Teaching a Class With Big Ability Differences

https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-class-big-ability-differences-todd-finley

Teacher-student conferences can quickly help teachers determine how learners are progressing and what further support they need.

Taking Notes: Is The Pen Still Mightier Than the Keyboard?

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/08/18/taking-notes-is-the-pen-still-mightier-than-the-keyboard/

“Students who took notes on laptops tended to transcribe the content verbatim,” Mueller said. Those students took many more notes, but seemed to process what they heard much less. In a test taken a few minutes after completing the lecture, students who had taken notes using longhand performed much better. The difference was particularly striking on conceptual questions, where students had to take two pieces of information they’d heard in the lecture and synthesize them into a conclusion.

Some educators are taking long form notes to new levels, embracing the idea of sketchnotes, in which the ideas presented in a lecture are captured as a combination of words and images.

While unconventional, drawing as note-taking makes sense based on memory research, which shows that if multiple ideas can be condensed into an image, the brain stores all those related ideas as one. The image acts as a zip file for multiple ideas, helping to fit more into the limited short term memory.

Why Did That Student Fail? A Diagnostic Approach To Teaching

http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/diagnostic-teaching-why-students-struggle/

The Goal Of Diagnostic Teaching
It is important to keep in mind the goal of this process–diagnosis. What’s wrong? What’s the hang-up? What’s getting in the way of learning, or of students proving what they in fact actually know?
The big ideas here are completion and clarity. Students either need to finish the work so you can diagnose, or you need to clarify what to do and why so they can indeed finish it.

Mark non-mastered assignments as “incomplete” rather than “F”
clarify instructions
emphasize/clarify rubrics
offer differentiated rubric
Assess same standard(s) with different assessment

Five Critical Skills to Empower Students in the Digital Age

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/08/17/five-critical-skills-to-empower-students-in-the-digital-age/

Traditionally teachers are in charge of assessing student performance. But what would happen if the student were to evaluate her own work? What if self-reflection became a skill as important as reading?
November cited John Hattie’s work analyzing the effect of 138 influences on student achievement. Homework, class size, gender and motivation are some of the influencers on the list. But according to Hattie’s findings, the ability to “self-report grades” has the greatest effect on student achievement.
Even as educators are turning to technology to offer ever more granular data on children’s learning, November maintains teaching them to assess their own performance is more useful. Students could grade themselves, providing evidence to support conclusions and comparing the grades against the findings of the teacher.
After all, November said, kids won’t be in school forever and when they are in college or at their first job, the ability to self-assess will be invaluable.

A parent’s advice to a teacher of autistic kids

http://blog.ed.ted.com/2016/04/30/a-parents-advice-to-a-teacher-of-autistic-kids/

Reboot: 5 Resources for Teacher Inspiration

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/reboot-resources-for-teacher-inspiration-monica-burns

There are plenty of lists of TED talks for teachers who might need a dose of inspiration when times feel tough. One of my favorite resources for teachers is TED-Ed, the classroom-education-focused branch of this organization. Not only will you find lesson ideas and videos to use in your classroom, but the whimsical, often uplifting nature of the clips on this site are perfect for energizing a lesson. These videos can inspire you to look at a tired topic with a new lens and help your students see the purpose behind the content they're studying -- one way to boost interest and engagement.

7 lessons about finding the work you were meant to do

http://ideas.ted.com/7-lessons-about-finding-the-work-you-were-meant-to-do/

15 Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher

https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/15-characteristics-21st-century-teacher

1. Learner-Centered Classroom and Personalized Instructions

2. Students as Producers

3. Learn New Technologies

4. Go Global

5. Be Smart and Use Smart Phones

6. Blog

7. Go Digital

8. Collaborate...

Seriously? Seriously.The Importance of Teaching Reading and Writing in Social Media

https://medium.com/@heinemann/seriously-seriously-fef109d46e30

"We can teach our students to be MINDFUL readers and writers of social media. The MINDFUL acronym suggests that we slow down and that we analyze what we read and write online as arguments that continue a conversation."

Is It Time To Go Back To Basics With Writing Instruction?

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2017/02/20/is-it-time-to-go-back-to-basics-with-writing-instruction/

Most educators acknowledge that literacy is important, but often the focus is on reading because for a long time that is what achievement tests measured. In the last few years there has been more focus on writing in classrooms and on tests, but many students still have difficulty expressing their ideas on paper.
Often students struggle to begin writing, so some teachers have shifted assignments to allow students to write about something they care about, or to provide an authentic audience for written work. While these strategies are important parts of making learning relevant to students, they may not be enough on their own to improve the quality of writing. Practice is important, but how can teachers ensure students are practicing good habits?

From catalyzing to implementing: Creating partnerships for change

https://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/kristoffer-kohl/catalyzing-implementing-creating-partnerships-change

Catalyzing change is important, but if teacher-leaders are willing to shoulder some responsibility for implementing shifts schools are more likely to change for the better.

A number of years ago, ASCD's Educational Leadership magazine spotlighted “Ten Roles for Teacher Leaders” in a brief article. The roles on this list were not surprising, especially for grizzled classroom veterans who’ve long served as “Resource Providers,” “Curriculum Specialists,” or “Mentors.”

Building collective leadership from the central office

https://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/kristoffer-kohl/building-collective-leadership-central-office

Collective leadership is the recognition of varied sets of skills and strengths that need to be called out and called up to operate as an organism rather than merely as a system. Collective leadership amplifies natural strengths while modeling and developing potential areas of strength.

Why Giving Effective Feedback Is Trickier Than It Seems

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2017/04/12/why-giving-effective-feedback-is-trickier-than-it-seems/

“The job of feedback is to meet the student where they are and give them what they need to take their next steps,” said Susan Brookhart at the Learning and the Brain conference. Brookhart is an education consultant and author of “How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students.” She says often teachers she works with try to close all the education gaps a student has with one round of feedback. But when they do that it’s often too much information for a student to process. Instead Brookhart recommends praising the work’s strengths and then giving just one or two suggestions for how to make it even better.

Flipping Lesson Design: Moving The Learning Objective To The End

http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/flipping-lesson-design-moving-the-learning-objective-to-the-end/

John Dabell succinctly articulates a possible reason: It could be argued, that we need to accomplish the learning first before we can understand what the learning objective is and what the knowledge and understanding relates to. I concur, and after years of adhering to the expectation of writing down LO’s at the start of lessons, at the beginning of this year I decided to try something different.

What Benefits Students More, Foresight Or Hindsight?

For me, a more effective strategy for students to engage with the lesson objectives is to get students to add a title to each activity they complete–one that forces them to think about the purpose of the task: the task’s objective. Each of these moments serves as a mini-plenary, with students then asked at the end of the session to add up these mini-plenaries to decide on the overall purpose of the lesson and to check their progress against it.

How Writing Down Specific Goals Can Empower Struggling Students

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/07/10/how-writing-down-specific-goals-can-empower-struggling-students/

Recently, researchers have been getting more and more interested in the role that mental motivation plays in academic achievement — sometimes conceptualized as “grit” or “growth mindset” or “executive functioning.”
Peterson wondered whether writing could be shown to affect student motivation. He created an undergraduate course called Maps of Meaning. In it, students complete a set of writing exercises that combine expressive writing with goal-setting.
Students reflect on important moments in their past, identify key personal motivations and create plans for the future, including specific goals and strategies to overcome obstacles. Peterson calls the two parts “past authoring” and “future authoring.”

4 Student Engagement Tips (From a Student)

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-engagement-tips-from-student-harley-center

1. Create a close relationship with your students.

2. Add humor to your lessons.

3. Give your students freedom of choice on all projects.

4. Display your students' work.

How miscommunication happens (and how to avoid it) - Katherine Hampsten

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-avoid-miscommunication-katherine-hampsten

Have you ever talked with a friend about a problem, only to realize that he just doesn’t seem to grasp why the issue is so important to you? Have you ever presented an idea to a group, and it’s met with utter confusion? What’s going on here? Katherine Hampsten describes why miscommunication occurs so frequently, and how we can minimize frustration while expressing ourselves better.

Gifted Challenges

https://giftedchallenges.blogspot.com/2017/03/ability-grouping-works-and-is-essential.html?m=1

Ability grouping works - and is essential in middle school and beyond

School districts that promote mixed-ability classes typically offer the following rationale:

1. Less advanced students will benefit from and strive to improve in the presence of high ability students, who should serve as role models;

2. All students will "learn from each other." Interactions with an intellectually diverse group of students is just as important as the curriculum.

3. Gifted and high ability students will "do just fine," regardless of the curriculum, and "differentiation" should provide sufficient academic stimulation.

Really??

Have these proponents spent much time with middle school children?

Do they really think that academically struggling students view intellectually advanced learners as role models, and that placement in such a class won't breed resentment, apathy and the low self-esteem they claim it will reverse?

Do they really believe that advanced or gifted students will truly "learn" from academically struggling peers, and won't feel frustrated with the class, and compelled to mask their abilities so they can fit in?

If they are honest with themselves, do they truly believe that any teacher can adequately differentiate instruction on a daily or even weekly basis?

Flexible ability grouping is effective, equitable, and based on what students truly need. As Olszewski-Kubilius has stated:

"When used properly, ability grouping does not affix permanent labels to students and does not prevent students from moving - either up or down - during their educational careers. Rather, flexible ability grouping is a tool used to match a student's readiness for learning with the instruction provided, delivering the right content to the right student at the right pace and at the right time."

5 Epiphanies for Reaching the Unreachable Learner

https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/5-epiphanies-reaching-unreachable-learner

So, regardless of the day we've had- regardless of how easily I could dismiss him as someone worthy of my effort to save as so many adults have done in the past- I've thanked him, with a smile. I've told him specifically to have a great day, and that I'd see him tomorrow. In the halls, I keep eye contact on him until he sees me, and I wave with a smile. What used to be a deliberate effort has become commonplace. Whatever bridges he thinks he may have burned are immediately restored, and although he rarely smiles back, he always acknowledges me.
I don't think I'm the only reason he's still on our campus. He has a handful of adults on our staff that are on his side and working to develop their own mutual trust. He's a young man with some incredible resilience to simply make it to school every day. He has every quality we want in our learners- confidence, self-pride and determination. All we need to do is help him recognize the need to reconsider his academic priorities just a bit. His protective wall has saved him from debilitating pain that, again, I can't relate to. But I'd like to think that, for every block that's been added during this school year, two have been taken down.

English for Academic Purposes

Friday, November 10, 2017

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Presentation Slides/Map:

Presentation video:

Templates for interactive rubrics:

Interactive Course Portfolio/Digital Notebook Template with Tutorials:

Interactive Course Portfolio/Digital Notebook Templates:

Attendance Sheet Template:

Idea Maps or Assignment Road Maps with MindMeister:

Google Your Way & Provide Opportunities for Traditional and NEXT Generation Learners -

Presentation Material

Top 50 TEFL Blogs Winners

Saturday, July 15, 2017