Monday, April 20, 2015

Wonderful Wandering

yourturntogetup.wordpress.com
Back in the day, my school did not have Advanced Placement courses. We didn’t feel underprivileged or slighted. We dug in and learned as much as we could. Some were smart and went on to elite schools, some were smart and went to varying other schools, and some were smart in spite of their schooling. It’s not uncommon for those of us with small-town roots to look at ourselves with that “inward eye,” examining our stations, and proudly wonder, “How did I get here?”
The past few months, I’ve fielded my son’s questions regarding angles, angle properties, surface area, volume, logical sequences of proof, variables and linear equations-- all stuff covered under the tutelage of my 10th grade Geometry and 11th grade Algebra-Trig teacher.


My son is in 7th grade. <sigh> “How did I get here?”
Somewhere along the way, I must have concluded that I would always have a lot to learn, and that the learning is not always static. For the perpetual “chameleonization” of learning and teaching, here are some ideas to peruse:


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
RESEARCH
THE BRAIN
TEACHING

RESEARCH: Trends, Findings, etc.
  • Language Immersion Program
  • Students scored better on standardized tests as they got older
  • Students Skype with sister schools in other districts
  • The group: 13,000+ twins in 6 countries
  • 40-50% of  children’s motivation differences to learn “could be explained by their genetic inheritance from their parents"
  • "The results don’t mean there is a gene for how much children enjoy learning...But the findings suggest a complex process, involving many genes and gene-environment interactions, that help influence children’s motivation to learn"
  • "The results strongly suggest that we should think twice before automatically blaming parents, teachers and the children themselves for students who aren’t motivated in class"


(Hansen, Omaha- World-Herald)
  • ACT/SAT score isn’t even the best predictor; high school GPA is
  • “SAT and ACT have long been underrating how well women will do as college freshmen”
  • “...noncognitive skills... like grit, are what we’re trying to get a better handle on to measure”
__________
THE BRAIN: What is known…for now


  • Left/Right Brain Myth
  • Learning-Style Myth
  • "10 Percent of Our Brains" Myth
  • “There’s a widespread belief that intelligence can be enhanced by enriching children’s lives early, but that has never been demonstrated by research.”
  • “creativity, ‘the secret sauce’ of genius, … leverages intelligence”
  • Executive functions: set of mental skills that are coordinated in the brain’s frontal lobe (web MD), including time management, switching focus, planning, recalling detail, curbing inappropriate behavior, connecting past and present, etc.
  • STRATEGIES THAT HELP:
  1. Teach the functions: label and coach them
  2. Student-centered opportunities
  3. Articulate and model effective thinking practices
  4. Articulate and model effective thinking practices
  5. Clearly state classroom rules that support positive and productive learning interactions.
__________
TEACHING: Tips, techniques, & insights

  • Express gratitude to your difficult students.

  • Use encouraging statements every day.

  • Act toward your worst student the way you act toward your best student.

  • Send the parents a "positive postcard"
Tools for Participation (<3 minutes, from Teaching Channel)

Art of Persuasion & Craft of Argument (7:30, Teaching Channel)



  • listeners have a time limit to absorbing information before they begin to tune out (about 10 minutes)
  • images, not words
  • compare and contrast images and what they show (or do not show)
  • 10 minutes of video, 2 minutes of discussion; 10, then 2, 10 then 2, etc.


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