadership.
Online
The online elements will include discussion with the consultant and fellow participators, joint lesson plan development, social networking through Twitter and collaborative video conferencing by Skype.
Sessions
Strategies are designed to be taught in 40 to 50 minute sessions at least 3 times per week for 12 to 20 weeks.
Typically conducted over two months to allow for practice and reinforcement of the instruction in each strand.
The session will be scheduled according to the needs of the school district or organization.
Where do they take place?
The session takes place at the school district site. The online session is hosted on Moodle, a content management site.