Ahoy matey! This was the first summer in a long time that I didn’t absolutely HAVE to do anything school-related, such as attending conferences, writing curriculum, etc., and I found myself feeling very lost. What was I supposed to do all summer? So, I decided to catch up on some reading. Instead of waiting any longer, I want to share this resource with you, my fellow educators, now in hopes of helping you find some inspiration as you are planning for a new school year. And, shiver me timbers! The most helpful book I read this summer was Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess. To be honest, this book had been sitting on a bookshelf at home for quite some time. I had heard of the author, who actually dresses up like a pirate from time to time, but just assumed the book was geared more toward elementary or middle school teachers. I then found the Teach Like A Pirate chat (#tlap) as I was perusing Twitter one night, and realized the techniques being discussed each week were applicable across all grade levels and content areas. This book was a great read for a couple of reasons: (1) It was a steady reminder of my big WHY, and (2) The author provides creative lesson “hooks” that are totally doable...even in a math class! I’ll give a quick overview of Part I, and then talk about some useful lesson hooks from Part II. Part I: Teach Like A Pirate! The heart of the PIRATE system is Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyze, Transformation, and Enthusiasm. I will touch on each of these, but will spend the most time on passion. PASSION “We are not passionate about everything we teach. It’s OK!” Reading that statement was a very defining moment, because it’s true. As teachers, we should feel passionate about teaching, but sometimes it’s just not there. How do we incorporate passion into our lessons, even if we are not passionate about the particular day’s content? Burgess breaks passion into three distinct categories:
RAPPORT
ASK AND ANALYZE
TRANSFORMATION
ENTHUSIASM
Part II: Crafting Engaging Lessons Presentational hooks are a huge part of what makes Dave Burgess’ lessons engaging. He offers a multitude of presentational hooks to ramp up the anticipation and engagement. You will have to consult the book for all of them, but here are a few hooks from each category for some inspiration. The Kinesthetic Hook
The People Prop Hook
The Safari Hook
The Picasso Hook
The Mozart Hook
The Dance and Drama Hook
The Craft Store Hook
The Student Hobby Hook
The Real-World Applications Hook
The Life-Changing Lesson Hook
The Student-Directed Hook
The Opportunistic Hook
The Interior Design Hook
The Board Message Hook
The Costume Hook
The Props Hook
The Involved Audience Hook
The Mystery Bag Hook
The Storytelling Hook
The Swimming With Sharks Hook
The Taboo Hook
The Mime Hook
The Teaser Hook
The Backwards Hook
The Mission Impossible Hook
The Techno Whiz Hook
The Contest Hook
The Magic and the Amazing Hook
The Chef Hook
The Mnemonic Hook
The Extra Credit Challenge Hook *If your school, like ours, does not use extra credit, these techniques can be used to take students above and beyond the “required” learning.
Part III: Building a Better Pirate (pieces of awesome advice)
Teach Like A Pirate goes into so much more depth than what is written here. This blog post just touches the surface. This book has provided a wealth of inspiration that will benefit students and teachers. Thanks for taking the time to read. My hope is you will be able to find something that you can immediately begin using to make what you’re already doing in the classroom even more awesome. Until next time, Sheri
0 Comments
Personalized Learning: What is it? Why do we need it? How do we accomplish it? After surfing through mounds of professional articles and taking the dive into the great unknown of personalized learning, to say I am an expert on this topic would be a gross overstatement. Even some of the experts in education do not agree on a solid definition of personalized learning. Some confuse “personalized” learning with “individualized” learning, and I can tell you first hand, it’s easy to do just that. During this 2017-2018 school year, I am serving as one of the Lead Learners for the Personalized Learning ONEThing cohort at Excelsior Springs High School. I, along with my team, have spent many hours pouring over articles, researching the significance of personalized learning, weighing the pros and cons, and trying to figure out how to implement personalized learning at all grade levels. I want to share with you some of our findings. What is the reason for the big push for personalized learning? According to The Institute for Personalized Learning, “...our current system was not designed for all learners to be educated at high levels.” The Institute further states, “The [current] system has not become worse. It actually continues to improve--just not enough.” Our society has changed drastically. Students’ needs have changed with the vast amount of technology advancements that have become available. Our current system is lagging behind in its ability to meet those needs. The end goal is to engage learners, and to help them become more independent, more socially aware, and to prepare them for life after high school, whether they choose to attend college, become an apprentice, or directly enter the workforce. Hanover Research, in their 2013 report, “Professional Development for Personalized Learning Practices,” declared personalized learning as “an emerging trend that seeks to support student‐centered, 21st century teaching and learning.” Benjamin Herold, in his EdWeek post from July 11, 2017 titled “Personalized Learning: Modest Gains, Big Challenges, RAND Study Finds,” states this interpretation of personalized learning: “In the world of K-12 education, personalized learning generally means using software and other digital technologies to tailor instruction to each student's strengths and weaknesses, interests and preferences, and optimal pace of learning.” The researchers at RAND identified four components essential to what they refer to as personalized learning:
Hanover Research also included these essential elements of personalized learning, as identified by attendees of a 2010 symposium:
The role of the teacher changes in a personalized learning environment from an information “giver” to more of a “supporter” or “coach." The following key practices, identified by Hanover, are important to the success of the program:
As with anything, challenges come about when trying to implement personalized learning programs school-wide:
John F. Pane, a scientist and chair in education innovation at RAND, said that “while there’s enough evidence to date to keep pursuing personalized learning, this will likely be a race won by slow-and-steady tortoises, rather than hares who rush out of the gate with the expectations of quick, dramatic transformations.” In summary, we can conduct months and months of research about personalized learning, but the truth is, we won’t know the outcome and how our students will respond until we take the risk and begin giving them more choice in class. I am proud of our ONEThing Cohort members who have taken the leap and implemented changes in their classrooms to make their students' learning more personalized. Some have changed the format of their lessons and have given students more voice and choice (such as a “Must Do, May Do” list of options). Some have changed the physical classroom environment by bringing in flexible seating and creating various zones (quiet zones, collaboration zones, etc.), to help meet the needs of individual learners. Based on my unscientific opinion and observations, some students do well with having more freedom. Some still need more structure with less freedom. I had a very clear picture of what I thought personalized learning should look like in a math classroom, only because I had seen it in action upon visiting several different school districts across the state of Missouri. However, trying to re-create an exact replica of what other districts have implemented is a challenge in itself. Trying to change what has “always been” takes time, patience, flexibility, and a great deal of communication between teachers, administrators, students, and community. Sometimes success will come. Sometimes failure will take its place...and this is where everyone learns to be resilient. Bottom line, as educators, we want to give every single student the best opportunity to succeed in our ever-changing world, and we continuously look for ways in which to accomplish this goal. It’s up to us to communicate this vision to our students and, without crushing their creativity, model that vision over and over again until they can branch out on their own and fully take charge of their own learning. Links to personalized learning resources: Personalized Learning: Modest Gains, Big Challenges, RAND Study Finds http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2017/07/personalized_learning_research_implementation_RAND.html?cmp=eml-contshr-shr Professional Development for Personalized Learning Practices http://www.hanoverresearch.com/media/Professional-Development-for-Personalized-Learning-Practices.pdf Personalized Learning Implementation Toolkit https://www.kmsd.edu/cms/lib/WI01919005/Centricity/Domain/484/PersonalizedLearningImplementationToolkit.pdf Training Tools for Curriculum Development http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002500/250057e.pdf These 7 Trends Are Shaping Personalized Learning https://www.educationdive.com/news/these-7-trends-are-shaping-personalized-learning/434575/ ThingLink: 7 Principles of Personalized Learning (Fulton County Schools) https://goo.gl/images/8fzCeC If you've ever wondered what goes on in the minds of people who work in the field of education, here is a glimpse...
Things I wish my students knew: We don't like all this testing either. I know, we always tell you we have to have a standard way of measuring the progress of all of our students. Colleges need ACT and SAT scores to aid them in their admissions processes. But we also know you don't see the value in taking standardized tests, and would rather spend your time doing something more meaningful than deciding between A, B, C, D, or E. We get it. Really...we do. We often spend just as much (sometimes more) time doing things for you, our students, than we do for our own families. Even if we are not physically at school preparing for classes, our minds are constantly churning, contemplating how we should help facilitate a lesson, or trying to figure out how we can relate an objective to a situation you could encounter in the "real" world. And then totally scrapping our lesson plans at the last minute and going a different direction altogether. And then changing it again five minutes into class. No matter how outrageous your behavior, we know there is a reason for it. We may have to peel back the many layers of your soul to find it. And often times that reason breaks our hearts. Some of you see our tears, despite our efforts to turn away in order to pull ourselves together again. You go through heavy stuff. We wish we could make your situation better, but sometimes we don't have all the answers. All we can do is try our best to make sure you feel safe and happy while you're in our care at school. We like to laugh and be silly with you. It's good for the soul. Sometimes we silently agree with your witty, hilarious, less-than-appropriate comments. We appreciate your ability to be honest and "call it like you see it," even though we inevitably have to have a talk with you about using your filter. Sometimes we have to turn our backs to you because we are trying to regain our composure from wanting to fall on the floor laughing over something you said or did. Sometimes we don't turn our backs and just let it all out. We love cracking up with you. We worry about you. Even during breaks, we worry about you. We worry about who you're hanging around with. We worry if the progress we made during the school year is going to last throughout the summer. We worry if you're strong enough to say "NO" when the pressure is on and the line between doing what you know is best for you and doing something just to fit in with the crowd becomes fuzzy. We love you. Even on the bad days, we still love you. Even when we're all stressed, when we have too many irons in the fire and we're all snippy, we love you. Even when we're exhausted, when we're tired of each other, when home life is is hard, and when we're just trying to get through until the next break...we still love you. You are important to us. You are the reason we do what we do. Never, ever forget that. Next year when you move on to another teacher, you're still "our kid." Even after you graduate, you're still referred to as "our kid." We want you to be happy. We want you to be more successful than us. We want you to to have the ability to stand up for yourself. We want you to have compassion for others and give back when you can. We want you to dream big. We want you to leave a legacy of which to be proud. I'm looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting new faces in a few short days. I cannot wait to see what's in store this year. I look forward to the relationships we will build and the problems we will get to solve together. It's going to be different, it's going to be interesting, it's going to be frustrating, it's going to be rewarding, but above all, this year is going to be AWESOME. Get ready. The adventure is about to begin! It's like climbing a hill. You start slowly, then you set your pace and feel pretty good about your progress. Then the hard climbing starts, right around mid-November. You sweat, cry, have moments of temporary insanity, and contemplate quitting, but you keep going until you reach...CHRISTMAS VACATION!!!! You drop to your knees in a Brandi Chastain-like fashion (without ripping off your jersey, of course)...YESSSSSS!!!!! WE MADE IT!!!! So many days off, so much time to do whatever we want to do!!!
And then after our two-week (or longer) hiatus, reality sets in. We start thinking about our to-do list in order to prepare for second semester. We start complaining about Christmas break not being long enough. We start dreading the day we have to set our alarms for dark-thirty in the morning again. We start wondering, "Do I even remember my password? Oh god, where are my school keys? Where is my BADGE? How am I going to get into the building?!?? What am I supposed to eat for lunch?" And then the biggest reality of all..."I have to retrain my BLADDER!!!" And then we pull the covers back over our heads and revert to the fetal position for a few more minutes. Let's go back to something before we move forward. When I worked in the business world, I got two days off for Christmas. DAYS, not WEEKS. When I worked real estate deals during the holidays, I would get calls on Christmas day from people wanting to see houses, or inquiring about houses I had listed for sale, or anything related to houses, the housing market, painting a house, etc., etc., etc. REALLY? Are you CRAZY? Go be with your FAMILY! I know you have one! I've seen them! Have you no boundaries? I had to shut my phone completely off before my mouth said something my brain couldn't stop from coming out. When I went into education back in 2005, I felt like I'd hit the jackpot. Who gets that much time off for breaks? Sure, by the middle of December we feel like we deserve it, and we do need time away from school to refresh ourselves, to relax, to re-focus. We spend an abundance of hours doing what it takes to help our students be successful during the school year and summer, (although some who are not in the field of education would disagree because they don't see all the behind-the-scenes work it takes to give our kids the education they need - but that's none of my business. Insert a picture of Kermit with a tea cup here). But hopefully, during these breaks, we are able to remember our big WHY. Why did we decide to become teachers, counselors, administrators, coaches, athletic directors, social workers, sponsors, etc., in the first place? Is is because we are passionate about our subject area or our specific job duties? Maybe. However, I don't know any administrator who has said, "YES!!! I get to go back to school and work on our BUDGET! My life's purpose is complete!!!" Or a teacher who says, "I cannot wait to do MATH PROBLEMS over and over again every day!!" Or the athletic director who says, "Woo-hoo!!! I get to meet with a bunch of other ADs and schedule games for every single sport for the next school year!" But those are the same people whose eyes light up when they see kids walking back into their building after a long break. They are the ones standing in the halls, ready to fist-bump every kid that passes by, even giving hugs when needed, welcoming them back with open arms. They are the ones who, during a vacation, think about their kids and wonder how they're doing. They worry about the kids from broken homes and hope they don't return to school even more broken than they were before they left for vacation. They think about the kids who seem to have it all and hope those kids realize how blessed they are. Bottom line, it's tough - for educators and students alike - to get back into a routine after having time off. But we are so, so blessed. We are blessed to have this unexplainable calling that not many other people get to experience. We are blessed to be a part of these kids' lives for the short time we have them in class. We are blessed to be their safe haven. Have you ever really took time to ponder the fact that some of our kids love seeing us more than they love seeing their parents? Take time to chew on that fact for a while. Remember the nice notes and shout-outs students have given to you. Remember the face of the student who finally had the "light bulb moment." Remember the student who thanked you for coming to watch his game, or the one that hugged you after her performance in the school musical and thanked you for being there. Remember the funny conversations you have had with your students that, at times, have left you in tears because you were laughing so hard. Remember the camaraderie with your co-workers and the moments when all you can do is shake your head, roll your eyes, and laugh with each other. When you strip away all the other "stuff" that goes with education and get to the core of why we do what we do, you will find that we don't have it so bad. Not many people in other fields get to form the kind of bond we form with our students and co-workers. We truly have hit the jackpot. So, as I sit here in my PJs with my second cup of coffee and catch up on email, fine-tune PD presentations, wrap my brain around what my students need to learn next, and give the house one final cleaning before the craziness starts again, I'm excited about seeing my kids. I'm feeling antsy to get this second semester learning party started. I hope you're feeling antsy to get started again too. Happy 2017! Do epic stuff this year. Sheri P.S. - I've lost spellcheck. No, seriously...the icon that used to be is gone. And today, I'm too impatient to try to find it. P.P.S. - Update: found it. Hello, Strangers! It’s been a while. I’ve started this post about five different times, each time focusing on something different. I wanted to write and brag about my Student Council kids and my fabulous Co-Advisor, and what a fantastic job they all did with Home Sweet Homecoming 2016. I wanted to write about Veteran’s Day and all the hard work they put into the ceremony honoring all those who have served our great Country. I wanted to write about the opportunity to be part of an amazing group of fellow Teachers and Administrators who are excited to go on fact-finding missions and brainstorm about how we can best serve our students. I wanted to write about how, in November, our plates are full - extremely full for some - but our hearts are somehow always fuller, which keeps us pushing through the exhaustion and frustration that sometimes creeps in this time of the year. What is the common denominator (excuse the math pun) of all of these things? Our kiddos. Why do we do what we do, day in and day out? Because…two words…our kiddos. Many of you have asked how the flexible learning space is going, and I figured this would be a good time to share the results to date. This school year, I find myself observing my students far more than I have in years past. I’ve observed their emotional state during class. I’ve observed their conversations. I’ve observed their seating choices. And I could make many assumptions about how they feel in their math classroom, but as my Mammaw King used to say - and pardon the profanity but I promised from day one I would be real - when you ASSume, you make an ASS out of U and ME. Thanks, Mammaw King, for teaching me that lesson early in life! So, to truly find out how the flexible learning space is going, I asked the most important resource: my kiddos. I made a survey using Google forms. The survey was completely voluntary, and open to all of my Algebra/Geometry A and Algebra Geometry B (mainly freshmen and sophomore) classes. Roughly two-thirds of my students took the survey. Here are the highlights: 86.2% said the flexible learning space made them feel happy. 86.2% said the space made them feel comfortable. 87.9% wished they had more flexible seating options throughout the whole school. 63.8% said it is easier to work in groups. One student said he/she would rather have desks in rows. The most popular pieces of furniture are the futon, bean bag chairs, the kitchen table and chairs, tall tables, and cushioned tall-back chairs. The Fridge (the wall where student work/art is displayed) was also popular with over half of the students who took the survey. But the most surprising favorite of all wasn’t a piece of furniture…it was the lighting! On many days, we shut off the fluorescent lights and leave all the lamps and string lights and lighted trees on, which together with natural light from our one window, produces enough light for them to still complete their work but in a calmer atmosphere. Wow…I didn’t expect that result! And, probably the most important result and the one that had me a little emotional… 100% of students who completed the survey said the space provided a positive environment. So, despite the Big Joe bean bag explosion that occurred during the first month of school, which resulted in a duct tape/staple fix… Despite the other bean bag Deflate Gate (they look more like pancakes now, but kids still lay on them)… Despite the leg randomly falling off of one of the tall tables in the middle of class due to a stripped-out screw, not due to abuse… Despite me having to ban the futon from time to time, when students get a little too comfortable… Our classroom is still a place where kids say they feel comfortable, safe, and a place where they say they feel like they can engage in deeper conversations and take some risks. Do we still have a long way to go? Absolutely. Does change take place overnight? No. Does everyone like change? Not at all. Will everyone react positively to flexible learning spaces? Never. But are we doing some good things in the classroom to help each other be more successful? I believe so. I’ve had to overcome a lot of my Type A personality tendencies throughout this process. If a kid wants to sit in a tall-back chair and prop one of the small side tables on his lap to use as a writing surface, so be it. If a kid lays belly-down on the futon and puts his packet of work on the floor to write in it, as long as the work is being done, so be it. If a kid wants to drag out all of the rubber interlocking mats and sit in a corner to take her test, so be it. If a kid wants to spin around on the wobble stools during a discussion, but still participates, so be it…just don’t fall and break your head. You do you, kiddos. At the end of the day, our classroom is nothing short of a disaster zone. Actually, by the end of 3rd hour, our classroom is nothing short of a disaster zone…and it gets worse by the time the 2:27 dismissal bell rings. Furniture and bean bags are everywhere. Coffee tables are awkwardly sitting in weird places. Stools are all over the place. But kids are using the space to meet their needs, and that was the intent all along. And I am okay with that. And yes, at the end of the day, the first thing I do (after raiding my chocolate drawer) is shut off the fluorescents (if they’re even on), turn on Pandora radio, and spend about 10-15 minutes straightening the room out again before I can even begin to think about tackling grading or working on the next Stuco event or searching for more resources/research for my Innovative Learning Environments group. My colleagues even pop in from time to time to just sit, decompress, and enjoy the calm at the end of the day. The space has not just affected my kids’ attitudes…it has affected mine as well. The environment we have created together is yet one more reason I love coming to work every day. Just this past Friday, I took a break from math packets for a bit and had “Family Meetings” with my morning classes. I’ve pushed these kids hard all year, and felt like we hadn’t had the opportunity to talk, collectively, for a very long time. We moved the tables out of our way and pulled the chairs together. We dragged the carpet blocks toward the center of our sitting area. Some kids plopped down on bean bags right in front of me. Some pulled up their chairs up right next to mine. It truly did feel like a family. And then we got REAL. We talked about what was going well at our school. We talked about what we could do better. We talked about why some students only come to school once every couple of weeks, or not at all. I asked them to dream about what their ideal school would look like if there were no limits on resources. The conversation was intentional, and therefore, incredible. Our kiddos are a wealth of insight. We need to tap into those insights more often. Kids appreciate being heard. I can’t wait to share their thoughts and hear from my Flexible Learning teammates this week about how similar convos went in their classrooms. All in all, this journey is just that…a journey. It continues to be a huge learning process with bumps and roadblocks, and figuring everything out along the way instead of having all the answers up front. The furniture is just the tip of the iceberg when looking at the things that benefit our students. We need to keep pressing on, keep researching, keep trying new things, keep taking risks, and above all, keep talking to students to see what’s working and what could be better. Until next time, I hope your heart stays more full than my bean bags! Sheri P.S. - Below is a slide show of our 2nd quarter happenings. I tried my best to post the pics throughout this blog post. Epic fail. I'm still learning...and trying... I remember...
What a beautiful, crisp, sunny morning it was as I drove in to work at Ferrellgas 15 years ago today, on September 11, 2001. The confusion I felt as I entered the on-ramp to I-35 when KLJC's morning DJ announced a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. The tone of her voice was alarming. Something wasn't right. Walking into the office and realizing the gravity of the situation as my coworkers and I gathered around a small radio...and my boss grew so upset she finally just shut it off. We had no smart phones with Internet. We didn't even have Internet access on our computers...just a radio and each other. The horribly sick feeling that crept into my stomach and chilled me to the core. Why? How? I couldn't wrap my mind around any of it. Talking to customer service reps that day, and instead of getting down to business as usual and discussing credit scores and approvals, each conversation started with a "How are you?" and ended with a "Hang in there, friend." I remember Jason calling to see if I was ok, and that he would be making the 4-hour drive home after his last class at C of O. I remember Dad calling and saying he'd pay for our gas because news anchors were reporting prices would soar above $5 a gallon. Driving to Wendy's for lunch and hardly being able to eat as I sat in my car in the parking lot, listening to the reports of each attack over the radio. The heartbreaking images on every channel when I finally got home and turned on the TV. I remember the world seemed to stop...but the tears did not. 15 years later...it still feels like yesterday. We are never guaranteed the next day, the next hour, the next minute. Today is a reminder to lift each other up as we did that day; to show love to friends and strangers alike; to remember the innocent and the courageous who paid the ultimate price on and after September 11, 2001; to tell our story about how 9/11 affected each of us when asked by our students - many of whom were not even born yet or were too young to know what had happened. God bless those who serve, and God bless our Nation. Even with our differences and faults, there's no place I'd rather be. ~Sheri WHO has TIME for ACTIVITIES??? Us, that’s who! Sometimes we just have to make it a priority, like Brennan and Dale in Step Brothers (hopefully with better success;). I’m going to cut to the chase, because let’s face it…we are running out of summer vacay, and we need some quick ideas to use in our classes. These activities are courtesy of John Antonetti’s Power of Student Engagement session, and this is the final part of my blog series about this particular PD day. Here we go.......... First Activity…this one is great for kids AND adults…maybe a great one for a school or district-wide PD session…
Second Activity – I’ll call this the Oddball Out.
Third Activity - The New Zoo (this is one of my favorites)…
Fourth Activity – Japanese Poster Method (This is actually a method that can be modified to an activity you already use)
Fifth Activity – Say What?
Sixth Activity – How Much Carpet?
Seventh Activity – “GRANT”ing Wishes
So there you have it...seven activities that hopefully spark some ideas about how to find ways to lead your own students into a deeper understanding and MAKING SENSE of the concepts they are learning. Thanks for sticking with me throughout this three-part series. Coming next...innovative learning spaces (including makerspaces)...and I cannot wait to share my experience (and resources) with YOU!!! Yours truly, Sheri You knew I would eventually get to the educational stuff. So here we go, swan-diving in head-first, hoping there are no sharp rocks at the bottom. If you’re not in the field of education and you’re still reading this post…good for you! Keep reading! This blog isn’t just for educators. Fair Warning: This is the first of a series of three related blog posts. The Blog Mafia would hunt me down and chop off my fingers if I tried to put EVERYTHING I want to share about my most recent PD experience in only one post. If you ever have the opportunity to hear John Antonetti speak in person, RUN toward it…even if you have to dodge all the orange barrels in downtown Kansas City rush hour traffic…even if you have to sit in an 85-degree classroom on the fourth floor of Union Station on of one of the hottest days of the year because the air conditioner decided to take a vacation…DO IT. He is an engaging speaker who has many nuggets of wisdom to share. Totally worth it. Here are a few thoughts from his session, "The Power of Student Engagement." Let’s talk about a character Mr. Antonetti calls “Melissa Sue.” Say her name fast and with a great amount of energy and excitement…because that’s how she says it. Melissa Sue is, by some standards, the “perfect student.” She’s the first to volunteer. Her hand is constantly raised. She always answers the question. She’s the one who is compliant…the people-pleaser…the one who wants to know exactly what she should do to get an A. She’s the one who asks a question right before the bell rings that causes the teacher to hold the rest of the class back while answering it. Melissa Sue is book smart, but boy, she lacks in the common sense department. She gets good grades by being compliant, but may not be great at “making sense” of content. Got an image of Melissa Sue in your head? Good. Let’s move on to Bubba… "Bubba" is the exact opposite of Melissa Sue. This kid is street smart. He has common sense pouring out his ears. Book smart? That’s not important to him. He wants the easy way out. If you give him a math problem about a guy who buys 1,000 watermelons, he will stop you before you finish reading the problem and say, “What the %*$# does anybody need with a thousand watermelons?!” Bubba is not afraid to think differently and challenge the status quo…mainly because he doesn’t like fluff. Keep both of these characters in mind, because they will show up from time to time… Mr. Antonetti took us on a roller coaster ride of activities, which I will share throughout this three-part series, but here is one that helps us see how kids (and how we ourselves) think. Read these sentences: There was a boy. The boy was small. There was a pond. The boy fell. Now, write one sentence that describes what is going on in the above passage. Got it? We know kids can’t be grouped into only two categories…however, you’ve probably already grouped your students (or your family members, or friends) into one of two categories: Melissa Sue, or Bubba. Here is Melissa Sue’s thought process and response: Well, the small boy fell, but gosh! There’s a pond! Maybe he fell IN the pond? I don’t know…but the pond is there so I HAVE to include it in my answer, right?! So here goes: “The small boy fell in the pond!” That’s my answer, Teacher! Is it right? Well…is it??!? Here is Bubba’s thought process and response: What the %$*& does a pond have to do with this story? Why do I have to say anything about that stupid pond? Here ya go, Teach: “The little boy fell.” Who is right? Is Melissa Sue’s answer better than Bubba’s? Is the reverse true? The beauty in this activity is, there is NO one correct answer. This activity shows how we think and MAKE SENSE of information. The process of showing the thinking and justifying the answer is what we want to see. Our job as educators is to get the Melissa Sues and the Bubbas, who think quite differently, to become engaged and start MAKING SENSE of what they are learning. We have to look at something, and keep looking at it until something MAKES SENSE. For example, you look at a problem until you find a pattern that allows you to MAKE SENSE of the problem. It’s not an easy task, especially if you have students who haven’t learned how to persevere. In order for any of us to fully develop meaning and MAKE SENSE of a concept, three things must come together:
Let’s talk engagement for a sec…WE DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO BORING THINGS! Even if it means telling a funny or memorable story at the beginning of class that doesn’t relate to content…tell it! If kids cognitively engage during the first five minutes of class, they will continue to engage on a higher level the rest of the class period. Speaking of TIME spent being engaged… Did you know…humans cannot be engaged 100% of the time? If you disagree, think of your spouse or significant other, or a relative, or a good friend. When the two of you are together, are you 100% engaged with each other every second? Do you hang on his or her every word or action for hours on end? NO. How do you think wives get husbands to agree to painting the cabinets next weekend, or double-dating with the dreaded sister-in-law Friday night? Women catch men at their most vulnerable time (i.e., when they are less engaged…while watching a football game, for instance), and then move in for the kill. Husbands don’t remember agreeing to anything…so the wife pulls out her iPhone where she replays his recorded response from earlier to have proof. (I may have exaggerated this just a little, but you get the point). 100% engagement all the time just doesn’t happen! Even 80% is a ridiculous amount of time to expect someone to be fully engaged! Mr. Antonetti said – and here’s what blew my mind – we are doing well if kids are engaged 21% of the school DAY. That’s not 21% of every hour, folks…that’s 21% of the school DAY. Wow. And a side note: the practicing of “skills” is NOT engaging. This is where the road gets rocky for two subjects that are heavily skills-based: Mathematics and Foreign Language. Students practice skills to become better or faster at a process, but that’s not where the heart of the meaningful learning kicks in. Antonetti suggested we send skills practice home (these are levels 1 and 2 if you are on a 4-point rubric, or as Mr. Antonetti says, “someone else’s thoughts”), and leave the tasks that require students to apply and evaluate (levels 3 and 4, or “my [students’] thoughts”) to be done at school. Antonetti’s take: our job is to get kids to a 3. If they go above and beyond to a 4, excellent. Make that 21% engagement time count. One thing that can totally derail engagement is a stressed brain. Stressed brains do not, will not, and cannot learn the same as non-stressed brains. Stress is a major distractor. If you yell in exasperation at Bubba in front of the rest of the class for not having his homework done and he gets embarrassed, it’s going to take at least 20 minutes for his brain to start producing serotonin again. Engagement is not going to take place during that 20 minutes because he will be too busy re-hashing the situation in his mind and trying to calm down from the stress. Again, this works the same way with most adults. Another teaching technique that can derail engagement is asking questions and allowing the class to respond verbally as a chorus. When we do this, our level 2 or level 1 tasks could actually become level zero. If Melissa Sue always belts out the answer before anyone else, the rest of the class gets a free pass and disengages, because they’ve learned they can rely on her to answer for them. What motivation do they have to pay attention? One final thought…make sure to let kids explore. Don’t squelch that natural instinct. We are born being explorers. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop. Mr. Antonetti told a story about his tenure as a kindergarten teacher. His class was outside for recess, and the kids knew they weren’t supposed to go near the fence at the edge of the property. Two boys headed straight for the fence anyway. Mr. Antonetti called for them to come back, and they waved him over to the fence. They were watching a beetle, and were so excited. They said, “Mr. Antonetti! Watch!” The boys both took turns yelling at the beetle. “Arrgh!” “AYYYYY!” “AHHHHHH!!!” The beetle kept walking. Then, they took turns stomping their feet near the beetle. The beetle stopped walking each time the boys stomped. Mr. Antonetti wondered, “What’s the point of this?” One boy explained, “When you yell at the bug, it can’t hear you. But when you stomp, it can feel the vibration!” What a powerful learning moment for a kindergartner! In closing:
Yours truly, Sheri P. S. - I think I finally figured out spellcheck!! Plop. Plop. Plop. Plopplop. My Principal started laughing as we watched the suitcases travel up the ramp and plop down onto the luggage carousel. It set off a chain reaction, and soon myself and my two fellow math Teachers standing beside us joined in. Why was this so funny? Maybe due to the fact that it was midnight and we were all seriously lacking sleep as we stood waiting on our luggage at KCI airport after taxing ourselves at ISTE2016. Maybe it was because everyone else in our group had already picked up their suitcases and were on their merry ways home before the luggage carousel broke, leaving us Final Four playing the waiting game. Maybe it was the “slightly” turbulent airplane ride from Denver to Kansas City that left one lady with her head down on her pull-out tray table and her hands over her ears. I did laugh, once I knew she was okay. I think we sometimes get so wrapped up in life - in STRESS - that we forget to take a step back and find things to smile about. Take it from me...stress will burn you out. It happens before you know it. One day, you're fine. The next day, you're fried. Anyone who is an educator (and by educator, I mean everyone who has anything to do with the school system whatsoever - teachers, administrators, coaches, custodians, secretaries...the list goes on), and anyone who is friends with or who is married to an educator, knows our jobs don't start when we walk through the classroom door in the morning, and they don't stop when we leave at night, and they certainly do not end when summer begins. If we aren't working on figuring how to make our lessons more relevant and engaging, we're grading. If we aren't grading, we're answering emails. We're coming up with the next play for the team, figuring out the logistics of a community service project our kids want to provide, planning rehearsal schedules for the upcoming musical, trying to diffuse a situation between a teacher and an upset parent, or making seemingly never-ending to-do lists that grow by three more items whenever we cross one item off. When we do have time to catch our breath, our minds often wander to Johnny, who said his parents were getting a divorce and life was bad at home, or to Susie, who looked like she'd just lost her best friend the other day but said she was fine when asked how she was doing. Couple all of this with our own responsibilities at home, making sure our families know they're loved and taken care of, and it creates a pretty full plate. I'm writing this post before the school year begins, in the midst of all the heartbreaking violence that has taken place in our country recently, in hopes of remembering to re-read it during the ugly times and take a step back before the stress takes over. We have to remember to give ourselves, and each other, a break. Jimmy V said it best (refer to the quote, and if you want to see his full speech, just click on the image, wherever it's located on this page...it moves every time I edit it;). I personally like #1 the most, because there is always funny, even in the mundane. You might have to look for it...but I guarantee, somewhere, there's a suitcase plopping down onto a luggage carousel just for you. Until next time, Sheri P. S. - Blog skill update: I posted this one totally on my own...even the image (hands raised in "hallelujah" position emoji, although it doesn't look right on the mobile version). I will conquer the Almighty Blog. P. P. S. - Anyone find spellcheck yet? Confession: I'm sitting at my desk, rolling my eyeballs and laughing at myself, because it took at least 10 minutes and a live help chat with a nice guy named Andrew for me to figure out where my text box wandered off to in order to start this blog post. This isn't how I envisioned blogging (insert the winking-tongue-sticking-out emoticon here, because that's what I call it).
What you will find here is real, sometimes real and funny, and dancing on the fine line between "professional" and "Did she really just say that?" I love kids. I love education. I love being part of a network of professional learners who fail, succeed a little, fail again, fail better, and finally succeed greatly. I have so many things running through my head that I'm anxious to share with you, and I want to know about your experiences and learn from you. In my upcoming posts, I want to talk about innovative learning spaces. I want to talk about makerspaces. I want to talk about what you do to engage your kids (a.k.a. students, but like many other teachers, I call my students my "kids," however unprofessional that may be). I want to tell you about my experience at ISTE2016, and if you attended, I want to hear about yours. But for right now, I'm going to hit the "post" button, cross my fingers, squint one eye (maybe stick out my tongue), and hope that this obligatory first blog post actually shows up for the world to see. Stay tuned... P. S. - Is there a spellcheck on this thing? |
Archives
January 2018
Categories
All
|