The Benefit of Seeing Strategies in Action during PD

I have had the opportunity to attend several sessions run by either Spencer Kagan, his wife, Laurie, or one of his certified trainers, and highly encourage teachers who are interested in cooperative and active learning to do so. The next time he is in Canada is in May of 08. There is more information availabe at http://www.glacie.ca/. Anyway, each time I have attended one of those sessions, I pick up so many things that can be added to virtually any lesson at any time. Here is an example from today.

The students in my grade 10 applied history class have been given editorial cartoons that deal with the day's topic since we began the unit on WW2. Sometimes they are hard to decode, but they are a great invitation for critical thinking. Today I showed them the cartoon you see posted along with this message, as well as several questions that would help them decode the puzzle (the cartoon). They had think time to generate their own answers and were told not to share any thoughts at that time. At this point I was thinking "I can use Think Pair Share or Rally Robin, but I want to incorporate some movement to keep things going." Luckily, I saw a structure used at Jeff Dane's Win Win Discipline session on the last system PD Day that fit the bill perfectly.

Students had to remain totally silent and line up from youngest to oldest. They could not write anything down or mouth the dates, only gestures could be used. It gave them a chance to get out of their desks and we shared a good laugh at the same time as they did simple charades to help their classmates figure out which way to go. Once they were in line, we checked for accuracy, then, starting with the old person, they turned to their left and that person became their partner. Partners then moved to a set of desks and they compared answers. I made them thank each other for sharing, which sometimes seems silly, but usually makes them smile (plus it's just polite!), then I called on students to help decode the puzzle. It didn't take much extra time, but it certainly energized the class.

Teacher Talk, Episode 3

Here are some activities/structures being used by teachers at Parkside:

1. Jigsaw (career studies)
2. Presenting/Reviewing content in the form of a game (French)
3. Inside-Outside Circle for content review (social science)
4. Round Robin and Pairs Check (science)
5. Providing simple costumes for kids when reading Shakespeare aloud
6. Reading stories, scripts aloud, with students adding sound effects (English for both)
7. Reviewing content using "Find the Fiction" (geography)

Such a great variety. Most, if not all of the above can be used in any class/curriculum area. Thanks for sharing these ideas.

Cooperative Learning...an ongoing adventure/learning experience

The system-wide PD day provided me with another renewal of enthusiasm with regard to using CL in the classroom. Jeff Dane from Kagan spoke to us about the Win Win Discipline program. He modelled CL and management structures, and had us try them and role play. It's so easy to insert the structures into every and any lesson. The one thing that he did remind me of, which I often push to the side, is the importance of teambuilding. I went back to the classroom on Monday and began something called the "Monday Morning Meeting," in which student teams participated in a teambuilding activity, then we discussed some current events. This activity was used in both my grade 12 College and grade 10 Applied history classes. Students in both classes responded very well to it.

Several teachers at our school have agreed to learn and become expert in one CL structure per month for the school year. We chose "Rally Robin" and "Round Robin" first. Once kids see the structures used in different classrooms in different subject, they become experts too. We have 5 departments represented, and will likely increase our membership once fall sports come to a close.

Understanding vs. Coverage (video link)

This video is interesting. It sheds light on the misconception that just because we, as teachers, mention or cover something, doesn't mean that students necessarily learn anything. What's more important: mentioning the entire curriculum, or selecting the most important concepts and skills, and designing activities that will allow students to truly understand, not just remember?

Roland Case Video

Concept Mapping: Step-by-step

Copied from my posting on First Class:


One of the most challenging graphic organizers for kids to learn to use is the Concept Map. I have tried many different methods of teaching/introducing the maps to kids, but today I found one that really worked. Keep in mind that this was a 3U American History class and that a handful of kids had done Concept Maps for me last year.
After they completed a reading and various Bloom's-based activities related to American colonization, I had them pair up and review their notes. As a pair, they had to decide on the 15 most important terms that they thought they should remember about the topic of colonization. I walked around and eavesdropped, but did not offer any suggestions. I gave them about 5 minutes for that step.
Next, I called on 16 different kids to provide me with a term that their partnership had selected and noted them on the board. Then the pairs had to obtain the following materials:
2 pairs of scissors
1 half sheet of chart paper
1 piece of coloured paper (8.5X11)
I had them fold the paper until they had 16 equal rectangles that they could cut out. At this point, I had not even mentioned the words "concept map." Each partner was instructed to write down either words from their list or words from the board on their blue slips. They could not have any more than 15 slips. Next, I had them write "colonization" in large letters at the top of their chart paper (turned landscape). The groups then had to lay out all the blue slips and arrange them so that words that had strong connections were close together, but also so that the space was efficiently used.
Again, I circulated, and this time I intervened to offer some grouping suggestions and to remind them about using the entire sheet of paper. Once they were satisfied with the placement of their slips, they were told that the slips were "placeholders" and that they should remove slips one at a time and write the words directly onto the chart paper. Once the slips were disposed of (we managed to control the mess) I modelled how to draw arrows between the words that were connected and then how to add linking words and phrases. I set them loose trying to make connections on their own. I was very impressed by how complex the words and phrases they used were. The pairs also did a very good job at contributing to the task.
We ran short on time; tomorrow I will have them do something like a gallery walk to compare their maps. I did, however, have them write in their history journals what they liked and disliked about the making of the maps. It was only at that point that I told them what they had created. I had a look at the maps and they are some of the best first attempts I have seen so far.
Sorry that was so long-winded, but this method really seemed to work. Next time I will spend very little time explaining map construction. The plan is to have them do another one next week at the latest. Let me know if you have any other ideas for teaching kids how to concept map.
Cheers.

Moving a school forward

The use of instructionally powerful techniques to coin a phrase is truly powerful and it is the powerful teacher that makes a difference with kids. I believe that we must move more than one teacher into powerful teaching practices to strengthen the school as whole. In essence, we need to get people thinking as school teachers and not classroom teachers. We have a responsibility to all kids in the school.


Motivation of staff is key. Trust and courage coupled with wisdom make a difference and it is the leadership at the school that plays the biggest role.

I am interested in moving schools forward and wondered what others think about issues such as the staff room dialogue, teachers that refuse to try a strategy new to them, etc.

Thoughts?

II Newsletter Issue 4

In this issue:

Adding movement to increase engagement/memory

So many kids that we see each day are kinesthetic learners who thrive in classes like drama, tech, and phys. ed., but struggle in math, English, history, etc. The question is how do we attend to this particular intelligence? In the previous post I mentioned the Kagan workshop that was held last October. During that workshop, we were taught the 5 things that a brain needs in order to function better. The way we were taught was through gestures--assigning a body movement/position to a concept. I can hear eyes rolling already. Many of you are thinking "Oh I can't wait to see the kinds of gestures my 2P class can come up with!" I was skeptical at first too, but decided to give it a try after hearing about Tim Evenden's success with his classes. Tim gave me the okay to mention him by name because he loves to receive feedback about his teaching strategies.

Tim decided to teach one gesture for each cause of the Great Depression, something that kids often have trouble remembering. There are 6 causes in total, and the gestures are very simple. When we did our Action Research reports, he said that even as the kids wrote their test, he observed them doing the gesture at their desk then writing the answer. Their recall was great. Other classes responded very well to this strategy, and some even went so far as to create their own gestures for topics, something that requires even higher-level thinking.

I decided to try the Depression causes activity. I skipped a step and had them create their own gestures after showing them the first one. It was one of those classes when more than one kid said "That period went by really fast." To top it off, it was last period on a Friday!

I have heard of many other examples of incorporating movement into classrooms. If the kids do a reflective activity or create something on their own, have them get out of their desks and look at other students' work. Young kids can actully become manipulatives in math. Take things further and conduct role plays and dramatizations. Many cooperative strategies can be used to get more oxygen to students' brains. Once you become comfortable with a handful, you can used them spontaneously when you see kids yawning. Try to think of content that is important, but that kids often struggle to remember. Can you apply a gesture activity to it?

Thanks, Tim for sharing your success with others. If any of you have cool ideas and want them shared, I would be happy to put them into this forum. Your name doesn't need to appear (and I won't steal credit for the idea!).

teambuilding activity

Back in October, many of us attended Kagan's 2-day workshop that dealt with both cooperative learning in general and brain-friendly instruction. He had us do a teambuilding activity and explained to us how the brain's chemistry changes when these activities are used when kids work in new teams. I began 2 classes today with the exact activity he did with us:

1. Students are in teams and number off
2. Students each receive a handout that describes and has pictures of 8 different superpowers
3. Students are given time to select a power and determine why they chose that power (no discussion yet)
4. Students have 3-step interview explained to them and teacher provides examples of questions that could be used during the interview. Students are told their interviews must last one minute and then they get time to create 3-4 questions on their own.
5. Students conduct the interviews (works for groups of 3 and 4) and teacher works the room to eavesdrop and provide intervention when necessary
6. Teacher provides time cues and after each step in the interviews, asks how many filled the minute.
7. Teacher debriefs exercise by conducting a poll to see how many students chose each power and how many of them said they would use it for good instead of evil.

Observations: Lots of laughter and smiles, very easy-going discussion, open-ended questions being used, increase in team cohesion, increased chance of productive discussion later in class, no student is left out of the process at any time

Teambuilding takes time, but if you use groups, it's essential.

II Newsletter Issue 3

In this Issue:

1. Pair work to begin a lesson

2. A Useful Link for an overview of Instructional Intelligence

Pair Work to Begin a Lesson

For some time now, I have been forwarding newsletters that are sent to me by Don Mesibov, a teacher trainer at St. Lawrence University in NY State and big proponent of student-centred education, to the II Conference. One thing that I read in a recent newsletter really stuck with me: How often do we begin a class with teacher talk? The newsletter stated that the level of student engagement drastically increases when we (teachers) don't launch into some 5-50 minute lecture. Don't get me wrong; there are many times when it's impossible to avoid teacher talk at the beginning of class, but think of a lesson that you have recently done with your students that you initiated with teacher talk. Now consider how you could have altered the lesson so that your role was largely minimized and the students were the ones doing most of the talking/thinking/explaining. One of the benefits to student-centred lesson starters is that we don't really give them a chance to get bored. It's inevitable that some students will be bored no matter what we do, but at least we can try to minimize that gateway to disengagement.

Here is a really simple example. My grade 10s were going to be studying Canada's contribution to the war in the air and at sea during WW1. They write regularly in a history journal that often serves as a vehicle for either beginning a lesson or for closure at the end of the lesson. I had them open their journals, record the date and then I asked them this question:

"If you were given the choice, would you rather travel in a plane or a boat?"

There were puzzled looks in the classroom and some students asked me to restate the question. Some wanted me to be more specific, but I refrained as much as possible. I told them to make their choice and briefly explain it in their journals. Only about 3 minutes of class had elapsed and I had said very little, but the students were already questioning, thinking and writing. I walked up and down the rows (team tables were disassembled for this period because they were too chatty the previous day) and glanced at some papers. Some students asked me to look at what they wrote and I did so, but did not make many comments. I would say things like "Interesting choice" or "I never thought of that" but never said much more.

The next phase involved student movement, which will be the focus of the next newsletter. I had them all stand with their journals. They were instructed to walk around the room until I said stop. Once they stopped, they paired up (a great time for Kagan's Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up structure), and took turns exchanging ideas. They moved and shared 2 more times, then were instructed to return to their seats. As they were shared with each other, I eavesdropped, and many interesting things were said. Students expressed fears and past experiences, and some had some funny stories to tell. I didn't ask people to share in a whole class setting due to time constraints, but I conducted a quick poll of how many chose planes vs. boats. All told, that process took about 10 minutes. Invariably, students will say "Why did we do that?" which gives me a great segue into the lesson. It was only then that I told them the focus of the lesson. I asked them to think about whether they would make the same choices if I asked that question in 1914. Many later said that they would do anything they could to avoid a 1914-era plane, also known as a "flying coffin."

We can't ignore the fact that kids would rather talk to each other instead of listen to us; however, we can use that fact to our advantage. Pair or group discussion to begin a lesson allows us to access and assess prior student experience and knowledge, and increases the chances that we will hook the kids into any given lesson. I know that I am always writing about what takes place in a history class, but this type of questioning and student-talk can be used in any subject area.

Useful Link

A while ago, Barrie Bennett was guest editor of OISE's Orbit Journal. He wrote a really good overview of the concept of instructional intelligence. Here is the link to that article. It's a great intro or review.

http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/orbit/core5_teach_strat.html

If you have comments or questions, I would love to hear them. Click the comments link or send me an email via First Class.

Making Cooperative Learning (CL) Work

I would like to compile a locally developed teacher resource that will help people begin to implement CL in their classrooms. What I wanted to start with is a list of questions or concerns that should be addressed, especially from the novice user standpoint. If you have questions or concerns that you think should be addressed, either email me or comment directly to this post. Thanks.

Complimenting Note-taking etc.

It's a given that we need to give kids notes and that they will not always be doing things like concept maps; however, there are some really simple things we can do to make those types of activities more student-centred and to make sure the kids see the information as meaningful.

3 Examples:

1. As the kids are taking notes, stop and use a cooperative structure like round robin or think pair share to have them review key points and process the information. Also, students can add simple images to reinforce key points.

2. After providing information to the students, give small groups a question matrix and have them create 5 review questions that touch on various levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

3. If you are going to give kids notes, do so after you have given them a good task that requires them to USE the information you give them. For example, we assign 2 letters from the trenches when studying WW1. The task is given BEFORE we begin to study trenches and battles. Giving them the task, THEN providing notes, video clips, readings, etc. makes it more likely that the kids will see what you give them as valuable. We know that information we regard as irrelevant is quickly discarded by the brain, and that holds true in everyday situations. Therefore, it makes good sense to accept that kids will not see information as valuable just because we present it to them.

Any thoughts?

Reflective Writing

Reflective Writing as a Tool to Guide our Teaching

I have really tried to incorporate student reflection in my classes this semester. I read that it really helps students (and teachers) bring closure to a lesson. They get a chance to process what was done that day. My history classes have a History Journal and my Phys. Ed. Class has a Phys. Ed. Journal. I collect them regularly and often write back to the kids.

This reflective writing is also great for doing some informal action research. For example, after completing a jigsaw activity in my American History class, I asked the kids to explain whether they would have preferred that I do a lecture on the same content. Most preferred the group activity, but some really wanted me to tell them everything. Still others wanted some combination of the two. That feedback guided my planning for a subsequent lesson.

The journals can also be used to explore student background knowledge before studying a topic. For example, before studying the characteristics of a good relationship, I had my phys ed students write down “Over 50% of marriages fail,” and then had them individually brainstorm why that number is so high.

Reflection takes time and the kids are often reluctant to do it at first; however, the journals help both the students, an me, process and evaluate classroom practice.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

I think too often, those of us who have experienced Barry Bennett and his collection of instructional strategies, try to covert our entire teaching process over to fit one or another instructional technique. In doing this I think we defeat the purpose of much of what Bennett or other instructional intelligence gurus reveal to us. The purpose of introducing us to all of these strategies is not so that we will exclusively convert all of our lessons to include a strategy from "Beyond Monet," but to arm us with a wide variety of tools that can be used to reach more students more often. It is not always necessary to change what we are doing to achieve that goal. Though not always the most entertaining method of teaching, sometimes the Socratic method is the best choice, or having students take a note off of an overhead or the chalk board. Group work is not always the best choice to ensure students are engaged in a lesson.

As teachers I think we struggle with the balance between including variety in our lessons to spark the lust for learning, and incorporating routine into the classroom so that students are comfortable with the learning environment.

Yes, variety is the spice of life but we should also consider the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

The Exploratory Phase

Something that I have really tried to improve upon over the past week or so is using the "exploratory phase" of the lesson more consistently. Instead of jumping into the content, we need to access and assess the learners' prior knowledge in addition to engaging them. That phase should be followed by some sort of authentic task. Why use this model? It increases the likelihood of real learning.

For example, before explaining the concept of a Mind Map, I asked the kids to write down the purpose of a road map, then identify common features of a road map. Tomorrow, we will review the aspects of the road map and the kids will have their first opportunity to draw a Mind Map. Both types of maps have shared attributes, and it's easier for the kids to see the rationale behind using the Mind Map. They often complain about having to use colour and symbols, but you will rarely find an effective road map that lacks colour and symbols.

I hope to be able to comment on the success of the maps later in the week.

How we learn guides how we teach

I came across a section of a book I use from time to time which had the same subtitle as the subject line of this post. It makes perfect sense and yet we ignore that reality on an all-too-frequent basis. Most kids will not learn for learning's sake. Rather, they must see some relevance in what you are asking them to do. For example, having them read the text for no other purpose than to define key terms will not likely lead to real learning or understanding on the part of the student (if they complete the reading at all). Case in point: 2P history students find a term, don't read a single word or sentence that preceded the term, then proceed to copy down the sentence that follows the key word. The words they copied had nothing to do with the word's definition. Certainly not restricted to 2P kids. The alternative is to include the reading as part of a larger, more interesting task. For example, students have to create a skit that highlights one aspect of how Canadians participated in the home front effort during WW1 or WW2. Each of the teams is assigned a reading and is given a graphic organizer. In addition, the teacher requires that the key terms be used in the skit's dialogue. Once the skit is finished, students must explain the terms and how they were represented in the skit. The skits could be followed by a whole-class debriefing or a jigsaw to help students create organizers for each of the topics. Student-centred learning isn't difficult to implement; however, teachers need to let go of the notion that just because they say it, doesn't mean the kids listen or understand. Teaching is not simply telling.

Renewal

I am really going to try to use cooperative learning more consistenly next semester. I also need to return to a more student-centred approach. I feel like a first-year teacher right now. Starting to read Kagan's Win-Win Discipline book and having a look at Marcia Tate's management book too.

It doesn't matter how interesting the topic is; unless kids are active in their learning, their eyes glaze over. Fewer topics and more tasks. I think it's also important for kids to understand why they are taking courses like history. I haven't really paid attention to the career link to history, but I think that might be something to spend at least half a class on next semester. Current events will also be more important in my classes next semester.

Similarly Discouraged

I have just recently run into a similar problem with my Civics class. I have started marking the test they just finished and 6 out of 7 tests I have marked have failing marks. My problem is also compounded by the fact that many of the students in the class have unfinished assignments.
I am going to try a little bit of a different approach to this problem. It seems to me that many students get bogged down when they have to do the same old mundane tasks. I am going to try to use technology to spark a little life into their work. When teaching the Civics class one of the class assignments is to create the "Citizen's Handbook" which is a writing assignment that requires the students to write a journal-like entry on a question related to the course material. One of the difficulties I have with this assignment is getting students to truly think critically about the issues they are studying in class. I am going to try using a blog entry to shake things up a little. Instead of having students write out a formal document I am going to have them blog their ideas and try having them comment on each others ideas. Kind of like an online debate. Hopefully this sparks some more interesting discussion on the ideas. Maybe once I have flushed out all the ideas, then I can have them write a more thought provoking paper.
Worth a try, I have nothing to lose!