Writing for National Boards/Buzzwords

Writing for National Boards: Descriptive, Analytical, Reflective and Buzz Words

Your written work is the main vehicle for communicating with assessors!

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING	ANALYTICAL WRITING	REFLECTIVE WRITING
Simply describes, states, lists or summarizes Is RETELLING of what happened and allows the reader to CLEARLY VISUALIZE what the teacher is describing Set the Scene for the assessors Answers what, when where, which, and how Addresses the following questions: What is the goal of the lesson? What are the concepts in the lesson? What is the logical order of the lesson? How does the lesson impact student learning? How did the students respond? Were student responses accurate? What aspects of the lesson need improvement? What were some inconsistencies in the lesson? What type of student feedback did I give? When you are asked to describe, your response should meet these criteria: accurate and precise enumeration and/or explanation of critical features; clear and logical ordering of the elements or features of the event, person, concept, or strategy described; and inclusion of ALL features or elements that would allow an outsider to see as you see whatever is described.	Interpretive writing involves breaking down, examining, and explaining information. Deal with reasons, motives and interpretation, grounded in concrete evidence and show assessors the thought processes that you used to arrive at the conclusions. Is called for when a prompt asks: HOW, WHY, or IN WHAT WAY To identify a particularly successful moment in a sample of teaching and WHY you regard it as successful For a RATIONALE What a student performance suggests about your teaching. Answers the so what’s of descriptive writing and allows for the ‘what it all means’ regarding your lesson, as well as how your students understood the lesson. The focus is on WHY it happened!	Always suggests self-analysis, or retrospective consideration of one’s practice, in the terms of this assessment. Is called for when the entry prompts ASK YOU TO CONSIDER THE SUCCESSES of the lesson and WHAT YOU WOULD DO (DIFFERENTLY) NEXT TIME and WHY YOU WOULD DO THIS Answers the questions: What did you learn from the lesson and student work? What would you modify or do differently if you were to do the lesson again? Include both positives and negatives, however reflective writing is not a summary, or conclusion! REFLECTION EMPHASIZES IMPROVEMENT – IT ISN’T A FORUM FOR EXPLAINING A LACK OF PERFECTION!
Buzzwords!
Above and beyond the average teacher Active engagement Advance student understanding Appropriate assessment Behavior intervention Beyond the classroom Broad and comprehensive understanding Challenging Clear, convincing, connecting, consistent evidence Connections to the real world Connections to self Connections to similar events Conscious and deliberate Critical thinking Constructive feedback Demonstrate Direct impact on student learning Directly relevant Diverse perspective Dynamic interactions Effectively manage Empower students Encourage Engaging Efficacy	Equality & diversity Equitable Facilitation of learning Fairness For example High expectation How do I know? I know because Inclusiveness Insightful questions Increase student learning Interdisciplinary Integrated classroom Learning community Meaningful Measurable increase in student learning Meets standards Modeling Motivational Outcome based Parent partnership Problem solving Productive classroom Promote highest achievement Real world relevance Reflect incisively Relevant characteristics Rich and in-depth	Rich variety of sources Risk-taking Safe and welcoming environment Stimulating variety Student empowerment Student interchange Student learning Student perspective Students as individual learners Substantive teaching Supportive Teacher as learner Teacher-directed Teaching strategies Two-way interaction Two-way communication Unique learning needs Value diversity Work collaboratively