Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #34 – December 26, 2009
Since we have just experienced the season of giving, I’d like to ask you to ponder for a moment a very special gift. It is the gift of teaching. There is nothing I can think of that compares with this very special gift. If you are fortunate enough to have been blessed with the gift of teaching, you have most likely discovered it is all but impossible not to share it abundantly.
In fact, the feelings good teachers have about teaching haven’t changed much over the years. Here is a portion of an article I found in Time Magazine, dated May 5, 1947:
Considering a teacher's lot and a teacher's pay, why should anybody want to be a teacher? Well, there are reasons. In the National Education Association's monthly Journal, Wisconsin Teacher Dorothy McCuskey recalled a couple of her own: "The day you help Johnny discover that multiplication is really a short form of adding, the day a whole class cooperates to write a poem which expresses the fresh new beauty of a child's world, you know why teaching holds people. . . . All farmers and even tenders of city ivy pots know the fascination of watching things grow. But for the teacher it is not things—it's people."
Added California Schoolmarm Kathryn H. Martin, in the educational magazine Clearing House: "People who are too smart rarely make good teachers because they can't understand why other people make so many mistakes. . . . If I didn't remember how I felt about long division, I'd go berserk some day when I see 'there' and 'their' mixed up for the one-millionth time. . . . The most interesting thing about teaching is not what-you already know, but how much you learn and need to learn. A teacher who 'knew it all' would be nothing but a sad automaton, but I've never met one. Most of us don't know very much, but we keep on trying because the children insist. . . ."
You see, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The best teachers are there to learn as much as they are there to teach. They guide and nurture children and revel as they see their students grow. That part is included with the gift wrapping.
Yes, teaching is a unique gift, one that can be used to change lives in so many wonderful ways. Teaching is not really a choice, but rather a “calling.” If you are one of the few who has this gift, use it wisely; its power can illuminate the future of our world with bright smiles and caring young men and women who show thanks to their teachers, through their many accomplishments. This is definitely one gift you won’t want to “return.”
So, during this season of giving, be thankful for the teachers who have made a difference in your life, but be even more thankful if you have received the special ability to teach others. It really is “the gift that keeps on giving!”
Wishing you a brilliant New Year!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Is Teaching 'Respect' Important?
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #33 – December 19
As good teachers know, it’s not about the lesson plan; it’s all about the student. We also know, it is imperative we teach the “whole” student. Possibly, one of the most important things we can teach our students is respect.
Please note that respect is not the same as obedience. The difference is, a student (or child) might obey because they are afraid. When a student respects you, they obey because they know you really care and want what’s best for them.
Like it or not, when we sign up as a “teacher,” we sign up for being a role model who, by example, has powerful influence on students, over the course of a semester or year. The period of time we spend with our students is enough to, by example, gain the respect of the student. How does a teacher receive respect? By showing it. That said, the best way to teach respect is by example and demonstration. When a student experiences respect, they know what it feels like and can begin to understand its importance. Just keep in mind the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Respect is a learned attitude. It is a part of one’s behavior that will greatly help a student succeed in life. If children don’t have respect for peers, adults, or themselves, it will be almost impossible for them to attain success at anything.
Would you like some tips on how to not only “talk the talk,” but also “walk the walk?” That old saying is still true, “Actions speak louder than words.” These pointers should get you off to a great start as a good role model of respect for your students.
How can we best model respect as a teacher or parent?
Be polite- Say the magic words, “please” and “thank you.” Say “excuse me,” when you must speak to someone who is otherwise engaged in a conversation.
Be fair- Listen to the child’s side of the story and get all the facts before reaching a conclusion. “Let me see if I heard you correctly. You said,…….?”
Be honest- If you do something wrong, openly (yes, in front of the whole class) admit it and apologize. “Class, I am so terribly sorry I led you astray. I was wrong about that. Here’s the correct answer. You learn something every day.”
Be a good listener- Give the student your full attention. Do not interrupt until they have completed their communication. You may well be the only adult they can talk to.
Be positive- Don’t ever get close to embarrass, insult or make fun of a student; encourage them and compliment their progress and success. Think hard before saying something about a student in front of the others. Actually, comments made to a student in front of their peers should only be positive ones.
Avoid poor role models- When you see examples of disrespect, discuss them. “Students, did you notice how the boy in the film just grabbed Johnny’s toy without even asking permission to touch it? What do you think about that?”
Be reliable- Keep promises. Show students you mean what you say and that they can count on you. If you promise to be there at 6:00 A.M. for the pancake breakfast, be there!
Be caring- Demonstrate your concern for people, animals and the environment.
Important steps
It is vital to place much emphasis on teaching students to respect themselves. Self-respect is indeed one of the most important kinds of respect. Once children respect themselves, it is easier for them to respect others.
If a student makes a mistake, or breaks a rule, remind them you still care for them and turn the mistake or transgression into a learning opportunity, where the child can still make amends and feel like a winner.
Help your students set and achieve personal goals. Watch their self-respect skyrocket as they see themselves achieving those goals!
Encourage honesty frequently. Let your students know they may be able to fool some people, but they can’t fool themselves. There is no pride in stealing, cheating or lying; for they will only be hurting themselves and holding their own abilities down.
Your opinion means the world to your students. If you believe in them, voice that belief in them and in their success and they will believe it too. It is also important to show you care. It’s okay to say, “I really care about you,” “I know you can do it!” If appropriate, give hugs or encouraging pats on the shoulder.
Is teaching respect important? What do you think?
A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do you know that his future will not be equal to our present? Confucius
Saturday, December 12, 2009
BUILDING CONFIDENCE IN YOUR STUDENTS
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #32 – December 12, 2009
The dictionary defines confidence as: freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities, the quality or state of being certain. How does one gain confidence? Let’s take a look at something you personally feel very confident about being able to do. For example, if you are a good, accurate typist, you know with certainty you can complete typing a full-page document fairly quickly with a minimal amount of correction needed. How did you acquire this confidence? Through practice, practice and more practice.
Confidence and mastery are inextricably linked in a continuous cycle, each helping the other to grow. Once mastery is gained, confidence is its shining glory. Unfortunately, many kids give up when tasks become challenging because they lack self-esteem and need encouragement from another (like you, their teacher, parent or coach). This is the missing ingredient necessary for these children to tackle new learning enthusiastically.
Without self-assurance, kids won’t reach their full capability. Their failure to achieve goals will reinforce their low sense of self worth, and a different kind of cycle will occur. How can you keep this from happening to the kids you work with and care about? Here are some suggestions that have shown great success:
Provide Opportunities
Get kids involved in tasks that are slightly above their current level of functioning. Anything less is too easy, anything too steep may be frustrating. Helping kids to stretch a bit gives them experience accompanied by appropriate challenges. Varying the types of tasks given, helps keep interest levels high.
Model Positive Thinking
Exhibiting a negative attitude can easily rub off on kids. They look to us for examples of how to respond to challenging situations. Let them observe you eagerly tackling challenges while verbalizing self-assurance. For example, if you opened up a kit containing a new teaching tool to put on display in the classroom, and you were having a difficult time assembling it; instead of getting upset, making nasty comments (or worse, yelling obscenities), calmly talk through the situation, making positive remarks, take it one step at a time and work the problem into a solution.
Model Problem Solving
Many kids are often uncomfortable when things don’t come easy because they don’t have the skills to manage roadblocks. If a pattern of giving up when things get tough has been established, help them work through it by changing their thought processes. Help normalize the process of challenge: when you hit obstacles, explain how you think your way around them. When you feel frustrated, verbalize your feelings, but keep going in spite of it. When you need help, ask for it. Kids often have trouble with this skill, too.
Don’t Rescue
Avoid the urge to jump in at the first sign of frustration. Kids need to develop the ability to work through this often difficult emotion. It’s a balancing act: you don’t want frustration levels to get too high, either. You might need to restructure the task so that mastery is possible. Or better yet, have kids verbalize ideas about what would help make the situation less frustrating.
Use Praise Properly
Don’t waste praise on simple or effortless tasks. Kids can see through the smoke. Plus, praising them for something that didn’t require any work on their part sends them the message that you don’t think they’re capable of more. It can lead to frustration or playing the helpless victim. Instead, make your words count. Save your accolades for accomplishments that require true effort, and thus help kids reinforce their own successes.
Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.
Albert Einstein
Sunday, December 6, 2009
TEACH LIKE A COACH, COACH LIKE A TEACHER PART II
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #31 – December 6, 2009
Learning a New Skill
Experience indicates that until a new skill becomes routine, the coach should not introduce another new skill. This could create significant learning problems. If you accept this premise, you may want to rethink the entire process with which you teach new skills to your athletes. This is one practice experienced teachers should do, but unfortunately, many do not. For example, if you try teaching long division to a child who still can’t multiply, the child will fail miserably. The same will happen in sports. If you teach an advanced skill based on an easier, more fundamental skill, if the athlete never fully grasped the fundamental skill, he will fail at the more advanced skill.
Teachers, learn from the coaches. When a child is learning new vocabulary words for example, give them plenty of opportunities to practice using the new words learned over and over again. It is common knowledge that a new word must be used at least six times before the person knows it cold. This is why we see athletes practicing a new skill or a new play for an upcoming game over and over again until the players know it cold.
Reflection Time
We know that students learn best when they are given the time to reflect upon what they have just learned, how it is connected to what they have previously learned, and how they will use it in the future. They require time for the learning to take root or to absorb to the point that the “aha moment” happens. It is difficult for a classroom teacher to find the time to make this work, but it is crucial to the long-term teaching process.
Coaches should do the same. They have to build the athletes' skills patiently and solidly piece by piece, in practice. A small investment in reflection time in the daily schedule will usually produce tremendous results.
In practice, those times of reflection are numerous. Each time the team does something right, the coach can say, “Now think about what just happened. Why did that play work?” At the end of practice, as well as at the end of a classroom lesson the team or the class can reflect on the goal for the day and whether they achieved it and if so, how.
Lowering Performance Anxiety
There isn't a coach who hasn't had an athlete perform poorly because of his high level of anxiety. Whenever a player begins getting excited every time the action heats up, the coach simply can't tell him to calm down. It won't work. Coaches have to teach players to focus on their role in the team pattern, and to flow with the action--not hurry or overdo things, the byproducts of anxiety. Yes, they have to teach them, but how? It is taught during practice with constant reminders and by example. If the coach gets excited about an error, the players will also. If the coach approaches it as a teaching moment and learning moment, players will eventually think of error as success in work clothes. Teachers must do the same. In the classroom setting, students become anxious on test days. This is their performance time, similar to “game day” for an athlete. Teachers should remind students to focus on what they have learned and how well they have performed in this subject during class time. They can gently remind students to take their time and rely on the knowledge they have previously demonstrated.
Getting Your Athletes and Students to Listen
Research shows that most children from a very early age receive at least six negative comments for every positive one. How about if we try giving each student at least one or two positive comments each day? We have all heard the saying, “You catch more flies with honey.” Give specific positive comments and compliments on a task done well by a student or an athlete. Instead of saying, “Good job Eddie,” make it real and meaningful. Say, “Eddie, I noticed how well you were focusing when you caught that fly ball!” This encouragement will go far to build that child’s self-esteem, and make him much more interested in listening.
The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people.
K. Patricia Cross
Learning a New Skill
Experience indicates that until a new skill becomes routine, the coach should not introduce another new skill. This could create significant learning problems. If you accept this premise, you may want to rethink the entire process with which you teach new skills to your athletes. This is one practice experienced teachers should do, but unfortunately, many do not. For example, if you try teaching long division to a child who still can’t multiply, the child will fail miserably. The same will happen in sports. If you teach an advanced skill based on an easier, more fundamental skill, if the athlete never fully grasped the fundamental skill, he will fail at the more advanced skill.
Teachers, learn from the coaches. When a child is learning new vocabulary words for example, give them plenty of opportunities to practice using the new words learned over and over again. It is common knowledge that a new word must be used at least six times before the person knows it cold. This is why we see athletes practicing a new skill or a new play for an upcoming game over and over again until the players know it cold.
Reflection Time
We know that students learn best when they are given the time to reflect upon what they have just learned, how it is connected to what they have previously learned, and how they will use it in the future. They require time for the learning to take root or to absorb to the point that the “aha moment” happens. It is difficult for a classroom teacher to find the time to make this work, but it is crucial to the long-term teaching process.
Coaches should do the same. They have to build the athletes' skills patiently and solidly piece by piece, in practice. A small investment in reflection time in the daily schedule will usually produce tremendous results.
In practice, those times of reflection are numerous. Each time the team does something right, the coach can say, “Now think about what just happened. Why did that play work?” At the end of practice, as well as at the end of a classroom lesson the team or the class can reflect on the goal for the day and whether they achieved it and if so, how.
Lowering Performance Anxiety
There isn't a coach who hasn't had an athlete perform poorly because of his high level of anxiety. Whenever a player begins getting excited every time the action heats up, the coach simply can't tell him to calm down. It won't work. Coaches have to teach players to focus on their role in the team pattern, and to flow with the action--not hurry or overdo things, the byproducts of anxiety. Yes, they have to teach them, but how? It is taught during practice with constant reminders and by example. If the coach gets excited about an error, the players will also. If the coach approaches it as a teaching moment and learning moment, players will eventually think of error as success in work clothes. Teachers must do the same. In the classroom setting, students become anxious on test days. This is their performance time, similar to “game day” for an athlete. Teachers should remind students to focus on what they have learned and how well they have performed in this subject during class time. They can gently remind students to take their time and rely on the knowledge they have previously demonstrated.
Getting Your Athletes and Students to Listen
Research shows that most children from a very early age receive at least six negative comments for every positive one. How about if we try giving each student at least one or two positive comments each day? We have all heard the saying, “You catch more flies with honey.” Give specific positive comments and compliments on a task done well by a student or an athlete. Instead of saying, “Good job Eddie,” make it real and meaningful. Say, “Eddie, I noticed how well you were focusing when you caught that fly ball!” This encouragement will go far to build that child’s self-esteem, and make him much more interested in listening.
The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people.
K. Patricia Cross
Saturday, November 28, 2009
TEACH LIKE A COACH, COACH LIKE A TEACHER PART 1
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #30 – November 28, 2009
Have you ever noticed how the kids look forward to their P.E. class? Many kids also look forward to team practices after school and on weekends. Maybe there are some valuable lessons we, as classroom teachers can learn from coaches, and maybe coaches can learn a few of our tricks as well.
The Focus
Experienced coaches, like experienced classroom teachers, give students a clear goal for the day at the beginning of class. When a team practice begins, what a good coach does, in effect, is focus their athletes on the task for the day. Inexperienced coaches tend to be sloppy about the way they begin practice. The same can be said for classroom teachers. Experienced teachers, like good coaches, have a goal in mind, and make that the focal point from the moment the class begins.
Students Learn Best at the Beginning and End of Class
Reasearch shows, students are able to absorb more information at the beginning and end of class. This is the reason experienced coaches introduce new material during the first hour of a practice session. Likewise, the best teachers introduce what they expect the students to know and be able to do at the beginning of the lesson.
If that is the way they begin sessions, how do they end them? Both experienced classroom teachers and sport coaches end with applications. For the teacher, review of the day’s lesson can be most effective. For the coach, integrating what was learned into the offensive or defensive system helps drill in information.
One of the easiest and best ways of ending a lesson or a practice is by reviewing (verbally, physically, or visually) what students learned that day and why it will help them. It is even better when students are asked to verbally, physically, or visually tell a fellow student or teammate what they learned that day. This gets the entire class or team engaged and imprints the new knowledge in their memory. They now inherently know they really did learn something new!
Peer Coaching
It has been said, “If you want to learn something, teach it.” Studies indicate that one of the most powerful teaching tools extant is having the students teach one another. Smart coaches often put the upper classmen in charge of teaching the novices, even during the practice. While watching the athletes teach one another, the coach can be carefully listening in on what is being taught as it is being taught. Great classroom teachers use the peer method for teaching everything from learning basic sight words to learning how to take lab notes for a classroom science experiment.
Goal Setting
This can be done far more effectively by involving the athletes or students in the process. For the coach, one of the best ways of motivating the athletes is by including them in the decision-making process in such areas as team organization, practice, uniforms, game strategy, leadership development, and even team rules. With the classroom teacher as facilitator, students can be included in deciding classroom rules, the parameters and requirements of a specific upcoming project in history, or virtually any subject.
Put It In Writing
As we know, there are several learning styles and one student’s best learning strategy, may be different than another’s. In athletics, some players learn best on the court or field, in action, while others will benefit from being able to see diagrams and read text, or watch video with the same information. However, having something written to refer to is your insurance policy. For that reason, coaches should put in writing whatever they are trying to teach. Good teachers also know this, and use a myriad of written resources including: note cards, posters, books and handouts with specific information for the current topic. In testing students who have been taught by video, audiotape, and reading, coaches will find that reading produces the best results. Coaches can derive great use out of a simple booklet describing the most important things they want their athletes to know. The booklet is easy to write and puts all the basic knowledge at the athletes' fingertips.
Stay tuned next week for more ideas on teaching like a coach and coaching like a teacher.
Have you ever noticed how the kids look forward to their P.E. class? Many kids also look forward to team practices after school and on weekends. Maybe there are some valuable lessons we, as classroom teachers can learn from coaches, and maybe coaches can learn a few of our tricks as well.
The Focus
Experienced coaches, like experienced classroom teachers, give students a clear goal for the day at the beginning of class. When a team practice begins, what a good coach does, in effect, is focus their athletes on the task for the day. Inexperienced coaches tend to be sloppy about the way they begin practice. The same can be said for classroom teachers. Experienced teachers, like good coaches, have a goal in mind, and make that the focal point from the moment the class begins.
Students Learn Best at the Beginning and End of Class
Reasearch shows, students are able to absorb more information at the beginning and end of class. This is the reason experienced coaches introduce new material during the first hour of a practice session. Likewise, the best teachers introduce what they expect the students to know and be able to do at the beginning of the lesson.
If that is the way they begin sessions, how do they end them? Both experienced classroom teachers and sport coaches end with applications. For the teacher, review of the day’s lesson can be most effective. For the coach, integrating what was learned into the offensive or defensive system helps drill in information.
One of the easiest and best ways of ending a lesson or a practice is by reviewing (verbally, physically, or visually) what students learned that day and why it will help them. It is even better when students are asked to verbally, physically, or visually tell a fellow student or teammate what they learned that day. This gets the entire class or team engaged and imprints the new knowledge in their memory. They now inherently know they really did learn something new!
Peer Coaching
It has been said, “If you want to learn something, teach it.” Studies indicate that one of the most powerful teaching tools extant is having the students teach one another. Smart coaches often put the upper classmen in charge of teaching the novices, even during the practice. While watching the athletes teach one another, the coach can be carefully listening in on what is being taught as it is being taught. Great classroom teachers use the peer method for teaching everything from learning basic sight words to learning how to take lab notes for a classroom science experiment.
Goal Setting
This can be done far more effectively by involving the athletes or students in the process. For the coach, one of the best ways of motivating the athletes is by including them in the decision-making process in such areas as team organization, practice, uniforms, game strategy, leadership development, and even team rules. With the classroom teacher as facilitator, students can be included in deciding classroom rules, the parameters and requirements of a specific upcoming project in history, or virtually any subject.
Put It In Writing
As we know, there are several learning styles and one student’s best learning strategy, may be different than another’s. In athletics, some players learn best on the court or field, in action, while others will benefit from being able to see diagrams and read text, or watch video with the same information. However, having something written to refer to is your insurance policy. For that reason, coaches should put in writing whatever they are trying to teach. Good teachers also know this, and use a myriad of written resources including: note cards, posters, books and handouts with specific information for the current topic. In testing students who have been taught by video, audiotape, and reading, coaches will find that reading produces the best results. Coaches can derive great use out of a simple booklet describing the most important things they want their athletes to know. The booklet is easy to write and puts all the basic knowledge at the athletes' fingertips.
Stay tuned next week for more ideas on teaching like a coach and coaching like a teacher.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
THE CREATION OF THE TEACHER
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #38 – November 21, 2009
At this time of the year, many of us think of those things and those people we are thankful for. I believe most of us have one special teacher or coach we remember as being a very special part of who we are today. For that reason, I would like to wish all of you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving and share this poem with you. Please pass it on to some teachers you know. Most of them rarely think of their impact on others, as they are too busy working hard to help those kids.
THE CREATION OF THE TEACHER
Author Unknown
The Good Lord was creating teachers. It was His sixth day of 'overtime' and He knew that this was a tremendous responsibility for teachers would touch the lives of so many impressionable young children. An angel appeared to Him and said, "You are taking a long time to figure this one out."
"Yes," said the Lord, " but have you read the specs on this order?"
TEACHER:
…must stand above all students, yet be on their level
... must be able to do 180 things not connected with the subject being taught
... must run on coffee and leftovers,
... must communicate vital knowledge to all students daily and be right most of the time
... must have more time for others than for herself/himself
... must have a smile that can endure through pay cuts, problematic children, and worried parents
... must go on teaching when parents question every move and others are not supportive
... must have 6 pair of hands.
"Six pair of hands, " said the angel, "that's impossible"
"Well, " said the Lord, " it is not the hands that are the problem. It is the three pairs of eyes that are presenting the most difficulty!"
The angel looked incredulous, " Three pairs of eyes...on a standard model?"
The Lord nodded His head, " One pair can see a student for what he is and not what others have labeled him as. Another pair of eyes is in the back of the teacher's head to see what should not be seen, but what must be known. The eyes in the front are only to look at the child as he/she 'acts out' in order to reflect, " I understand and I still believe in you", without so much as saying a word to the child."
"Lord, " said the angel, " this is a very large project and I think you should work on it tomorrow".
"I can't," said the Lord, " for I have come very close to creating something much like Myself. I have one that comes to work when he/she is sick.....teaches a class of children that do not want to learn....has a special place in his/her heart for children who are not his/her own.....understands the struggles of those who have difficulty....never takes the students for granted..."
The angel looked closely at the model the Lord was creating.
"It is too soft-hearted, " said the angel.
"Yes," said the Lord, " but also tough, You can not imagine what this teacher can endure or do, if necessary"
.
"Can this teacher think?" asked the angel.
"Not only think," said the Lord,. "but reason and compromise."
The angel came closer to have a better look at the model and ran his finger over the teacher's cheek.
"Well, Lord, " said the angel, your job looks fine but there is a leak. I told you that you were putting too much into this model. You can not imagine the stress that will be placed upon the teacher."
The Lord moved in closer and lifted the drop of moisture from the teacher's cheek. It shone and glistened in the light.
"It is not a leak," He said, "It is a tear."
"A tear? What is that?" asked the angel, "What is a tear for?"
The Lord replied with great thought, " It is for the joy and pride of seeing a child accomplish even the smallest task. It is for the loneliness of children who have a hard time to fit in and it is for compassion for the feelings of their parents. It comes from the pain of not being able to reach some children and the disappointment those children feel in themselves. It comes often when a teacher has been with a class for a year and must say good-bye to those students and get ready to welcome a new class."
"My, " said the angel, " The tear thing is a great idea...You are a genius!!"
The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there."
At this time of the year, many of us think of those things and those people we are thankful for. I believe most of us have one special teacher or coach we remember as being a very special part of who we are today. For that reason, I would like to wish all of you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving and share this poem with you. Please pass it on to some teachers you know. Most of them rarely think of their impact on others, as they are too busy working hard to help those kids.
THE CREATION OF THE TEACHER
Author Unknown
The Good Lord was creating teachers. It was His sixth day of 'overtime' and He knew that this was a tremendous responsibility for teachers would touch the lives of so many impressionable young children. An angel appeared to Him and said, "You are taking a long time to figure this one out."
"Yes," said the Lord, " but have you read the specs on this order?"
TEACHER:
…must stand above all students, yet be on their level
... must be able to do 180 things not connected with the subject being taught
... must run on coffee and leftovers,
... must communicate vital knowledge to all students daily and be right most of the time
... must have more time for others than for herself/himself
... must have a smile that can endure through pay cuts, problematic children, and worried parents
... must go on teaching when parents question every move and others are not supportive
... must have 6 pair of hands.
"Six pair of hands, " said the angel, "that's impossible"
"Well, " said the Lord, " it is not the hands that are the problem. It is the three pairs of eyes that are presenting the most difficulty!"
The angel looked incredulous, " Three pairs of eyes...on a standard model?"
The Lord nodded His head, " One pair can see a student for what he is and not what others have labeled him as. Another pair of eyes is in the back of the teacher's head to see what should not be seen, but what must be known. The eyes in the front are only to look at the child as he/she 'acts out' in order to reflect, " I understand and I still believe in you", without so much as saying a word to the child."
"Lord, " said the angel, " this is a very large project and I think you should work on it tomorrow".
"I can't," said the Lord, " for I have come very close to creating something much like Myself. I have one that comes to work when he/she is sick.....teaches a class of children that do not want to learn....has a special place in his/her heart for children who are not his/her own.....understands the struggles of those who have difficulty....never takes the students for granted..."
The angel looked closely at the model the Lord was creating.
"It is too soft-hearted, " said the angel.
"Yes," said the Lord, " but also tough, You can not imagine what this teacher can endure or do, if necessary"
.
"Can this teacher think?" asked the angel.
"Not only think," said the Lord,. "but reason and compromise."
The angel came closer to have a better look at the model and ran his finger over the teacher's cheek.
"Well, Lord, " said the angel, your job looks fine but there is a leak. I told you that you were putting too much into this model. You can not imagine the stress that will be placed upon the teacher."
The Lord moved in closer and lifted the drop of moisture from the teacher's cheek. It shone and glistened in the light.
"It is not a leak," He said, "It is a tear."
"A tear? What is that?" asked the angel, "What is a tear for?"
The Lord replied with great thought, " It is for the joy and pride of seeing a child accomplish even the smallest task. It is for the loneliness of children who have a hard time to fit in and it is for compassion for the feelings of their parents. It comes from the pain of not being able to reach some children and the disappointment those children feel in themselves. It comes often when a teacher has been with a class for a year and must say good-bye to those students and get ready to welcome a new class."
"My, " said the angel, " The tear thing is a great idea...You are a genius!!"
The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there."
Saturday, November 14, 2009
TIME FOR TEAMWORK IN THE CLASSROOM
Dr. Wendy Ghiora - Posting #37 - November 14, 2009
Why Should Teachers Care About Teamwork?
Teamwork has become an important part of today’s employment market and many businesses now look at teamwork skills when evaluating a person for employment. Most companies realize that teamwork is important because: The product is sufficiently complex and requires a team with multiple skills to produce, and/or a better product will result when a team approach is taken. Therefore, it is important that students learn to work as a team so they will have this skill when they enter the workforce.
For that reason, collaborative learning should be included in almost every classroom, but some teachers struggle with having students work cooperatively. The reason they struggle may be: they don’t know how to develop good team exercises. Also, it is more difficult to assess the individual performance of the team members. This is where understanding how to teach effective teamwork becomes a crucial task for the teacher. Allow me to show you the best way I can think of to accomplish this. We’ll begin by learning a bit more about the ingredients that make up good teamwork.
Teamwork Defined
According to Webster's New World Dictionary, teamwork is "a joint action by a group of people, in which each person subordinates his or her individual interests and opinions to the unity and efficiency of the group." The most effective teamwork is produced when all the individuals involved harmonize their contributions and work towards a common goal.
Characteristics of Effective Teams
The following are eight characteristics of effective teams that were identified by Larson and LaFasto in their book titled Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong (Sage Publications 1989).
Following each characteristic, I have included an example of how this could be used in classroom application.
1. The team must have a clear goal. Avoid fuzzy, motherhood statements. Team goals should call for a specific performance objective, expressed so concisely that everyone knows when the objective has been met.
Drama students identify by name, with 100% accuracy all areas on stage. This will be measured by written exam and by practical test on stage.
2. The team must have a results-driven structure. The team should be allowed to operate in a manner that produces results leading toward the goal. It is often best to allow the team to develop the structure.
Team members will produce a rehearsal schedule with deadlines for line memorization and blocking of each scene and each act. Final checkout will be given by teacher on dates per student-produced schedule.
3. The team must have competent team members. In the education setting this can be taken to mean that the problem given to the team should be one that the members can tackle given their level of knowledge.
Beginning drama student teams will complete a group sketch of the set design for the scene they will perform. It will include correct measurements from each piece of furniture or object to all stage entrances and wall structures. Sketches are due two weeks prior to performance date.
4. The team must have unified commitment. This doesn't mean that team members must agree on everything. It means that all individuals must be directing their efforts towards the goal. If an individual's efforts are going purely towards personal goals, then the team will confront this and resolve the problem.
Drama team members will agree in writing to a rehearsal schedule to be followed. Should additional time be required, all members of the team will commit to being there.
5. The team must have a collaborative climate. It is a climate of trust produced by honest, open, consistent and respectful behavior. With this climate, teams perform well… without it, they fail.
Drama team members will know what is expected of them. They must show up on time and prepared each day. This means if all lines for scene 2 were to be memorized, then each performer on the team should memorize them. If one character doesn’t know his lines, it ruins the practice for the entire team.
6. The team must have high standards that are understood by all.
Team members must know what is expected of them individually and collectively. Vague statements such as "positive attitude" and "demonstrated effort" are not good enough.
Students will gradually earn the right to more freedom in rehearsal structure, as they produce the results sought by the team as a whole. Strict adherence to the agreed upon practice protocol will be observed. Groups may often decide to reward themselves at the end of the day for a job well done. If behavior is disrespectful, self-inflicted team penalties will apply.
7. The team must receive external support and encouragement. Encouragement and praise works just as well in motivating teams as it does with individuals.
The drama teacher will visit working teams frequently, giving authentic praise on specific team accomplishments. For example, “I like the way every member of this team learned their lines on time Well done!” “Now you’re ready to work on your character’s motivation. I can’t wait to see the final product!”
8. The team must have principled leadership. Teams usually need someone to lead the effort. Team members must know that the team leader has the position because they have good leadership skills and are working for the good of the team. The team members will be less supportive if they feel that the team leader is putting him/herself above the team, achieving personal recognition or otherwise benefiting from the position.
Your team captains must above all be fair-minded. They will earn respect as their leadership skills grow. They will continually work toward the success of their team as a whole. As the teacher, you will coach them so they can enjoy this difficult ride, and achieve their goal…
Teamwork, when used as a building block, rather than an afterthought, can produce a successful team of winning students!
Why Should Teachers Care About Teamwork?
Teamwork has become an important part of today’s employment market and many businesses now look at teamwork skills when evaluating a person for employment. Most companies realize that teamwork is important because: The product is sufficiently complex and requires a team with multiple skills to produce, and/or a better product will result when a team approach is taken. Therefore, it is important that students learn to work as a team so they will have this skill when they enter the workforce.
For that reason, collaborative learning should be included in almost every classroom, but some teachers struggle with having students work cooperatively. The reason they struggle may be: they don’t know how to develop good team exercises. Also, it is more difficult to assess the individual performance of the team members. This is where understanding how to teach effective teamwork becomes a crucial task for the teacher. Allow me to show you the best way I can think of to accomplish this. We’ll begin by learning a bit more about the ingredients that make up good teamwork.
Teamwork Defined
According to Webster's New World Dictionary, teamwork is "a joint action by a group of people, in which each person subordinates his or her individual interests and opinions to the unity and efficiency of the group." The most effective teamwork is produced when all the individuals involved harmonize their contributions and work towards a common goal.
Characteristics of Effective Teams
The following are eight characteristics of effective teams that were identified by Larson and LaFasto in their book titled Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong (Sage Publications 1989).
Following each characteristic, I have included an example of how this could be used in classroom application.
1. The team must have a clear goal. Avoid fuzzy, motherhood statements. Team goals should call for a specific performance objective, expressed so concisely that everyone knows when the objective has been met.
Drama students identify by name, with 100% accuracy all areas on stage. This will be measured by written exam and by practical test on stage.
2. The team must have a results-driven structure. The team should be allowed to operate in a manner that produces results leading toward the goal. It is often best to allow the team to develop the structure.
Team members will produce a rehearsal schedule with deadlines for line memorization and blocking of each scene and each act. Final checkout will be given by teacher on dates per student-produced schedule.
3. The team must have competent team members. In the education setting this can be taken to mean that the problem given to the team should be one that the members can tackle given their level of knowledge.
Beginning drama student teams will complete a group sketch of the set design for the scene they will perform. It will include correct measurements from each piece of furniture or object to all stage entrances and wall structures. Sketches are due two weeks prior to performance date.
4. The team must have unified commitment. This doesn't mean that team members must agree on everything. It means that all individuals must be directing their efforts towards the goal. If an individual's efforts are going purely towards personal goals, then the team will confront this and resolve the problem.
Drama team members will agree in writing to a rehearsal schedule to be followed. Should additional time be required, all members of the team will commit to being there.
5. The team must have a collaborative climate. It is a climate of trust produced by honest, open, consistent and respectful behavior. With this climate, teams perform well… without it, they fail.
Drama team members will know what is expected of them. They must show up on time and prepared each day. This means if all lines for scene 2 were to be memorized, then each performer on the team should memorize them. If one character doesn’t know his lines, it ruins the practice for the entire team.
6. The team must have high standards that are understood by all.
Team members must know what is expected of them individually and collectively. Vague statements such as "positive attitude" and "demonstrated effort" are not good enough.
Students will gradually earn the right to more freedom in rehearsal structure, as they produce the results sought by the team as a whole. Strict adherence to the agreed upon practice protocol will be observed. Groups may often decide to reward themselves at the end of the day for a job well done. If behavior is disrespectful, self-inflicted team penalties will apply.
7. The team must receive external support and encouragement. Encouragement and praise works just as well in motivating teams as it does with individuals.
The drama teacher will visit working teams frequently, giving authentic praise on specific team accomplishments. For example, “I like the way every member of this team learned their lines on time Well done!” “Now you’re ready to work on your character’s motivation. I can’t wait to see the final product!”
8. The team must have principled leadership. Teams usually need someone to lead the effort. Team members must know that the team leader has the position because they have good leadership skills and are working for the good of the team. The team members will be less supportive if they feel that the team leader is putting him/herself above the team, achieving personal recognition or otherwise benefiting from the position.
Your team captains must above all be fair-minded. They will earn respect as their leadership skills grow. They will continually work toward the success of their team as a whole. As the teacher, you will coach them so they can enjoy this difficult ride, and achieve their goal…
Teamwork, when used as a building block, rather than an afterthought, can produce a successful team of winning students!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Kids' Skills Climb by Simply Using Rhyme
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #36 – November 7, 2009
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to use a teaching device that not only worked, but also had the kids begging for more? Using rhyme as a teaching tool does just that. It is so enjoyable, students don’t even realize they are working and learning new skills.
One learning area where rhyme is a facilitator is reading. Reading is one of the most challenging yet important tasks a child must master. A child's successful accomplishment of this feat is one of the strongest indicators of future success--and a child's struggle with reading is one of the strongest indicators of future failure. One of the keys to success in this accomplishment is making sure that rhyme is a part of the child's reading regimen, especially in early reading development. There are three important reasons why rhyme is important in learning to read.
One simple reason why rhyme is important is that it is fun. Playing with rhyme is learning but because it is fun, children are willing to spend a lot of time rhyming and learning more about rhyme. This makes rhyme a great teaching tool and a great motivator for learning. Rhymes are easier to learn and remember than non-rhymes and that is why many learning tools for older children and adults still include rhyme. Did someone say learning couldn’t be fun?
A second reason rhyme is important to emergent and beginning readers is because it teaches children about the language. Rhyming helps children learn about word families such as let, met, pet, wet, and get. Rhyming also teaches children the sound of the language. Other important skills include phonological awareness, the ability to notice and work with the sounds in language. Rhymes help children with phonemic awareness, which is the knowledge that phonemes are the smallest units of sounds that make up words. Dr. Seuss Books used rhyme to teach tracking. When one word or only one letter is different than another, it causes children to notice the difference. In this way, rhyming teaches grapheme awareness, a brother of phonemic awareness. This awareness leads to reading and writing success. And did I mention it’s also fun? (Shhh, don’t tell anyone).
Third, rhyme also teaches children who are learning to read about the patterns and structures of both spoken and written language. Songs and rhymes expose children to the rhythm of the language. This will help them read with some animation in their voice instead of just a monotone. Rhyme also prepares children to make predictions while learning words and gives them crucial decoding skills. Students also seem to enjoy reading rhymes. It’s almost as if they’re having fun….
While learning to read is difficult and challenging for most children, rhyme can help make the task both easier and more fun, teach important language skills, and teach language patterns and structure. These three benefits are important reasons to make rhyme a part of a child's early learning.
Many rhymes include particular actions, dances or motions, which children will gradually associate with a particular song or rhyme. Each rhyme, poem or song has a rhythm, which aids kids in remembering the words they contain, ultimately helping in the development of auditory memory skills in kids. Auditory memory is the ability to recall information that has been given orally. The golden age for memory development is widely believed to be between ages 6-9. During this time a child is able to memorize quickly, plus remember things for a greater span of time, rather longer than any other period of time during their life span.
Another subject that can be learned with the help of rhyme is counting. Counting is present in many nursery rhymes, thus children start learning how to count while having fun using nursery rhymes.
Here is an example of a counting rhyme some of you may be familiar with:
A Counting Rhyme
One, two,
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Shut the door;
Five, six,
Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight;
Nine, ten,
A big, fat hen;
Eleven, twelve,
Dig and delve;
Thirteen, fourteen,
Maids a-courting;
Fifteen, sixteen,
Maids in the kitchen;
Seventeen, eighteen,
Maids a-waiting;
Nineteen, twenty,
My plate's empty.
Learning the multiplication tables seems to be tough for many kids. However, teachers report phenomenal results when multiplication is taught through rhyme. Here are some of the rhymes used with great success:
Multiplication Rhymes for the Fours
Do this after students know how to multiply by 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, and 11. Show students how they only need to learn four times 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 to know all the fours. That's only five facts!
Tell this to the king and queen! 4 x 4 is 16.
Learn it now or your brain'll get sore! 6 x 4 is 24.
Say it now and you'll be first-rate! 4 x 7 is 28.
When I think of 8 I say "Achoo." 4 x 8 is 32.
Use your fingers when you're in a fix. 4 x 9 is 36.
Multiplication Rhymes for the Sixes
Do this after students know how to multiply by 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10, and 11. Show students how they only need to learn six times 6, 7, 8, and 9 to know all the sixes. That's only four facts!
I know now and you do too! 6 x 7 is 42.
Learn it now and don't be late! 6 x 8 is 48.
Lay your fingers on the floor, cause 6 x 9 is 54!
It's a rhymer. You know 5 x 5 is 25, now say 6 x 6 is 36!
A large number of nursery rhymes contain mathematical concepts, such as time, height, counting, measurement, temperature, position, weather, volume, etc..There are also rhymes about the States, the Presidents, How to Pass a Bill, just to name a few. It seems the topics that can be learned through rhyme are virtually limitless.
Good teachers use rhythm and rhyme to help students focus on phonological and grammatical structures. The use of songs, raps, and rhyme facilitates linguistic development. In essence, words and linguistic rules are processed in the brain’s left hemisphere and music, memory, and problem solving are processed in the right hemisphere. Using rhythm in conjunction with linguistic structures stimulates activity between the two hemispheres resulting in stronger cerebral interactivity. Additionally, repetition provided by rhyme strengthens memory, and rhyme also serves as a mnemonic device. The phrasing of songs, raps and rhymes, enables learners to process linguistic structures in more manageable segments.
Teachers, you really can “have your cake and eat it too.” If you’ve always dreamed of really boosting your students’ learning skills and them enjoying the process, your dream can come true. Using rhyme as a group activity in the classroom creates a more relaxed atmosphere, in which children are engaged and eager to learn more. Why? You got it. They’re having fun!
Here are some links to a few resources for using rhyme to help children learn:
http://www.atozphonics.com/nurseryrhymeactivities.html
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=259
http://www.succeedtoread.com/rhyme.html
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to use a teaching device that not only worked, but also had the kids begging for more? Using rhyme as a teaching tool does just that. It is so enjoyable, students don’t even realize they are working and learning new skills.
One learning area where rhyme is a facilitator is reading. Reading is one of the most challenging yet important tasks a child must master. A child's successful accomplishment of this feat is one of the strongest indicators of future success--and a child's struggle with reading is one of the strongest indicators of future failure. One of the keys to success in this accomplishment is making sure that rhyme is a part of the child's reading regimen, especially in early reading development. There are three important reasons why rhyme is important in learning to read.
One simple reason why rhyme is important is that it is fun. Playing with rhyme is learning but because it is fun, children are willing to spend a lot of time rhyming and learning more about rhyme. This makes rhyme a great teaching tool and a great motivator for learning. Rhymes are easier to learn and remember than non-rhymes and that is why many learning tools for older children and adults still include rhyme. Did someone say learning couldn’t be fun?
A second reason rhyme is important to emergent and beginning readers is because it teaches children about the language. Rhyming helps children learn about word families such as let, met, pet, wet, and get. Rhyming also teaches children the sound of the language. Other important skills include phonological awareness, the ability to notice and work with the sounds in language. Rhymes help children with phonemic awareness, which is the knowledge that phonemes are the smallest units of sounds that make up words. Dr. Seuss Books used rhyme to teach tracking. When one word or only one letter is different than another, it causes children to notice the difference. In this way, rhyming teaches grapheme awareness, a brother of phonemic awareness. This awareness leads to reading and writing success. And did I mention it’s also fun? (Shhh, don’t tell anyone).
Third, rhyme also teaches children who are learning to read about the patterns and structures of both spoken and written language. Songs and rhymes expose children to the rhythm of the language. This will help them read with some animation in their voice instead of just a monotone. Rhyme also prepares children to make predictions while learning words and gives them crucial decoding skills. Students also seem to enjoy reading rhymes. It’s almost as if they’re having fun….
While learning to read is difficult and challenging for most children, rhyme can help make the task both easier and more fun, teach important language skills, and teach language patterns and structure. These three benefits are important reasons to make rhyme a part of a child's early learning.
Many rhymes include particular actions, dances or motions, which children will gradually associate with a particular song or rhyme. Each rhyme, poem or song has a rhythm, which aids kids in remembering the words they contain, ultimately helping in the development of auditory memory skills in kids. Auditory memory is the ability to recall information that has been given orally. The golden age for memory development is widely believed to be between ages 6-9. During this time a child is able to memorize quickly, plus remember things for a greater span of time, rather longer than any other period of time during their life span.
Another subject that can be learned with the help of rhyme is counting. Counting is present in many nursery rhymes, thus children start learning how to count while having fun using nursery rhymes.
Here is an example of a counting rhyme some of you may be familiar with:
A Counting Rhyme
One, two,
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Shut the door;
Five, six,
Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight;
Nine, ten,
A big, fat hen;
Eleven, twelve,
Dig and delve;
Thirteen, fourteen,
Maids a-courting;
Fifteen, sixteen,
Maids in the kitchen;
Seventeen, eighteen,
Maids a-waiting;
Nineteen, twenty,
My plate's empty.
Learning the multiplication tables seems to be tough for many kids. However, teachers report phenomenal results when multiplication is taught through rhyme. Here are some of the rhymes used with great success:
Multiplication Rhymes for the Fours
Do this after students know how to multiply by 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, and 11. Show students how they only need to learn four times 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 to know all the fours. That's only five facts!
Tell this to the king and queen! 4 x 4 is 16.
Learn it now or your brain'll get sore! 6 x 4 is 24.
Say it now and you'll be first-rate! 4 x 7 is 28.
When I think of 8 I say "Achoo." 4 x 8 is 32.
Use your fingers when you're in a fix. 4 x 9 is 36.
Multiplication Rhymes for the Sixes
Do this after students know how to multiply by 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10, and 11. Show students how they only need to learn six times 6, 7, 8, and 9 to know all the sixes. That's only four facts!
I know now and you do too! 6 x 7 is 42.
Learn it now and don't be late! 6 x 8 is 48.
Lay your fingers on the floor, cause 6 x 9 is 54!
It's a rhymer. You know 5 x 5 is 25, now say 6 x 6 is 36!
A large number of nursery rhymes contain mathematical concepts, such as time, height, counting, measurement, temperature, position, weather, volume, etc..There are also rhymes about the States, the Presidents, How to Pass a Bill, just to name a few. It seems the topics that can be learned through rhyme are virtually limitless.
Good teachers use rhythm and rhyme to help students focus on phonological and grammatical structures. The use of songs, raps, and rhyme facilitates linguistic development. In essence, words and linguistic rules are processed in the brain’s left hemisphere and music, memory, and problem solving are processed in the right hemisphere. Using rhythm in conjunction with linguistic structures stimulates activity between the two hemispheres resulting in stronger cerebral interactivity. Additionally, repetition provided by rhyme strengthens memory, and rhyme also serves as a mnemonic device. The phrasing of songs, raps and rhymes, enables learners to process linguistic structures in more manageable segments.
Teachers, you really can “have your cake and eat it too.” If you’ve always dreamed of really boosting your students’ learning skills and them enjoying the process, your dream can come true. Using rhyme as a group activity in the classroom creates a more relaxed atmosphere, in which children are engaged and eager to learn more. Why? You got it. They’re having fun!
Here are some links to a few resources for using rhyme to help children learn:
http://www.atozphonics.com/nurseryrhymeactivities.html
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=259
http://www.succeedtoread.com/rhyme.html
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Words Bring a Sense of Wonder
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #35 – October 31, 2009
When children have learned how to dissect words into their parts and to create new words by putting the parts together, they will be in awe of their own utter brilliance! This wonderful skill is also known as: morphological problem solving.
Most words used in the English language today were not originally English. These words were borrowed (taken) from other languages. Many English words have Latin or Greek origins. An English word can consist of three parts: the root, a prefix and a suffix. The root is the part of the word that contains the basic meaning (definition) of the word. The root is the base element of the word. A prefix is a word element that is placed in front of a root. A prefix changes the word's meaning or makes a new word. A suffix is a word element that is placed after the root. The suffix changes the word's meaning as well as its function (use). Prefixes and suffixes are also called affixes because they are attached to a root.
A suggested lesson would be to teach students what a prefix is. Then gradually introduce several prefixes that all have the same or similar meanings. Here is an example:
Prefixes that make opposites
Each of the following prefixes, when added in front of the root word, makes the root word have the opposite meaning, or means something like “not” plus the root word.
For example, ask the students to place the prefix “un” in front of the root word “happy.”
Then have them tell their partner what the new word “unhappy” now means.
Prefixes: Root words
Un- happy, lucky
Im- possible, polite
Ir- regular, responsible
You can also teach the meanings of commonly used prefixes such as : “re,” “un,” and “pre.” Then write these words on the board: rewrite, undo, and preview, and ask students to say the words. Ask them how the addition of the prefixes changed the meaning of the words.
Next, introduce some commonly used suffixes:
Suffix - Meaning
able- able to be
ful - full of
ity - quality or degree
ive have or tend to be
ize - become
less - without or lacking
ment - act of
ness - state of
or - person that does something
ward - in the direction of
Students can now compose new words and understand their meanings as they do so. By using all three word parts, they can create words such as:
Unmanageable and impossibility.
Sample of words using roots, prefixes and suffixes:
Root- Meaning- Word(s)
bio- life, biography, biology, antibiotic
terr- earth, subterranean, extraterrestrial
More Word Identification Activities
Have students work in groups of three or four. Tell them to appoint a recorder and a reporter. Ask them to look in one of their textbooks (or in newspapers or magazines) for words with prefixes and suffixes. Group members find the words and tell the recorder which words to write. The recorder should also draw a circle around the root word, draw one line under a prefix, and two lines under a suffix. When the groups have completed their lists, each reporter should share the results with the entire class, writing the words on the board and circling and underlining prefixes and suffixes. Group members can take turns explaining how they analyzed the word parts to find the meaning of the whole word.
In no time at all, your students will be able to dissect words that may initially look big and difficult, but with their new knowledge of the anatomy of a word, sit back and watch your young sleuths go to work. Students will really get into this; with large spoonfuls of “aha!” moments topped with a real sense of wonder at how much smarter they are with this awesome newly acquired skill. As an additional bonus, students’ vocabulary levels and reading levels will also improve dramatically.
When children have learned how to dissect words into their parts and to create new words by putting the parts together, they will be in awe of their own utter brilliance! This wonderful skill is also known as: morphological problem solving.
Most words used in the English language today were not originally English. These words were borrowed (taken) from other languages. Many English words have Latin or Greek origins. An English word can consist of three parts: the root, a prefix and a suffix. The root is the part of the word that contains the basic meaning (definition) of the word. The root is the base element of the word. A prefix is a word element that is placed in front of a root. A prefix changes the word's meaning or makes a new word. A suffix is a word element that is placed after the root. The suffix changes the word's meaning as well as its function (use). Prefixes and suffixes are also called affixes because they are attached to a root.
A suggested lesson would be to teach students what a prefix is. Then gradually introduce several prefixes that all have the same or similar meanings. Here is an example:
Prefixes that make opposites
Each of the following prefixes, when added in front of the root word, makes the root word have the opposite meaning, or means something like “not” plus the root word.
For example, ask the students to place the prefix “un” in front of the root word “happy.”
Then have them tell their partner what the new word “unhappy” now means.
Prefixes: Root words
Un- happy, lucky
Im- possible, polite
Ir- regular, responsible
You can also teach the meanings of commonly used prefixes such as : “re,” “un,” and “pre.” Then write these words on the board: rewrite, undo, and preview, and ask students to say the words. Ask them how the addition of the prefixes changed the meaning of the words.
Next, introduce some commonly used suffixes:
Suffix - Meaning
able- able to be
ful - full of
ity - quality or degree
ive have or tend to be
ize - become
less - without or lacking
ment - act of
ness - state of
or - person that does something
ward - in the direction of
Students can now compose new words and understand their meanings as they do so. By using all three word parts, they can create words such as:
Unmanageable and impossibility.
Sample of words using roots, prefixes and suffixes:
Root- Meaning- Word(s)
bio- life, biography, biology, antibiotic
terr- earth, subterranean, extraterrestrial
More Word Identification Activities
Have students work in groups of three or four. Tell them to appoint a recorder and a reporter. Ask them to look in one of their textbooks (or in newspapers or magazines) for words with prefixes and suffixes. Group members find the words and tell the recorder which words to write. The recorder should also draw a circle around the root word, draw one line under a prefix, and two lines under a suffix. When the groups have completed their lists, each reporter should share the results with the entire class, writing the words on the board and circling and underlining prefixes and suffixes. Group members can take turns explaining how they analyzed the word parts to find the meaning of the whole word.
In no time at all, your students will be able to dissect words that may initially look big and difficult, but with their new knowledge of the anatomy of a word, sit back and watch your young sleuths go to work. Students will really get into this; with large spoonfuls of “aha!” moments topped with a real sense of wonder at how much smarter they are with this awesome newly acquired skill. As an additional bonus, students’ vocabulary levels and reading levels will also improve dramatically.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Creating a Sense of Wonder in the Classroom
- Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #34 – October 24, 2009
"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
Rachel Carson
What is a “sense of wonder?” Here are some definitions:
1. Emotion aroused by something awe-inspiring, astounding, or marvelous
2. The quality of exciting amazed admiration
3. Rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience
4. A state in which you want to learn more about something
If these definitions describe the kind of learning you’d like your students to experience, then this posting is for you. The next few postings will feature types of lessons that lend themselves well to fostering a sense of wonder for your classroom students. The first area is nature and science.
Why teach about nature and environmental science?
Nature education is critically important in a child’s education for three reasons:
1. Nature education is important for its own sake. The natural world has inspired awe and wonder in children and adults alike for more generations than we can count. Yet children today, especially urban children, are increasingly divorced from or frightened by this wonder, unaware of its power and beauty.
2. In a world increasingly threatened by the effects of human behavior, we need a custodial generation of young people committed to finding solutions to ecological problems.
3. Nature is a wonderful curriculum area. The natural world is patterned, yet ever-changing. Birth, growth, and death--topics of abiding interest to young children’s opening minds--are central to it. And the observation, classification, and communication skills that develop in the study of nature lead to the skills and dispositions children will need to succeed in school."
When should environmental education begin?
Environmental education is a process – a lifelong process that starts with the child’s first experiences in the natural world. “Children create strong and enduring mental representations of what they have experienced in investigating the everyday world.” (Conezio and French, 2002).
The best classroom program, one that will foster a sense of wonder, recognizes that:
1. Children actively construct their own knowledge
2. Children learn best through activities, which engage their interest
3. Inclusive programs expand opportunities for all children
4. Appropriate assessment and reflection strengthens learning and teaching
·
Children love to explore the natural world but by fourth grade, many school programs squash their curiosity with the way science is taught. We can and should be doing a better job empowering kids in schools to follow their curiosities and explore their world through science. You see, wonder begins with curiosity.
A simple, yet provocative science project dealing with nature, can be implemented in virtually any classroom. It involves those slimy, slithering, creatures children are fascinated by: earthworms.
BREEDING EARTHWORMS: Raising earthworms is an interesting activity for children in elementary and junior high school. For people who own amphibians, it is an important source of food. Making a dwelling for earthworms, called a wormery is very easy. You have to simply make a heap of soil and mix some cut grass and other kitchen vegetable scraps and fruit. This culture does not need special care, except for keeping it humid, and watering at least every two days in summer. Once in a while, add other vegetable waste and every two weeks mix the heap. You can observe earthworms' digestive and circulatory systems by dissecting them.Keyword: earthworm breeding vermiculture.
REGENERATION OF ANIMALS: Some animals can be cut in half and from each part will grow a complete individual. Try to cut an earthworm in half. (Research where it should be cut, as this is important). Keep these "pieces" in their natural environment and you will see they will regenerate the other part. Fascinating. But how come? Most students will want to know. Here’s one point where the child’s curiosity becomes a genuine sense of wonder.
Suggested Activities:
Step One: Before beginning activities that involve handling earthworms, a discussion on the care of living things would be worthwhile. Worm welfare is very important !! Contrary to popular belief it depends on where the earthworm is cut whether it is able to regenerate the missing part of its body.Discuss with the students likely places for earthworms to be found. Either go out and dig sods containing earthworms or get the students to bring sods from home.
Earthworms can be kept in culture in almost any large container, provided that it is non-porous (otherwise it will be difficult to keep the soil sufficiently moist). The size of the container will determine the number of earthworms that can be accommodated. Three to five worms per 500ml capacity will allow the earthworms to carry out their activities, such as cocoon production, normally. Cultures are best kept cool, between 10°C and 15°C. Suitable food sources are partly rotted straw or tree leaves, or moist horse manure.
Step Two: Have students make drawings or take photographs of the earthworms in the wormery on the very first day. Students could spend some time researching for further information about earthworms, using the library, gardening books and/or magazines, and the internet. Several helpful web sites are listed in the bibliography included with this unit. The wormery inhabitants then need to be left alone to establish themselves.
Step Three: After the wormery has been established for about a week, if the students take off the cover they will be able to observe that changes have occurred. The wonder excellerates!
Draw an accurate diagram or take a photograph of the wormery. Compare this to the diagram drawn or photograph taken on the first day. Make a list of changes that have occurred.
Study the way the earthworms move and make tunnels. List three things that help the earthworms to move and make tunnels.
It would be interesting to keep the wormery for one or two more weeks so the students can observe it again and repeat this activity.
Encourage students to ask questions about the earthworms. List them on the board.
Here are some questions they may wonder about:
1. What do earthworms eat?
2. Where do they live?
3. What do they like?
4. How do they breathe underground? –
5. How are they like us?
Our role as teachers of natural or environmental science is to guide and encourage further exploration. The art of inquiry and constructivist teaching is to not tell or fill a child with facts, but to help each child build and construct their own ideas about the world around them. Teachers can do this through anticipating questions and misconceptions, and by careful preparation of the learning environment.
Here are just a few of the wonders of nature your students will discover:
An Earthworm’s Body
Is soft, slimy brown or pink and is divided into rings or segments.
Is pointed at both ends with one end flattened.
Uses its skin to breathe and small bristles to move.
Has no eyes.
Earthworms have a Lifespan
Living Beginning
Growth
Development
Reproduction
Death
Earthworms Movement
It has tiny little hairs sticking out underneath its body. The earthworm uses these bristles called setae to cling to the ground as it moves.
The earthworm contracts its body to move.
Earthworms help the Environment by enriching and producing soil
Worms spend their days tunneling through soil. Worms usually tunnel at least 20cm everyday.
Worms eat dirt and other debris.
Earthworms build soil by producing body waste called castings that are rich in nutrients.
An Earthworms Lifecycle
Earthworms are hermaphrodites, each having both female and male reproductive organs. Fertilized eggs are deposited in the soil in cocoons. Each cocoon produces an average of four eggs. Eggs hatch within three weeks. Earthworms burrow deep into the soil and come to the surface to feed on organic debris.
Reasons To Study Earthworms?
Young children construct knowledge through participation with others in activities that foster experimentation, problem solving, and social interaction.
This Study Uses Inquiry Methods
You can use K-W-L Charts to guide, develop and answer questions together. KWL Chart (What I know, Want to Know, What I Learned).
How to Create a Fun Lesson and Create That Sense of Wonder
1. Plan the Environment
o Child Centered and Teacher Focused.
o Create a Science Rich Environment.
o Encourage Wonder.
o Build Excitement.
o Explore living things in a new way.
2. Be a Caring Naturalist
o What is a Naturalist.
o Stay Safe (discuss what can be touched and what cannot).
o Keep animals and plants safe.
o Look very carefully at what you find.
3. Questioning
o Tell me what you found.
o What does it look like?
o How does it feel?
o Where did you find it?
o Why do you think it was there?*
4. Reflection
Teacher interaction through focused exploration of organisms’ habitats in nature encourage deeper thinking through questioning and focused exploration. Reflection, discussion, demonstration and well-planned “hands-on” activities foster a sense of wonder and respect for living things. Sit back and observe as your students’ eyes and minds are turned on and devouring “real time” learning.
Here are some additional online resources where your curious students can go to get many of their questions answered during this project:
Adventures of Herman
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/
Squirmin' Herman the earthworm is here to teach you about the history of worms, their anatomy, and other fun facts.
Another Worm Learn Site:
2) Worms (Grade 1, Museum Magnet School)
http://www.sci.mus.mn.us/sln/tf/w/worms/worms/worms.html
Worm Digest
http://www.wormdigest.org/home.html
Worm Digest is published is a project of The Edible City Resource Center, a nonprofit educational organization in Eugene, Oregon, involved in the promotion of sustainable organic agriculture. Lots of good worm information, especially for worm composting and farming.
Worm World at the Yuckiest Site on the Internet
http://www.yucky.com/worm/
At this site you meet 'Mary the Worm Woman', investigate worms as recyclers, and learn all about earthworms and their cousins with your host, Wendell.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Sample Socratic Seminar Lesson
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #33 – October 17, 2009
Purpose
Why use the Socratic Questioning Method when studying a text? The purpose of using this method is to help students achieve a deeper understanding about the ideas and values in a text. Through examination and questioning, students construct meaning through disciplined analysis, interpretation, listening, and participation.
Key Elements
The basic elements of Socratic Seminar are:
Text
Classroom environment
Questions
Text
The text selected should contain important and powerful ideas and values. It should be at the appropriate level for students and should relate directly to core concepts of the content being studied.
The participants are responsible for the quality of the discussion. Good discussions occur when students study the text closely in advance, listen actively, share their ideas and questions in response to the ideas and questions of others, and search for evidence in the text to support their ideas.
The discussion is not about right answers; it is not a debate. Students are encouraged to think out loud and to exchange ideas openly while examining ideas in a rigorous, thoughtful, manner.
Classroom Environment
In this example, we will be using the “fishbowl” style. The setup for this is to have an inner circle and an outer circle with students facing inward. The same number of students is in each circle, with an inner circle participant partnered up with an outer circle participant.
Members of the outer circle listen observe and take notes as they evaluate their partner’s participation in the discussion. The groups switch halfway through the class period to allow the outside group a chance to participate in the discussion.
Questions
Prepare several questions in advance; in addition to questions students may bring to class. Questions should lead participants into the core ideas and values and in the use of the text in their answers. Questions must be open-ended, reflect genuine curiosity, and have no ‘one right answer’. Choose one question as the key interpretive question of the seminar to focus on and begin discussion. It is highly recommended that teachers engage students in a final reflection of questions discussed at the end of the seminar process.
Before the Seminar
- Introduce the seminar and its purpose (to facilitate a deeper understanding of the ideas and values in the text through shared discussion).
- Review the discussion norms:
Don’t raise hands
Listen carefully
Address one another respectfully, with good eye contact
Base any opinions on the text
Monitor ‘air time’ so everyone has a chance to speak
During the Seminar
- Sit at the students’ level and remind them to address each other, not you.
- Pose the key question.
- If conversation gets off track, refocus students on the opening uestion by restating it.
- Use additional questions to move the discussion along.
- Invite those who have not spoken into the conversation.
After the Seminar
Text Selected: 1st Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A possible key question could be:
What is the author’s purpose in this text?
Here are more possible questions to consider:
Sample questions to serve as the key question or interpret the text:
What is the main idea or underlying value in the text?
What is the author’s purpose or perspective?
What does (a particular phrase) mean?
What might be a good title for the text?
What is the most important word/sentence/paragraph?
Sample questions to move the discussion along:
Who has a different perspective?
Who has not yet had a chance to speak?
Where do you find evidence for that in the text?
Can you clarify what you mean by that?
How does that relate to what (someone else) said?
Is there something in the text that is unclear to you?
Has anyone changed their mind?
Sample questions to bring the discussion back to students in closing:
How do the ideas in the text relate to our lives? What do they mean for us personally?
Why is this material important?
Is it right that? Do you agree with the author?
Sample debriefing questions:
Do you feel like you understand the text at a deeper level?
How was the process for us? Did we adhere to our norms?
Did you achieve your goals to participate?
What was one thing you noticed about the seminar?
Assessment
Use the rubric provided. These should be used by students as they evaluate their partners in the inner circle and as they reflect on their own participation.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Name of person you are observing ________________________
Topic: ____________________________________
1) Record a check for each time your partner contributed in a meaningful way:
_____ _____ _____ _____ _______________
2) On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest, how well did your partner do at the following?
_____ Analysis and Reasoning
Did your partner….
Cite reasons and evidence for his/her statements with support from the text?
Demonstrate that they had given thoughtful consideration to the topic?
Provide relevant and insightful comments?
Demonstrate organized thinking?
Move the discussion to a deeper level?
Notes/Comments:
_____Discussion Skills
Did your partner…
Speak loudly and clearly?
Stay on topic?
Talk directly to other students rather than the teacher?
Stay focused on the discussion?
Invite other people into the discussion?
Share air time equally with others (didn’t talk more than was fair to others)?
Notes/Comments:
_____ Civility
Did your partner…
Listen to others respectfully?
Enter the discussion in a polite manner?
Avoid inappropriate language (slang, swearing)?
Avoid hostile exchanges?
Question others in a civil manner?
Notes/Comments:
Teachers, try the Socratic Seminar Method. You will be amazed at the thoughtful speaking eloquence your students will reveal.
"Wisdom begins in wonder."
Saturday, October 10, 2009
SOCRATIC QUESTIONING IN ACTION
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #32 – October 10, 2009
There are a myriad of teaching techniques that one can incorporate into the classroom to teach students to think critically. Socratic questioning is the oldest, and arguably the most powerful teaching tool used not only to think critically, but also analytically and independently (Foundation for Critical Thinking).
In his teaching, Socrates was well known for not answering a question, but instead asking more questions. The focus of Socratic questioning is to provide students with more questions, which will lead them to a self-won discovery of answers. Asking additional questions forces students to think in and about the concept rather than simply accepting the answer provided by the teacher. This type of thinking in turn leads to a greater understanding of the “big picture” involved.
The Socratic Questioning Model
The basic Socratic questioning model consists of four components:
1. Origin and source
2. Support, reasons, evidence, and assumptions
3. Conflicting views
4. Implications and consequences
Each component provides a potential area for the teacher to question students. For example, the teacher can ask students how they arrived at their particular point of view (Component 1). They can also inquire into what evidence they gathered to support their conclusion (Component 2). The teacher can use questions to identify other points of view (Component 3) and determine the implications and consequences of a particular conclusion based on what is known about the topic and the other points of view (Component 4). Many topics taught in agriculture or science classes lend themselves well to teaching with Socratic questioning.
Example Lesson
Using the Socratic questioning method to teach a lesson on genetically modified foods, for example, a teacher might begin by asking students, “Are genetically modified foods good or bad?” This type of question directly provides the student’s point of view. Let’s say, for the purpose of this example, the majority of students respond that genetically modified foods are bad. If the majority of students said they are good, the same questioning procedure could be used.
In our example, the majority said they are bad, so the teacher could ask, “Why are genetically modified foods bad?” or “How do you know they are bad?” (Component 1). Answers should be written on the board or a flip chart so students can see them. Just as in brainstorming, the teacher should remain non-judgmental about student responses and write all of them down. To wrap up this section of the discussion, the teacher may ask, “Can anyone else think of why genetically modified foods are bad?”
Once the responses are on the board, the teacher can ask students probing questions to get at how they came to the conclusion that genetically modified foods are bad. For example, if one of the responses was that they are bad because they are dangerous to consume, the teacher might ask, “Why do you think they are dangerous to consume?” One key point to remember when using Socratic questioning is to let the students answer the questions. Do not be afraid of pauses. In other words, do not simply give students the answer when there is a pause. Instead, ask additional probing questions.
The next step would be to question students regarding the information and data on which they are basing their assumption. For example, the teacher might ask, “Do you have any evidence to support your assumption?” (Component 2). Many times, students will be unable to support their assumptions with facts and evidence. This situation provides a good opportunity and motivation for them to do some research and learn more about genetically modified foods.
Once students have some facts and evidence, their point of view may change, or it may remain the same. Either way, the teacher might next ask students to identify conflicting views on the topic by asking questions such as, “Who would disagree with your position?” and “Why would they disagree with your position?” (Component 3). These types of questions promote critical thinking in that students begin to realize that although they do not have to agree with other points of view, they do need to recognize that they exist.
The next step in basic Socratic questioning is asking students for the implications and consequences of their points of view. In our example, the teacher might ask students, “What are the implications and consequences of believing that genetically modified foods are bad?” (Component 4). Again, answers should be written on the board or a flip chart and additional questions asked based on responses.
Note to Teachers
Notice that while teaching using the Socratic questioning technique, you as the instructor have to be familiar with the material, and you must be able to anticipate students’ answers in the development of further questions. Your questions should lead students to “better” answers through reasoned inquiry. Careful planning of the initial questions is crucial. Below are some tips for using Socratic questioning.
Using Socratic Questioning in the Science or Agriculture Classroom
1. Identify your instructional objective
2. Plan a sequence of questions that will logically lead students to reasoned answers based on your questions.
3. Keep the discussion focused.
4. Involve as many students in the discussion as possible.
5. Be non-judgmental of student responses.
6. Ask probing questions.
7. Ask questions to summarize material and check for student understanding.
8. Do not be afraid of pauses.
Using Socratic questioning as a teaching method keeps students actively involved and engaged in the learning. The Socratic method of questioning can be used in virtually every subject area in large and small classes alike.
Next week we will look at more ways to ensure maximum student involvement in the Socratic Questioning Process.
References
Foundation for Critical Thinking. (n.d.). Socratic teaching. Retrieved September 9, 2002, from http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/docratict.html.
Newcomb, L.H., McCracken, J.D., & Warmbrod, J.R. (1993). Methods of teaching agriculture (2nd ed.) Danville, IL: Interstate Publishers, Inc.
Lori Moore, Graduate Assistant, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, University of Florida.
Rick Rudd, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, University of Florida.
There are a myriad of teaching techniques that one can incorporate into the classroom to teach students to think critically. Socratic questioning is the oldest, and arguably the most powerful teaching tool used not only to think critically, but also analytically and independently (Foundation for Critical Thinking).
In his teaching, Socrates was well known for not answering a question, but instead asking more questions. The focus of Socratic questioning is to provide students with more questions, which will lead them to a self-won discovery of answers. Asking additional questions forces students to think in and about the concept rather than simply accepting the answer provided by the teacher. This type of thinking in turn leads to a greater understanding of the “big picture” involved.
The Socratic Questioning Model
The basic Socratic questioning model consists of four components:
1. Origin and source
2. Support, reasons, evidence, and assumptions
3. Conflicting views
4. Implications and consequences
Each component provides a potential area for the teacher to question students. For example, the teacher can ask students how they arrived at their particular point of view (Component 1). They can also inquire into what evidence they gathered to support their conclusion (Component 2). The teacher can use questions to identify other points of view (Component 3) and determine the implications and consequences of a particular conclusion based on what is known about the topic and the other points of view (Component 4). Many topics taught in agriculture or science classes lend themselves well to teaching with Socratic questioning.
Example Lesson
Using the Socratic questioning method to teach a lesson on genetically modified foods, for example, a teacher might begin by asking students, “Are genetically modified foods good or bad?” This type of question directly provides the student’s point of view. Let’s say, for the purpose of this example, the majority of students respond that genetically modified foods are bad. If the majority of students said they are good, the same questioning procedure could be used.
In our example, the majority said they are bad, so the teacher could ask, “Why are genetically modified foods bad?” or “How do you know they are bad?” (Component 1). Answers should be written on the board or a flip chart so students can see them. Just as in brainstorming, the teacher should remain non-judgmental about student responses and write all of them down. To wrap up this section of the discussion, the teacher may ask, “Can anyone else think of why genetically modified foods are bad?”
Once the responses are on the board, the teacher can ask students probing questions to get at how they came to the conclusion that genetically modified foods are bad. For example, if one of the responses was that they are bad because they are dangerous to consume, the teacher might ask, “Why do you think they are dangerous to consume?” One key point to remember when using Socratic questioning is to let the students answer the questions. Do not be afraid of pauses. In other words, do not simply give students the answer when there is a pause. Instead, ask additional probing questions.
The next step would be to question students regarding the information and data on which they are basing their assumption. For example, the teacher might ask, “Do you have any evidence to support your assumption?” (Component 2). Many times, students will be unable to support their assumptions with facts and evidence. This situation provides a good opportunity and motivation for them to do some research and learn more about genetically modified foods.
Once students have some facts and evidence, their point of view may change, or it may remain the same. Either way, the teacher might next ask students to identify conflicting views on the topic by asking questions such as, “Who would disagree with your position?” and “Why would they disagree with your position?” (Component 3). These types of questions promote critical thinking in that students begin to realize that although they do not have to agree with other points of view, they do need to recognize that they exist.
The next step in basic Socratic questioning is asking students for the implications and consequences of their points of view. In our example, the teacher might ask students, “What are the implications and consequences of believing that genetically modified foods are bad?” (Component 4). Again, answers should be written on the board or a flip chart and additional questions asked based on responses.
Note to Teachers
Notice that while teaching using the Socratic questioning technique, you as the instructor have to be familiar with the material, and you must be able to anticipate students’ answers in the development of further questions. Your questions should lead students to “better” answers through reasoned inquiry. Careful planning of the initial questions is crucial. Below are some tips for using Socratic questioning.
Using Socratic Questioning in the Science or Agriculture Classroom
1. Identify your instructional objective
2. Plan a sequence of questions that will logically lead students to reasoned answers based on your questions.
3. Keep the discussion focused.
4. Involve as many students in the discussion as possible.
5. Be non-judgmental of student responses.
6. Ask probing questions.
7. Ask questions to summarize material and check for student understanding.
8. Do not be afraid of pauses.
Using Socratic questioning as a teaching method keeps students actively involved and engaged in the learning. The Socratic method of questioning can be used in virtually every subject area in large and small classes alike.
Next week we will look at more ways to ensure maximum student involvement in the Socratic Questioning Process.
References
Foundation for Critical Thinking. (n.d.). Socratic teaching. Retrieved September 9, 2002, from http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/docratict.html.
Newcomb, L.H., McCracken, J.D., & Warmbrod, J.R. (1993). Methods of teaching agriculture (2nd ed.) Danville, IL: Interstate Publishers, Inc.
Lori Moore, Graduate Assistant, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, University of Florida.
Rick Rudd, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, University of Florida.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Socratic Questioning; the Key to Opening the "Thinking" Door
Dr. Wendy Ghiora - Posting #31 - October 4, 2009
“Can it be, Ischomachus, that asking questions is teaching? I am just beginning to see what is behind all your questions. You lead me on by means of things I know, point to things that resemble them, and persuade me that I know things that I thought I had no knowledge of.”
-Socrates (Quoted in Xenophon’s Economics)
Is asking questions teaching? Questioning is undeniably an extremely potent teaching tool; and soliciting answers is not new to the art of teaching. Today, we will examine a specific questioning strategy used by none other than Socrates. Since the Socratic method of questioning covers such a broad scope, this posting will focus on understanding the basics of what Socratic Questioning is all about.
Socratic Questioning Background
Socratic Questioning is a method of teaching developed by Socrates (ca. 470-399 B.C.). It is also known as Socratic Seminar. Socrates was known for engaging his students in intellectual discussion by responding to questions with questions, instead of answers. This method encouraged his students to think for themselves rather than being told what to think. Great teachers realize it is doing a disservice to a student to do something for him that he can very well do for himself. A self-discovered truth brings immeasurable joy and self-confidence to the student.
This early Greek philosopher/teacher used the practice of disciplined, rigorously thoughtful dialogue. Socrates theorized that it is more important to enable students to think for themselves than to merely fill their heads with "right" answers. Teachers focused on student learning, endeavor to engage students toward that exact end. Therefore, Socrates regularly engaged his pupils in dialogues by responding to their questions with questions, instead of answers. This process encouraged divergent thinking rather than convergent.
The instructor using this practice professes ignorance of the topic under discussion in order to elicit engaged dialogue with students. Socrates was convinced that disciplined practice of thoughtful questioning enables the scholar/student to examine ideas logically and to be able to determine the validity of those ideas. This type of questioning can correct misconceptions and lead to reliable knowledge construction.
Dialogue Vs. Debate
Students are given opportunities to "examine" a common piece of text, whether it is in the form of a novel, poem, art print, or piece of music. After "reading" the common text like a “love letter", open-ended questions are posed.
Open-ended questions allow students to think critically, analyze multiple meanings in text, and express ideas with clarity and confidence. After all, participants feel a certain degree of emotional safety when they understand that this format is based on dialogue and not discussion/debate.
Americans are great at discussion/debate. Unfortunately, we do not dialogue well. However, once teachers and students learn to dialogue, they find that the ability to ask meaningful questions that stimulate thoughtful interchanges of ideas is more important than "the answer." Discussion/debate is a transfer of information designed to win an argument and bring closure, whereas dialogue is exploratory and involves the suspension of biases and prejudices.
Participants in a Socratic Seminar respond to one another with respect by carefully listening instead of interrupting. Students are encouraged to "paraphrase" essential elements of another's ideas before responding, either in support of or in disagreement. Students listen intently, willing to learn from others. Members of the dialogue look each other in the "eyes" and use each others names. This simple act of socialization reinforces appropriate behaviors and promotes team building.
Although "Socratic questioning" appears simple, it is in fact intensely rigorous. As described in the writings of Plato, a student of Socrates, the teacher feigns ignorance about a given subject in order to acquire another person's fullest possible knowledge of the topic. Individuals have the capacity to recognize contradictions, so Socrates assumed that incomplete or inaccurate ideas would be corrected during the process of disciplined questioning, and hence would lead to progressively greater truth and accuracy.
If you are excited about leading your students on this path to greater understanding and truth, then get ready! Next week we will take a closer look at some specific examples using the Socratic Questioning Strategy.
"The unexamined life is not worth living."-Socrates
“Can it be, Ischomachus, that asking questions is teaching? I am just beginning to see what is behind all your questions. You lead me on by means of things I know, point to things that resemble them, and persuade me that I know things that I thought I had no knowledge of.”
-Socrates (Quoted in Xenophon’s Economics)
Is asking questions teaching? Questioning is undeniably an extremely potent teaching tool; and soliciting answers is not new to the art of teaching. Today, we will examine a specific questioning strategy used by none other than Socrates. Since the Socratic method of questioning covers such a broad scope, this posting will focus on understanding the basics of what Socratic Questioning is all about.
Socratic Questioning Background
Socratic Questioning is a method of teaching developed by Socrates (ca. 470-399 B.C.). It is also known as Socratic Seminar. Socrates was known for engaging his students in intellectual discussion by responding to questions with questions, instead of answers. This method encouraged his students to think for themselves rather than being told what to think. Great teachers realize it is doing a disservice to a student to do something for him that he can very well do for himself. A self-discovered truth brings immeasurable joy and self-confidence to the student.
This early Greek philosopher/teacher used the practice of disciplined, rigorously thoughtful dialogue. Socrates theorized that it is more important to enable students to think for themselves than to merely fill their heads with "right" answers. Teachers focused on student learning, endeavor to engage students toward that exact end. Therefore, Socrates regularly engaged his pupils in dialogues by responding to their questions with questions, instead of answers. This process encouraged divergent thinking rather than convergent.
The instructor using this practice professes ignorance of the topic under discussion in order to elicit engaged dialogue with students. Socrates was convinced that disciplined practice of thoughtful questioning enables the scholar/student to examine ideas logically and to be able to determine the validity of those ideas. This type of questioning can correct misconceptions and lead to reliable knowledge construction.
Dialogue Vs. Debate
Students are given opportunities to "examine" a common piece of text, whether it is in the form of a novel, poem, art print, or piece of music. After "reading" the common text like a “love letter", open-ended questions are posed.
Open-ended questions allow students to think critically, analyze multiple meanings in text, and express ideas with clarity and confidence. After all, participants feel a certain degree of emotional safety when they understand that this format is based on dialogue and not discussion/debate.
Americans are great at discussion/debate. Unfortunately, we do not dialogue well. However, once teachers and students learn to dialogue, they find that the ability to ask meaningful questions that stimulate thoughtful interchanges of ideas is more important than "the answer." Discussion/debate is a transfer of information designed to win an argument and bring closure, whereas dialogue is exploratory and involves the suspension of biases and prejudices.
Participants in a Socratic Seminar respond to one another with respect by carefully listening instead of interrupting. Students are encouraged to "paraphrase" essential elements of another's ideas before responding, either in support of or in disagreement. Students listen intently, willing to learn from others. Members of the dialogue look each other in the "eyes" and use each others names. This simple act of socialization reinforces appropriate behaviors and promotes team building.
Although "Socratic questioning" appears simple, it is in fact intensely rigorous. As described in the writings of Plato, a student of Socrates, the teacher feigns ignorance about a given subject in order to acquire another person's fullest possible knowledge of the topic. Individuals have the capacity to recognize contradictions, so Socrates assumed that incomplete or inaccurate ideas would be corrected during the process of disciplined questioning, and hence would lead to progressively greater truth and accuracy.
If you are excited about leading your students on this path to greater understanding and truth, then get ready! Next week we will take a closer look at some specific examples using the Socratic Questioning Strategy.
"The unexamined life is not worth living."-Socrates
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Critical Thinking Skills Using Bloom's Taxonomy
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #30 – September 27, 2009
Bloom’s Taxonomy, created by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950’s, presents a way to categorize reasoning skills into six levels students can use for problem solving in the classroom. As the levels progress, each requires a higher level of abstract thinking from the students. In order to create thinkers, teachers shouldn’t be satisfied with students simply able to recall information; they must purposely incorporate the higher levels of questioning into their lesson plans. The six levels, from lowest to highest in Bloom’s Taxonomy are:
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation..
Knowledge: Questions in this level are asked solely to test whether a student has gained specific information from the lesson. For example, do they know the dates for a particular war or do they know the presidents that served during specific eras in American History. These questions use words like: tell, list, label, name, etc.
Comprehension: This level of questioning has students go past simply recalling facts and instead has them understanding the information. Here, they are able to interpret the facts. Instead of simply being able to name the various types of clouds, students would be able to understand why each cloud has formed in that manner. Questions for this category use words like: describe, contrast, discuss, predict, etc.
Application: These questions require students to actually apply, or use the knowledge they have learned. They might be asked to solve a problem with the information they have gained in class. For example, a student might be asked to solve a legal question in American Government class using the Constitution and its Amendments. As a teacher, you are probably writing application questions when you use words like: complete, solve, examine, illustrate, show, etc.
Analysis: Here, Bloom’s Taxonomy requires students to go beyond knowledge and application and actually see patterns that they can use to analyze a problem. For example, an English teacher might ask what the motives were behind the protagonist’s actions in the novel being read. This requires students to analyze the character and come to a conclusion based on critical thinking and analysis. Such questions use words like: analyze, explain, investigate, infer, etc.
Synthesis: In this category, students must use the given facts to create new theories or make predictions. They may be required to pull in knowledge from multiple subjects and synthesize all the information before coming to a conclusion. For example, if a student is asked to invent a new product or game they are being asked to synthesize. Synthesis questions use words like: invent, imagine, create, compose, etc.
Evaluation: The highest level in Bloom’s Taxonomy is evaluation. At this level students are expected to assess information and come to a conclusion such as its value or the bias behind it. For example, if a student is completing a DBQ (Document Based Question) for an AP US History course, they are expected to evaluate the bias behind any primary or secondary sources in order to see how that affects the points the speaker is making. These questions use words like: select, judge, debate, recommend, etc.
How To Implement Bloom’s Taxonomy
There are many reasons some teachers never move students up the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Inexperienced teachers might have low expectations regarding their students’ abilities. Sadly, this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Another reason is the process can become difficult and time consuming for the teacher. Do you know of anything that results in a high quality product that doesn’t take a lot of hard work? The well-planned course curriculum is no different. And yes, it’s much easier to grade true/false and multiple choice tests based on the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy than it is to grade students on work at the upper levels. However, as you move up the levels, you will discover how much more meaningful, and fair it is to the student to evaluate their work using rubrics. Truth be told, it’s more enjoyable for the teacher as well.
Would you like your students to use higher order thinking skills? If so, following Bloom’s Taxonomy can help you pinpoint what you will teach and how you will go about teaching it. Ultimately, it is our mission as teachers to give our students the tools they need to become critical thinkers. Growing their knowledge base and helping children learn to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate will enable them to succeed in school and beyond. It is truly a gift that will last a lifetime.
Bloom’s Taxonomy, created by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950’s, presents a way to categorize reasoning skills into six levels students can use for problem solving in the classroom. As the levels progress, each requires a higher level of abstract thinking from the students. In order to create thinkers, teachers shouldn’t be satisfied with students simply able to recall information; they must purposely incorporate the higher levels of questioning into their lesson plans. The six levels, from lowest to highest in Bloom’s Taxonomy are:
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation..
Knowledge: Questions in this level are asked solely to test whether a student has gained specific information from the lesson. For example, do they know the dates for a particular war or do they know the presidents that served during specific eras in American History. These questions use words like: tell, list, label, name, etc.
Comprehension: This level of questioning has students go past simply recalling facts and instead has them understanding the information. Here, they are able to interpret the facts. Instead of simply being able to name the various types of clouds, students would be able to understand why each cloud has formed in that manner. Questions for this category use words like: describe, contrast, discuss, predict, etc.
Application: These questions require students to actually apply, or use the knowledge they have learned. They might be asked to solve a problem with the information they have gained in class. For example, a student might be asked to solve a legal question in American Government class using the Constitution and its Amendments. As a teacher, you are probably writing application questions when you use words like: complete, solve, examine, illustrate, show, etc.
Analysis: Here, Bloom’s Taxonomy requires students to go beyond knowledge and application and actually see patterns that they can use to analyze a problem. For example, an English teacher might ask what the motives were behind the protagonist’s actions in the novel being read. This requires students to analyze the character and come to a conclusion based on critical thinking and analysis. Such questions use words like: analyze, explain, investigate, infer, etc.
Synthesis: In this category, students must use the given facts to create new theories or make predictions. They may be required to pull in knowledge from multiple subjects and synthesize all the information before coming to a conclusion. For example, if a student is asked to invent a new product or game they are being asked to synthesize. Synthesis questions use words like: invent, imagine, create, compose, etc.
Evaluation: The highest level in Bloom’s Taxonomy is evaluation. At this level students are expected to assess information and come to a conclusion such as its value or the bias behind it. For example, if a student is completing a DBQ (Document Based Question) for an AP US History course, they are expected to evaluate the bias behind any primary or secondary sources in order to see how that affects the points the speaker is making. These questions use words like: select, judge, debate, recommend, etc.
How To Implement Bloom’s Taxonomy
There are many reasons some teachers never move students up the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Inexperienced teachers might have low expectations regarding their students’ abilities. Sadly, this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Another reason is the process can become difficult and time consuming for the teacher. Do you know of anything that results in a high quality product that doesn’t take a lot of hard work? The well-planned course curriculum is no different. And yes, it’s much easier to grade true/false and multiple choice tests based on the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy than it is to grade students on work at the upper levels. However, as you move up the levels, you will discover how much more meaningful, and fair it is to the student to evaluate their work using rubrics. Truth be told, it’s more enjoyable for the teacher as well.
Would you like your students to use higher order thinking skills? If so, following Bloom’s Taxonomy can help you pinpoint what you will teach and how you will go about teaching it. Ultimately, it is our mission as teachers to give our students the tools they need to become critical thinkers. Growing their knowledge base and helping children learn to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate will enable them to succeed in school and beyond. It is truly a gift that will last a lifetime.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Art of Questioning
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #29 – September 19, 2009
Angela Maiers states in Classroom Habitudes Lesson: Curiosity-The Right Question, “The ability to ask the right kind of question, at the right time is the hallmark of a truly efficient and successful learner. Like drivers in a car, the right question can plow the road ahead or leave us stuck in a ditch along the side of the highway…I want students to see that each type of question is a tool in their thinking toolbox. A variety of “tools” may be needed to complete a project, and those tools must be chosen carefully.”
Why is questioning so important? Whenever one asks a question we are searching for something and the question is asked to help us find it. Questions open a student’s mind. Perhaps they can be likened to fishing lines, thrown out from the mind. Some questions will bring in small fish, while other, more potent questions will bring in big fish, or thoughts and ideas that can change or add new meaning to a child’s understanding. Enabling a student to ask good questions is one of the most powerful gifts we as teachers can give.
We must remind students there are different types of questions used for different purposes. The two most common types of questioning are broad questioning and focused questioning.
By definition, a broad question has no fixed limits and no fixed answer. It is open-ended and can lead to a number of answers, future changes and even more questions. It also leads to some deep thinking. On the other hand, focused questions require specific answers. These are the questions students will ask to get definitions, facts and data about a topic they are studying.
Focused questions require:
1.-Recalling facts: What is the function of this structure?
2.-Defining terms: What is an [acid, mollusk, quasar, lever, vertex]?
3.-Categorizing: What characteristics do all these elements share?
4.-Confirming: Do I remember seeing this before?
So how can we help students ask the best, most effective questions; the ones that will pull in the really big fish? Here are some ideas and suggestions received from teachers:
Angela Maiers states in Classroom Habitudes Lesson: Curiosity-The Right Question, “The ability to ask the right kind of question, at the right time is the hallmark of a truly efficient and successful learner. Like drivers in a car, the right question can plow the road ahead or leave us stuck in a ditch along the side of the highway…I want students to see that each type of question is a tool in their thinking toolbox. A variety of “tools” may be needed to complete a project, and those tools must be chosen carefully.”
Why is questioning so important? Whenever one asks a question we are searching for something and the question is asked to help us find it. Questions open a student’s mind. Perhaps they can be likened to fishing lines, thrown out from the mind. Some questions will bring in small fish, while other, more potent questions will bring in big fish, or thoughts and ideas that can change or add new meaning to a child’s understanding. Enabling a student to ask good questions is one of the most powerful gifts we as teachers can give.
We must remind students there are different types of questions used for different purposes. The two most common types of questioning are broad questioning and focused questioning.
By definition, a broad question has no fixed limits and no fixed answer. It is open-ended and can lead to a number of answers, future changes and even more questions. It also leads to some deep thinking. On the other hand, focused questions require specific answers. These are the questions students will ask to get definitions, facts and data about a topic they are studying.
Broad versus Focused Questions
(The examples for both types of questioning are taken from the context of a science class).
Broad questions require:
1.-Open-ended answers: How are these two concepts connected?
2.-Evaluation: How would I interpret these results?
3.-Prediction: What will happen if I increase the amount of this substance? What do I think the outcome of the next part of the lab will be?
4.-Forming opinions: Do I think we tested this theory the best way? What is another way I could have done it?
Focused questions require:
1.-Recalling facts: What is the function of this structure?
2.-Defining terms: What is an [acid, mollusk, quasar, lever, vertex]?
3.-Categorizing: What characteristics do all these elements share?
4.-Confirming: Do I remember seeing this before?
So how can we help students ask the best, most effective questions; the ones that will pull in the really big fish? Here are some ideas and suggestions received from teachers:
We teach them how to use broad & focused questions:
Broad
Encourage students to ask questions that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or "no."
Challenge students to ask open-ended questions.
Model by asking questions that require some imagination and often have no set answers.
Focused
·
Use a list of "wh" words (who, what, when, where, why, how, which) to help students form questions.
Remind the class that when we ask questions, we hope to get more information about the subject.
Model by asking specific questions such as:
“What year did Alaska become a state?” “What is the longest river in the world?”
In instruction, we should aim to help students discover how to ask powerful and significant questions. We should help them discover that the questions they ask, or fail to ask, are more important than the answers they give.
Next weekend, we will look at how Bloom’s Taxonomy fits into our journey to find good questioning techniques.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Discovery and its Role in Learning
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #28 – September 12, 2009
TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America ...
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America?
CLASS: Maria.
Yes children, your answer is definitely correct. Or was it the wrong question?
This got me wondering, “Just how important it is to help children ask the right questions?”
Did you know there actually is a pedagogical form of teaching based on discovery? And discovery is all about questioning. It’s called Discovery Learning. Discovery Learning is a method of inquiry-based instruction; discovery learning believes that it is best for learners to discover facts and relationships for themselves.
Students interact with the world by exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments. As a result, students may be able to remember concepts and knowledge discovered on their own (in contrast to a transmissionist model). Models that are based upon the discovery learning model include: guided discovery, problem-based learning, simulation-based learning, case-based learning, incidental learning, among others.
The results of discovery learning are consistent with what we already know about best teaching practices. Proponents of this theory believe that discovery learning has many advantages, including:
· encourages active engagement
· promotes motivation
· promotes autonomy, responsibility, independence
· the development of creativity and problem solving skills.
· a tailored learning experience
Each one of the above positive learning attributes naturally draws a child toward the desire to discover more through the process of questioning. The theory of discovery learning is based on people understanding and remembering concepts better when they have asked the right questions and discovered the solutions on their own. Discovery learning includes activities such as experimentation, data interpretation, interviews, and dissection. Here are some specific examples of various learning scenarios using discovery learning:
1.-Experimentation: Students may learn through experimentation how the position of the fulcrum affects the force necessary to raise a given object using a lever.
2.-Data interpretation: Examining family trees showing which members have a disease will allow students to determine whether the allele causing the disease is recessive, dominant, or sex-linked.
3.-Interviews: Students can learn about integration by interviewing people in their community who remember when the schools were segregated.
4.-Dissection: Dissecting small branches will show students that only the green cambium layer of a tree is living and active in water and nutrient transport.
These examples use trial and error, compare and contrast, data collection/ interpretation and a myriad of the best in questioning practices bar none. Through such learning practices, children “discover” how to construct the best questioning techniques in order to yield the best information.
Finally, here is a true and very dramatic example of discovery learning:
A man in India put a computer with Internet access in a wall next to an alley so that poor children could use it. They developed quite a fluency in its use. The man nudged them once, showing them that the computer could play music, too.
But for classroom purposes, I was also interested in another little experiment he did with classroom students. The part quoted from the article is in italics below:
Well, I tried another experiment. I went to a middle-class school and chose some ninth graders, two girls and two boys. I called their physics teacher in and asked him, "What are you going to teach these children next year at this time?" He mentioned viscosity. I asked him to write down five possible exam questions on the subject. I then took the four children and said, "Look here guys. I have a little problem for you." They read the questions and said they didn't understand them, it was Greek to them. So I said, "Here's a terminal. I'll give you two hours to find the answers."
Then I did my usual thing: I closed the door and went off somewhere else.
They answered all five questions in two hours. The physics teacher checked the answers, and they were correct. That, of itself, doesn't mean much. But I said to him, "Talk to the children and find out if they really learned something about this subject." So he spent half an hour talking to them. He came out and said, "They don't know everything about this subject or everything I would teach them. But they do know one hell of a lot about it. And they know a couple of things about it I didn't know."
This shows you what the Internet and children asking the right questions are capable of. The slum children don't have physics teachers. But if I could make them curious enough, then all the content they need is out there. The greatest expert on earth on viscosity probably has his papers up there on the Web somewhere. Creating content is not what's important. What is important is infrastructure and access ... The teacher's job is very simple. It's to help the children ask the right questions.
Are you ready for a journey of discovery? How can we spark that curiosity in children? What lessons can be provided to afford children the opportunity to question, discover and learn? Please send me your ideas on how to help children ask the right questions. We’ll discover the answers together in next week’s blog posting.
TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America ...
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America?
CLASS: Maria.
Yes children, your answer is definitely correct. Or was it the wrong question?
This got me wondering, “Just how important it is to help children ask the right questions?”
Did you know there actually is a pedagogical form of teaching based on discovery? And discovery is all about questioning. It’s called Discovery Learning. Discovery Learning is a method of inquiry-based instruction; discovery learning believes that it is best for learners to discover facts and relationships for themselves.
Students interact with the world by exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments. As a result, students may be able to remember concepts and knowledge discovered on their own (in contrast to a transmissionist model). Models that are based upon the discovery learning model include: guided discovery, problem-based learning, simulation-based learning, case-based learning, incidental learning, among others.
The results of discovery learning are consistent with what we already know about best teaching practices. Proponents of this theory believe that discovery learning has many advantages, including:
· encourages active engagement
· promotes motivation
· promotes autonomy, responsibility, independence
· the development of creativity and problem solving skills.
· a tailored learning experience
Each one of the above positive learning attributes naturally draws a child toward the desire to discover more through the process of questioning. The theory of discovery learning is based on people understanding and remembering concepts better when they have asked the right questions and discovered the solutions on their own. Discovery learning includes activities such as experimentation, data interpretation, interviews, and dissection. Here are some specific examples of various learning scenarios using discovery learning:
1.-Experimentation: Students may learn through experimentation how the position of the fulcrum affects the force necessary to raise a given object using a lever.
2.-Data interpretation: Examining family trees showing which members have a disease will allow students to determine whether the allele causing the disease is recessive, dominant, or sex-linked.
3.-Interviews: Students can learn about integration by interviewing people in their community who remember when the schools were segregated.
4.-Dissection: Dissecting small branches will show students that only the green cambium layer of a tree is living and active in water and nutrient transport.
These examples use trial and error, compare and contrast, data collection/ interpretation and a myriad of the best in questioning practices bar none. Through such learning practices, children “discover” how to construct the best questioning techniques in order to yield the best information.
Finally, here is a true and very dramatic example of discovery learning:
A man in India put a computer with Internet access in a wall next to an alley so that poor children could use it. They developed quite a fluency in its use. The man nudged them once, showing them that the computer could play music, too.
But for classroom purposes, I was also interested in another little experiment he did with classroom students. The part quoted from the article is in italics below:
Well, I tried another experiment. I went to a middle-class school and chose some ninth graders, two girls and two boys. I called their physics teacher in and asked him, "What are you going to teach these children next year at this time?" He mentioned viscosity. I asked him to write down five possible exam questions on the subject. I then took the four children and said, "Look here guys. I have a little problem for you." They read the questions and said they didn't understand them, it was Greek to them. So I said, "Here's a terminal. I'll give you two hours to find the answers."
Then I did my usual thing: I closed the door and went off somewhere else.
They answered all five questions in two hours. The physics teacher checked the answers, and they were correct. That, of itself, doesn't mean much. But I said to him, "Talk to the children and find out if they really learned something about this subject." So he spent half an hour talking to them. He came out and said, "They don't know everything about this subject or everything I would teach them. But they do know one hell of a lot about it. And they know a couple of things about it I didn't know."
This shows you what the Internet and children asking the right questions are capable of. The slum children don't have physics teachers. But if I could make them curious enough, then all the content they need is out there. The greatest expert on earth on viscosity probably has his papers up there on the Web somewhere. Creating content is not what's important. What is important is infrastructure and access ... The teacher's job is very simple. It's to help the children ask the right questions.
Are you ready for a journey of discovery? How can we spark that curiosity in children? What lessons can be provided to afford children the opportunity to question, discover and learn? Please send me your ideas on how to help children ask the right questions. We’ll discover the answers together in next week’s blog posting.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Education Quotes to Ponder
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #27 – September 5, 2009
There are numerous quotes about education, teaching and schools. Sometimes I read one and just shake my head, wondering, “What were they thinking?” However, to be fair, some quotes are well worth serious reflection. I have selected three that struck me as quite profound. I truly hope many of you will respond with your thoughts on one or more of these famous quotes about education.
"Genius without education is like silver in the mine."
Benjamin Franklin
Every year a teacher is presented with a brand new “silver or gold mine.” You see, a treasure lies within each and every student. Sometimes that treasure has barely been tapped, while other times it has successfully remained completely hidden. We as teachers are the catalysts necessary to activate the drill that will uncover the obscured silver and gold, enabling the student to dig it out and make it shine.
Teachers, please don’t ever make the assumption you just got a bunch of dull students. What you actually have are the future Mozarts, Carnegies and Einsteins. You have been charged with the stewardship of many diamonds in the rough. So delve deeply, care enough to find that hidden treasure. Get out your dynamite guiding skills and polish those young eager minds into a blinding glow.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Aristotle
This is the epitome of what every teacher dreams of-- a student able to discern for himself the truth or the logic of an idea presented. Inspecting information with a critical eye is taught every day by the example of great teachers everywhere. With this tool alone, the student can be assured of making intelligent life decisions and making positive contributions as a productive citizen and leader.
Smart teachers know the importance of allowing students to disagree and to prove for themselves what makes sense and what is true. It is possible this may even mean a student discovering something they were taught at home, isn’t really the truth; such as bigotry, for example. Teachers, stand back; for once you have empowered students to see the light of reason, logic and truth, these guideposts will prevail.
“The task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility and evil with activity.” Maria Montessori
Not so long ago, in a galaxy right in your neighborhood, most school principals used the rule of thumb that the best classrooms were those where quietness reined and the patter of children’s feet were never heard. Classes of immobile, zombie-like children, repeating in rote fashion what they heard (nothing more, nothing less), were held up as exemplary to the rest of the teachers. Fortunately, Maria Montessori and other visionaries knew inactivity and immobility were not the hallmarks of a great learning environment for children.
Montessori developed a hands-on approach to learning. It encourages children to develop their observation skills by doing many types of activities. These activities include use of the five senses, kinetic movement, spatial refinement, small and gross motor skill coordination, and concrete knowledge that leads to later abstraction. Needless to say, it involves movement and (do I dare say the word?) noise. She also created the program enabling children to learn through discovery, and learn to correct their own mistakes instead of relying on a teacher to give them the correct answer. What a concept, right?
Current research tells us learning involves: wondering, dreaming, playing, interacting, communicating, exploring, discovering, questioning, investigating, creating, and risk-taking. I don’t know about you, but perhaps only in another galaxy could these factors be implemented in a quiet, sterile, motionless room. Great teachers know this, and already include the above elements routinely in their teaching repertoire. Make every effort to include them in yours. You’ll be glad you did! Children can and should experience joy when they learn and are able to move, to touch and to vocally express their exhilaration with the new knowledge and skills they have acquired.
Are these quotes really valid? What do you think? I look forward to your thoughts on these quotes and ideas.
Watch for next Saturday’s posting.
There are numerous quotes about education, teaching and schools. Sometimes I read one and just shake my head, wondering, “What were they thinking?” However, to be fair, some quotes are well worth serious reflection. I have selected three that struck me as quite profound. I truly hope many of you will respond with your thoughts on one or more of these famous quotes about education.
"Genius without education is like silver in the mine."
Benjamin Franklin
Every year a teacher is presented with a brand new “silver or gold mine.” You see, a treasure lies within each and every student. Sometimes that treasure has barely been tapped, while other times it has successfully remained completely hidden. We as teachers are the catalysts necessary to activate the drill that will uncover the obscured silver and gold, enabling the student to dig it out and make it shine.
Teachers, please don’t ever make the assumption you just got a bunch of dull students. What you actually have are the future Mozarts, Carnegies and Einsteins. You have been charged with the stewardship of many diamonds in the rough. So delve deeply, care enough to find that hidden treasure. Get out your dynamite guiding skills and polish those young eager minds into a blinding glow.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Aristotle
This is the epitome of what every teacher dreams of-- a student able to discern for himself the truth or the logic of an idea presented. Inspecting information with a critical eye is taught every day by the example of great teachers everywhere. With this tool alone, the student can be assured of making intelligent life decisions and making positive contributions as a productive citizen and leader.
Smart teachers know the importance of allowing students to disagree and to prove for themselves what makes sense and what is true. It is possible this may even mean a student discovering something they were taught at home, isn’t really the truth; such as bigotry, for example. Teachers, stand back; for once you have empowered students to see the light of reason, logic and truth, these guideposts will prevail.
“The task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility and evil with activity.” Maria Montessori
Not so long ago, in a galaxy right in your neighborhood, most school principals used the rule of thumb that the best classrooms were those where quietness reined and the patter of children’s feet were never heard. Classes of immobile, zombie-like children, repeating in rote fashion what they heard (nothing more, nothing less), were held up as exemplary to the rest of the teachers. Fortunately, Maria Montessori and other visionaries knew inactivity and immobility were not the hallmarks of a great learning environment for children.
Montessori developed a hands-on approach to learning. It encourages children to develop their observation skills by doing many types of activities. These activities include use of the five senses, kinetic movement, spatial refinement, small and gross motor skill coordination, and concrete knowledge that leads to later abstraction. Needless to say, it involves movement and (do I dare say the word?) noise. She also created the program enabling children to learn through discovery, and learn to correct their own mistakes instead of relying on a teacher to give them the correct answer. What a concept, right?
Current research tells us learning involves: wondering, dreaming, playing, interacting, communicating, exploring, discovering, questioning, investigating, creating, and risk-taking. I don’t know about you, but perhaps only in another galaxy could these factors be implemented in a quiet, sterile, motionless room. Great teachers know this, and already include the above elements routinely in their teaching repertoire. Make every effort to include them in yours. You’ll be glad you did! Children can and should experience joy when they learn and are able to move, to touch and to vocally express their exhilaration with the new knowledge and skills they have acquired.
Are these quotes really valid? What do you think? I look forward to your thoughts on these quotes and ideas.
Watch for next Saturday’s posting.
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