Some simple ways to get students thinking… and LEARNING
Strategies, Ideas and Information created and/or compiled by Resources used: Canter, L., & Canter, M. (1993). Succeeding with difficult students. Los Angeles, CA: Canter and Associates, Inc. Educational Research Service. (2004). Reading at the middle and
high school levels: Building active readers across the curriculum. Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service.
Harmin, M. (1995). Inspiring active learning: Strategies of instruction. White Plains, NY: Inspiring Strategies Insititute. Rhode, G., Jenson, W. R., & Reavis, H. K. (1996). The tough kids book: Practical classroom management strategies. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
Includes ideas for: Getting ALL students thinking and sharing More student-centered note taking and lectures Increasing involvement from ALL students Keeping students actively engaged Quick reading & writing strategies Assessment and grading student achievement
Silver, H., Strong, R., & Perini, M. (2000). So each may learn. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum. Course materials from the following Canter Graduate Courses: Assment to Improve Student Learning, Improving Reading in the Content Areas, Motivating Today’s Learner, and Succeeding with Difficult Students, Teacher Leaderhsip, Designing Curriculum and Instruction with the Learner in Mind. (find more information at www.canter.net)
©Tracy Schuster 2012
How to Have Students Share Their Ideas and Answers
Table of Contents
Simple Vocabulary Strategies
The Power of a Strong Teacher
Pre-Reading Strategies
Characteristics of Today’s Students
During-Reading Strategies
Simple Teacher Actions that Increase Motivation and Learning
Post-Reading Strategies
Starting Off on the Right Foot (Activities to get thinking started) Quick Writing Activities to get Students Doing the Thinking Reorganizing Information to Find Connections and Meaning Asking Questions and Sharing Thoughts and Ideas
Quick Writing Strategies Using Learning Styles to Understand Yourself and Your Students Student Learning Standards Student Learning Models Curriculum Design Differentiation Brain-Based Research Objectives
Remembering your Mission – “Why did you become a teacher?”
I became a teacher… HIGH-PERFORMING TEACHERS – What does the research show? High performing teachers are those who consistently exhibit the ability to: 1) maintain high self-esteem, 2) raise the self-esteem of students, and 3) establish a classroom environment where students experience more success and satisfaction than is found in the typical classroom (Maeroff, 1991; Munson, 1991).
Self-esteem and student success – High student self-esteem has been identified as being a key factor in determining student academic success, behavioral performance in the classroom, and peer relations (Coopersmith, 1975; Covington, 1988; Holly, 1987; Reasoner, 1992). A key factor that has been identified as affecting the esteem of students is the self-esteem of the classroom teacher (Juhasz, 1990; Purkey, 1992). This should remind you every day why you work so hard!
Strong Teacher Characteristics 1. Communicate respect, caring, & confidence in themselves and in others 2. Exhibit and model self-control 3. Establish trust and rapport with students 4. Have an awareness of the stages of frustration 5. Able to de-escalate tension in the classroom 6. Do not resort to threats or confrontations during stress 7. Respect students’ dignity 8. Display enthusiasm and positive expectations 9. Have an awareness of individual student’s needs, interests, and talents 10. Display effective stress-coping skills 11. Able to create a positive, organized classroom environment
Elements of a Positive Classroom Climate 1. Order, structure, and consistency 2. Well-organized and predictable environment 3. Clear and realistic expectations 4. Students experience success – socially and academically 5. Curriculum relates to student interests and talents 6. Teacher able to interpret communicative intent of students 7. Students given choice & input into some classroom decisions 8. Students encouraged to appropriately express feelings 9. Students able to socially interact with others while learning 10. Students’ psychological needs (belonging, safety, selfesteem and competence) are met 11. Positive teacher-student interactions
The need to promote HARD WORK
Recent research shows a close connection between student views of intelligence and their willingness to work hard.
If intelligence is seen as something you are just born with, students are less likely to apply themselves to complex learning. These students believe that if they are not good at something (like math or writing or science), then no amount of hard work will overcome that deficiency. Also, many who feel they are “smart” in an area will choose to not work hard in that area because they feel that if you must work at learning something then you must not be smart. If intelligence and success in learning are seen as things that require hard work but are achievable, students are much more likely to apply themselves and believe they can succeed. When polled, students in countries with higher academic scores than the United States often attribute their success to hard work, while U.S. students are more likely to attribute academic success to luck or natural/inborn skills.
Which is more important: an effective school or an effective teacher? Research by Dr. Robert Marzano of McREL found the following: School
Average Effective Ineffective Ineffective Effective
Teacher
What does it mean?
Some excerpts from Teacher Leadership by Charlotte Danielson for the ASCD
“A school’s staff cannot hope to achieve highlevel learning for all students if it neither aims to do so nor believes it to be possible.”
EXIT Percentile
Average Ineffective Ineffective 3 Effective Effective
STUDENT LEARNING - To ponder…
50 37 63 96
When the student enters scoring at the 50th percentile
Teachers have a greater impact than schools on student learning! So it is imperative that teachers develop their skills to be the most effective teacher they can be, especially in the areas of: 1) Instructional strategies 2) Classroom management plans and strategies 3) Classroom curriculum design 4) The use of assessment as a learning tool
“It must be recognized that not all school structures support student learning. Indeed, the manner in which students are assigned to classes and to groups within classes, the master schedule, the grading system, and even instructional practices may undermine the school’s vision.” “When students have the opportunity to earn a higher grade by learning complex material more thoroughly and retaking a test, they are more likely to do so than if their initial poor grade must stand regardless of any additional effort on their part. (This is not to suggest a policy of endless retakes; that is likely to promote procrastination.)” “Besides the responsibility for creating a culture of hard work, school personnel must also be responsible for establishing a culture of success. While recognizing that in order to succeed it is important to work hard, students also need to know that if they work hard, they can succeed.” If hard work results in the same level of achievement as no work – why work at all???
“TOUGH KIDS” GET WHAT THEY WANT THROUGH COERCION
Tough Kids use coercion as a way to get out of doing what they don’t want to do. If the teacher either gives up fighting them, or sends them out of class, they “win” that battle, but eventually lose the war.
The academic, social & behavioral/ self-management skill deficits
that result from winning with coercion (and being sent out/allowed to not work) will be detrimental to the student for life. That’s why you can’t decide, “There is nothing I can do”, but rather you must reinforce to the student, “I am not going away.” Most students comply 80% of the time Tough Kids comply < 40% of the time Giving up on the student or kicking them out serves to reinforce a self-destructive behavior.
DON’T GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT, GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEED!
Characteristics of Today’s Students Parallel versus linear processing They like to multi-stream information and keep their brain active rather than focusing on one thing at a time. Issues this can create:
Images first versus text first In order to gather information they will turn first to images that are present, possibly never even bothering to refer to the accompanying text. Issues this can create:
Random access versus step-by-step They tend to explore learning without a plan, jumping in and trying things before thinking about reading the directions. Issues this can create:
Connected versus stand-alone Like to use technology to connect to others (chat, text message, Internet) rather than using it as a tool in isolation.
CRITICAL ATTRIBUTES – Effective Teaching and Classroom Management
Concept: What makes an effective teacher and leads to good classroom management? “YES” Examples Fairly and consistently follows rules
“NO” Examples Give breaks to try and help kids out
Clear expectations, clearly communicated
Assume, “students know what I expect”
Consistent pressure, relentlessly applied
Allow students’ behavior to “slide” if they profess to a bad day, or the moon is full, or the class is “just a bad combination” of kids, etc.
Open and friendly; share personal stories so students get to know who they really are and a relationship develops
Work to develop close friendships with students in order to create positive relationships
Develop respectful, two-way relationships through honesty and consistency
Try to gain respect by avoiding confrontation and being their friend, or demanding one-way respect
Care about the students as people, and is caring when appropriate (listen, reaffirm, guide)
Get involved in their personal lives and try to become their counselor or parent-figure (at the expense of your teacherstudent relationship)
Issues this can create:
Active versus passive They will often “just do it” rather than sitting back and observing or waiting for others (or directions!) Issues this can create:
Play versus work Will complete tasks that seem like a playful challenge – working for the sake of completing a task is not a motivator. Issues this can create:
Payoff versus patience They want immediate gratification and a clear, meaningful reason for learning. They value “just in time” learning not “just in case” learning. Issues this can create:
Technology as friend versus foe They see any problems with technology as the technology’s fault, while older generations see technology problems as the user’s fault. Issues this can create:
(continued…)
“YES” Examples Start with the highest level of classroom control (risk seeming overly firm), then soften as students prove they can handle it
“NO” Examples Start soft so they’re seen as a friend and are “liked”, and then try and get tough if they need it later on
Handle problems directly, and as they arise (discipline, behavior, laziness, etc.)
Ignore problems considered “small” because they will most likely work themselves out (“why create waves?”)
Give detailed warnings, with unfailing follow through on promised action Require that all students work, and work is up to the standards you expect (and communicate)
Discipline without warning, or have inconsistent follow through on threats Bend over backwards to help those students who are not progressing – doing the work with or for them, or lowering your requirements, rather than finding ways for them to succeed through hard work and extra work (without your constant guidance)
Opportunities created for all to succeed
”If they do as I tell them, they will do fine”
Require that all students work, and work is up to the standards you expect (and communicate)
Have a variety of levels of expectations, figuring that the “lower” students need lower expectations to feel successful
(continued…)
“YES” Examples
“NO” Examples
Opportunities created for all to succeed
Set planning and curriculum development carried out – “if the students aren’t keeping up, they need to try harder”. Stick to the pre-created plan, “it will work eventually”
Have the same target for all students to reach, and offer a variety of ways to get there
Most students are successful at completing tasks and assessments because they are written to address the “average students” in the class
Flexible instruction and planning, based on how students are progressing and responding Activities and assessments that challenge all students Curriculum differentiated to meet the needs of a variety of learners while also helping all reach the same goals/targets
All students taught with the same curriculum delivery style, speed, and content
WAIT TIME One of the biggest changes you can make to increase student thinking and participation is to
give them enough time to think and answer before butting back in.
Try counting to 10 after asking a question before calling on someone, and count to 5 before speaking after a student is done answering. It’s tougher than you think! We are quick to jump in and add to their answer – this can stifle their thinking (and others’), and can communicate to them that we are either looking for a specific answer, or that their deeper thinking is not needed (that we aren’t really looking for them to expand their ideas). Research shows that when teachers pose questions to students perceived to be lower achievers, they wait one second or less for the student to respond. This sends the message that the student is not really expected to answer. JUST WAIT!
Simple to use, FREE timers can be downloaded at many sights online. Just Google it!
If a student doesn’t answer or gives a weak answer, (including the dreaded, “I don’t know”), delving should be used.
DELVING
includes: - rephrasing or clarifying the question (but NOT repeating the same question) - giving clues to the student - providing new information that will help the student reach an answer - asking the student to expand on an answer or to give more information Obviously, with delving, it is still important to give the students wait time to gather their ideas and thoughts.
Don’t let students choose not to answerit only means they are…
choosing not to think!
FEEDBACK Students MUST receive regular, TIMELY feedback about their performance -- how to continue doing what they are doing right, and how to fix what they are doing wrong. There are three types of feedback, and only one will help students achieve at their highest level (although the other two are the ones we use the most!) Minimal feedback – recognizes the student for responding, but doesn’t give the student any information about what they are doing correctly or incorrectly. Some examples include: a) nodding the head b) restating what the student said c) telling the student s/he was correct or incorrect (“Yes, that’s right”, or “No, that is not quite right.”) d) Putting a check mark or “X” on a paper/problem.
Emotive feedback – is more expressive and lets the student know how the teacher feels (generally in the form of criticism or praise). Some examples are: a) “Great work. I’m really proud of you.” b) “I’m disappointed in your work.” The problems with emotive feedback? There is no information given to the student regarding “why” the teacher is praising or criticizing, and although praise is extremely important for motivating students, when it is used too often or seems insincere it loses its value, and often it is misused (for example: praising marginal or barely adequate work in lower achievers – work that would not be praised if done by other students). This communicates that the teacher holds low expectations for the student.
Analytical feedback – clearly lets students know how they have performed – what (very specifically) is correct about their work, and what (again, specifically) is not correct, and how to fix it. You MUST let students know what to do to improve or they will likely never fix their mistakes (often, with other types of feedback, they are not even sure what is wrong with their answer – they just know that it’s wrong.)Some examples of analytical feedback include: a)” Your answer is correct because…” b) “To make your answer correct, you need to…”
METACOGNITION “Thinking out loud about your thinking” so students can hear your thinking/learning processes. This is important to teach students how to learn (through modeling), telling them why you engaged in the thinking you did, and how it helped you understand the material better. For example:
“When I read that passage, it made me think about… which helped me to see that… But I’m still kind of confused about… so I had better read it again and look for the answer to …”
PROXIMITY Most teachers spend the majority of their time near the high achieving students. They will often only approach lower performing or disruptive students when there is a problem, trying to keep their behavior in check (YIKES – this can certainly ruin any chance of a positive relationship!) Additionally, teachers tend to stay in their favorite “hot spots” – near the board, the overhead, or their desk, along the front row, or near the students who are actively engaged. This creates a system that reinforces the “problem” students by encouraging them to stay away from the teacher’s “hot spots” to avoid teacher contact.
(continued)
As you arrange your classroom, avoid the common pitfalls that create poor patterns of movement by considering the following ideas: 1) Don’t have stagnant rows/columns of desks – try a random pattern that allows you to move among all students. 2) Never have a stationary “back row” – move some of your materials (maps, posters, etc.) to different areas of the room so students always face the “risk” of being in the front row as you move around. 3) Circulate throughout the room, not just during independent seatwork but while you teach (lecture, question, etc.). This makes every student feel recognized and increases student engagement. 4) Personally hand out all papers instead of “handing them down the rows”. This small personal contact (eye contact, smile, etc.) can make the difference between losing a student’s attention and keeping him or her motivated, interested, and engaged.
HAND RAISING
HOMEWORK
Keep in mind that if you habitually call on the first hands raised, or only on those with their hands up, only the aggressive and active students will stay engaged. In order to avoid this problem, either call on students randomly (rather than hand raising, draw names from a hat, point to a name in your roll book), or have a system for calling on all students each day (tally marks in the grade book works well), or have a random system, like a random number generator to pick the next lucky victim to answer a question. You can also use “Voting” as a way to gain input from all students and then call on students strategically from there.
Many factors can make students unmotivated to complete homework: assignments that are unclear, repetitive or unmotivating, a lack of feedback on how they did (teachers don’t grade it in a timely manner or provide meaningful feedback), the students’ home environment does not support the completion of homework, or they don’t really think they need to complete it.
We feel good calling on (“rewarding”) students who are willing to raise their hands, but those who are not raising their hands are the ones we need to worry about motivating to engage in learning. Many simple to use, FREE random number and name generators can be downloaded online. Just Google it!
Some ways to combat the issues: 1) Make the assignment meaningful and interesting 2) Give prompt feedback on performance or review homework as a class/in small groups the next day 3) Give clear directions and allow students to start the assignment in class so they can ask questions as they have them (don’t rush the assignment to them as they walk out the door) 4) Hold all students accountable for completing the assignment a) call parents b) make students stay after to complete work c) keep other assignments “on hold” until they complete homework so they cannot pass without it d) create a “Homework Lottery” to encourage/reward homework completion (each student completing homework during the week/month is entered in a drawing)
PASSING NOTES
Reactive Teachers
Don’t have a plan for how to deal with difficult students (especially not an individualized plan) Take students’ misbehavior personally Get emotionally involved – let their emotions dictate their actions Give up on students – allow them to not work or kick them out to get them to be quiet
Proactive Teachers
Have individualized plans for how to deal with difficult students so they are ready (for those needing motivation vs. limits vs. attention) See themselves as the leader of the classroom Stake the stance, “I’m not going away” Involve parents, administrators and support staff to help change behavior
Randomly pass “notes” for a few seconds (cards with questions – can be informational, review, “get to know you”, opinions – you name it!). Share your answer to the question in hand with your partner, or the class, when given the signal. This gets the students active and talking about a wide variety of ideas or questions in a short amount of time. The only limit will be the types of questions you put (or they put) on the note cards. This activity is great for a quick review, or to get them thinking and talking about a new topic.
SPONGE ACTIVITY Any quick activity (writing, puzzles, metaphors, short reading, quick video clip and response) that will get them thinking and working from the very beginning of class.
MINDSTREAMING Before reading or listening to information about a topic, have students pair up and share what they know, think, or believe about the topic. Have one student share for one minute while the other listens, then switch roles. This helps students access prior knowledge (the most important component for learning/ comprehending new information), and is also a great way for students to practice listening. The information shared in pairs can then be shared with the class through a Whip Around or you can jump right in to the instructional activity.
One caution: be sure it has meaning/purpose, and ties into the day’s lesson, or soon they will “learn” not to do them.
CHALK TALK This silent discussion takes place on the board. It can be used to encourage reflection, generate ideas, or check on learning, while allowing for all students to be “heard”. You will need to devise a strategy to make sure all students take their opportunity to add valuable information to the “discussion”. 1) Remind students that this is a silent activity – there is no talking. All discussion takes place in writing, on the board. 2) Make sure you have several markers out so more than one student can “talk” through writing at once. 3) Be sure to pick questions that are meaningful and elicit thoughtful reflection. Controversial topics work well, if the students are engaged in the topic and have the background information they need to participate. (Background information can either be factual, or their initial opinions on a topic). 4) It works well to have several questions around the room so that there are several discussions going on at once (spread the students out). 5) You can have all students answering the same question, or have a variety of questions and then allow students to rotate through each of the questions (randomly or according to a time schedule – which ever will work best for your intended goals).
PREDICTING/HYPOTHESIZING Having students make a prediction in the beginning of a lesson (or at another strategic point) will keep them involved, even if just to see if they were right. This can be written down and formally analyzed for accuracy and thought, or just informally made to keep the students thinking about the content of the lesson.
Predict the following: Why do you think these four pictures were chosen for today’s discussion?
Taking Notes – Some things to consider … Research shows that when students copy down what you have presented on the board, learning and retention rarely follow. In order to get students to understand, personalize and LEARN what you are covering,
they must be the ones doing the thinking – not you! (Sounds logical, but think about how often we lecture, and they write what we say, and we call that “teaching”.) Don’t set students up for inactivity or brain-drain…keep their minds active and engaged during note-taking activities. You should (almost) NEVER have them write what you say or put on the board. Nope, not even definitions! And actually, students shouldn’t be writing AT ALL while you are talking – they need to be taught to fully listen, process, and then question or respond to the information in a personally meaningful way. If you only talk for 4-5 minutes at a time, covering one idea at a time, they can easily learn to process, then write about what they’ve heard before you move forward again.
QUESTION, ALL WRITE When using this strategy, the teacher poses a question to the students and allows time for all students to write their response. Once students have completed their written responses, the teacher can either call on students to share their answer, or provide them with the answer. This strategy maximizes the number of students who think about a question and are prepared to respond, while also allowing the wait time many students need to formulate a thoughtful answer. It also gives shyer or less-aggressive students the opportunity to feel like they are a part of the class and will have the opportunity and time to create a valuable answer. It is up to you if you choose to collect their written responses later, or have students save them in a learning log, or… the possibilities are endless!
SPEAK-WRITE In this strategy, the teacher presents material to the class and pauses periodically for students to write about the material. Students might write notes on the topic, a response or reaction to what was presented, or a question they might have. This works to keep the student actively thinking about the material being covered rather than just having them copy down some information and generally make little or no personal connection to what they are writing. The presentation of materials (lecture, for instance) should not go on for more than 5 minutes, and the students should then be given about 2-3 minutes to write and think. Their written work can either be handed in for credit or shared with other students in a small group discussion about the topic, personal impressions, or questions they still have. During the “lecture” period, students should NOT be writing, only listening, so when they do write, the information has already been processed once and the process of internalizing the material has already begun.
ACTIVE READING NOTES Have students “talk to the text” as they read. When students are asked to read a passage of text, it is much better to have them write their thoughts, questions, and ideas in the margin (or on another piece of paper) than to have them highlight or underline. By asking students to write ideas, connections, questions, and gripes about the information they are reading, the learning becomes much deeper and more personally meaningful than if they just underline facts or the author’s words. Get them thinking while reading and their learning will increase exponentially, as will their interest and motivation. This type of reading/note taking will: 1) solidify and clarify ideas and understandings 2) give students something, in their own words, that they can easily refer back to 3) provide a space to record questions they need to ask 4) personalize the learning process and create deeper meaning through thoughts, emotions, and connections
ADVANCE ORGANIZERS What I did
What I learned
How I can use it
THREE COLUMN NOTES
A note-taking strategy designed to promote students’ ability to synthesize ideas from different sources – text, lecture, class discussion and personal experience – into a unified whole. Often completed at the end of the week, or after a unit of study, to review, reinforce what was learned, and help the student find application and personal meaning in the material.
Attention
THE SYNTHESIS JOURNAL
Limits
Motivation
Column titles can include Facts, Issues/Opinions, Thoughts, Questions, Concerns/Confusions, Connections to Other Info, Connections to Your Life, etc. The list of choices is endless, but the connections made will help deepen the students’ understanding and solidify information in their memories.
A blank graphic organizer that you give to students before covering a concept or information. They then use the organizer as you cover information to visually organize what you are covering/they are learning in class. They can be limited to single lectures, used to organize information covered in an entire unit, or even for entire courses. Student’s What What the Student’s Teacher’s reaction to they teacher behavior response the teacher’s NEED needs to do response
5-3-1 A way to help students separate key ideas from supporting information. This is also a good way for students to learn how to narrow down information to just the most important components, and also provides practice in finding group consensus. 1) Have students individually write down five (5) of the key ideas you have been covering. 2) Group students and have them each share their personal top three (3) key ideas with their group. 3) Have each group decide which one (1) key ideas presented in their group is the most important. 4) Have all groups share out to the class their top one (1). 5) Discuss as neededâ&#x20AC;Ś
OUTCOME SENTENCES 4 BOX SYNECTICS/METAPHORS When using this strategy, students are asked to reflect and write sentences about a lesson or learning experience. To facilitate the writing, the teacher provides a selection of sentence starters such as those listed below. (It works great to have these up on the wall so they are easily accessible and can be referred to often.) This strategy is similar to Speak-Write, but it is used after the learning rather than during. This strategy helps students to create meaning for themselves, thus strengthening learning and personal connection to the information.
“I learned…” “I wonder if…” “I was surprised…” “I can use this information…” “I’ve realized…” “This could be useful when…”
Name an object (sky’s the limit) for the students to compare the current topic or concept to (create an analogy). This helps them to develop new insights about the critical attributes of the concept, and also aids in the development of creative thinking skills. For 4 Box Synectics, have students name four objects and then create four analogies. For example (use next page): 1) Ask students (as a class) to give examples to fill in each of the boxes. All students will use the same examples for the activity. 2) Then tell students what concept they are creating the analogies for (yep – do this 2nd) “So, how is Democracy like the items listed in each of the boxes?” 3) Be sure to tell them how many answers you want (as a minimum) in each box (at least two). 4) Give them 2 minutes to work alone, then allow them to pair up as needed. 5) Often extra credit for the “best” analogies/ metaphors is a good motivator. If they work in pairs, they should share the credit (this may encourage independent thought). 6) Synectics can also be extended to increase understanding of the critical attributes of the concept by then asking for two or more ways that the items are NOT LIKE the concept. (continued…)
This “reverse thinking” is tougher, but creates an even deeper understanding. “So, how is Democracy NOT like the items in each box?” List 2 for each. Kitchen appliance
Type of pet
Car
Body part
GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS Having students create visual representations to express the relationships they see between concepts and supporting information is a powerful way to get them thinking, and often their understanding of the connections and hierarchy within information is easily assessed with a glance at their organizer. Organizers can be in the form of webs, concept maps, flow charts, matrices/grids, or Venn diagrams, depending on the information and how it is best organized and connected. Inspiration is great for creating concept maps and outlines. Be sure to give students several models to experiment with, especially when first using this strategy with them.
NONLINGUISTIC REPRESENTATIONS According to research, knowledge is stored in two forms: linguistic and visual. The more students use both forms in the classroom, the more opportunity they have to learn and internalize the information presented. It has been proven that the use of nonlinguistic representation not only stimulates thinking but also increases overall brain activity. The best way to use this is to incorporate words and images/symbols to represent relationships. Either the teacher or the students can create the representations, depending on the purpose of the activity.
QUESTIONS THAT HELP REDUCE “INTELLECTUAL BULIMIA” We tend to get stuck asking the same type of questions over and over in our classrooms – often they are lowerleveled, fact-based questions that have “right” answers. These questions do make it easy to quickly assess if students are keeping up or need more clarification/ instruction, but their usefulness tends to end there. Unfortunately, these questions do not promote critical thinking in students, and often have the opposite effect - they reduce students to “bulimic information consumers”. (They “binge” on the information that is being fed to them, then simply “purge” the information back out, without any of the benefits of digestion/ thought.)
WHAT BASIC TYPES OF QUESTIONS CAN YOU DEVELOP? Bridging Questions – build on students’ personal knowledge and attempt to link their prior knowledge and experiences to the new information being presented. Remembering Questions – ask students to remember information. Reasoning Questions – ask students to make connections between and among ideas presented. Reorganizing Questions – ask students to speculate and form new structures for connecting and relating information. Relating Questions – ask students to personalize new information by relating it to what they know, think, or feel. So how do you easily change your questioning techniques?
A. Plan ahead. Make sure you have at least a brief list of questions, at a variety of levels, written up before beginning your lesson. This way, all you need to do is glance down and the higher-level question is right there, waiting for you. A no-brainer that works every time. B. Expect to stop your lesson about every 5 to 7 minutes to ask a question that either checks for understanding (reviewing important information) or ties the information deeper into each student’s individualized memories. This is one of the best ways to drill information into their little brains.
QUESTIONING AROUND THE WHEEL A simple technique to use that helps ensure that all learners’ styles are activated and challenged. This will also increase retention of new information by increasing interest and helping students form connections in a variety of ways. Just plan out questions to ask that appeal to each style as you plan the lesson – it’s that easy! Mastery learners (ST): like facts and details (recall questions) Understanding learners (NT): like to logically look at the big picture and analyze connections (challenging and analyzing questions, problem solving, hypothesize, compare/contrast, use evidence) Interpersonal learners (SF): value relationships and look at things from a personal stance (peer collaboration, questions requiring personal reflection and ties to personal experience and feelings) Self-expressive learners (NF): value creativity and using their imagination (“What if?” questions) ST NT NF
SF
SF
NF NT ST
Sample Questions to be used with “How Old is Grandma?” (see next page) Mastery learners (ST) – like facts and details. What are 5 items mentioned in the story that you use daily, that did not exist 60 years ago? What are 3 things/changes she mentioned about word usage and meaning? Understanding (NT) – like to logically look at the big picture and analyze connections. Which of the listed items, in your opinion, made the biggest impact on society and daily life? Explain why you chose the one you did. Do you think we need any of the mentioned items to live a “good” life? Defend your choices. Interpersonal (SF) – value relationships and look at things from a personal stance. How would Grandma’s “typical” weekend plans (as a teenager) compare to yours? How might she feel about being called “old and confused” because of the generation gap? Do you think she sees herself as old, or confused? Why or why not? Self-expressive (NF) – value creativity, like to look at “What if?” scenarios. What invention might your grandkids rely on, that you don’t have (not invented yet)? How would the world be different if we had not invented one of the items she lists?
How old is Grandma? One evening a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events. The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings in schools, the computer, and just things in general. The Grandma replied, "Well, let me think a minute. I was born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill. There were no credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens. Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man had yet to walk on the moon. Your Grandfather and I got married first, and then lived together. Every family had a father and a mother. Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir"- - and after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir". We were before gay-rights, computerdating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy. Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense. We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions. Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege. We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent. Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins. Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started. Timesharing meant time the family spent together in the
evenings and weekends, not purchasing condominiums. We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings. We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey. If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk. The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam. Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of. We had 5 & 10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, but who could afford one? Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon. In my day, "grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink, "pot" was something your mother cooked in, and "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby. "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office, "chip" meant a piece of wood, "hardware" was found in a hardware store, and "software" wasn't even a word. And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap. How old do you think I am???
This Woman would have been born in 1949
Build better questions using these THINKING SKILLS ACTION WORDS Knowledge: What Who Relate
When Repeat Find
Where Name Identify
Comprehension: Reword Interpret Convert Explain Outline Define
Recall Recite Label
Locate List
Reconstruct Paraphrase Transpose
Conceive Understand Calculate
Application: Apply Adopt Employ Convert
Adapt Solve Utilize Relate
Transfer Use Realize
Transform Transcribe Manipulate
Analysis: Examine Dissect Classify
Analyze Sort Investigate
Inspect Separate Take apart
Break down Scrutinize
Synthesis: Combine Conceive Make
Build Blend Join
Originate Develop Generate
Regroup Mix
Evaluation: Assess Rank Classify
Judge Decide Debate
Weigh Appraise
Rate Determine
VOTING This is a simple, quick way to promote non-verbal responses from students, increasing engagement and attention in all students. Students are given a question that requires a nonverbal response (thumbs up versus thumbs down, for example, or hand all the way up, half way up or left on desk to indicate various degrees of agreement). This can give the teacher quick feedback about students’ understanding (“How well do you feel you understand the function of a neuron?”) or gauge their opinion on a topic (“Is global warming going to create serious issues for humans and the environment – YES is thumbs up, NO is thumbs down”). This sampling of students keeps them actively engaged without slowing the pace of the lesson. It also makes participating in class non-threatening, which will encourage some quieter students to join in.
ROUNDTABLE
HANDS DOWN IDEA SHARING The teacher asks students to formulate their thoughts about a particular concept or idea. All group members consider what they would like to say, then place one hand on their desk when they are ready to share. When all hands are down on the table, each group member in turn shares his/her thoughts, generally beginning with the last one to place a hand on the table. This strategy provides time for all students to formulate their thoughts on a topic and share them with their group. It also prevents vocal students from taking over a group, and demonstrates that all students have something to contribute.
When conducting a roundtable, students are asked to work in small groups. The teacher distributes a response sheet to each member of the group, each sheet posing a different question, problem, or idea. Students write a response (generally for one minute) on the sheet theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been given, then pass the sheet to the student on their right. The cycle continues until each student has written on each sheet. This encourages all students to think and respond to several ideas, generating many ideas in a short amount of time. Also, it allows students to see how their ideas compare to those of their classmates, and will help struggling students by giving them some ideas from other students before they get started adding their own ideas to the sheet. You can also use a Roundtable format before giving the students information to see what they already think/know, and then, after instruction, give them their initial Roundtable sheets back and have them add to them/reflect on the changes in their thinking and understanding (simple yet powerful way to help them recognize the growth in their thinking).
WHIP AROUND – PASS OPTION First, the teacher poses a question that does not have just one right answer to the class (ideas and opinions work well). Then, every student is given the opportunity to either provide a response or pass to the next student. This strategy should not be used unless most/all of the students are able to come up with an answer (even though they are not required to share it). This strategy is a quick way to increase the number of students who get to share their response, and also communicates to the students that the teacher expects all students will have a response. If you have students who habitually pass, either remove the “pass” option, or now you know who to call on in class for the tougher questions to increase their participation (either in class or in the next Whip Around).
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THINK – PAIR – SHARE Have students individually answer a question in writing. After a set amount of time for writing, have students pair up (whether with a person sitting near them or through another pairing strategy) and share their answers with each other. You can then have volunteers share their partner’s answer with the class when appropriate (without using the partner’s paper -- this forces listening and greater understanding), or do a Whip Around so all can share.
GIVE ONE – TAKE ONE
PMI
A strategy to get students up and moving, communicating, and interactively brainstorming. 1) Give each student a slip of paper numbered 1 through 10 down the side. 2) Give students the topic they will be brainstorming about, and ask them to write down their top two ideas/answers in the top two spaces on their slip. 3) Have students walk around the room and give one idea to each person they talk to while also taking one idea from that person. They will be done when they have a total of ten ideas/answers.
Give OneTake One
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
It is best to keep the students moving quickly from person to person (maybe 60 seconds per meeting) to keep the ideas going and the conversations focused. Possible uses: Preassessment activity (to access what students already know) Review of material – whether for an assessment or to spur thoughtful reflection A quick way to get students up, moving, and thinking Perfect for any question that has at least 10 answers
This works well for group discussions and as a ways to get students evaluating their thoughts about information that was recently learned. Also a good way to have students respond to a reading, video, or other piece of information. Especially great to use at 10-15 minutes intervals during videos, readings, or lectures. How to use it After reading, hearing, or viewing the information, students reflect on and respond to the material by thinking about the following question: Thinking about what you just heard, read, viewed, what did you find to be a plus (P), a minus (M), and (or) an interesting question or comment (I). Provide sentence stems to get them started: P: I agree with the main idea because… This fits with what I already know in that… This has helped me see deeper into the situation by… M: I don’t agree with this for these reasons… This is different than that I know in that… I have questions or concerns about… I: This is a whole new way of seeing this subject in terms of… I have never thought of this as… I can adapt some of these ideas and use them by…
SIX HAT THINKING This strategy guides students in utilizing six different thinking skills (as a group) to process information for a discussion of something they will all see, read, or hear. Each student is assigned a “hat” color to represent the type of thinking they should do as they engage with the material (to gain multiple perspectives within the group): The white hat thinkers look for facts, figures, and data. The yellow hat thinkers look for all of the positive aspects and benefits of the topic/ material. The purple hat thinkers look at the negative aspects. They look for flaws and reasons things won’t work. The red hat thinkers deal with hunches, emotions, and feelings they have about the information/topic. The green hat thinkers find ways that the information can be creatively applied or adapted to new situations. The blue hat thinkers draw conclusions and provide summaries of the main ideas.
“I HAVE … WHO HAS?”
This strategy engages a group in reviewing information – basically having them study out loud together. The activity requires recall as well as listening skills. Great for facts such as math problems and science content. Each student gets a card with an answer at the top, and another question at the bottom. They are forced to listen to the questions posed by other students, waiting to hear the question that can be answered by the response they have at the top of their card. Once they hear the correct question, they call out, “I have…” and give the answer they have on their card. Then, they ask their question by beginning with, “Who has…” Continue questions and answers until the person who asked the first question gives their answer.
I have: the Bastille
I have: the guillotine
Who has: the execution machine that beheaded people. I have: Marie Antoinette
Who has: the queen who was unsympathetic to the people.
Who has: the name for the middle class of France?
Who has: the term for spending more money than you have. I have: The Second Estate
I have: deficit spending Who has: the term for the “estate” of nobles and aristocrats?
I have: the bourgeoisie
Who has: the name of the palace of the French king?
GLOBAL COMMUNITIES Students are placed into a number of small groups at various “stations” around the room that each surround a large piece of paper. One of the group members is assigned the job of “AMBASSADOR”.
1. 2. 3.
A “big” or “essential question” (see Assessment section) is posed to the students, and then they are given time to discuss and write about the question as an interactive small group. After 3 to 5 minutes of writing their ideas on the paper and/or verbally sharing with their group, all students (except the Ambassador) move to different stations around the room, reorganizing the members of the groups into new discussion groups.
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Once they arrive at a new station, the station’s Ambassador verbally summarizes what was discussed by the previous students, and then the discussion continues for another 3 to 5 minutes (again, both verbally and in writing) as the new group of students adds to the ideas of the previous group, and delve further into the topic as a group. The process of reorganizing and regrouping the students can continue as many times as is appropriate for the question(s) asked. This activity can be done using a single question or a series of related questions divided among the different stations.
Once the students have completed the rotations, the final group at each station discusses the major ideas written on that station’s paper, then the ambassador writes three summarizing points in the circle in the middle of the paper.
JIGSAW An activity that groups students twice. First, they are grouped and work to become “experts” on some given information. Then, the groups are switched so there is one “expert” for each topic in each new group. In this new group, each “expert” teaches their group about their concept. There are some effective ways to use this activity and ensure individual and group responsibility for learning and teaching, but it can be less effective if not carefully implemented. This is a great cooperative learning strategy when done right.
CONCEPT CIRCLES A simple way to help students examine critical attributes and relationships between key terms and concepts in a given unit of study. A circle is broken into fourths and words/terms from the unit are placed in the quadrants. There are three different ways to approach the task (based on your goal for the activity): Place a word or phrase in each quadrant. Students need to describe or name the concept or category that all four words are referring to, or that ties all of the words together. There can be more than one right answer. The key is for them to find the relationship between all four words.
Place a word or phrase in each quadrant. Students need to shade in the quadrant of the word or phrase that does not fit with the others. Students then need to describe or name the concept or category that the three related words are referring to or that ties the words together.
Place a word or phrase in three quadrants. Students need to figure out a word that is related to the others to write in the fourth quadrant. Students then need to describe or name the concept or category that the four related words (three that were given and one they added) are referring to or that ties the words together.
WORD SORT (PRE- OR POST-LEARNING) Give students a list of words and have them group the words (groups of 3 or more) based on how they see they are related. Students should be asked to make more than 2 groups of words (and can reuse words in different groups) and they need to be able to say why the words fit within the same group (the concept or category that best describes the shared meaning of the words). This encourages active thinking about the meaning of the words, activates the prior knowledge students have about the words, and shows the connections they are making between the words/concepts. For example:
Studying Notes Problem Solving
Homework
Experiments
Goal setting
Hard work
Attendance
Journaling
Creative Thinking Positive Thinking
Could be grouped into: Studying notes, Homework, Hard Work, and Attendance. The category or concept could be: Ways to get good grades, how to succeed in school, things you haven’t done in the past, or any other relevant category the students see all of these words fitting into. (continued)
Then, they would need to create a different list of words that they group based on a different concept or category. There is no right or wrong answer. The goal is to get them thinking about what they already know, and find ways to tie new information together in a way that makes sense to them. As a pre-reading or pre-learning activity, look for misconceptions and personal meanings that you can address and use as you teach them. As a post-reading or post-learning activity, look for them to show clear understanding of the meanings of and connections between the main ideas and concepts of the lesson.
A few ways to give students: a purpose for reading, help in accessing the prior knowledge they have on a topic, guidance toward finding personal meaning within the material, help in forming predictions and questions that will guide their reading, and increased engagement and willingness to put forth the effort needed to comprehend what they are reading.
ANTICIPATION GUIDES Anticipation Guides are written as a way to help students preview their thoughts about the topics presented in an upcoming reading. A series of (potentially) controversial statements (or at least statements with no right or wrong answer) are posed to the students, and they are asked to either agree or disagree with the statement, and give some rationale for their choice. For example, before reading an article on using genetic engineering to produce better athletes, students would fill out (and discuss) the following Anticipation Guide:
1. Most athletes, if given the choice, would choose not to “cheat” in order to win. Agree Disagree WHY? 2. Most individuals will wait until a process, medication, or procedure has been proven safe before trying it out on themselves. Agree Disagree WHY? 3. Sports as a whole would benefit if great players could be kept healthy longer so their careers could be extended, allowing for more exciting plays and games, and giving more young players a chance to learn from the best. Agree Disagree WHY? 4. Individuals have the right to decide what to do to their own bodies. The government, science, and others in society should not have a say in the matter. Agree Disagree WHY? 5. People would prefer to see an athlete win “fair and square” rather than supporting them knowing that their accomplishments are due to an “unnatural” cause (such as steroids or growth hormone injections). Agree Disagree WHY? (continued)
This strategy helps struggling readers and students who don’t easily engage with texts because: 1) it allows all students to give their opinion on a topic, validating that they (the students) bring experience and personal ideas to the class/reading/discussion, rather than reinforcing that the only important opinions comes from the author or the teacher. 2) it sets a purpose for reading (which begins as an extrinsic motivator, but becomes more intrinsic as the student reads on) that is often missing in lessons. Students who have developed and shared their own opinions will want to read to find out if the author agrees with them or not, and why. This will help the struggling reader because it gives a reason to continue reading and working to comprehend what they read, and engages the student who doesn’t enjoy reading because they will have a reason to read other than “the teacher said to”. 3) all students get a chance to give their opinion in a non-
threatening way, so more voices are heard and acknowledged, thus engaging and reinforcing the efforts and ideas of all students rather than just the vocal ones (and you don’t have to put the quieter ones “on the spot” or rush those who need more wait time to think about their ideas).
PREDICTION GUIDES
Prediction guides are similar to Anticipation Guides, but the statements given to the students are based on facts the students will encounter in the text, and students are asked to predict if the statements are true or false. The students benefit from these guides because they serve several important pre-reading goals: 1) they assist the students in accessing prior knowledge and attitudes about the upcoming topic, thus deepening their eventual learning and also increasing their engagement with the material. 2) they will help students to make predictions and develop questions as they now have a sense of what the reading will be about. From the questions and their predictions, students also now have a purpose for their reading (to find information related to the statements and see if they were â&#x20AC;&#x153;on trackâ&#x20AC;? with their thinking) so they are much more likely to stick with it and work harder to comprehend the information. 3) For teachers, these guides not only help to engage the students at a deeper, more personal level with the text, but they also give the teacher early feedback on the knowledge and attitudes that the students in their class are bringing to the classroom. 4) the strategy takes little time to plan and implement, but the returns are great â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a perfect recipe for a strong, useful instructional strategy.
When done right, reading requires active questioning, clarification, monitoring, summarizing, connecting and predicting by the reader.
INSERTS A good strategy to help students recognize when their comprehension is breaking down, while also encouraging thinking and questioning as they read, and creating a focus on new and important information within the text. Students can be asked to use the following symbols (or, if they choose to use their own, they should be asked to include a key for their symbols) to make notes as they read through the text: ?
I agree with this statement/idea I’ve never heard of this before/It’s new to me This is important information I need more clarification or help with this/ I don’t understand I don’t agree with this statement/idea
As students read through a passage, they should use these symbolic notations frequently to maintain comprehension and provide an easy way to refer back to specific areas of the text later (encouraging rereading and referencing the text after reading). If the students cannot write on the text, small sticky notes with symbols work as well. ???
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EMBEDDED QUESTIONS Within the text, questions are placed at strategic points for students to pause and contemplate, followed by lines on which they can write or draw their answer.
(Have
you ever tried this strategy? ) This helps to interrupt ineffective reading, prevent loss of comprehension, and promote active engage-ment with the text to increase understanding. (What is the
top benefit for students?
) Students may be asked to summarize, predict, question, or describe what has been happening. It can also be effective to ask them to go back and highlight information in the text that supports their answer.
(What is the most important idea so far in this passage? HINT: this strategy is easy to implement using web-based text. Simply copy the text, paste it into a word document, and add questions and lines where needed.
CLICK OR CLUNK with SUMMARY NOTES or THESIS NOTES At the end of each section of a text (or at end marks supplied by the teacher), students pause their reading and ask themselves if the information “clicks” with them and they understand it, or it “clunks” and they need more clarification. If it “clicks”, they need to write a summary note or thesis note that covers the main ideas of the section. Summary notes are clear and brief, and contain both the important ideas of the reading and supporting ideas and details. Thesis notes are extremely concise and answer the question, “What is the main point the author is trying to get across to the reader?” If it “clunks”, the student needs to write a clarifying question that would help them understand the text if they knew the answer to it, and then ask the question aloud so it can be discussed. Once the student gets the clarification they need, they should then write a summary or thesis note for the section.
In order for reading to be viewed as a meaningful activity that requires thought and personal reflection, more needs to be done with a reading passage than simply asking students to “read” it and answer some rote or lowerlevel, fact-based questions. Students need to learn that “reading” is a process which requires:
questioning, finding personal meaning, active engagement, and interaction to make reading worth their while.
HOT SEAT In this strategy, students are asked to read a passage and then write down a series of questions that they would like to ask of a character in the story or person involved in the reading. Then, several students are asked to role play the part of those people in the story while the rest of the class asks them the questions they have generated. The role-playing students are called upon to improvise, to the best of their ability, the answers the real individuals would give to the questions based on the information in the reading, prior knowledge they possess, and speculation/interpretation. This strategy is a particularly good, non-threatening way for students to learn to question as they read, infer information that may not be readily available based on what they know, and to fully engage with the reading rather than to just let words go “in one eye and out the other”. As they use this strategy, students can see what they read “come to life” in a way that is not scripted or restricted, and they can hopefully learn to apply the skill of “lateral thinking” about what they are reading to other reading assignments they are asked to complete. Plus, students enjoy acting and role-playing, so this will feel less like learning and more like having fun, and will get at the (continued)
information in a way that would be difficult to do with a regular discussion or other written activity. As the teacher, the benefits of this strategy include the strong possibility of student engagement with the material at a deeper level of thought and understanding while creating an atmosphere in which curiosity and predicting/hypothesizing/inferring are valuable, practiced, and seen as useful tools to the students for understanding not only what they read, but everything around them.
Today I’m playing the part of…
POLAR OPPOSITES This strategy is designed to provide a basis for postreading discussion, setting the stage for debate over controversial issues presented in the reading. Students are given a series of statements to respond to after reading. Each statement is designed to encourage a variety of perspectives on the main concepts presented in the reading, and students to asked place an ‘X’ on a continuum to indicate their level of agreement with the viewpoint represented by one adjective or it’s opposite. They then need to note reasons for their position, and refer back to the reading for supporting information. For example, after reading an article on picking your child’s genetic traits (“like you’d pick the features you want in a new car”), students would fill out and prepare to discuss the following questions:
Polar Opposites… Where do YOU Stand? 1) The impacts on society of allowing reproductive technologies to help infertile couples try and conceive a child are largely… positive negative 2) Picking the genetically-based traits a child will have is… worthwhile unnecessary 3) The idea of being able to add non-human traits (such as cheetah speed or night vision) into an individual’s DNA is… enticing repulsive 4) Suing a doctor over the creation of a “defective” child, or creating a child with traits the parents didn’t wish the child to have is … acceptable/ unacceptable/ reasonable unreasonable 5) Continued use of reproductive technologies, including gene selection, will take the human race in a direction. constructive destructive 6) Picking an egg or sperm donor based on physical traits is than picking based on intelligence measures. more less desirable desirable
POINT OF VIEW GUIDES “Writing is not simply a way for students to demonstrate what they know. It is a way to help them understand what they know. At its best, writing is learning.” – from the National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges, 2003
During and after reading, students are asked questions that are posed in an interview format. The questions encourage students to elaborate, infer, speculate and think as they take on the identity of a person (or object) in the text, and then write from that perspective. For example: “Describe the power you have as an exponent.” “Being a compass owned by Columbus, describe your two favorite travels.” “How does it feel to be stripped of your ‘planet’ status?” (asked of a student role-playing as Pluto) When students write from a certain perspective and in their own language, the material becomes more personal and therefore more meaningful to them.
TRIPLE-ENTRY JOURNALS Three columns are used to help students make connections between what they are reading and themselves as readers (their thoughts, experiences, ideas, etc.). In these journals, the left-hand column is for an event, idea or quote from the text. The middle column is for increased clarification, detail, or a description of the information in the first column. The right-hand column is for studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; personal reflections: their thoughts, feelings, and/or reactions, and how the information applies to their own life or life in general. For example:
Reflect on the quote and make Paraphrase/summ Quotation from connections arize the quote in the text students between it and your column one, and tell are reading. own life and what you think it (Generally experiences, or means or why it is teacher supplied) what you see in significant. others that is relevant.
ADMIT SLIPS Brief, anonymous writings in which students are asked to think metacognitively about what they are learning. For admit slips, students react to what they are studying or to what is happening in class. Questions could include: 1) What is on your mind about ? 2) What do you like/dislike about ? 3) What is confusing you about ? 4) What problems did you have with the homework assignment? The slips are collected either as the students enter class or after 2-3 minutes of writing, and the teacher reads a selection of them aloud and clarification or discussion can begin from that point.
EXIT SLIPS At the end of a lesson or class period, students are given 3-5 minutes to write about information presented in class. These questions should require: 1) Summarization (“Summarize what we did in class today.”) 2) Synthesis (“Put together the information we talked about today with what you read yesterday. How are they connected?” 3) Projection (“Where do you think we are going from here?”) 4) Evaluation (“What is your opinion about ?”) The idea is to have students write in order to increase thinking and clarify their under-standing rather than writing to demonstrate what they understand.
Teaching Styles – Which is most like you? Mastery (ST)
Interpersonal (SF)
Outcomes-oriented (skills learned, projects completed). They maintain highlystructures, well-organized classroom environments. Work is purposeful, emphasizing the acquisition of skills and information. Plans are clear and concise. Discipline is firm but fair. Teachers are the primary information source and give detailed directions for student learning.
Empathetic and peopleoriented. Emphasis is placed on students’ personal life experiences and feelings of positive self-worth. The teacher shares personal feelings and experiences with students and attempts to build personal connections between and among students and the content they are learning. Plans are changed frequently to meet the mood of the class or the feelings of the teacher.
Understanding (NT)
Self-Expressive (NF)
Intellectually oriented. The teacher places primary importance on students’ intellectual development. The teacher provides the time and intellectual challenges to encourage students to develop skills in critical thinking, problem solving, logic, research techniques, and independent study. Evaluation is often based on open-ended questions, debates, essays, or position papers.
Innovatively oriented. The teacher encourages students to explore their creative abilities. Insights and innovative ideas are highly valued. Discussions revolve around generating possibilities and new relationships. Curriculum emphases focus on creative thinking, moral development, values, and flexible, imaginative approaches to learning. Curiosity, insight, and artistic self-expression are welcomed.
Roles of the Teacher when Focusing on Different Learning Styles Mastery (ST)
Interpersonal (SF)
Presenter of information,
Facilitator,
the person with the answers. The teacher provides structure and order as a framework for the activity.
the person who gets students to work together to come up with ideas and produce products collaboratively. The teacher also helps students to relate the subject matter to their own feelings and experiences.
Understanding (NT)
Self-Expressive (NF)
Challenger,
Resource person,
who stimulates students to see new connections in the larger scheme of things. The teacher helps students see information within the perspective of a broader context.
who provides students with alternative sources of information and materials. The teacher helps expand possibilities for students’ creative and innovative application of their learning.
Guidelines for Working with all Learning Styles The goal: structure your classroom & assign tasks to address each of the learning styles Mastery (ST)
Start with clear expectations Tell students what they need to know, and how to do it, step by step Establish opportunities for concrete experiences and for practice Provide speedy feedback Separate practice from performance TASKS: require organization of factual information for recall. Involve specificity, details, procedures, and lots of practice.
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Interpersonal (SF)
Tie content to personal experience Reinforce learning through support and positive feedback Use the world outside the classroom as a resource Select activities that build on personal experiences and cooperative structures Take time to help establish personal goals, encourage reflection, and praise performance TASKS: involve peer collaboration and focus on affective aspects of the subject matter.
Understanding (NT)
Self-Expressive (NF)
Provide questions that puzzle and data that teases Require students to hypothesize and develop plans of action before they explore answers Open the learning process to questions that stimulate deeper thought – “Yes, but why?”, “How come?”, “How do you know?” Build in opportunities for students to share their explanations and provide evidence and proof for their ideas Evaluate students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills
Inspire students to think divergently and imaginatively Model creative work so students can examine and establish criteria for assessment Allow students choice of activities and multiple methods for showing what they know Give feedback, coach, and provide an audience for sharing work Evaluate and assess performance according to established criteria
TASKS: present students with challenges. Put them in problem solving mode and have them sort out data, analyze, synthesize hypothesize, compare and contrast, and draw conclusions based on the evidence.
TASKS: give choices for completing assignments or projects. Students make creative applications that reflect their knowledge and mastery of the content. Involve imagination, innovation, and invention.
This chart can be helpful when you’re having difficulty reaching a student, but you’re not sure where the resistance is coming from. Mastery Learner Interpersonal Learner PREFERS TO LEARN BY: seeing tangible results practicing what he has learned following directions one step at a time being active rather than passive knowing exactly what is expected of her, how well the task must be done, and why LEARNS BEST FROM: drill demonstration practice hands-on experience LIKES: doing things that have immediate, practical use being acknowledged for thoroughness and detail praise for prompt and complete work immediate feedback (rewards, privileges, etc.) DISLIKES: completing tasks for which there are no practical uses activities that require imagination and intuition activities with complex directions open-ended activities without closure or pay-off activities that focus on feelings or other intangible results
PREFERS TO LEARN BY: studying about things that directly affect people's lives rather than impersonal facts or theories receiving personal attention and encouragement from his teachers being part of a teamcollaborating with other students activities that help her learn about herself and how she feels about things LEARNS BEST FROM: group experiences and projects loving attention personal expression and personal encounters role playing LIKES: receiving personal attention and encouragement opportunities to be helpful in class personal feedback sharing personal feelings/experiences with others DISLIKES: long periods of working alone silently emphasis on factual detail highly competitive games where someone loses detailed and demanding routines
Understanding Learner PREFERS TO LEARN BY: studying about ideas and how things are related planning and carrying out a project of his own making and interest arguing or debating a point based on logical analysis problem solving that requires collecting, organizing, and evaluating data LEARNS BEST FROM: lectures reading logical discussions and debates projects of personal interest LIKES: time to plan and organize her work working independently or with other intuitive-thinking types working with ideas and things that challenge him to think, to explore, to master DISLIKES: routine or rote assignments memorization concern for details rigid rules and predetermined procedures
Self- Expressive Learner PREFERS TO LEARN BY: being creative and using his imagination planning and organizing her work in her own creative ways working on a number of things at one time searching for alternative solutions to problems beyond those normally considered discussing real problems and looking for real solutions LEARNS BEST FROM: creative and artistic activities open-ended discussions of personal/social values activities that enlighten and enhance-myths, human achievement, dramas, etc. LIKES: contemplation being able to learn through discovery opportunity to plan and pursue his own interests recognition for personal insights and discoveries DISLIKES: too much attention to detail facts, memorization, rote learning tasks with predetermined correct answers detailed and demanding routines
How should achievement be measured? The Bell Curve – traditional assessment and standardized testing
Basically: Who beat whom? A student’s performance is rated based on how it compares to other students’ performances. It is possible to be in the “above average” category without meeting the learning goal.
below “average” ½ of all students will always be here
Standards Student Learning Models Curriculum Design Differentiation Brain-Based Research Objectives
above “average” The other ½ will always be here 50th percentile “average”
The Mountain – standards-based measures
Basically: Did the student meet the standard? A student’s performance is rated based only on how well they (individually) met the standard.
The goal is to help every student meet the predetermined standards.
STANDARDS IN EDUCATION
“POWER” STANDARDS
If you were invited to play a game of “bokai ball”, what is the first thing you would need to know so you could play?
Since it is virtually impossible to cover all of the standards put forth in a State’s or the Nation’s standards documents, it is important for schools and teachers to identify a set of “power standards” to guide classroom instruction and curriculum development.
The Rules! If you think of curriculum standards as a set of rules for teaching a subject, you realize that without them, both you and the students can easily get lost! Standards have gotten a bad rap because: 1) There are too many of them. A study by McREL found that to adequately cover all of the standards required K-12 would take approximately 21 years of school. Impossible! 2) They were often designed by people outside of the classroom. Knowledge of the content was often not matched with knowledge of students, it seems, in order to create the standards. 3) They include no guidelines or support for practical implementation. Teachers find them vague and overloaded, making them seem impossible to follow and put into practice. 4) They were seen as just another passing craze in education. After 10 years, it seems this one is false. But, using standards to guide curriculum choices is the best way to provide fair, consistent, clear rules for what all students are expected to know and be able to do as a result of being in a specific class or grade level.
These “power standards” are a subset of standards that meet the following criteria*: 1) Endurance – skills and content that students cannot be successful in life without and will have a lasting effect on learning (ie: communication skills, problem solving). 2) Leverage – knowledge and abilities that are applicable in many areas (ie: reading, writing [especially non-fiction], use of tables, charts and graphs). 3) Essential for the next level of learning – what students will need to be successful in the next grade or at the next stage. In addition, “power standards” need to include skills not addressed in most State standards that are necessary to support success (ie: organization, time management, collaboration, work habits). *From Dr. Douglas Reeves, founder and chairman of the Center for Performance Assessment and the International Center for Educational Accountability.
ONE MODEL OF STUDENT LEARNING How students learn should guide how you teach. Dr Robert Marzano suggests the following model. The “systems” are constantly being entered and left in a moment-to-moment flow. FIRST: the Self-System. Learning and attending to class begins with questions the student asks themselves: Q: Is this important to me? No
Yes
Student doesn’t pay attention to learning
Student is willing to pay attention/ learn Q: Can I do it?
No
Yes
Student not willing to try – would rather choose to fail
Student is willing to work hard and try to succeed
THEN: the Metacognitive System. Once a student decides they want to learn the information and they feel they can, it is time to set the stage for effective learning. 1) Set goals for learning: If students know what they are expected to learn, they can then identify and attend to important information. The goals need to include only information important enough to expect all students to need to master the information. 2) Monitor progress: Students monitor if they are learning what they are supposed to through informal and formal assessment and activities. Teachers use this information to guide further learning activities. FINALLY: the Cognitive System. A variety of activities are used to help students to internalize, learn, and master the information set forth in the learning goals. This includes: 1) Making sure the information is truly learned and stored in such a way that it can be retrieved/used. 2) A variety of contexts and activities that reinforce the creation of new knowledge and connections within the students’ minds. Based on: comparing, contrasting, classifying, error analysis, generalizing, specifying, and non-verbal representations. 3) Opportunities to authentically apply the information in problem solving, decision making and inquiry.
THE CURRICULUM DESIGN PROCESS How to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment to maximize student learning. (Model borrowed from Dr. Debra Pickering, co-author of Classroom Instruction That Works)
To design curriculum, instruction, & assessmentâ&#x20AC;Ś 1) Knowledge: determine exactly what you want the students to know and be able to do. Base this on the details embedded in your standards. Determine what specific information and ideas are important, and what distinct skills and processes are needed for students to reach the target set by the standard. 2) Learning Experiences: Decide what activities you have will the students engage in to learn the information. Reading, videos, group work, writing, simulations, etc. Make sure to pick activities that are shown, through research (considering learning theory, learner variables), to be the best way to teach the type of information you are covering. 3) Instructional Strategies: Decide what instructional strategies you will use to help ensure that students are learning as they go through the learning experiences. Again, use research-based strategies that work with a variety of learners and fit your personal teaching style.
Start with the end in mind â&#x20AC;&#x201C; know where you expect to take your students, then plan backward so you get there.
4) Assessment: Design activities that formally and informally monitor the progress each student is making toward reaching the standards so both you and the student can adjust as needed.
DIFFERENTIATION – THE BASICS Differentiation is the way UP for a student, never a way out!
Research shows that students learn best when the information and tasks are just a little bit beyond their readiness level (so they are moderately challenged). Thus, in order to best help students learn, teachers need to know each students’ level of readiness in order to give them activities that are at the right level. The key: You need to make sure that students are not allowed to do less than they can! When in doubt, teach up. Where to start? Assessment – so you know your students’ skill levels, interests, and learning preferences, and can use this information to differentiate their learning experiences to best meet their needs. As you design different learning experiences to meet different students’ needs, make sure each student’s work is engaging. Drill and practice is NOT the way to motivate lower skilled student to improve! Additionally, higher level students need academically rigorous challenges rather than “creative fluff” to push them beyond their comfort zone. Tiered tasks should ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn the information required by the standard, in a way that challenges them at their level.
Differentiate by:
Content (not what they are responsible for learning, but how they access the information) Process Product Based on:
Readiness level Interests Learning profile
It is not OK to allow a proficient student to just remain where they are – ALL students should be encouraged (and required) to grow! Keep in mind… In order to effectively build differentiated activities, it is imperative that teachers thoroughly understand the continuum, scope, and sequence of their content so they know how to build a scaffold to help all students reach the targets set by the standards.
If you feel you are not up to this, it’s time to set some learning goals and standards for yourself!
DIFFERENTIATION – A PLANNING TOOL
Think of the following sliders like an equalizer – slide the levers one direction or the other to fine tune activities for specific learners, based on their readiness, their interests, and their preferences. Concrete Abstract *Be sure students at all levels are required to look at deeper meanings, implications, and relationships. Simple Slow
Complex Quick
Functional Transformational *Vary from giving solid, foundational information to asking students to look for intricacies and new thoughts about the information. More structured More open *Vary how well the task is laid out, and the number and complexity of decisions students need to make to complete the task successfully. Less independence
Greater independence
Single facet Multiple facets *Some students need to work with just a few steps or solutions to complete while others can handle more complicated directions and interrelated problem solving. Small leaps Great leaps *All students need to be required to think about the information and apply what they learn in a new way. Some students are ready for greater leaps of application, insight, and transfer of learning.
“SIDEBAR” STUDIES Great for interest-based differentiation and the perfect answer for, “What do I do since I’m done and other students are still working?” Have students generate a list of topics and questions that relate to the content being covered in class that they would like to know the answer to or explore. Each student picks a topic that they are personally interested in, and the teacher works with the students to develop a planning calendar, set goals for work, and establish criteria for quality and completeness. As students complete their class work (differentiated for pace and readiness), this “sidebar” project is always waiting for them to work on. As necessary, it can also be completed outside of class time. Since the student picks the topic, interest and engagement should be high. If they also are allowed to pick the format of the end product as well as an authentic audience for their research, motivation should be strong enough to carry the project through to completion. All students at all levels of readiness should be required to complete one of these projects, and the information they gather will likely enliven discussions in class as the topics they are independently studying are directly related to the information being covered in class.
What does BRAIN-BASED RESEARCH tell us? In order for students to learn best, they need to be engaged in ways that best stimulate their brains to learn.
The recipe for increasing learning: stress, anxiety, boredom, confusion, frustration relevance, interest, enjoyment, comfort, positive emotion
Everything that enters the brain must pass through a variety of filters. 1) Anything deemed “unnecessary” is instantly rejected. a. Remember – this determination is made by the learner’s brain, not by the teacher! 2) Items that are worth examining are processed through the amygdala, an affective filter that relies on emotional information in order to help or hinder memory. a. When under stress, the amygdada shuts down and stops the flow of all new information to the higher processing and storage centers. b. When students are engaged, motivated, and comfortable, information flows freely through the filter to higher-level thinking centers of the brain. 3) The reticular activating system is a filter in the lower brain that pays attention to novel changes in the environment. For information to make it through this filter, it needs to be stimulating/ challenging – worth paying attention to.
4) If learning is pleasurable, the brain also releases the chemical dopamine, which not only stimulates the memory centers to increase learning, but also helps to release another brain chemical, 5) Acetylcholinem. This is one of the many brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) responsible for increasing focused attention. Therefore, if learning is meaningful, relevant, appropriately rigorous, enjoyable, and in a nonthreatening (low-stress) environment, the brain is actively engaged in the learning process, and learning can occur much more readily and deeply.
Stress/fear blocks new learning
Nothing interesting so everything filtered out
Pays attention to more interesting stimuli so learning can happen Joy encourages thinking and processing
So – how can you apply this information?
USING BRAIN-BASED RESEARCH to inform planning and instruction Begin by thinking of the acronym
RAD:
Novelty promotes info transfer by the Reticular activating system (it’s worth paying attention) Stress-free classrooms push info through the Amygdala’s filters more effectively (connects info into the brain better, and in more ways) Pleasurable experiences during learning release more Dopamine (helps in forming memory and releasing acetylcholinem to increase focused attention)
TO DO THIS…
1) Make information relevant – to their lives, to their experiences, to their interests. If it is personally interesting, it will be more motivating. (This decreases stress and increases novelty)
2) Give students periodic breaks during learning – nothing beats a three-minute vacation! (This decreases stress and increases dopamine available in the brain) 3) Create positive associations by revisiting old struggles in new ways, and working to ensure success and progress. (This decreases stress and increases dopamine) 4) Help students learn how to prioritize what information to pay attention to and what is not really needed. (This decreases stress by reducing potential unnecessary information overload) 5) Allow students time and space for independent discovery learning – they will remember better when they are engaged and also when they figure it out for themselves. (More dopamine is released, stress is decreased, & additional relational memories are formed, increasing connections) 6) Create a learning environment that is comfortable, encouraging, and fun! (This reduces stress and promotes emotional resilience and higher levels of thinking and learning)
WRITING (real) OBJECTIVES We have all wondered what a “good objective” really is. An objective is: a statement of what the students will know and/or be able to do by the end of the class period. An objective is not: A statement of what the students will do in class (the activity for the day) More than one class period “long” All class activities should be designed to guide students toward meeting the objective – nothing more, nothing less. In effective classrooms, students know the objective, and get feedback on how they are doing so they know where they stand – everyday! To create objectives: list the knowledge and skills the students should possess to meet the standard, then break the information down into chunks to be learned each day. One key to creating objectives is the verb used. The objective should list the behavior that demonstrates the learning that is to occur, and should be very specific and clear.
VERBS TO USE FOR WRITING OBJECTIVES Level of Learning Evaluation
Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge
Verbs for that level Appraise, assess, compare, choose, conclude, explain, judge, justify, rank, rate, defend, decide Combine, create, design, invent, predict, rearrange, visualize, integrate, change Categorize, classify, compare, debate, diagram, diagnose Calculate, conclude, show, demonstrate, draw, make Describe, estimate, interpret, paraphrase, put in order, restate, summarize, discuss Define, identify, label, locate, match, list
Some poor objectives: “Students will… Participate in a debate about the pros and cons of...” (this is the activity, not the objective) Incorporate reading and map skills” (to do what?) Understand the 3 kinds of rock” (how do you “understand” a rock?) Demonstrate respect by quietly listening to peers” (so if they sit quietly, have they mastered the objective?)