Dr. Kinsella 2 -- Teaching Vocabulary in the Middle Grades - Taking Center Stage-Act II (TCSII) (CA Dept of Education)
In this Professional Learning Activity, Dr. Kinsella presents an instructional approach that bolsters students’ expressive vocabulary knowledge, outlines key steps for teaching a word, and explains the pivotal role of vocabulary in literacy and learning. Take Stock: pre-video reflection exercise Take Time: watch the video Take Action: initial activities designed to help educators implement the practices suggested Take it Away: answer questions designed to help educators identify support and resources needed to implement the suggested practices This professional learning activity is one of several in the TCSII Get into the Act! Dr. Back to Top
Anchor Charts 101: Why and How to Use Them, Plus 100s of Ideas - WeAreTeachers
Spend any time browsing teacher pages on Pinterest and Instagram, and you’ll run across hundreds of ideas for classroom anchor charts. But you may have lingering questions about what they are, what purpose they serve, how to get started, and when to use them. Have no fear! WeAreTeachers has created this primer to inform you, and we’ve also included a huge list of resources to get you started. We have a feeling that once you get started, anchor charts are going to your new favorite thing. What is an anchor chart? SOURCE: Teaching With Simplicity An anchor chart is a tool that is used to support instruction (i.e. How do I create anchor charts? The first thing you need to know about creating them is that you do not need any special materials or artistic skills—just chart paper and a colorful assortment of markers. As you model a lesson or learning strategy and interact with your students through discussion, you fill in the blank spaces of the anchor chart. SOURCE: The Thinker Builder
Kinsella 4 Index -- Building Language and Literacy Skills - Taking Center Stage-Act II (TCSII) (CA Dept of Education)
In this Professional Learning Activity, Dr. Kinsella explores steps in effectively setting up discussion tasks for students. Take Stock: pre-video reflection exercise Take Time: watch the video Take Action: initial activities designed to help educators implement the practices suggested Take it Away: answer questions designed to help educators identify support and resources needed to implement the suggested practices This professional learning activity is one of several in the TCSII Get into the Act! Professional Learning Series. Dr. Back to Top
…a child first has to learn the foundational skills of math, like______? – Thinking Mathematically
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately observing students who struggle with mathematics, talking with teachers about their students who struggle, and thinking about how to help. There are several students in my schools who experience difficulties beyond what we might typically do to help. And part of my role is trying to think about how to help these students. However, first of all I want to point out just how difficult it is for us to even know where to begin! So where do we start? Take a look at the following quote. Really, take a minute to think about this. I’ve asked a few groups of teachers to fill in the blank here in an effort to help us consider our own beliefs about what is important. Here is the complete quote: Is this what you would have thought? Think about it for a minute. Visual perception and visual memory are used when we are: Symmetry games: Composing and decomposing shapes: Relating nets to 3D figures: Constructing unique pentominoes: So I leave you with a few questions:
The Tyranny of Being On Task
I remember when I was first teaching and was getting ready for my first official observation and evaluation. I was very nervous. My principal had told me she would be looking for a classroom where students were on task. Heaven forbid that any students were off task. I thought that if my classroom even hinted that some students were off task, I would never be a successful teacher, and perhaps told to leave the teaching profession. I now know that it is unreasonable to ensure complete on task behavior from every student at all times, but back then I wanted a good evaluation, and I wanted my students to be on task so that they would learn and I could support them. Many years later, I taught in a school with a focus on project-based learning. There seem to be forces in education that push us to make sure students are on task. What Does the Science of the Brain Tell Us? Adults have built executive functions of the brain, and we receive a dopamine reward when we do the right thing.
Growth Mindset: How to Normalize Mistake Making and Struggle in Class | GROWTH MINDSET | MindShift | KQED News
Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset has become essential knowledge in education circles. The Stanford psychologist found that children who understand that their brains are malleable and can change when working through challenging problems can do better in school. Now, many school districts are attempting to teach growth mindset to their students. At the core of this practice is the idea of “productive failure” (a concept Dr. Manu Kapur has been studying for over a decade)* and giving students the time and space to work through difficult problems. These mindset changes are easy to describe and dictate, but more challenging to implement. In the video below on classroom struggle, second grade teacher Maricela Montoy-Wilson repeatedly asks her students to justify their thinking using reasoning and evidence. “Everyone is going to feel stuck,” Montoy-Wilson said. *A previous version of this article neglected to mention the scholarship of Dr. Katrina Schwartz
12 Principles Of Modern Learning | TeachThought
12 Principles Of Modern Learning by TeachThought Staff What are the principles of modern learning? Well, that depends on how you define ‘learning’ and what you’d consider ‘modern.’ These broad categories are then broken up into four principles per category. Overall, though, defining ‘modern learning’ through inquiry, self-direction, and connectivity is at the core of what we preach here at TeachThought. The four principles of Modern Inquiry Learning, according to the graphic, are Compile, Contribute, Combine, and Change, with their respective Realities and Opportunities shown below. Modern Inquiry Learning Principle: Compile Reality: The ability to save and retrieve information in a variety of formats Opportunity: Give modern learners virtually ‘unlimited’ capacity to retrieve and store information Principle: Contribute Reality: The ability to participate in more complex projects Opportunity: Enables learners to participate in more complex projects Principle: Combine Principle: Change Cooperate
Missing Factors: On Learning What You Don’t Know – Teaching With Problems
I. Rachel Rachel was a student in my fourth grade class. At the start of the year, she showed traits that I worry a great deal about. She was a quiet girl who didn’t raise her hand at even the safest questions I lobbed. (“What is your favorite number?”) This was just my second time teaching math to fourth graders. Over the first few weeks of the year, I asked my class to solve problems in context: 8 cows have 4 legs each; 13 triangles have how many sides? We estimated. It took me a shockingly long time to notice that Rachel wasn’t making much progress. When I began thinking again about Rachel, I searched through old photos of student work from that year. The first photo contains just three problem and their solutions. If 8 x 8 should really be seen, in Rachel’s work, as 8 + 8, then the mistaken sum of 12 would be typical for her. It seemed to me that addition was hard for Rachel, though she didn’t see it that way. Though a mess, her board is full of good math. II. III. IV. Ms. V.
