Rob is finishing up his master's degree and passed on a book of his for me to borrow. It's similar to Fred Jones' and the Wongs' book but a bit meatier and more academic -not to discredit the other two authors' work at all.
He recommended a few chapters and I've read through most of them taking notes as I go. I'm a bit pressed for time so I tried to glean what I could from the book. I have to be realistic. I have only so much time before school starts and I'm better of prepping with what I know than trying to digest a hefty amount of information and then having no plans!
There is some overlap with past readings but some information differs. Heck, I'll take the reinforcement by itself any day.
Expectations
Students have to know
with certainty what a teacher wants - clarity
When students respect
their teacher, the role of the expectations of the teacher become that much
more influential
The three chief expectations
are:
1. This
is important and I expect you to understand why
2. You
can do it
3. I
won't give up on you
Effective effort is the
key to achievement
Effective teachers
believe in their students, but also
their subjects
A standard is a level
of performance a teacher finds acceptable
An expectation is how a
teacher things/believes/predicts students will do
There are 4 general
categories for teachers to set standards of performance:
1. Quality
and quantity of work
a.
Explain and show students examples of what is
expected of them for different assignments.
2. Work
habits and work procedures
a.
Reading directions, behavior in the classroom,
knowing procedures, how to submit assignments, etc
3. Business
and housekeeping routines
a.
How to clean up after certain activities, how
roll is taken
4. Interpersonal
behavior
a.
General good behavior (respect, diligence,
asking questions when you don't understand, help others, general behavior
conducive to everyone's learning)
***You must make sure standards
are explicit and obvious. They must also
be challenging but attainable. Learning
experiences must match the different needs of students so they all progress
towards meeting and achieving the standards set.***
Communicating Standards
Effective teachers share these common behaviors
1. Directly/Explicitly
communicate their standards and expectations
2. Are
very specific and clear in what they expect
3. Communicate
standards repeatedly
4. Communicate
standards with positivity ("Of course, you can do this, it's just how it's
done!")
5. Teachers
model to students how something is done but also follow the same standards
themselves
6. Personally
interact/have ''face time'' with students
7. No
excuses - teachers hold students accountable, no one slides. This means having
consequences that are intended to improve performance when it's poor without
getting angry
8. When
students are improving, recognize this!
If they write a great paper, post it up as an example for everyone to
see
9. Have
logical consequences for poor performance, ie missing an assignment or doing
such a bad job that chicken scratch would be closer to what you wanted. These consequences are always made explicit
in advance. The must be logical, not
punitive, and delivered with appropriate affect.
10. Tenacity. The message is that the teacher cares and
won't give up on a student but won't hold their hand to make them do
everything. How to convey tenacity is a
balancing act that varies per student.
11. Feedback
on student work is extremely influential.
Feedback is information about how a person did relative to how they
could have done while considering what you hold up as ideal. Establish and
communicate standards to set the stage for feedback. Feedback must be succinct.
Get it out of your head that
intelligence influenced enough by genetics to determine absolute performance. It plays a hand, but not a big a hand as
we've all been led to believe. So really
believe in students, really truly believe in them and their efforts
The successful and confident tend
to attribute success to internal factors and failure to external.
While unsuccessfully and low confidence
individuals tend to attribute both successes and failures to external
causes. They just can't win!
Teacher standards and
expectations must be carefully considered.
Ideally you should have both high standards and expectations just lofty
enough that students must put forth effort to satisfy each. No one likes to discount successes b/c the
task was easy and no one likes to fail repeatedly b/c a goal is constantly out
of reach. Also, make sure students know
you know your expectations and standards are challenging and celebrate their efforts when they meet them.
Expectations of students
are set by what we think we know about them (high achievers vs strugglers) and
it effects 5 factors that then influence individual student performance.
1. Climate/friendliness
2. Demands/opportunities
to learn
3. Persistence/how
much we encourage and how positively
4. Frequency
of interaction
5. Feedback
frequency and positivity levels
High Standards/High Expectations
There are 10 "Arenas" of classroom life to build confidence
with:
1. Calling
on students
a.
All students must get the message that their
input is important, that they are capable of higher-level thinking, that their
teacher believes they have important things to offer.
2. Responding
to students answers (right after they give an answer)
a.
Responses can either engage students or shut
them down
b.
An important consideration is "Wait
time"
i.
After asking a question, wait 3-5 seconds before
opening the floor up to responses. It
creates richer thoughts and answers.
c.
Then there's "wait time 2"
i.
After their response, wait again. This can trigger other students to chime in,
give the same student more time to think, and/or help you create a thoughtful
response as well.
d.
When students have trouble with questions, guide
them and walk them through the discussion you're helping them be a part
of.
i.
This builds positive expectations and a positive
environment.
e.
Other responses:
i.
Follow up question to double check or extend
ii.
Ask students to elaborate
iii.
Acknowledge students answers non-judgmentally to
keep the floor open
iv.
Restating in fuller language
f.
Handling Praise
i.
Keep it specific, keep it relevant to the
specific task/effort, meant it god dammit, carry yourself like you mean it, and
match your words to the particular student.
ii.
You can also use their past successes in current
praise, lil reminders of their improvements or consistency
iii.
Attribute success to effort and ability but go a
lil heavy on the effort
3. When
students don't answer
a.
You don't want a student to feel pressure or
embarrassment so stay on your toes to keep them 'safe'
b.
Here's how to progress things. Obviously don't do all of these things, do a
few in a logical order
i.
Wait time 1
ii.
Repeat question
iii.
Give'm a cue
iv.
Ask a simpler question or a fact only question
v.
Give choices for answers
vi.
Ask for a yes or no response
vii.
Ask the questions that get the answers "I
need more time to think" or " I don't know yet, please come back to
me"
4. Giving
help
a.
When students ask for help, you need to be
careful not to shut them down with negativity or frame undesirable expecations.
b.
So what you do is point out how students can use
what they already know or have at their disposal (instructions, examples, past
work) to help themselves and that you'll check back with them in a bit to see
how things are going.
c.
You never want them to feel your being negative
or expressing no, nor do you want them to think you're an answer machine. Your role is TEACHER.
d.
Be careful to help students that aren't looking
for help. This can create nasty
expectations in their heads.
5. Responding
to student performance
a.
"Good" feedback improves learning and
is best put to use by sprinkling it throughout the class/day not dumping it all
at once
b.
The aim is a high volume of specific, useful
feedback and to pay attention to your embedded messages.
c.
When students perform poorly, our feedback must
convey that we believe they can do better and we're here to help them find
d.
When student performance changes, guide them to
understand why it's changing. Maybe
they're trying harder and this needs to be celebrated. Ya know, casually and such.
6. Dealing
with errors
a.
Believers of innate intelligence see
tests/numbers as the end all. Therefore
low numbers are a sign of weakness and should be avoided/ignored.
i.
This type struggles to improve relative to...
b.
Believes of effort based intellect tend to see
such as feedback to work with.
c.
Dealing with student attitude towards this issue
is very important.
7. Grades
a.
Retests should be counted, not averaged. Grades aren't a ****ing game! We want
proficiency so if a retest gets you that then good! If you suspect students using this loophole
to buy study time, make it a minor PITA by requiring afterschool study sessions
or something similar for each retest
8. Handling
students not getting 'it'
a.
First off, encourage students to be open and
seek help during class but after as well
b.
Plan for "reteaching loops" with
activities for those not a part of the session.
i.
The most important part of the loop is the
teacher's tenacity and the confidence they have that students will get it if
they stick with it.
9. Grouping/tracking
a.
Don't worry about this
10. Giving
and Negotiating Tasks and Assignments
a.
Publicly recognize the difficulty of assignments
so students know you know how hard they're working
b.
Never be anything but positive with students
when talking about the work they are going to do.
c.
Keep in mind your body language.
Teaching Effective Effort
You can't exert effort properly
unless you...
1. Allow
for enough time
2. Can
focus without distraction
3. Are
reaching out for help and know where to get it.
Are you being resourceful?
4. Are
using the right strategies.
Students do better when they're teacher has helped them identify handy
strategies
5. Listening
to the teacher's useful feedback.
6. Commit
to difficult tasks and don't give up.
Remember, be positive! Not a
nauseating, saccharine, punchable face.
Just a positive person with an optimistic outlook.
Routines
Routines:
1.
Are explicit and brought to student's attention
2.
Are specific and explained clearly
3.
Are repeated to make sure students absorb them
4.
Are repeated to make sure students absorb them
5.
Are repeated to make sure students absorb them
6.
Are communicated with positive expectancy
7.
Modeled
8.
Practiced until mastered
9.
Nothing short of standard (mastery) is accepted
Planning
Failure to plan is planning for failure.
Teachers can make 21 planning decisions. Thirteen of which are indispensible (first 13
in this list)
1.
Know the curriculum. Know what the students must
know and bear it in mind when you plan.
The connections must be very plain.
2.
Know and articulate the mastery objective(s) to students
3.
Plan how to communicate the objective(s) without any
ambiguity. 1 + 1 = 2
4.
Decide what evidence you'll use as confirmation of student
mastery
5.
Pay attention to your evidence from whenever about who is
getting it and who isn't
6.
In light of evidence, plan a reteaching strategy
7.
Pick the best materials to convey learning objectives. Variety brightens the classroom
8.
Anticipate confusion and have alternate strategies. Preteaching can help.
9.
Choose student learning experiences that students will find engaging
and guide their learning
10.
Check
that the task(s) are logical and actually progressing students towards
the goal
11.
Decide
when and how you will gather evidence of student learning during or
after the lesson
12.
Plan how students will 'go public' with their learning
13.
Select a strategy for getting students cognitively active in
summarizing and assimilating their new learning.
14.
Decide how you'll prime the class for the lesson. What knowledge do you want to prime? Find out what they already know
15.
Arrange environmental variables beforehand (space and time)
16.
Choose the effort strategies you may explicitly teach (student self
evaluation, use of 'effective effort rubric'
17.
Decide specific interactive moves you'll make to make sure students are
engaged with important themes and issues.
18.
Determine how to diversify for different student learning styles
19.
Determine how much support, cuing, and help students might need while
doing the work, this can include peer help
20.
Decide what lesson extensions/challenges you'll have for those students
that are ready
21.
Choose homework and how and when to explain it and what it's for
Assessment
I wish I had time read thoroughly, digest, and fully
implement the information in this chapter, but at the moment I'm a bit short on
time. I'm doing a very cursory read
through in hopes of gleaning some gems I can use for the students'
benefit. Maybe I'll be able to read
through it at a later time.
Purpose of assessment
1.
To make summative statements
a. about students meeting
course objectives
2.
To certify students
a. as competent in...
3.
To signal clearly
a. what knowledge is important
4.
To make instructional decisions
a. about where to start with
instruction, which skills are mastered and which need more work
5.
To give feedback to students
a. about students ' strengths,
weaknesses, and interests
6.
To give feedback to teachers
a. about effectiveness of
instruction and curriculum
7.
To report progress to parents and communities
a. about any and all of the
above
8.
To elevate the curriculum so as to provide meaningful, higher-level
thinking tasks for all students
9.
To sort rank or compare students
a. for honors and awards or
admission into programs with limited enrollment
10.
For placement
a. in courses, grades, or
levels
11.
To predict
a. success in school, a job, or
a course
Twelve Components of
Classroom Assessment
1.
Determining the assessment task
a. Teacher generates the task
as well as exactly what students are ideally expected to produce
2.
Communicating standards of performance
a. The above (1a) are share
explicitly with students
3.
Assessing prior knowledge
a. Assess readiness and
accuracy of prior knowledge. This helps
prepare teacher how to handle with students in need.
4.
Frequent data collection and record keeping by the teacher
a. Regular informal assessment
events (observations, short written or oral tasks)
5.
Frequent high-quality feedback to students
a. Daily, descriptive,
non-judgmental feedback to facilitate improvement
6.
Student self-assessment
a. Students are taught how to
regularly use criteria for self-assessment and peer feedback
7.
Student record keeping about progress
a. Students regularly keep
record of their own learning progress.
This ensures accountability and self-awareness
8.
Frequent error analysis by the teacher
a. Teacher determines what
confusions and misconceptions exist
9.
Error analysis by the students
a. Students analyze their own
tests and such using the feedback you provide to determine their own gaps in
knowledge
10.
Planning and implementing reteaching
a. Teacher uses data on student
performance to plan reteaching loops
11.
Goal setting and action planning by students
a. Students use feedback and
error analysis to set SMART goals. Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic,
and time-based.
12.
Reporting systems on student progress including three-way conferences
a. Students report on their
goals-and progress toward achieving those goals- at three-way conferences with
teachers and parents
Classroom Climate
Climate revolves around three things: community and
mutual support, confidence and risk taking, influence and control. Each has important subcomponents
1.
Community and Mutual support
a. Knowing others
b. Greeting acknowledging,
listening, responding, and affirming
c. Group identiy,
responsibility, and interdependence
d. Cooperative learning, social
skills, class meetings, group dynamics
e. Problem solving and conflict
resolution
2.
Confidence and Risk Taking.
Believing that...
a. Mistakes help vs being signs
of weakness
b. Care, perseverance, and
craftsmanship count vs fast = smarter
c. Good students solicit help
and lots of feedback vs doing it by themselves
i.
We live in a world full of others after all
d. Effort and effective
strategies are the main determinants of success vs innate intellect
e. Everyone is capable of high
achievement vs only the few can achieve at a high level.
3.
Influence and Control
a. Empowering students to
influence the pace of the class
b. Negotiating the rules of the
"classroom game"
i.
Students are a part of creating certain procedures and such
c. Teaching students to use the
principles of learning and other learning strategies
d. Students using knowledge of
learning style and making choices
e. Students and their
communities as sources of knowledge
