Intellectual...Avid Learner...Organized...Generative...Self-Regulating...Creative...Conscientious
Novice
1
2
3
Apprentice
Teacher
Lead Teacher
Master Teacher
Professing Teacher
Note: the cells are now open for entries/details...let's hear from all our urban teachers. If you work/or have worked in a suburban or rural area, please note that shift in perspective and experience.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Recognize EFFORT ... not "smarts" to encourage ongoing learning
A is different from Z, but both structures consist of straight lines and angles.
A is leven more like V, except they are directionally opposite, and the first letter additionally sports a midway horizontal line.
When mastering the alphabet visually, many young learners require less instructional intervention (time on task) to differentiate A from Z, than A from V. Recognizing and remembering that A is not V seems to pose greater challenge.
Knowing this perceptual axiom operates in human learning, think about how you would rate (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) the following pairs for ease of differentiation (1=hard to differentiate; 5=easy to differentiate):
- A vs O (hint: straight lines vs curved lines -with not other features: EASY to differentiate; rate: 5)
- A vs B
- C vs O
- I vs. O
- E vs B
- T vs I
- D vs A
- D vs O
- F vs E
- F vs B
Through this exercise, we learn that the more features that an item or event (x) has in common with another item/event (y), the more thoroughly we must examine their similarities and differences in order to tell them apart.
Practical Application for Parents and Teachers:
If we want our children to more quickly change their behaviors from the kind we disapprove of to the kind we approve of then we must make it easy for them to differentiate. Smiles and affable talk clearly indicate parents and teachers approve of the behavior displayed. Neutral face with a firmly stated "No"(or some equivalent of "No") typically indicates disapproval -with an explicit or implicit invitation to shift to an approved behavior.
We make it hard for chidren learn to control their impulses (i.e., master the necessary shifting to approved behaviors) when we muddle our verbal, voice tone, and body language cues. When we mix communication features of a YES vs NO, we delay the development of impulse control. We make it harder for learners to distinctions between our "approving" and "disapproving" responses to their behaviors. This delays development of their ability to eventually "self-regulate."
We send mixed messages to our children when we disapprove but smile ... or talk sweetly. this hardly means adults need to speak harshly or loudly or use aggressive strategies like character assassination, disparaging labels, cruelty or meanness. A simple statement of disapproval -coupled with natural/logical consequences - consistently applied will do more to shape behavior, than punishment, or enduring parental exasperation.
The more important it is to select an appropriate response to x vs y, the more important it is to differentiate between them. This is true for all life forms, regardless of age or species. Parents and teachers who cultivate paying positive attention to children, build up a positive emotional/relational bank account! When children get the positive guidance and consistent attention needed to strengthen bonds as children evolve - they are less likely to seek attention through unpleasant and irritating means. They are also more likely to engage those things we want them to accomplish when they have recieved recognition for these things consistently in the past.
Dr. Carol Dweck, Ph.D. reminds us also to be very careful to recognize and reward the effort exerted. When focus is placed on the effort given a task, children learn that time and accuracy matter -which they do. The single greatest factor determining school success is time on task. Just spending time on a task, without persistent effort to become more accurate, just makes us better at being inaccurate! Practicing reading books that are too hard for us, turns us off from reading, and does nothing to build fluency and vocabularly. Careless practice of anything simply reinforces carelessness.
Dr. Dweck reminds us that children who have been admired and recognized for their "cleverness" or "smartness," (in contrast to the effort they willingly engage), eventually refrain from engaging anything that is not immediately easy and rewarding. Their positive identities have been tied to being so clever or being so smart...they do not want to risk diminishing this image -so they begin to decline challenges, become defensive. As they age they learn different ways to hide the fact that they do not really know -and asking for help becomes a sign they are no longer "smart" enough, "clever" enough.
To avoid this result, be observant of the many opportunities we have in a morning, day, weekend, and week to "outloud" recognize our children's effort and those specific behaviors displayed while exerting these efforts. When we consistently recognize and compliment specific efforts, our children will also. this is how children continue to grow in competancy and self-esteem. They come to realize that growth is change...and the effort they exert makes change reliable.
EXAMPLE: I notice you put our clothes for tomorrow out on the chair as I asked you. You did it the first time I asked you. You did not whine or complain. Also, you cheerfully asked me questions about whether or not this or that peice of clothing was appropriate for school. You even walked into the kitchen to ask your wuestions, instead of yelling from the other room. I really appreciate the time you took and each of your efforts to follow my guidance. You did it on time! And you aksed for my help in pleasant ways. I am proud of the ways you are working to help yourself grow more skillful.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Remain in The Zone!!!
Our independent zone of performance refers to that range of being and doing where outside assistance is not needed whatsoever in order to accomplish set goals. What can the learner do satisfactorily on her own? Operating in this zone grants our sense of competence. We easily grow from here.
But what if the learner doesn't want to grow ... yet? What if s/he is satisfied with the status quo? To push learners to move from this independent zone of performance too quickly can reduce their tendency to generate enthusiasm, operate with self-confidence, and make positive self-assessments. Also pulling and dragging the learner out of his comfort zone exhausts the one exerting the effort! What's a teacher (and parent, or grandparent) to do?
Knowing our students allows us to activate learner motivation to know! Knowing areas of natural interest makes it possible for adults to foster learner connection to new learning. Tap into each child's expressed, natural interests. Comparatively speaking, our elder educators (1960's, 1970's, 1980's) began all new learning with a thorough review of these motivating factors ...as well as the range of content children knew and skills they were able to demonstrate.
Missing concepts/skills were re-introduced, methodically -usually through sequentially arranged examples. Misconceptions were corrected, methodically -usually through sequentially arranged examples. Through homework practice assignments, copious homework, students in most cases made up what they might have been missing. Parents, for the most part, understood their role as essential in remedial territory.
The new (aka unfamiliar) learning was then introduced -when the majority of the class was ready to benefit experientially and academically. Educators selected sequences and methods of instruction in the new concepts/skills (the instructional zone ) largely published in well-designed, state of the art publisher textbooks. This new layer of instruction was designed to engage firmly with the class' bank of prior learning (independent zone). As with the physicians' Hippocratic Oath -Do No Harm- teachers took care to avoid too-much too-soon exposure to information/methodology beyond the learners' range of distress (frustration zone).
The downside of past practices during these earlier decades includes the following:
Rushing through foundational phases of learning and practice was unheard of, yet. However, during the sixties, social unrest due to social justice issues led to social action demonstrations among students in higher education.
Rocks rippled the rivers of social institutions across the nation. From 1963 into the early '80s, reading and math SAT scores declined 40-50 points. President Regan commissioned eighteen individuals to assess/guess factors of decine.
The commission made recommendations in hopes of ultimately matching math and science scores "competitor" countries reported - higher than we could report from some areas of our nation.
If you were to commission a nationwide study of America's Schoolhouse across fifty very different states
Compare your investigative responses with the actual data archived at:
(http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html)
The commission finally recommended four areas to consider when making educational improvements.
Honestly, when we examine the four areas of recommendations, we can begin to seriously question how and why subsequent "improvement" initiatives overlooked many points that would generate enormous good, and overshot the mark in others so that already high performing kids in high performing disticts now have performance anxiety!
The archive makes for easy reading. Unfortunate interpretations of the report directly led to follow-up commissions. These escalated emphasis on test scores (numbers are easy to collect) - finally being challenged by those who know test scores do not equal authentic learning. The whole can of worms is wide open now and within lie the remnants of these Deadly Assessments for Money and Prestige (DAMP).
During DAMP times, we were pressed to teach to the test. The test that did not match our curriculum. We revised our curriculum to "wag the dog," so to speak... and our districts got the money needed to run some recommended programs. We gave up our power as professionally prepared educators, in favor of our district's expressed need for money. What's a teacher to do under deadly circumstances? We left our own Zone of Proximal Development behind, coerced to engage a mandate cleverly called No Child Left Behind. Good educational practice was left behind. Common sense was left behind.
We are coming back to our senses; conversations now indicate far more agreement among parents, teachers, administrators, school boards, university systems about the DAMP days. Time to dust off Vygotsky's text on The Zone ... and let it do its magic in your classroom. (Educators, take time to share with parents how practicing The Zone at home can make home life more pleasant and productive!)
See www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/.../lr1zpda.html
But what if the learner doesn't want to grow ... yet? What if s/he is satisfied with the status quo? To push learners to move from this independent zone of performance too quickly can reduce their tendency to generate enthusiasm, operate with self-confidence, and make positive self-assessments. Also pulling and dragging the learner out of his comfort zone exhausts the one exerting the effort! What's a teacher (and parent, or grandparent) to do?
Knowing our students allows us to activate learner motivation to know! Knowing areas of natural interest makes it possible for adults to foster learner connection to new learning. Tap into each child's expressed, natural interests. Comparatively speaking, our elder educators (1960's, 1970's, 1980's) began all new learning with a thorough review of these motivating factors ...as well as the range of content children knew and skills they were able to demonstrate.
Missing concepts/skills were re-introduced, methodically -usually through sequentially arranged examples. Misconceptions were corrected, methodically -usually through sequentially arranged examples. Through homework practice assignments, copious homework, students in most cases made up what they might have been missing. Parents, for the most part, understood their role as essential in remedial territory.
The new (aka unfamiliar) learning was then introduced -when the majority of the class was ready to benefit experientially and academically. Educators selected sequences and methods of instruction in the new concepts/skills (the instructional zone ) largely published in well-designed, state of the art publisher textbooks. This new layer of instruction was designed to engage firmly with the class' bank of prior learning (independent zone). As with the physicians' Hippocratic Oath -Do No Harm- teachers took care to avoid too-much too-soon exposure to information/methodology beyond the learners' range of distress (frustration zone).
The downside of past practices during these earlier decades includes the following:
- we operated w/o the benefit of the Great Bank of Future Awareness (e.g. special education principles and pedagogy, differentiated instructional developments, Response to Intervention or RTI, flexible grouping, etc.)
- we delivered instruction for the most part to an entire class, except in primary grades when rapid, average, and slower rates of learning-to-read led to grouping class members. Without hindsight yet into the mechanics and wisdom of flexible grouping, a bluebird tended to remain in the bluebird nest!
- The fields of Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences were being conceived and newborn.
- Instructional methodologies for correcting misinformation and setting the tone for new learning were generally experiential (field trips), sequential (we not only carved pumkins, but grew them from seed and made pumpkin pie for our school's Thanksgiving Day dinner), and methodical (we followed step-by-step together).
Rushing through foundational phases of learning and practice was unheard of, yet. However, during the sixties, social unrest due to social justice issues led to social action demonstrations among students in higher education.
Rocks rippled the rivers of social institutions across the nation. From 1963 into the early '80s, reading and math SAT scores declined 40-50 points. President Regan commissioned eighteen individuals to assess/guess factors of decine.
The commission made recommendations in hopes of ultimately matching math and science scores "competitor" countries reported - higher than we could report from some areas of our nation.
If you were to commission a nationwide study of America's Schoolhouse across fifty very different states
- how would you ensure appropriate representation?
- which roles in education deserve representation?
- what levels of education earn representaiton?
- what questions would you ask before deciding representation?
- list indicators of high performing students vs low-performing students?
Compare your investigative responses with the actual data archived at:
(http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html)
The commission finally recommended four areas to consider when making educational improvements.
- content (more than half of our states then required only one math and one science course to graduate from high school)
- expectations (since no one textbook can address needs of "disadvantaged students, the learning disabled, and the gifted and talented," funds should be made available.
- time (programs for continually disruptive students need development to relieve the burden placed on teachers to maintain discipline). How's this one? Instead of rigid age adhearence... graduation, placement, promotion, and grouping should be based on academic achievement.
- And how about this one: since greater instructional diversity is needed by underachieving students, they need to spend more time in instruction beyond what can be accomplished in a normal day.
- teaching (career ladders shuld distinguish among beginning teachers, experienced teachers, and master teachers). How's this one? Master teachers should be involved in preparing and training new teachers.
Honestly, when we examine the four areas of recommendations, we can begin to seriously question how and why subsequent "improvement" initiatives overlooked many points that would generate enormous good, and overshot the mark in others so that already high performing kids in high performing disticts now have performance anxiety!
The archive makes for easy reading. Unfortunate interpretations of the report directly led to follow-up commissions. These escalated emphasis on test scores (numbers are easy to collect) - finally being challenged by those who know test scores do not equal authentic learning. The whole can of worms is wide open now and within lie the remnants of these Deadly Assessments for Money and Prestige (DAMP).
During DAMP times, we were pressed to teach to the test. The test that did not match our curriculum. We revised our curriculum to "wag the dog," so to speak... and our districts got the money needed to run some recommended programs. We gave up our power as professionally prepared educators, in favor of our district's expressed need for money. What's a teacher to do under deadly circumstances? We left our own Zone of Proximal Development behind, coerced to engage a mandate cleverly called No Child Left Behind. Good educational practice was left behind. Common sense was left behind.
We are coming back to our senses; conversations now indicate far more agreement among parents, teachers, administrators, school boards, university systems about the DAMP days. Time to dust off Vygotsky's text on The Zone ... and let it do its magic in your classroom. (Educators, take time to share with parents how practicing The Zone at home can make home life more pleasant and productive!)
See www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/.../lr1zpda.html
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Zone of Proximal Development
One of the greatest concepts that educators can incorporate into our instructional plans for learners is called, the Zone of Proximal Development.
Educational Psychologist from the thirties, Lev Vygotsky, coined this term and delineated relevant pedagogical concepts. Operating within each learner's Zone of Proximal Development is sorely missing from public school classroom practice since government pressures: frantic curriculum cramming, and emphasis on obtaining the highes test scores - to obtain prestige and federal/state program funding, financial support.
On Wednesday, look for an opportunity to explore the nature and applications of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development through this blog forum. See you then!
Educational Psychologist from the thirties, Lev Vygotsky, coined this term and delineated relevant pedagogical concepts. Operating within each learner's Zone of Proximal Development is sorely missing from public school classroom practice since government pressures: frantic curriculum cramming, and emphasis on obtaining the highes test scores - to obtain prestige and federal/state program funding, financial support.
On Wednesday, look for an opportunity to explore the nature and applications of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development through this blog forum. See you then!
Monday, September 20, 2010
next ...in the city
I hugged a teacher friend on Sunday and asked how the first couple of weeks are going at school. "Fine, for me. So many teachers though have thirty students in their classrooms this year!"
(Anyone who works with human beings knows that complications are multiplied by the number of human beings involved. When human beings are below the age of 24, complications grow exponentially.)
"Kids have to be very well-behaved ... in charge of their focus, attention, and emotions to function effectively in academic learning groups of thirty!" "Are the kids able to handle this?" I queried further.
"Not really..." rolling her eyes. "Most classes include a dozen special education students as well," she tacked on in shared disbelief.
"Are teachers getting additional support in such conditions?"
"No."
In fact, my friend noted,"No one is even dealing with it! " Shell-shocked, teachers deal with whatever seems to appear on their plate...something like mothers and fathers. But let's be honest...when we have extraordinary conditions, we need complementary support. Or else discouragement rears its head...and "dropping out"in its myriad forms follow...for kids and adults...it's only human!
So let's hear from all the teachers who have worked with large groups of kids in need. I will begin the list of strategies and paradigms that can help shell-shocked teachers survive and support kids thriving under these currently extraordinary conditions:
Recommendation #1.
Investigate Peer Teaching ... i.e., students teaching their peers:
ASCD's September periodical (Educational Leadership) showcases the effectiveness of training student teams to present key lessons to their peers on a regular basis ... with professional teacher direction and guidance. Peer instruction becomes great pedagogy for multiple reasons...read about it! the goal is for all students to take the role of peer teachers. Contact www.ASCD.org for details and connections to this middle school program in Newark, New Jersey. Peer instruction is as old as formal education. Remember, we keep returning to the "classics" because they work.
Let's hear from parents and teachers everywhere ...
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
March moves us into the promise of spring once again. We might notice how the entire period of childhood resembles this changeable and inspiring season ... of new developments, new characteristics, first-time understandings, renewed efforts, directions, attitudes and behaviors. Every moment is an opportunity to take the better part of what our children present to us us and strengthen this!
Express appreciation for that part presented, give your expression the time and space it deserves so that its strength takes root in our children's awareness. As a privileged guide for each child in your charge, allow yourself the time and space you need to ensure that your words and actions truly reflect the good you believe can flourish.
This week make space and time throughout the day to pause, breathe, vision such good. Redirect yourself, selecting the posture, facial expressions, movements, and thoughts in alignment with this good. Elect to be this good in the space and time surrounding the children in your life here and now. Notice how your being matters for good for you and for them.
With gratitude we enjoy this greater good multiplying beneath the surface of all that is visible, the fabric of our eternal spring!
Professing with Parents and Teachers,
Heidi Bach, Ph.D.
Express appreciation for that part presented, give your expression the time and space it deserves so that its strength takes root in our children's awareness. As a privileged guide for each child in your charge, allow yourself the time and space you need to ensure that your words and actions truly reflect the good you believe can flourish.
This week make space and time throughout the day to pause, breathe, vision such good. Redirect yourself, selecting the posture, facial expressions, movements, and thoughts in alignment with this good. Elect to be this good in the space and time surrounding the children in your life here and now. Notice how your being matters for good for you and for them.
With gratitude we enjoy this greater good multiplying beneath the surface of all that is visible, the fabric of our eternal spring!
Professing with Parents and Teachers,
Heidi Bach, Ph.D.
In loco parentis...professing with parents and teachers
Dear One,
Where ever you find yourself in the day or evening, remember that now is your time for being fully alive, fully present to both yourself and the process of educating our young. Pause.
Breathe richly inward. Release any thoughts constrict or limit your fullest sense of Being. Continue the ebb and flow of breath and release. Draw sacred nourishment deeply within. Allow that Spark of Presence -the One who is you- to fill the space of your awareness.
Allow growing awareness of who you intend to be through those essential qualities of wisdom, order, and strength. Experience how your qualities can harmonize and balance the world around you here and now. Bring this way of Being into the world of children learning now the ways of the world, Breathe this very way of Being into the world children inhabit ... that of classrooms, schedules, curriculum, and standards. Know that your True Present Being becomes the way learners may well experience their wholeness above all else that might seem diminishing, illusive, of ignorance, error and discouragement. Know that one secure presence is all it takes for a child to sense the greater truth available in the world inhabited in any here and now.
In gratitude now, relish your adult capacity to Be the One Present. Enjoy such presence, moment to moment. Your eyes, your smile, your firm and caring tone, your hands, and your movements are all ways you express such presence. Know this and rejoice. And so it is!
With love,Professor and Friend - Heidi
Where ever you find yourself in the day or evening, remember that now is your time for being fully alive, fully present to both yourself and the process of educating our young. Pause.
Breathe richly inward. Release any thoughts constrict or limit your fullest sense of Being. Continue the ebb and flow of breath and release. Draw sacred nourishment deeply within. Allow that Spark of Presence -the One who is you- to fill the space of your awareness.
Allow growing awareness of who you intend to be through those essential qualities of wisdom, order, and strength. Experience how your qualities can harmonize and balance the world around you here and now. Bring this way of Being into the world of children learning now the ways of the world, Breathe this very way of Being into the world children inhabit ... that of classrooms, schedules, curriculum, and standards. Know that your True Present Being becomes the way learners may well experience their wholeness above all else that might seem diminishing, illusive, of ignorance, error and discouragement. Know that one secure presence is all it takes for a child to sense the greater truth available in the world inhabited in any here and now.
In gratitude now, relish your adult capacity to Be the One Present. Enjoy such presence, moment to moment. Your eyes, your smile, your firm and caring tone, your hands, and your movements are all ways you express such presence. Know this and rejoice. And so it is!
With love,Professor and Friend - Heidi
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