A few weeks ago, my favorite nutrition site, Precision Nutrition, sent me their latest post. I clicked on the link and found this AMAZING infographic. Not only did I love the information, but the teacher in me kicked in! This was a great example of some of the ways that we convey information using well-selected design elements.
So, as my students entered into the final days of their Somaliland presentation designs, I decided to have them analyze Precision Nutrition's visual as readers and writers.
Based upon our discussions, these are the key elements we identified. I then created the infographic below to help them remember these elements as they finalized their presentations.
Feel free to use with your students & check out Piktochart as a great tool for creating infographics! And for more great ideas, check out ActiveHandprint!
Throughout the past year, individual conferencing has served as a pedagogical cornerstone in my classroom. This practice, often lauded as a modern educational trend, harkens back to the logistics of some of the earliest American school systems. "Where the one-room school might have a fluid sense of time and no clear demarcation of 'grades,' the graded school was as tightly structured as a train schedule" (Newkirk 15). Although our classrooms are currently organized based upon age, recent educational values have returned in many ways to those of the one-room school house. The push towards differentiation has recognized the discrepancy between a child's biological age and his or her level of skill. We now recognize that, like those early classrooms, ours are filled with learners possessing a myriad of abilities, challenges and preferences.
The writing classroom demands an appreciation of this lens more than any other subject. In order to address individual writing needs and allow for student-directed learning, individualization is essential. While teaching a group of peasants to read and write, famed novelist, Leo Tolstoy, stated, "All methods are one-sided, and that the best method would be the one which would answer best to all the possible difficulties incurred by a pupil" (Newkirk 25). Thus, as educators, we need to search for an approach that appreciates individual need, acknowledging that approaches work better for some than for others. In our recognition of this fact, we are acknowledging that it is inherently wrong to apply one form of methodology to all learners. The writing conference model serves as a powerful model through which individualization can be accomplished.
My Personal Quest for Workshop Improvement
Fortunately, my teacher education program provided me with the philosophical underpinnings supporting the workshop model. During that time, I realized the power of providing students exactly what they need, not what you think they need. I also appreciated that workshopping avoided "teaching to the middle"--a painful method that leaves a handful of students bored, a handful of students baffled, and only a handful of students potentially gaining something.
Throughout my years at my former district, time for workshopping was limited. Additionally, student driven inquiry was not a valued component of the curriculum. I squeezed individualized conferences in between the district mandates and required five paragraph essays. Because of the restrictions limiting student writing options, all conferencing occurred during the process or after.
Once I learned that our district valued developing student voice through passion driven learning, I knew that I needed to learn more sophisticated techniques for my conferences. Throughout the summer, I spent time collecting data from colleagues in the district and throughout the country. Our instructional leader, Matt Daly, provided me with his comprehensive guide for conferencing. I also read research from the National Writing Project and Choice Literacy concerning the same information.
Research Trends for Writing Conferences
Throughout my research, I noticed common threads emerging. The types of discussions the authors were outlining seemed to break the type of conference down into several subcategories that I had not been aware of before.
1. Developmental Conferences
These types of conferences honor the idea that students have something beautiful and profound to say to the world. They allow teachers to help students find their own voices, articulating an idea of importance. Matt Daly advised, "The most important question to ask the students during conferences at this point is whether their topic or genre interests them" (1). Here he highlights that engagement is key, acknowledging that interest and passion should be allowed and encouraged to drive writing.
I have found that many students have an inkling as to what they would like to write. Instead, more of my students wrestle with completing ideas or fleshing out concepts. These students are prompted to look deeper at their plot, character, ideas, etc. through open-ended questions. Daly continues, "This is the best time to give students a chance to explore their desires, wants, and interests" (1). This step is perhaps my favorite step. During this time, I get to watch students' imaginations take flight; I am always dumbfounded to listen to the plethora of original, abstract and profound ideas that my students create. It is this type of conferences that most allows for diversity, empowerment and engagement, highlighting the fact that student voice is encouraged, rewarded and essential.
2. Organizational Conferences
Since "planning is the act of creating a paper's skeleton" (Daly 1), this stage is used to help students finish brainstorming, outline ideas and address format. This year, I have found that organizing and outlining is the hardest step in the process for most of my students. During this time, conferences are often filled with examples of how other authors--including myself--use outlines and brainstorms.
These conversations help avoid the "trickling off" of ideas, common in many pieces without a developed plan. Most students begin writing because they have been inspired and are filled with energy; however, without thinking about what will happen in the long run, students often lose their energy and focus, drifting into an oblivion or blank page. This stage also allows me to debunk many myths. Struggling writers often believe that good writers sit down and write masterpieces. Although many strong writers can quickly create a mental outline, they do not create publishable works without forethought.
A byproduct of organizational conferencing is a fluid conversation about genre. After reading initial ideas, I can often recommend other pieces of writing or genre-specific terminology that will be helpful to the student. For example, recently, one of my students came to me and told me that he had begun writing a piece which played with ideas he had been ruminating upon after reading The Hobbit. Our conference at this time allowed me to direct Will to a list of archetypal characters. We were also able to discuss how he was using characteristics that he enjoyed from The Hobbit.
3. Technical Conferences
I consider these conferences to be my specialty, seeing as I enjoy grammar and finishing touches on a deep--awkward English major--level. During this time, teachers are free to discuss any missing components of student pieces. Additionally, they are encouraged to discuss rules of grammar and sentence structure that students may not yet understand. The majority of my conferences still hover here; they provide opportunities for me to use my expertise in grammar and analyzing literature in order to help develop student writing.
This level of conferencing also opens itself naturally to a blended classroom. Throughout the year, I have tried to create a few essential online mini-lessons. This way, as I direct students to review the rules of sentence combination or completion, I can suggest they reference an online mini lesson about the topic. Moving forward, this is the level of conferencing on which I would like to build a blended learning environment. My vision is to record or publish all grammatical mini lessons in a format that can be posted online. I will then create a database where I can send students to access this information.
4. Peer Conferences
Although none of the pieces I read discussed this type of conferencing, if I believe that the ultimate goal of education is to foster independent, life-long learners, it seems essential to help teach students how to discuss writing and brainstorm ideas on their own. Each piece of writing received a formal critique where students review and provide feedback to other students.
My Areas of Continual Growth
1. Keep Conferences Short
As evidenced by this post, I am never short for words. When I meet with students, I almost always become so enthralled with their brilliant ideas, powerful prose or lessons to be learned, that I lose track of time. Although this allows me valuable time working one-on-one with a student, it is not the most efficient use of conferencing. As I move forward, I am going to continually strive to meet for shorter bursts of time, which will allow me to increase the frequency with which I meet various students during a day and individual students during the writing of a piece. It would be more productive for me to meet briefly with a large variety of students, sending each off with only a few focused tasks, than to meet with a mere handful of students belaboring the editing process. This shift will also help me avoid inundating students with corrections opposed to highlighting a few urgent trends. Students will be more focused in their revisions and will not have to worry about becoming overwhelmed with the number of edits needed to improve the piece.
2. Teach the Writer NOT the Writing
Finally, I will continually try to remind myself to "teach the writer not the writing" (1) as Fletcher explains. In my continual effort to foster independent writers, I must remember that my students will not always have me--or any teacher for that matter. Therefore, they must be able to figure out what to do when confronted with a problem on their own. As I develop my technique, I would like to incorporate more problem solving techniques. For example, instead of telling students to revise their papers because they have several run-ons, I should discuss techniques authors use to double check their own sentences, thus avoiding run-ons or fragments.
Other Ideas??
What else are you doing in your classrooms to promote strong conferences? What are other techniques you are using? Let us know!!
Daly, M. Supplemental paper: conference guidelines
Fletcher, R. (2001). The writing conference: breaking the silence. Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/workshops/writing35/pdf/s5_writing_conference.pdf
Newkirk, T. (2009). The teacher as schmidt. In Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones : Six Literacy Principles Worth Fighting For (13-43). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Often teachers struggle with assessment when it comes to incorporating project based learning into their curriculum. Here are a few resources with my favorite assessments!
One of the major criticisms I have of "Pay Attention" is that it creates a painful binary. As we know, binaries are incapable of being traversed (this OR that), and inherently contain a heirarchy. The video sets out to challenge teachers, but in many ways, especially to those who are digital immigrants or digital avoiders, it serves to further polarize them.
When thinking about this as a video--opposed to an essay--we need to use our visual literacy in order to interpret additional clues. The use of black and white (an archetypal binary) font color serves to evoke a stark contrast between the background and the text in the foreground. Although not all teachers are progressive, creative and fostering critical thinking skills, to imply that our classrooms without technology are black, devoid of any light is extremely offensive. As with anything, technology will not automatically bring color, especially if it is being used inappropriately or as an online version of meaningless tasks.
Furthermore, the use of the color red is extremely offensive, due to its inextricable link with violence. As a teacher who does use various forms of digital media in my classroom, I am offended by the color choice. I cannot imagine how much someone who doesn’t use (or have access to) these tools would feel. Red is the color of blood and horror; therefore, it evokes a mood of aggression. The last thing that we want to do to teachers would be to assail them into compliance. This would be completely antithetical to the empowerment which using technology can and should provide to both teachers and students.
Finally, the simple use of technology still does not address the issues of meaning. If students say that they feel as if their content has nothing to do with their lives and will not relate to the real world, simply placing this same information onto a podcast does not alleviate these problems. Knowing that “teachers will lead the struggle to make sure technology use promotes, rather than conflicts with, the goals of a democratic society" (Roblyer & Doering, 2013), we must focus more on the ways technology can enhance powerful teaching practices instead of the fact that it is turned on.
Revisions:
If I were to create a video, or find a new one, I would want a scaffolded version of technology integration. Instead of frightening teachers into an unknown--and often foreboding landscape--I would look for information that builds upon what many teachers are already doing. Instead of throwing a word like “blog” at a teacher who is uncomfortable with technology, providing a more relevant visual would be more effective. For example:
journal blogreflection/voice/empowerment
A visual like this one would serve to show that both a journal and blog move students towards similar goals: reflection, voice and empowerment. The use of a larger visual for blog is purposefully selected to show that blogging may take the initial idea, journaling, to the next level. In order to show its additional capabilities another line with words like collaboration/editing/publishing could appear below the initial desired outcomes. This would allow teachers to feel as if they already have stock in this form of technology. Also, the nature of a life-long learner pushes many teachers towards that next step when they realize that their goals can be maximized with just one shift.
Finally, when dealing with visual literacy, one must be extremely prudent in decisions regarding font, color and other forms of visual information. This information needs to be exciting, bold and powerful. A color like turquoise or teal naturally evokes serenity (blue is the color of the sky and sea which often are found to be calming) yet can be vibrant and motivating. Additionally, our classrooms without tech are not completely black. They do have pops of colors, even if these colors may be dull or slightly outdated. Using colors that are pastel or colors that were popular in past decades (pea soup green, rust orange) may be an interesting visual contrast that also provides a plethora of visual information. These colors serve to remind us that some things we loved at the time become dull and in need of an update. They can also remind us that we are not completely throwing out color or changing everything.
These conversations need to be used to inspire. Teachers are continually bombarded with pressures and rising stakes. If improperly framed and supported these ideas place “a special burden on already overworked teachers to continue learning new resources and changing their teaching methods” (Roblyer & Doering, 2013). Our colleagues need to feel safe as learners in order to make the move. By creating a scaffold instead of a binary, we can begin to engage hesitant teachers and bridge the gaps in many of our schools.
Resources: Roblyer, M.D., & Doering, A.H. (2013). Integrating Educational Technology Into Teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Recently, a few of my colleagues have asked for some insight about PBLs. Although I am no expert in this area, I have been able to compile a few helpful resources to help.
Here are my Top 10 PBL Insights
10. Community Based
I always wanted to travel the world and make a difference. I wanted to set up schools in developing nations, go save the rain forests, even care for children affected by HIV/AID internationally. Although I still believe that these are powerful pursuits--which I hope to someday get to--my grandmother always reminded me: You don't need to look past your own backyard to make a difference. Although global change is extremely exciting, don't get ahead of yourself. There are so many issues and projects that our own communities and families can benefit from! Reach out to local agencies or even the families in your school, and see what they need. Chances are: your message will be more powerful, you will build meaningful relationships between your school and the community, and you will change the lives of families at your own school if not your own students!
9. "Curators of Content"
At the NJECC conference that I just attended, the Keynote Speaker, Dirk DeLo, said that he considers his teachers "curators of content". They are expected to collect as many pieces of their content from various sources in order to develop a curriculum for their students.
In a PBL there is the same expectation. It is your responsibility as the teacher to incorporate as much content as you can in each project. The real challenge is to do this in an organic way. For example, instead of having students write an essay at the end of the PBL about their findings, have them continually post information to a class website. Students will still be articulating their findings; they will still be demonstrating the ability to develop complex ideas, but it will be embedded in the project, allowing for better understanding and most likely a stronger project. At the end, students may even want to change initial findings--allowing them to reflect on their own learning and growth in a way that a final paper may overlook.
8. Get Down with the Mess
I am a very organized person. I separate my closet based on color; I have spaces for each and every type of bill I receive; I have a brilliant system of desktop folders. However, if you ever saw my living room when I am in the middle of a craft project, you would think that I am a complete disaster. As I have gone through a few PBLs, I have realized that this type of learning functions in a similar way. The setup must be organized, but the execution will be sloppy.
What should you think about before?
-How much time will this take?
-How will students know what their objectives are?
-How will I save work to allow for continual progress?
Types of areas to create:
Types of ares to expect:
7. The Discover Process
PBLs come with several challenges. Out of all these challenges there are two main issues: you are not an expert in every field, and you may not have a resource to help with every challenge that arises. In order to lessen anxiety around these two complications, our school uses the iDiscover model. This model encourages students to think about places where they can locate information. It also allows for experts outside the classroom to become an intergal part of any project. I think about it as eliminating the middle man; so often I have tried to become an expert in a field that I have no prior knowledge about in order to convey my attempted understandings to my students. It seems much more efficient and accurate to have someone who has devoted years to the study of a specific idea discuss it with my students.
6. Choices and Challenges
Recently, I overheard a clip from a professional development class for physical therapists where the expert stated that it is the therapists role to know the choices that could be used to treat a specific problem and be able to provide a set of challenges to a given patient. As a teacher using PBLs in your classroom, you are doing the same thing. Your responsibility is to provide choices for different ways to address specific issues. You are also there to provide challengesfor students as they advance through their projects.
5. Give Them the Words
It is impossible to have a conversation without the foundational jargon of a given field. As teachers, how could we talk about learning without specific, agreed-upon words that enable us to discuss our classrooms, students and theories. In a PBL, this is imperative. We cannot expect students to discuss projects in areas they may never have been introduced to without the fundamental words for that field.
If you have an expert come into class to discuss a specific topic, have him or her list and define a few key terms that are common and intergal to the project at hand. Then, create a space--in the physical classroom or an online extension--where students can continually access these words, their definitions and any attached resources.
4. Who Gives the Grade?
Although the phrase "because I said so" seemed to work in my household growing up, it doesn't fly in the classroom. Provided a meaningful project, where the grade is given based on the real-time effectiveness of the project is a much more powerful motivation to students than any teacher-imposed edict. So, let the community help judge the success of the project. This can be done through evaluations, goals or even expert evaluations.
3. Character Ed through PBL
One challenge of PBLs is assessment. Check out the KIPP Character Report Card as a possible authentic, continual assessment. When how hard someone works is directly connected with how much another person's life is improved, the stakes become high and valuable.
2. High Tech High School
Any time that I am struggling putting together a PBL, I watch this video for inspiration! CHECK IT OUT.
1. What Moves YOU?
As educators we know that students perform most when they are self-directing. The same goes for you. Pick a project that you love! Collect info! Make it happen!
What are other PBL insights that you can share? Feel free to comment below!
Why does playing video games for hours improve your ability to play well? Why does practicing kicking your soccer ball over and over improve your ability to perform? Why do you read 20 pages each night for LA homework? Each of these skills requires specific nerve pathways to complete. So, why does practicing improve them, and how does this relate to our project?
In his article, "'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge", Stephen Downes explains: "At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks. Knowledge, therefore, is not acquired, as though it were a thing. It is not transmitted, as though it were some type of communication." He continues to explain that "What we learn, what we know -- these are literally the connections we form between neurons as a result of experience." 1
In order to really understand this, we need to know a little science.
Here's a picture from the Mayo Clinic of a nerve:
How the Nerve Works:
The neuron is the e-mail of your body. It sends and receives messages.
The nucleus sends an electric signal through the axon.
The axon often branches into several places, commonly referred to as the axon transmitters.
The axon transmitters transfer this electrical signal to a particular cell.
Depending on the pathway of the nerve, the signal is interpreted in order to complete the cell's specific function.
Why We Need to Make Use of Pathways:
The more often an axon is used, the more the myelin sheath wraps around it.
The more myelin there is, the more ensheathed the axon is.
The more ensheathed the axon, the more efficiently the message is sent.
Therefore, cell performance is improved.
Not all neurons have myelin around them. They send messages 100 times SLOWER than those with myelin!!
So, now we must ask, how does this relate to our projects, connectivism and video games?
The more we practice our skills, the more our nerves use their axons, the more efficiently we work. This is why when you are playing video games all night long, you are actually improving your ability to play. Your pathways are becoming more myelinated and are, therefore, becoming more efficient.
This is also why when you learn, the more you can connect to pathways you already have strengthened, the more efficiently you can learn new information. So, if you relate you use the mythology you learned in social studies to enhance your language arts piece, you are taking advantage of pathways that you have already made strong!
The theory of Connectivism draws upon these scientific concepts. It reminds us that in order to learn, we must take advantage of the pathways that we have in our minds. As such, the more information can relate to something we know, the stronger our pathway becomes and the deeper the learning is.
HOW CAN YOU USE THIS IN YOUR CLASSROOM?
Create a website in order to encourage connectivist learning. By creating separate pages with different information, you and your students will be encouraged to explore the learnings of peers and take advantage of whatever helps your endeavor. For example, you may see 5 articles on a specific page, but only one seems to relate to your individual project. Read that one, use whatever parts of it that you can, and try to make as many connections as you can to it.
Works Cited
Downes, Stephen. "'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge." The Huffington Post. 5 January 2011. 26 January 2013<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-downes/connectivism-and-connecti_b_804653.html?ref=tw>.
"Myelin." The Encyclopedia of Science. 8 February 2013 <http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/M/myelin.html>.
"Nerve Cell (Neruron)." Mayo Clinic. 8 February 2013 <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM02555>.
The clock ticks towards 2:18. In just 2 minutes the bell will ring, and students will be done for the day. On most days this is the time where the surreptitious bag packers begin sliding the fronts of their notebooks on top of their pages. This is normally the time when the seat jumpers begin stretching their legs, ready to fly out the door.
But today's different.
A group of 16 eighth grade students are huddled around one laptop. I think it needs a comma. Wait! That doesn't make sense yet. They call out. Their teacher stands at the front of the room, trying to type as quickly as they are speaking.
This was the scene in my 7th period class last Thursday, as one student's piece was about to be posted on the local blog. For the past month my students have been absorbed in their Sandy Relief project, Donate 108. They have been working with several local agencies--Habitat for Humanity, The Community Soup Kitchen, The Interfaith Food Pantry and the Salvation Army--to collect goods for local residents affected by Superstorm Sandy.
While I tried to type as quickly as my fingers would allow, I couldn't help but marvel at the dedication of my students!
If this sounds like a project you would like to create at your school, STAY TUNED! We are currently creating a short book to help students and teachers do these types of things!
With just a little help and your heart in the right place, your classroom could be just as filled--if not more--with goods for any of your local residents in need!
Our Mission at Active Handprint is to inspire actions that help to meet the basic needs of all human beings--to be fed, to be clothed, to have shelter, to be respected and to be safe.
