6 Tips For Creating Effective Student Groups 6 Tips For Creating Effective Student Groups by TeachThought Staff Grouping students is easy; creating effective student groups is less so. The following infographic from Mia MacMeekin seeks to provide some ideas to help make group work easier in your classroom. MackMeekin’s suggestion to consider problem-based learning in a group setting is especially useful in that it also provides a link to the design of curriculum and instruction as well, rather than merely being a grouping strategy. Create a ZPD ZoneCognitive Dissonance is GoodNumbers CountPraiseGive Them Something to DoFacilitate image attribution Mia Mackmeekin; This work by Mia MacMeekin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License; 6 Tips For Creating Effective Student Groups
Strategies to Build Intrinsic Motivation "The fox leapt high to grasp the grapes, but the delicious-looking fruit remained just out of reach of his snapping jaws. After a few attempts the fox gave up and said to himself, 'These grapes are sour, and if I had some I would not eat them.' The fox changes his attitude to fit his behavior." - Aesop’s Fables There is a general misconception that our beliefs are the cause of our actions. Often it is the other way around. Just like the fox, people will tell themselves a story to justify their actions. Punishment, Rewards, and Commitment The issue with classroom management policies in most institutions is that it operates on a carrot-and-stick model. The goal of self-persuasion is to create cognitive dissonance in the mind of the one being persuaded. Punishment In 1965, Jonathan Freedman conducted a study in which he presented preschoolers with an attractive, desired, "Forbidden Toy." Weeks later, Freedman pulled the students out of class one by one and had them do a drawing test. Rewards
The Best Ways of Using Essential Questions in the Classroom When we first put the driving question of a lesson to the students, the goal is to begin a lively discussion with them. In this discussion, we guide them beginning with what they think or “assume” they already know about what the question is asking. Encourage them to speak openly and share ideas about the issues that are being posed by the question. The students begin to realize that finding an answer is not always easy, but certainly not impossible with the right mindset. As things begin to pick up steam, think about using essential questions that will moderate and expand the discussion. These are questions meant to elicit varied responses from students: What do we know (or believe we know) about what this question is asking? A good exploration of our learners’ assumptions will foster curiosity for the question. Giving the Question Ownership to Learners In any inquiry- or project-based challenge, we want to shift responsibility for the learning to the students. Shifting Gears
Protocols and activities good for classroom use | National School Reform Faculty A number of NSRF protocols and activities work beautifully even with students as young as kindergartners. Students at about the fifth grade and older find protocols an especially fascinating way to learn, especially as they come to appreciate the value of silence! Almost all of these protocols will need to be modified for use with students (for example, times should often be cut). We do not recommend the use of these protocols unless led by an NSRF-certified coach or someone who has seen the protocols led by a certified coach numerous times. Many of these require essential scaffolding activities before used with students in the classroom. Use outside these circumstances may lead to adverse effects. You will notice that some of these protocols and activities are not available to you in updated form. Click on the symbol (not the name) to open the PDF. If the links don't work, please open a second tab or window with the A-Z listing and click on the links in that window.
The 10 Commandments of Teaching Difficult Students Difficult students come in all shapes and sizes, ages, cultures, and demographics, you name it. The reasons for difficulties are as numerous as the stars. However, they all share one thing: they’re hard to reach. Whether it be a learning disability, hardship, or trauma, they require extra effort and attention. But the master teacher can wade through all the outer displays of challenging behavior and pinpoint root causes. They can reach even the most difficult students. Congratulations to you for taking on their cause. What follows is an amalgamation of advice on teaching difficult students gleaned from personal experience, advice from experts, and other teachers themselves. These are the 10 commandments, if you like, for teaching difficult students. 1. You may find that this is the best thing, the first step, the prime directive. I find that breathing cold air through the nostrils awakens a part of the brain that creates good feelings. 2. This is getting to the root cause. 3. 4. 5. 6.
4 Types of Accurate Rubric Descriptors Working on improving your rubrics? Trying to keep them simple, yet provide accurate feedback? Rubric descriptors, which are the actual “meat and potatoes” of rubrics, need to be constantly tweaked to be easily understood. This should ideally be done by both by the evaluator and the one being evaluated. The general rule of thumb as that descriptors should be specific, observable and measurable. Rubric Descriptors as Specific—They always target a specific action.Rubric descriptors as Observable—A skill should be a performance skill, an action taking place. In our constant search for great formative assessment, these 4 types of rubric descriptors should guide students and their evaluators to provide meaningful class content. To that end, let’s imagine a “fictional driving class.” 1. Action words determine proficiency. Remembers safety rulesRemembers and understands safety rulesRemembers, understands, and applies safety rules 2. 3. 4.
Why Does Writing Make Us Smarter? Through our technology dependence, from smartphones to laptops, we seem to have a keyboard attached to our fingertips at all times. Have you thought about the last time you wrote something by hand? Research shows that our brains benefit from handwriting in multiple ways. Melissa Thompson talked with Dr. Marc Seifer, a graphologist, expert in handwriting, and the author of The Definitive Book of Handwriting Analysis (published in 2008). According to Seifer, the following are the main ways in which handwriting helps our brains. 1. By writing a soothing sentence, we exercise a type of graphotherapy, says Seifer. “This makes the person calmer and rewires the brain,” he adds. 2. Writing something in cursive, as outdated as it feels, coordinates the brain’s hemispheres. 3. Handwriting notes is one of the best ways to study and acquire new knowledge. 4. Your computer is a master at wasting your time, either by enticing you to look at pictures of cats or stalk your exes. 5. 6. 7.
Understanding the Spectrum - a comic strip explanation By Rebecca Burgess For version in Spanish click here.. French version click here. For printable PDF version click here. This is a great handout for Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month (April). Rebecca Burgess is a freelance comic artist and illustrator living in the UK. Rebecca’s tumblr where this comic was originally posted is here:theoraah.tumblr.com Archie is a character in a webcomic –hccomic.smackjeeves.com Other blogs you may like: 12 Things That Make me WeirdBaby Talk: Why do people talk to Autistic Adults like they were Infants
The Cold Hard Facts About Cyberbullying (Infographic) | Global Digital Citizen Foundation This infographic was published on Visual.ly and was created by NOBullying, an organization dedicated to fighting against the human abuse and degradation that sadly exist so prominently in the digital world. via Visual.ly Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. Related 5 Reasons to Teach Kids to Code via Visual.ly by NowSourcing. In "Creativity Fluency" Write your Paper like a Pro via 2¢ Worth Today’s infographic is simple and to the point.
Visible Thinking Purpose: What kind of thinking does this routine encourage? This routine encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations. It helps stimulate curiosity and sets the stage for inquiry. Application: When and Where can it be used? Launch: What are some tips for starting and using this routine? The routine works best when a student responds by using the three stems together at the same time, i.e., "I see..., I think..., I wonder...." The routine works well in a group discussion but in some cases you may want to ask students to try the routine individually on paper or in their heads before sharing out as a class.
The Seven Techniques of Learning to Learn | Skills Converged “Everything is easier than you think. If you believe otherwise, you are setting yourself up for a hard life.” Learning should not be as hard as you think. There is a method to the art and just like any skill, learning to learn needs practice and mastery. It is much like speed reading. As a trainer, the topic of learning to learn is even more important since it is not only beneficial to you, but it also helps you to improve your training. In this article, you will be introduced to seven highly effective techniques that help you maximise learning in a given time. Know Why You Are Learning Learning can be hard and you need motivation for it. The more you know why you are learning, the more likely you are to put the hard work into learning the new skill. Actions for you: Define your objective of learning. Immerse Yourself in the Environment Learning should be continuous to be effective. Define how you can engineer your environment to enhance your learning. Maintain a Feedback Loop
Cooperative Learning in the classroom: How to do it Competitive vs. Cooperative Learning Formats Put these kids into groups?! You've got to be kidding. That's the conundrum, isn't it? Cooperative Learning practices help to bridge the gap. Competitive Learning Cooperative Learning No interaction between pupils Active interaction with othersNot accountable to others Accountable to othersResponsible only to self Responsible to the groupHomogeneous grouping, if any Heterogeneous groupingOne student serves as leader Positive interdependencySocial skills assumed or ignored Social skills taught directly Implementing Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning is more than merely having students sit together, helping the others do their work. A true cooperative learning experience requires that a number of criteria be met. The introduction of "learning teams" into the classroom is an effective method for increasing the number of students willing to make an effort to learn in school. Group members are also responsible for the behavior of all members.
Map skills and higher-order thinking - Map skills and higher-order thinking By David Walbert The sheer quantity of maps the internet makes available is great for educators, because we can easily find visual resources to accompany lessons in science and social studies. But it also presents us with a new challenge, because it’s now more important than ever that students develop map-reading skills. This series of articles looks at map skills as a kind of visual literacy, considering what maps are, how they’re made, and the higher-order thinking skills students need to move from simply decoding maps to fully comprehending them. (Photo credit: laurenmarek/Flickr.) Get started: Table of Contents Examples of learning intentions The learning intention is expressed in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills, and links directly with the relevant curriculum document. The design of learning intentions starts with the answers to these questions. What do I want students to know?What do I want students to understand?What do I want students to be able to do? A certain challenge exists for teachers in translating the knowledge, understanding and skills of a published curriculum into learning intentions whose language is accessible to their students, but time spent on this preliminary step is in itself excellent professional learning. Some schools have made this 'unpacking' of the curriculum a focus of teacher meetings. Learning intentions that focus on knowledge Thinking about the different kinds of knowledge, and being specific about the kind of knowledge that is required in a particular situation, will help teachers design their learning intentions.They consider, for instance, Learning intentions that focus on skills