dh02 motivation: what it is—& isn’t (gr. 4–12)
TRANSCRIPT
National Conference on Differentiated InstructionJuly 15, 2013 - July 18, 2013
DH02 Motivation: What It Is—& Isn’t (Gr. 4–12)
Rick Wormeli
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D900‐DH02‐WUP‐62353.pdf
1
Motivation: What It Is & Isn’t
SDE 2013
For more conversation:
Rick Wormeli
703-620-2447
(Eastern Standard Time)
Herndon, VA ,
@Rickwormeli (Twitter)
Larry Ferlazzo
Helping Students
Motivate
Themselves:
Practical Answers to
Classroom
Challenges
Practical, Creative,
Real….
2
Fostering Learner
Independence: An
Essential Guide for
k-6 Educators
Roxann Rose-
Duckworth and
Karin Ramer
Practical, Creative,
Real as well!
Study Executive Function portions of the brain!
Late, Lost, and Unprepared Joyce Cooper-Kohn, Laurie Dietzel
Smart but Scattered Peg Dawson, Richard Guare
New
from
Dr.
Debbie
Silver!
3
Highly Recommended Resources:
• Armstrong, Thomas. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. 2nd Edition, ASCD, 1994, 2000
• Brooks, Jacqueline Grennon, and Brooks, Martin G. In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms, ASCD, 1993
• Burke, Kay. What to Do With the Kid Who…: Developing Cooperation, Self-Discipline, and Responsibility in the Classroom, Skylight Professional Development, 2001
• Covey, Steven. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon and Schuster Publishers, New York, 1989
• Dweck, Carol. Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development, Taylor and Francis Group, 2000
• Dweck, Carol; Elliot, Andrew J. Handbook of Competence and Motivation, Guilford Press, 2007
• Glynn, Carol. Learning on their Feet: A Sourcebook for Kinesthetic Learning Across the Curriculum, Discover Writing Press, 2001
• Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why it can mattermore than I.Q, 1995 (The Brain Store, 800-325-4769, www.thebrainstore.com)
• Henton, Mary. (1996) Adventure in the Classroom, Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt
• Hyerle, David. A Field Guide to Visual Tools, ASCD, 2000
• Interact [Education Simulations], www.highsmith.com
• Jensen, Eric. Different Brains, Different Learners, 2000 (Corwin Press and Crystal Springs Books)
• Kriegel, Robert. If it ain’t Broke, Break it! And Other Unconventional Wisdom for a Changing Business World, Warner Books, New York, 1991
• Kushel, Gerald. Reaching the Peak Performance Zone, American Management Association Publishers, New York, 1994
• Lavoie, Richard. The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child, Simon and Schuster, 2007
• Lavoie, Richard. How Difficult Can This Be? The F.A.T. City Workshop, WETA
Video, P.O. box 2626, Washington, D.C., 20013-2631 (703) 998-3293. The
video costs $49.95. Also available at www.Ldonline. There is another one:
Beyond FAT City as well.
• Marzano, Robert J.; Pickering, Debra J.; Pollock, Jane E. Classroom
Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student
Achievement, ASCD, 2001
• Marzano, Robert J. What Works in Schools, ASCD, 2003
• Griggs. Risk It! Empowering Young People to Become Positive Risk Takers in
the Classroom & Life, Incentive Publications, Inc. , Nashville, TN 1996 ISBN
0-86530-346-0
• Popkin, Dr. Michael. Active Parenting of Teens, Active Parenting, Inc., 810
Franklin Court, Suite B, Marietta, GA 30067
• Purkey, William W.; Novak, John M. Inviting School Success: A Self-Concept
Approach to Teaching and Learning, Wadsworth Publishing, 1984
• Renzulli, Joseph S. Enriching Curriculum for All Students, Skylight Training
and Publishing, 2001
• Rohnke, K. (1984). Silver Bullets. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt.
• Rohnke, K. & Butler, S. (1995). QuickSilver. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt.
• Rohnke, K. (1991). The Bottomless Bag Again. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt.
• Rohnke, K. (1991). Bottomless Baggie. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt.
• Rohnke, K. (1989). Cowstail and Cobras II. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt.
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• Saphier, Jon; Gower, Robert. The Skillful Teacher, Research for Better Teaching, 1987 (56 Bellows Hill Road, Carlisle, Massachusetts, 01741)
• Silver, Dr. Debbie. Drumming to the Beat of a Different Marcher: Finding Rhythm for Teaching a Differentiated Classroom, Incentive Publications, 2003
• Sousa, Dr. David A. How the Brain Learns. Corwin Press, 2002
• Sousa, Dr. David A.. How the Special Needs Brain Learns, Corwin Press, 2001
• Sousa, Dr. David A. How the Gifted Brain Learns. Corwin Press, 2003
• Sternberg, Robert J.; Grigorenko, Elena L. Teaching for Successful Intelligence: To Increase Student Learning and Achievement, Skylight Training and Publishing, 2001
• Thompson, Randy; Vanderjagt, Dr. Dorothy. Fire Up! For Learning: Active Learning Projects and Activities to Motivate and Challenge Students. Incentive Publications, 2002
• Tovani, Cris. I Read It, But I Don’t Get It. Stenhouse Publishers, 2001
• Winebrenner, S. Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom: StrategiesEveryTeacher Can Use to Meet the Needs of the Gifted and Talented. Free Spirit Publishing, Minneapolis, 1992
• Wolfe, Patricia. Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice, ASCD, 2001
• Wormeli, Rick. Meet Me in the Middle: Becoming an Accomplished Middle Level Teacher, Stenhouse Publishers, 2001
• Wormeli, Rick. Day One and Beyond: Practical Matters for New Middle Level Teachers. Stenhouse Publishers, 2003
• Wormeli, Rick. Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom, Stenhouse Publishers, 2006
• Wormeli, Rick. Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching any Subject, Stenhouse Publishers, 2009
• Wormeli, Rick. Summarization in any Subject, ASCD, 2005
• Wormeli, Rick. The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I Learned about Teaching Along the Way, AMLE, 2103
It is counter-cultural, subversive,
to do what we know about motivation and
differentiation.
‘Anyone out
there know
me?
5
Fair Isn’t
Always Equal
Interpretive Dance for All
Dentist Office Couch Analogy
Readiness
v.
Ability
“A student is not an interruption of our work…the student is the purpose of it. We
are not doing a favor by serving the student…the student is doing us a favor by
giving us the opportunity to do so.”
-- William W. Purkey from an L.L. Bean Co. poster: “What is a customer?” by J.M. Eaton
Helpful Mindset…
6
C
O Low quality, students are passive, learning has no meaning, students do not achieve
High quality, students are active, learning has meaning, students achieve
[Based on an idea by the author, Avi]
Carol Dweck (2007) distinguishes between students with a fixed intelligence mindset who believe that intelligence is innate and unchangeable and those with a growth mindset who believe that their achievement can improve through effort and learning…Teaching students a growth mindset results in increased motivation, better grades, and higher achievement test results.”
(p.6, Principal’s Research Review, January 2009, NASSP)
What Doesn’t Motivate?
• Punishment
• Sarcasm
• Denying the role of personal technology in students’ lives
• Teachers speaking in paragraphs when disciplining
• Removing students from p.e., fine and performing arts classes to double-up on math and reading classes for state exams
• Students spending the majority of their day working on their weak areas, being reminded of their deficiencies
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What Doesn’t Motivate?
• Unwavering adherence to pacing guides. • Homework that is not meaningful or does not
advance our cause. • Relying solely on talking to students as our primary
way to get information across. • Limiting what students read this year because a
teacher they may or may not have in the future may or may not use that book as well.
• Assigning reading to students who can’t read on grade level.
• Watching videos for the whole class period. • Lecturing for the majority of the period – Lectures
chunked works well, however.
Characteristics of Motivational Classrooms (Rick Lavoie, The Motivation Breakthrough, 2007)
1.Relevance
2.Control
3.Balance of Support and Challenge
4.Social Interaction
5.Safety and Security
Motivational Forces (Needs):
To Belong To be Acknowledged
To be Independent To Control
To be Important To Assert
To Know
Three elements in intrinsic motivation:
• Autonomy -- the ability to choose what
and how tasks are completed
• Mastery -- the process of becoming adept
at an activity
• Purpose -- the desire to improve the world.
-- Daniel H. Pink
Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us
2009
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Important for all ages for motivation and
moving content into long-term memory:
Students have to do both,
Access Sense-Making
Process Meaning-Making
• Complexity
• The right tools
• Competence
• Meaning-making
• Structure
• Audiences other than the Teacher
• Emotional Connection
What Motivates Students?
1
• Teacher’s Passion for Subject
• Growth Mindset
• Create Curiosity
• Cognitive Connections
• Creativity, Divergent Thinking,
Innovation
• Clear expectations and Descriptive
Feedback
• Narrative
2
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• Prior Knowledge
• Sleep
• Nutrition
• Exercise and Movement
• Vividness
• Opportunities for Self-definition
• Outdoor Education
• Democratization of Knowledge
3
Information Age is old school. We’re in the High Concept
Age, and we have the tech to pursue it:
• Twitter and other social media
• Daily newspapers downloaded for analysis
• Museum school partnerships and Virtual Tours
• QR codes attached to classroom activities
• Student-designed apps
• Khan Academy and similar on-line tutorials
• Graduation in four states now requires one course taken
completely on-line
• Google Docs
• Google eyes, wearables, implantables, augments
• MOOCS – Massive Open On-line Course
• Crowd-Sourcing
• MIT Open Courseware
• TED talks and ed.Ted.com
• Screencasts (ex. Camtasia Studio)
• Voicethread
• Moodle
• PBL’s
• Prezi
• iMovie
• Edmodo
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Specific Elements, Activities, and Ideas for Motivation
Make it fun.
Fun Theory --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l
Xh2n0aPyw
Ice Skater –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1
Bt1xm4w_CM
V i v i d n e s s
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“All thinking begins with wonder.” -- Socrates
Our job is not to make up
anybody’s mind, but to open minds and to make the agony of decision-making so intense you can escape only by thinking.”
-- Fred Friendly, broadcaster
Exciting new Cognitive Science Research:
• Self concept
• Positive social interactions
• Personal interest
• Situational interest
• Empathy -- HUGE!
• “Okay to fail” mindset
• Growth mindset vs fixed intelligence
• Learner centered
Highly Effective Strategies
for Young Adolescents:
• Arguing/Defending Position
• Project-based learning
• Novelty
• Technology incorporation
• Collaboration
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Teachers who engage students make sure that students:
• Experience competence regularly.
• Have a positive relationship with at least one adult in the building
• Receive developmentally appropriate instruction
• Sense the teacher’s passion for the subjects they teach
• Are enabled and inspired to participate in their own learning
Provide Models
Begin with the end in
mind. Students will outgrow their
models.
Creating an Emotionally Inviting Classroom
• Catch them doing things right.
• Listen to their stories and questions with interest.
• Applaud positive risk-taking.
• Be prepared for each day.
• Demonstrate commitment to student success, not documenting student deficiencies.
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Emotionally Inviting Classrooms (Continued)
• Repeatedly demonstrate that academic struggle is a virtue, not a weakness. Handle struggle with grace.
• Let go of grudges and vengeful attitudes.
• Give choices in assignments.
• Give students responsibilities/roles.
• A
• B
• C
• I, IP, NE, or NTY
Once we cross over into D and F(E) zones, does it really matter? We’ll do the same two things: Personally investigate and take corrective action
I = Incomplete
IP = In Progress
NE = No Evidence
NTY = Not There Yet
Highly Motivating: Hope (Being Encouraged/Allowed to Recover from Failure, Stupidity, Irresponsibility, Impulsivity)
If we do not allow students to re-do work, we deny the growth mindset so vital to student maturation, and we are declaring to the student:
• This assignment had no legitimate educational value.
• It’s okay if you don’t do this work.
• It’s okay if you don’t learn this content or skill.
None of these is acceptable to the professional educator.
14
If I had been a kid in my class today,
…would
I want
to come
back?
-- Elsbeth
Murphy,
Chalkdust,
1979
Negating Students’ Incorrect Responses While Keeping Them in the Conversation
• Act interested, “Tell me more about that…”
• Empathy and Sympathy: “I used to think that, too,” or “I understand how you could conclude that…”
• Alter the reality:
-- Change the question so that the answer is correct
-- That’s the answer for the question I’m about to ask
-- When student claims he doesn’t know, ask, “If you DID know, what would you say?”
Negating Students’ Incorrect Responses and While Them in the Conversation
• Affirm risk-taking
• Allow the student more time or to ask for assistance
• Focus on the portions that are correct
Remember: Whoever is responding to students is processing the information and learning. Who, then, should be responding to students in the classroom? Students.
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CELL BODY
AXON
Myelin sheath
Schwann cell
Node of Ranvier
Synaptic terminals
Dendrites NucleusSynapses
Neuron
Sleep
• Melatonin production in young adolescents shifts by 3 to 5 hours, but runs for the same length of time.
• Sleep deprivation often invokes the starvation response in the body.
• Sleep helps us encode memories for long-term memory; lack of sleep lowers the brain’s capacity to learn new things, Dye, 2000, as cited in Sprenger
• Adolescents need 9.25 hours of sleep or more, Wolfe, others, 2010
• Young children, ten hours. Ages 5 to 10, 12 hours, Adults, eight hours.
• REM sleep important to memory and consolidation of learning.
• There are periods during sleep in which the brain is as active as it is at your brightest, conscious moment awake.
• New information is not fixed the moment it is perceived. It takes time to consolidate. Sleep and time are critical.
Famous study: Individuals typed sequence of letters on a keyboard. They trained in the morning, tested 12 hours later but no improvement. When tested after a good night’s sleep, all performances were up 20%.
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Nocturnal “Aha!” moments
• Brain makes connections while it sleeps, replays the day.
• Missing even one hour has detrimental effect. …a slightly sleepy 6th grader will perform in class just like a 4th grader (Sadah, Gruber, & Rav, 2003), p. 98, Wolfe
• Nutritious breakfast also matters: complex carbohydrates, proteins, water, fruit, breakfast cereal rich in omega-3 fatty acids, multi/whole grains – not glucose, saturated fats
Neurotransmitters
• Dopamine – activates pleasure centers, controls conscious motor activity, facilitates mental acuity
• Serotonin – calming, mood enhancer, helps with memory, sleep, appetite control, and regulation of body temperature
Healthy diet, exercise, and sleep help production of both!
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Hippocampus and
the Amygdala
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…AMYGDALA!
Activate the…
• Amygdala encodes emotion on to information as it’s
processed in the hippocampus.
• Learning with strong emotion retained longer.
• Don’t go too far – emotion can dominate cognition.
• Purposefully plan for the emotional atmosphere.
Oxygen/Nutrient-Filled Bloodflow When the Body is in Survival Mode
Vital Organs
Areas associated with growth
Areas associated with social activity
Cognition
“Emotion drives
attention, attention
drives learning.”
-- Robert Sylwester, 1995,
p. 119, Wolfe
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• Avoid habituation with stimuli (example: flipping the lights on and off). The brain grows accustomed to it and no longer reacts.
• Motivation is doing what you are already capable of doing, not trying to do something for which you lack the tools.
• If the brain cannot find a previous network or neural system into which the new information fits, it dramatically decreases its attention to it and the processing of it.
Uh-oh…
Motivating Students When Nothing Else Works
• Teacher Assistance Teams
• Specialists
• Coaches or Pastors/Rabbis
• Alternative Instruction
• Strong relationship with trusted adult
• Diet
• Sleep
• Doctor’s Physical Exam
• Looping
• Deal with poverty issues
Motivating Students When Nothing Else Works (cont.)
• Developmentally appropriate instruction (i.e.
Middle school concept)
• Teacher training in young adolescence
• Videotaping
• Behavior checklist
• Use inertia
• Deal with loneliness and/or powerlessness
• Multiple intelligences
• Ask the student
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Unique Needs
of Young Adolescents
1. Structure and clear limits 2. Physical activity every single day 3. Frequent and meaningful experiences with
fine and performing arts 4. Opportunities for self-definition 5. Safe and inviting emotional atmosphere 6. Experiences in with real competence 7. Meaningful participation in families, school,
and communities 8. Basics: food, water, rest, good health,
physical presence. 9. To belong
What Works? 1. Expertise in the students you teach -- Circle in our lesson plans
where we see evidence of our expertise in teaching students this age. We should find:
• Structure and clear limits • Clear separation of fantasy and reality • Belonging • Self-efficacy • Physical touch • Physical activity every single day • Promotion of sleep -- Make it a regular homework assignment • Students involved in their own learning, including assessment • Frequent and meaningful experiences with fine and performing arts • Opportunities for self-definition • Safe and inviting emotional atmosphere • Students experiencing real competence • Meaningful participation in families, school, and communities • Basic of students met: food, water, rest, good health, physical presence.
What Else Works?
2. Formative assessment
3. Formal reading lessons into high school
4. Creating prior knowledge where there was none
5. Summarization
6. Priming for Structure: Our ability to retrieve information is based on how it was structured when it first entered our minds, not how we studied it
7. Primacy-Recency effect
8. Battling Confabulation
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9. Vividness in learning experiences
10. Examples contrasted with near examples
11. Service learning and students helping others
12. Ample opportunities for articulating and defending thinking
13. Metaphors and analogies
14. Collaborative efforts among students 15. Flexible thinking among students; creating
mental dexterity
16. Standards-based grading, including re-do’s. 17. Teachers who know their subjects and how to teach them 18. Teachers who sincerely enjoy being in the presence of their
students 19. Differentiation 21. Getting students to learn the material in terms of
relationships, connections, and patterns, not individual discreet pieces
22. Meaning-making
Expertise in Teaching Students (these are for middle and high school teachers):
• Promotion of sleep -- Make it a regular homework assignment • Teacher Advisory • 9th Grade Academies (10th grade academies work, too) • Students involved in their own learning, including assessment • Students’ knowing themselves as learners and becoming their
own advocates • Abstract and symbolic concepts turned into physical
representations • Teaming (particularly for grades 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) • Outdoor Education programs • Patience with the emotional roller coaster • Stress on growth plates on the ends of bones relieved regularly
– get them moving every 15 minutes!
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CONSTRUCTIVISM
Traditional Learning Constructivist Learning
• Part to whole, emphasize skills
• Strict adherence to curriculum
• Rely on textbooks, workbooks
• Students are “blank slates”
• Teachers disseminate info
• Teachers seek correct answer to
validate learning
• Assessment/Teaching separate
• Whole to part, emph. concepts
• Pursue student questions
• Rely on prim. sources, manip.
• Students are thinkers
• Teachers mediate, interact
• Teachers seek students’ knowledge to
make decisions
• Assessment/Teaching are interwoven
Maintaining Momentum
• Provide itinerary and track it with students • Remove “bottlenecks”* • Model how to deal with intrusions* • Give advance notice* • Be flexible • “Expert” or “Ask me” tent cards • Use task cards with groups • Have a well-known, judiciously used
attention signal [* Idea from Jon Saphier’s The Skillful Teacher]
Attention Signals
• Movement
• Sound
• Rain stick
• Power location
• Speak quietly, requesting an action
• Minimize light blinking
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Attention Moves
• Using students’ names • Proximity • Redirecting • Startling • Pre-alerting • Prompts • Humor • Drama
•Students as assistants
•Vocal inflection
•Unison task
•Argue (Devil’s Advocate)
•Props
•Connect to student’s imagination or life
•Praise
The Brain’s Dilemna: What Input to Keep, and What Input to Discard?
• Survival
• Familiarity/Context
• Priming
• Intensity
• Emotional Content
• Movement
• Novelty
-- Summarized from Pat Wolfe’s Brain
Matters, 2001
With hocked gems financing him, Our hero bravely defied all scornful laughter That tried to prevent his scheme. Your eyes deceive, he had said; An egg, not a table Correctly typifies this unexplored planet. Now three sturdy sisters sought proof, Forging along sometimes through calm vastness Yet more often over turbulent peaks and valleys. Days became weeks, As many doubters spread Fearful rumors about the edge. At last from nowhere Welcome winged creatures appeared Signifying momentous success.
-- Dooling and Lachman (1971) pp. 216-222
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Priming means we show students:
1) What they will get out of the
experience (the objectives)
2) What they will encounter as
they go through the experience
(itinerary, structure)
Prime the brain prior to students doing homework. The impact on learning is much greater!
Sample Anticipation Guide
C
Theme Me My Group Author “AQOTWF is not an accusation nor a
confession, and least of all an adventure.”
“War changes people.”
“War forces people to reject traditional values
and civilized behavior.”
“Cruel trainers are the best instructors for
soldiers about to go to war.”
“True friendship endures all.”
“Whole generations are destroyed by war.”
“Nature is indifferent to mankind’s pain and
decisions.”
“To no man does the Earth mean so much as
to the soldier.”
“Every soldier believes in Chance.”
Journalistic vs. Encyclopedic Writing
“The breathing of Benbow’s pit is deafening,
like up-close jet engines mixed with a cosmic
belch. Each new breath from the volcano
heaves the air so violently my ears pop in the
changing pressure – then the temperature
momentarily soars. Somewhere not too far
below, red-hot, pumpkin size globs of ejected
lava are flying through the air.”
-- National Geographic, November 2000, p. 54
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“A volcano is a vent in the Earth from which molten rock (magma) and gas erupt. The molten rock that erupts from the volcano (lava) forms a hill or mountain around the vent. Lava may flowout as viscous liquid, or it may explode from the vent as solid or liquid particles…” -- Global Encyclopedia, Vol. 19 T-U-V, p. 627
Components of Blood Content Matrix
Red Cells White Cells Plasma Platelets
Purpose
Amount
Size &
Shape
Nucleus
?
Where
formed
Carries Oxygen and Nutrients 5,000,000 per CC Small, indented, like Cheerios None Bone Marrow, Spleen
The student’s rough draft:
Red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients around the body. They are small and indented in the middle, like little Cheerios. There are 5 million per cc of blood. There is no nucleus in mature red blood cells. They are formed in the bone marrow and spleen.
25
T-List or T-Chart: Wilson’s 14 Points
Reasons President
Wilson Designed the
Plan for Peace
Three Immediate Effects
on U.S. Allies
Three
Structures/Protocols
created by the Plans
Main Ideas Details/Examples
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3
Cornell Note-Taking Format
Reduce Record
[Summarize in
short phrases
or essential
questions next
to each block
of notes.]
Review -- Summarize (paragraph-style) your points or responses to the questions. Reflect and comment on what you learned.
[Write your
notes on this
side.]
Somebody Wanted But So [Fiction]
Somebody (characters)… wanted (plot-motivation)…, but (conflict)…, so (resolution)… .
26
Something Happened And Then [Non-fiction]
Something (independent variable)…
happened (change in that independent
variable)…,
and (effect on the dependent
variable)…,
then (conclusion)… .
Provide Models
Begin with the end in
mind. Students will outgrow their
models.
Narrowing the Topic
The Civil War People
Battles Inventions
Reasons
27
Is the topic narrow
enough to be focused,
but broad enough to
have plenty to write
about?
Battles of the Civil War
Gettysburg
Manassas Antietam
Vicksburg
Is the topic narrow
enough to be focused,
but broad enough to
have plenty to write
about?
28
Battles of Gettysburg
Statistics
Geography Famous
People
Strategies
Is the topic narrow
enough to be focused,
but broad enough to
have plenty to write
about?
What was the “Fish
hook” strategy used at the
Battle of Gettysburg?
Yeah. That’s it.
29
Feedback vs Assessment
Feedback: Telling a person what they did – no evaluative component
Assessment: Gathering data in order to make a decision
Greatest Impact on Student Success:
Formative feedback
Item
Topic or
Proficiency
Right
Wrong
Simple Mistake?
Really Don’t Understand
1 Dividing
fractions
2 Dividing
Fractions
3 Multiplying
Fractions
4 Multiplying
fractions
5 Reducing to
Smplst trms
6 Reducing to
Smplst trms
7
Reciprocals
8
Reciprocals
9
Reciprocals
Inquiry Method
1. Something arouses students’ curiosity. 2. Students identify questions regarding topic. There is usually one
main question with several sub-questions that help answer the main question. These questions are submitted to classmates for review.
3. Students determine the process of investigation into topic. Their
proposal for how to conduct the investigation is submitted to classmates for review and revision as necessary.
4. Students conduct the investigation. 5. Students share their findings.
30
Socratic Seminar
Pre-Seminar:
A. Shared experiences, chosen for richness of ideas, issues, ambiguity, “discussability”
B. Students reflect on material
Group dynamics, ground rules, and courtesy are understood and accepted.
Seminar:
A. Teacher asks a provocative question. Opening, Core, and Closure Questions
B. Students respond to the provocative question and each other.
C. Teacher offers core questions that help students interpret and to re-direct, also evalutes and tries to keep mouth shut.
C. Closing – connect to the real world of the student
Post-Seminar
Writings, Summations, Artwork, Reflection, Critique, Analysis
Debate Format
1. Statement of the General Debate Topic and Why it’s Important – 1 min. 2. Affirmative Position Opening Remarks – 3 min. 3. Negative Position Opening Remarks – 3 min. 4. Affirmative Position Arguments – 5 min. 5. Negative Position Arguments – 5 min. 6. Caucus – Students on both teams consider their
arguments and rebuttals in light of what has been presented. – 3 min.
7. Affirmative Rebuttal and Questioning of the Negative’s Case – 3 min.
8. Negative Rebuttal and Questioning of the Affirmative’s Case – 3 min.
9. Closing Arguments Affirmative Position – 2 min. 10. Closing Arguments Negative Position – 2 min.
Meeting of Minds at Rachel Carson Middle School
Portrayals of Dr. Sally Ride, Albert
Einstein, Josef Stalin, Bob Dylan, Boss
Tweed, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer,
Senator Joseph McCarthy, the
Unsinkable Molly Brown, Rosa Parks.
In the background: Advisors for each
historical figure
31
Meeting of Minds
• Students portray historical figures who’ve been called together to discuss modern world issues and complex ideas. This debate is moderated by the teacher.
• Each team of students researches the figure and shares a summary of what they discover with the class prior to the debate.
• Prior to the debate, each team identifies how their figure would probably respond to several the identified modern issues, and what “holes” they can poke in other figures’ responses.
• Each team has 5 - 6 members: 1 performing as the historical figure, 1 – 3 who design a personalized backdrop for the figure during the debate, 1- 3 who design and prepare an accurate costume and props for the figure.
• All team members research and discuss responses, citing evidence for how the group determined the figure’s responses to the issues.
Meeting of Minds
Potential Topics for Discussion:
• Should Earth have one language or many? What are the roles of men and women in society?
• Should students be required to wear uniforms in school?
• What are the qualities of a good leader?
• Should rap music lyrics be censored?
• Should our country have gone to war?
“To a person
uninstructed in natural history, his country or
seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled
with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which
have their faces turned to the wall.”
-- Thomas Huxley, 1854
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Expertise aids metaphor genesis and understanding. (Physics students example)
Chance favors
the prepared mind.
-- Pasteur
‘Put another way:
Creating Background Where There is None
• Tell the story of the Code of Hammurabi before discussing the Magna Charta.
• Before studying the detailed rules of baseball, play baseball.
• Before reading about how microscopes work, play with micros copes.
• Before reading the Gettysburg Address, inform students that Lincoln was dedicating a cemetery.
Creating Background Where There is None
• Before reading a book about a military campaign or a murder mystery with references to chess, play Chess with a student in front of the class, or teach them the basic rules, get enough boards, and ask the class to play.
• In math, we might remind students of previous patterns as they learn new ones. Before teaching students factorization, we ask them to review what they know about prime numbers.
• In English class, ask students, “How is this story’s protagonist moving in a different direction than the last story’s protagonist?”
• In science, ask students, “We’ve seen how photosynthesis reduces carbon dioxide to sugars and oxidizes water into oxygen, so what do you think the reverse of this process called, ‘respiration,’ does?”
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Tonight, we are young. So let’s set the world on fire, We can burn brighter than the sun!