What exactly is explicit instruction?

When students are new to the learning, or struggling with the learning, they likely need explicit instruction, but some might consider this approach as "drill and kill?" Dr. Anita Archer invites us to see explicit instruction as a key component to learning, to think less in categories and more in continuums.

Is handwriting still important?

If you teach languages, you have likely had the conversation with other teachers about whether or not to teaching cursive handwriting. In our digital age, is this still a skill we should prioritize? Research suggests there is an important relationship between the mind/memory and handwriting, yet teachers speculate if they should justify the time it takes for students to learn this skill. I wonder if it should be taught in art instead? This video challenged my thinking and it may challenge yours too.

How do we handle expectations?

Do you understand how your students manage your expectations? Or ever wonder why your colleagues manage staff and work expectations differently? And which of these four temperaments do you see in yourself?

As Socrates said, "Know thyself" and consequently, learn to know others too. This information might help you change some of your students' habits (and perhaps your own). No matter what you learn, note the emphasis on compassion and understanding.

Making Differentiation Doable

In this short video, renown educator, author, and ELL expert Larry Ferlazzo simplifies differentiation. He also leaves us with something to think about regarding what is most important in making differentiation doable.

What's similar about bowling & inclusive ed?

Classroom composition and diversity is a given. But how do we reach more students? Shelly Moore, from the University of British Columbia, has a clever idea.

Think Left & Think Right

Dr. Seuss taught many of us as children to "think left and think right, think low and think high, oh the things you can think, if you only try."

Teaching students to think means teaching them to self-assess. This requires a clearly defined process that can be repeated to mastery. No matter the grade, the process is essentially the same. This Arts example provides some great direction regarding that process.

For more information and resources, click here.

Not Child's Play

Ever ask your students to represent their thinking with a cartoon? It's definitely not child's play. A worthy challenge, it can be fun too.

 "Inside a Cartoonist's World" by Liza Donnelly

TL;DR? No prob.

SMMRY

Internet slang has a clever word for it: TL;DR (too long; didn't read). We agree. That's why we teachers need options for summarizing digital text. The screen snip explains it all. Check out the link. It's magic!

But first, seek strengths.

Surviving the Polar Bear Plunge

As teachers, we all experience students who challenge us: our patience, our thinking, our beliefs, our routines. Buttons DO get pushed.

These sorts of experiences can be very difficult yet also incredibly formative and no matter the outcome, they help prepare us for future challenges. It may seem impossible at the time but sometimes these sorts of conflicts can even result in surprising outcomes where students return one day and say, "Thanks for not giving up on me."

But in the middle of it when it seems like there's simply no patience left, how do we foster positive change? There's a saying: "You don't drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there." Challenges require action for change to occur especially when we feel overwhelmed. So what next?

Don't face this alone. Seek support. Then seek strategies. But first, seek strengths.

Strengths? Really? In his book Hanging In, veteran educator Jeffrey Benson recommends beginning with a total shift in thinking: identify the student's every possible strength.

Think about that.

It's easy to see what a student can't do but what can a student do? Start there. Start there with any student. When we begin with strengths we can create a relationship and with a relationship we can have influence.

A Terrific New Word for Learning!

BIG IDEA: Iteration is the act of repeating a process with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an "iteration," and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration.

Think about that: what a great to summarize teaching and learning. Wouldn't this be a better way to shift student mindsets about the concept of failure? It certainly underlines the notion that "a mistake is an opportunity to learn." Plus, if you consider fractals, it's a rather beautiful thought too:

 What role might iteration play in your classroom this year? 

Time for Words?

In her book Active Literacy, Heidi Hayes Jacobs cites research that "35% of all test errors are reading errors." She specifically links that research to gaps in vocabulary.

To prep for final projects and exams, many teachers are using some time in June for summarization and reflection. Consider focusing on vocabulary. For example, Robert Marzano recommends this simple strategy called "Connect 2." 

1. Develop a list of subject-specific vocabulary.
2. Place students in pairs or small groups.
3. Engage students to choose two vocabulary words from the list and discuss how those two terms are related, then write about those words using a format such as this:  _____________ and ____________ are connected because _____________________.
5. Repeat this process with two more words and so on.

It's a simple strategy, isn't it? Yet, if you've ever tried this, it truly requires thinking and absolutely encourages deeper understanding of words and concepts.

There's a joke about words that goes "at least taste your words before you spit them out." No matter the subject or grade level, students need time to taste, savour, and internalize words. The research says that taking time for this totally pays off.

How do I know I'm making a difference?

Source

Every day, thousands and thousands of teachers influence students. Yet because we teachers are in the midst of the busy day-to-day aspects of learning, we sometimes don't recognize or even realize the signs that show we are truly making a difference in the education and lives of our students. Stop and think about that. It's true, isn't it? This idea inspired our list of 15 ways to know YOU ARE making a difference: 


1. Students talk to you umprompted (or give you a fist bump or a high five).
2. You’ve tried new things (and some even worked!)
3. People directly tell you. (Don't dismiss it; let those compliments soak in!)
4. You are less nervous when your admin or colleagues visit your room.
5. You mentor other teachers. People want your opinion.
6. Students raise their hands to share rather than always to ask for help.
7. Your students miss you after a day with a sub.
8. Your students can verbalize what they’re learning.
9. You notice students using words like "criteria" and other vocabulary you've taught them.
10. A student models your thinking or behaviour to other students.
11. You're tired but energized too. You smile at the beginning of the day (not just the end).
12. You are marking less but assessing more.
13. Your staffroom conversations are more about sharing strategies and collaborating.
14. A parent or guardian or former student or adminstrator takes a moment to thank you.
15. Students are reading and writing and creating and thinking and questioning and laughing and learning!

Got Test Anxiety?

Many of our students experience test-anxiety or lack confidence when faced with any type of assessment. These issues speak to the need for students to learn about perseverance and problem-solving and develop personal strategies around them. One such strategy might be a brain purge (sometimes called a brain dump) Despite the odd name, it could really be quite helpful.

 

So how does it work?

After learning new material over a period of time, have students do a "brain purge" on a blank page. Essentially, they dump everything they know about what they've learned. This has many uses:
1. It helps students articulate their learning.
2. It allows teachers to see "gaps" in learning.
3. It allows for teacher/peer feedback.
4. It creates a study guide before tests.
5. If done for a few minutes immediately before a test, it becomes the study guide during the test.

All of these approaches may be quite useful in removing anxiety and developing confidence in learning and assessment. What do you think?

Find out more information here at Edutopia.

Poem in your Pocket?

This video underlines the fact that there are so many wonderful things to experience, exciting places to explore, and compelling things to learn. Learning should be fun and it should be shared.

April is National Poetry Month in a variety of countries. What if your school held a "Poem in Your Pocket" Day sometime this month? It is certainly an opportunity to help instill a love of poetry but it could also be an authentic engaging learning experience in writing, social skills, speaking, listening, building community and more. What if your students shared just a few descriptive words (maybe in the classic haiku form) about what they're learning and why it's exciting? Find info here.

Asphalt whizzes by

Spokes sparkling in the sunlight

View from handlebars

~H.P. Clamann

10000 Ways that Don't Work?

Source

Formative assessment provides time for trial and error and thus encourages students to takes risks to achieve more. Even though it's time consuming in our classrooms, just imagine what the world would be like without it. Think about Thomas Edison. What if he hadn't been allowed to redo, rethink, and revise his work. What if he hadn't persevered? It's a "dark" thought, isn't it?

Scientists estimate that Edison's light bulb wastes 95% of the energy it creates. If so, I guess one could say his bulb still doesn't work perfectly and yet look at how it has dramatically changed our lives and the world.

Maybe there's another Thomas Edison in your classroom right now. Hmmm. Maybe finding 10,000 ways that don't work is actually pretty darn good work.

Austin's Butterfly-The Power of Feedback

The video about Austin's Butterfly made us wonder about each student's potential when given feedback. What can a kid actually do if we don't accept his first try?

Consider using these questions to reflect on how you might use feedback in your classroom:

• How do we know, and when do we decide, what is a student's best work? 
• What role does feedback play in offering students the opportunity to achieve mastery?
• How can we use feedback to push students beyond their perceived ability level? 
• What role do peers offer in providing quality feedback?
• Are we born talented or do we develop our talents?

Guilty as Charged. Can you relate?

 (c) Jessica Hagy

All teachers make mistakes. The trick is to forgive yourself and use them as opportunities to grow. We teacher-coaches have made many, many mistakes over the years. Together, it didn't take us long to compile these 26 common gaffes but, to be honest, it took us quite a while to really learn these lessons. Can you relate?

1. Not taking care of myself: coming to work tired, sick, or hungry only made me more tired, more sick, and more hungry.
2. Poor Aim: not ensuring students know the learning target.
3. I’ll do it later: not getting my materials ready ahead of time usually turned into a classroom management nightmare.
4. Keep a Copy: By not keeping the plan, next year becomes a teaching guessing game including that awesome lesson with that neat video clip.
5. Rush-Rush-Rush: not recognizing the importance of wait-time, think-time, time to reflect, time to process.
6. Tossing it over my Shoulder: using a new strategy only ONCE because it didn’t work perfectly the first time.
7. Kids These Days: after a lesson went poorly, I often blamed the kids as opposed to applying a different instructional strategy. 
8. Stern-face: forgetting to smile and greet kids (even when it starts to feel creepy) because this truly models respect.
9. It’s Easy or You're so Smart: saying these words does not make something easy, nor does it help a struggling student suddenly figure it out.
10. Who's Working Here? working harder than the students.
11. Chin Up!: focusing more on my insecurities than on modeling confidence.
12. They’ll Figure it Out: putting questions on a test that don’t have answers or are worded so poorly even I didn’t know what they meant.
13. Why do we need to learn this stuff? Forgetting to make learning relevant to students' lives.
14. But they’re Quiet: thinking students were engaged just because they were sitting nicely looking forward.
15. The Quick Kick-Out: not giving students a chance to explain the situation before jumping to conclusions and kicking them out of the class.  
16. Shutting my Door: avoiding collaboration because...what if someone finds out I feel like a fraud sometimes? 
17. Not Being Myself: even if my colleagues give advice, keep my philosophy in mind when making decisions.
18. Squirrel: getting easily distracted from the lesson through my own doing or through barely disguised student manipulation.  
19. Jumping on the Negative Pity-Party Bandwagon to Nowhere: self-explanatory.
20. Seeing ALL the Kids in the Pool: not preparing for the kids who need a lifeguard because they don't get it.
21. They're almost Adults: assuming that somehow a 16 year old would not have the mentality of a 16 year old. 
22. The Kids Don't Like Me: Trying to be every student's friend instead of being a role model/leader.
23. Lesson Plan B: not being prepared when the lesson ends too early or when the technology craters. 
24. The Anything & Everything Volunteer: the school will be okay if I'm not on every committee they offer but instead focus on one that I'm passionate about.
25. I TOLD THEM: not understanding the difference between students who were taught and students who learned. 
26. Get-em-out-the-Door: slow down, take a breath, pause, pay attention. 

David, Spencer, Valerie, Fran & Anna

Inquiry Minds Want to Know...

Source (and great resource): What Ed Said Blog

     "Inquiry is the process of finding answers to questions. The skills of science inquiry include asking questions, proposing ideas, observing, experimenting, and interpreting the evidence that is gathered.
     An inquiry may be...based on a question brought to the classroom by a teacher or student; or it may arise out of an activity, an interesting observation, an unexplained event or a pattern that appears worth pursuing." ~Alberta Education Science Curriculum Front Matter (c) 1996
     And speaking of the unexplained...what makes the world's largest volcano invisible?

But is there a format for teaching inquiry? Or a procedure that could be used as an anchor project? Consider using the F.E.R.A. cycle...

F-FOCUS on a topic generating interest and engaging a student's background knowledge.
E-EXPLORE objects, organisms and scientific phenomena that build on that prior knowledge.
R-REFLECT on observations and data, revisit prior ideas and develop or refine explanations.
A-APPLY understanding of science concepts to new situations and prepare to repeat the learning cycle.
-strategy developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center 

P.S. Get your "science fix" here.

Math: Three Different Ways

Exploring all techniques, exploring all answers, these Grade 3 math students are problem-solving without anxiety in an inclusive learning environment. Cool.

Motivation and Mindset

In the words of classic underachiever Homer Simpson, "the first step to failure is trying." Yup, it makes us chuckle too. Yet, how often and to what depth does this sort of negative self-talk impact our students and even ourselves? It's classic fixed mindset thinking.

One of the leading researchers in the field of motivation, psychology professor Carol S. Dweck's book Mindset has real insight on how to increase motivation in our classrooms--a very big challenge that all teachers face. How many of your students give up? How many persist? And why? Teachers need strategies to create growth mindsets and build perseverance.

Using information from Dweck's book, the following prezi (free to share created by Jen Schones) has motivation strategies for teachers that can help students improve their mindsets.