13 Strategies to Improve Student Classroom Discussions Samantha Cleaver Leo Tolstoy's The Two Brothers tells the story of two brothers who are offered the opportunity to find happiness. One chooses to go on a journey and finds happiness—as well as difficulties—along the way, while the other stays at home and leads a happy but uneventful life. Williams' students sat in a circle, holding their books and graphic organizers filled with notes. Citing textual evidence is about more than rattling off quotes from the story. Discussion is a perfect place to develop students' ability to use textual evidence. As teachers know well, finding and using textual evidence is challenging for students—choosing a solid piece of evidence or creating a clear interpretation can be overwhelming. Choose texts that inspire debate.
The Difference Between Praise and Feedback By Anya Kamenetz Parenting these days is patrolled by the language police. Sometimes it seems like the worst thing you could ever say to a kid is “Good job!” or the dreaded, “Good girl!” Widely popularized psychological research warns about the “inverse power of praise” and the importance of “unconditional parenting.” The anxiety is such that parenting blogs circulate actual word-for-word scripts for parents to use in such difficult situations as the sidelines of a swim meet, or after a music recital. What are these researchers really getting at? Process Praise Some of the most prominent psychologists behind all of this talk about talking are Stanford University’s Carol Dweck, author of the book Mindset, and Edward Deci and Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester, whose research the education author Alfie Kohn relies heavily on in his books including Unconditional Parenting. Praise and Personhood Simple, right? Praise vs. Deci says something similar. Related
Do Now Meets CFU: Taryn Pritchard's Notes to Self I posted earlier this week on Do Nows-a primer on one of the fundamentals of an effective classroom. Today during a meeting, Joaquin Hernandez, one of the ace Uncommon Schools Teach Like a Champion Team members, shared the attached image with me. It’s a picture of the Do Now that Taryn Pritchard of Leadership Prep Bed Stuy used with her class a few weeks ago, with Taryn’s notes to herself on it. If you look closely you’ll notice that there are actually two layers of notation: those in darker ink that Taryn made to herself before she started class. They include the answers to the problems, the “shown” work for problem 1, and a note to herself to look for “number lines” on problem 4. In slightly lighter ink you can see the notes Taryn took as she circulated during her Do Now. Taryn has not only demonstrated fantastic Check For Understanding skills, she’s prepared herself to review her Do Now efficiently and with maximum value in five minutes or less by doing most important things first.
What Keeps Students Motivated to Learn? Educators have lots of ideas about how to improve education, to better reach learners and to give students the skills they’ll need in college and beyond the classroom. But often those conversations remain between adults. The real test of any idea is in the classroom, though students are rarely asked about what they think about their education. A panel of seven students attending schools that are part of the “deeper learning” movement gave their perspective on what it means for them to learn and how educators can work to create a school culture that fosters creativity, collaboration, trust, the ability to fail, and perhaps most importantly, one in which students want to participate. Project-based learning is the norm among these students, but they also have a lot of ideas about what makes a good project work. “Treat students like adults. At first Chavez wasn’t excited about the project, but she ended up enjoying it because she loves art. Related
5 Learning Techniques Psychologists Say Kids Aren’t Getting My guest poster, Steve Peha, founder of Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc., comments on recent psychological research showing that kids spend more time using the five least effective learning techniques than they do using the five most effective and what we should do about it. 5 Learning Techniques Psychologists Say Kids Aren’t Getting At School By Steve Peha In high school and college my academic reading load increased dramatically from my earlier years in school. But a recent study suggests that many kids may be reading, remembering, and studying poorly simply because they are acting out the myths that previous generations have perpetuated about reading comprehension and the retention of information. Decades in the Making The problem is that kids spend more time using the five least effective techniques than they do using five most effective techniques. The highly useful techniques noted in the study were the following: Practice Testing. The moderately useful techniques were: Practice Makes...
5 Common Back-to-School Mistakes Teachers Regret All Year | Teach 4 the Heart It was sometime around October when my principal called me into his office & sat me down for a chat. “Do you know what’s happening behind your back?” he asked me. I’m pretty sure he could see the tears I was so desperately trying to hold back. How did this happen? That conversation was no fun, but looking back I’m so thankful for a principal who cared enough to step in and have that tough conversation. I remember standing in front of my class, trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to get their attention while half of the class chatted, a third were wandering around the room, and only a handful actually had their homework done and ready. It was, in a word, a nightmare. And it all started the first weeks of school. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had made some key mistakes that really came back to bite me all year. These are mistakes you certainly don’t want to make. Listen to the full podcast episode: 5 Mistakes Teachers Make the First Week of School p.s. Click to Tweet
Critical Thinking: Basic Questions & Answers To think well is to impose discipline and restraint on our thinking-by means of intellectual standards — in order to raise our thinking to a level of "perfection" or quality that is not natural or likely in undisciplined, spontaneous thought. The dimension of critical thinking least understood is that of "intellectual standards." Most teachers were not taught how to assess thinking through standards; indeed, often the thinking of teachers themselves is very "undisciplined" and reflects a lack of internalized intellectual standards. Question: Could you give me an example? Paul: Certainly, one of the most important distinctions that teachers need to routinely make, and which takes disciplined thinking to make, is that between reasoning and subjective reaction. If we are trying to foster quality thinking, we don't want students simply to assert things; we want them to try to reason things out on the basis of evidence and good reasons. Paul: I don't think so. Paul: This is the key.
Are Your Students Engaged? Don’t Be So Sure By David Price It might be time we re-thought student engagement. Are we measuring the right things? Are we taking disengagement seriously enough? January is a time for resolutions. Let’s deal with the issue of the importance of engagement first. But for these findings to translate into actions, we have to re-think what we mean by engagement. Myth #1: “I can see when my students are engaged.” Don’t be so sure. “But why didn’t any of your teachers spot this?” He replied, “I learned how to fall asleep with my eyes open.” Students are learning to modify their behavior in class so that they appear to be engaged while, in reality, they’ve intellectually checked-out. Myth #2 : “They must be engaged — look at their test scores!” In a culture driven by test results, it’s understandable that teachers should assume that students must be engaged when their grades improve. Myth #3 : “They must be engaged — they’re having fun.”
20 Tips to Help De-escalate Interactions With Anxious or Defiant Students | MindShift | KQED News Anxiety is a huge barrier to learning and very difficult for educators to identify. “When anxiety is fueling the behavior, it’s the most confusing and complicated to figure out,” Minahan said. That’s because a student isn’t always anxious; it tends to come and go based on events in their lives, so their difficulties aren’t consistent. Researchers surveyed a group of first graders none of whom had any reading or math disabilities. “Anxiety is a learning disability; it inhibits your ability to learn,” Minahan said. Anxiety isn’t about ability, it’s about interference, which means that traditional rewards and consequences don’t often work with this group of learners. “Rewards and consequences are super helpful to increase motivation for something I’m able to do,” Minahan said. Bad behavior is often connected to seeking attention, and when kids act out, they can see the results.* “Negative attention is way easier to get and hands down easier to understand,” Minahan said.