Rita Platt over at Middle Web reviews Ready to Learn: The FRAME Model for Optimizing Student Success.
Are You Asking Questions, or Teaching Inquiry?
Asking questions—good questions—is, arguably, the basis for a curious, passionate classroom. There is no way to explain that feeling when a classroom is erupting in enthusiastic discussion. It is magical, both for the teacher and for the students.
However, asking questions and teaching inquiry are often misconstrued as the same thing. If I’m asking thought-provoking, open-ended questions, I must be teaching inquiry. Not necessarily.
Continue Reading…
The More You Know
Introduction
Spring cleaning had recently descended upon our basement and it was time to purge. I began with my daughter’s bin of elementary school work. As I read each worksheet and admired each drawing, I couldn’t help but remember how far we had come.
We adopted Ani from a Bulgarian orphanage when she was five years, 11 months. She weighed 23 pounds. She had never learned to chew or sip. She had never taken a bath or had her hair washed. She had never brushed her teeth. She had never been comforted, rocked or held. She didn’t know Bulgarian, but “spoke” infantile babble. She didn’t understand how to play with toys. She was a little lost soul, but one with a magnetic smile and unwavering spirit.
“Other Health Impaired Issues” Diagnosis
Upon bringing Ani home, we requested special education tests be administered. The tests confirmed what we had initially suspected – Ani was diagnosed as cognitively impaired. However, the school psychologist felt Ani did not warrant the autism label and she was given a 504 diagnosis – “other health impaired issues.”
As Ani began her academic career, her speech teacher, a neighbor of mine, gave us the best advice for supporting her new life – “Give her experiences, as many as possible. Get her in the community. Take her everywhere you go.” We followed that advice. Ani attended nearly all of her brother’s hockey and football games. She went with my husband to the liquor store and car wash; she went with me to the grocery store and Target. She went where we went.
Her teachers’ focus was helping Ani to communicate. In the bin were dozens of “completed” worksheets; often black outlines of ordinary household objects, common foods, and everyday clothing with Ani’s recognizable scrawl underneath the picture. The goal was to have Ani cut out the object or food or clothing, glue it on another sheet of paper and label it. Her teacher’s note often said that Ani grew “tired” after cutting, gluing and labeling. For a little girl who had been rocking her life away, this was a lot of physical, mental and emotional work.
Prior Knowledge
As I was sorting through the bin deciding what to keep and what to toss, I saw a green piece of construction paper with the same recognizable process – cut, glue, label. However, these pictures were much more complicated. There was a picture of a lily pad, a tadpole, and cattails, and other water-themed black outlines. The teacher’s note began, “Ani matched these these words, then she identified the pictures. She had trouble looking past the first few letters when matching, and she also had some trouble identifying some of the pictures.”
This was a second grade assignment, so Ani had been with us, in the United States, for about three years. I wondered how many typical students living in the United States their entire lives would be able to identify those items? Nearly 18 years later, I realize now how shortsighted that assignment was.
Ani had no prior knowledge of “lily pad,” “tadpole,” or “cattails.” Growing up in an orphanage severely limited her most basic experiences. In addition, we were focusing on the most essential vocabulary to help her communicate her needs and feelings.
We know the value of prior knowledge. The 1988 iconic baseball study by Recht and Leslie (1988) explained that “children with greater knowledge of baseball recalled more than did children with less knowledge” (p. 18). When Ani’s classroom teacher explained that Ani didn’t seem to understand the book they read about dogs; I agreed. We had a cat. When Ani couldn’t comprehend a story about soccer, I concurred. Her brother played hockey and football.
In our case, all of Ani’s teachers (classroom teacher, special education teacher, occupational therapist, and speech teacher) knew her background and lack of experiences. We didn’t hide it; in fact, we shared it with the community. We wanted our neighbors to know Ani and her many talents. We also knew our family could be a strong educational advocate for inclusion, patience, and empathy.
Then and Now
As an Instructional Coach and Reading Specialist with nearly 27 years in education; I collaborate with teachers, but no longer have a classroom of my own. As I looked at Ani’s work again, I realized what I could have done better to really get to know my students and what Ani’s teachers could now do for their students.
I always asked my students to write a Dear Teacher letter at the start of the year. I recommend teachers create something similar for their students. This early communication might help a student feel comfortable right away by sharing their background..
I usually sent home to family members a Family Survey for more information. I encourage teachers to craft something like this for their students. Of course, it doesn’t have to be so in-depth; maybe five questions for each category is enough.
While I met with my students individually, we usually met to discuss their essay corrections. Now, I would structure those conferencing opportunities with more purpose and I encourage teachers to have those in-depth meetings for all student work.
I would have communicated with students’ families more often. Even though I sent emails and made phone calls, I realize now, it’s wasn’t enough. I remind teachers that I will gladly do whatever I can to give them the time to make phone calls or craft emails.
While I threw away many worksheets that day, I did not throw away Ani’s particular assignment. In fact, it is hanging in my office as a reminder of the critical importance of getting to know our students, their backgrounds and their experiences.
Teacher, Coach and Everything In Between
But, the single most important thing I remembered throughout these first several weeks was the critical importance of selling myself and my product. I was not in classrooms to tell teachers what to do; on the contrary, I was observing to learn how to support them and the important work they did. I needed to be still; to learn what they needed without maybe having the ability to exactly define it.
How to FRAME the First 10 Minutes of Class
FRAME is thus a protocol that clarifies learning expectations and provides a consistent structure of support. It eliminates wasted time and helps the teacher stay true to the lesson while students move systematically through the learning. Utilized within the first ten minutes of class, FRAME offers a comprehensible opener to ensure that all students make connections throughout the lesson
A Framework for Lesson Planning
As an instructional coach, I collaborate with nearly 65 teachers at an urban high school. My goal is to support teachers of many subjects in embedding literacy in their lessons without disrupting their classroom objectives.
Instagram as a Means to Create and Implement Chemistry Class Portfolios
KQED March 20, 2018
But Instagram seemed more well-intentioned according to many teachers. When I mentioned the possibility of using Instagram as a way to digitally maintain a student portfolio, the teachers were interested in learning more about it and how it could be used in the classroom.
Read: Instagram as a Means to Create and Implement Chemistry Class Portfolios
What Does Your Literacy Philosophy Say About You?
WHAT DOES YOUR LITERACY PHILOSOPHY SAY ABOUT YOU?
Take a few minutes and re-read your reading philosophy. Do you still agree with it? Do you need to revise it? If you've never written one, perhaps now is the time.
Avoiding the Biggest Classroom Mistakes
While I might have considered the cooperating teacher to be "rigid, extremely professional, and focused," those qualities are necessary when creating a classroom community. She had structures and routines in place that worked for her students and expectations that were transparent and attainable.
Avoiding the Biggest Classroom Management Mistakes
Classroom management is a perennial challenge for teachers. What are the biggest mistakes we often make and how do we avoid them?
Cult of Pedagogy: Power Lesson: Note-taking Stations
In this power lesson shared by instructional coach Peg Grafwallner, students rotate between four stations to practice different note-taking styles.
Listen: Note Taking Stations
Article: Note Taking Stations
Rigor of Vigor
Instead of creating lessons of rigor, why not create lessons of vigor? Lessons of vigor encompass three distinct thinking components: Thinking Critically, Thinking Creatively, and Thinking Flexibly thereby creating classrooms that are stimulating, engaging and supportive.
Read: Rigor of Vigor
Fueling Your Growth Mindset: Recommended Reading Lists
In this episode, we search for useful and insightful articles that can impact our practice with Larry Ferlazzo with Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski, Jessica Torres, Robert Ward
Listen: Fueling Your Growth Mindset: Recommended Reading List
Cell Phones in the Classroom: Yes, It Can Work
What might happen if we decide to empower students to utilize self-management – to actually allow students to use their phone for discretionary purposes, but under a watchful eye and within a structured time?
Learning to Teach
As a student teacher, I was so consumed by wanting to do a good job that while my heart might have been in the right place, I was overlooking the pedagogy behind the teaching.
Read: Learning to Teach
On Being an Instructional Coach
Being an Instructional Coach means that I am available for teachers, accessible to change and open to feedback. For those who are new to the coaching role or who have moved from teaching to coaching, or those veteran coaches who might feel your practice needs a tweak, here are some suggestions,
Four Note-Taking Strategies for Film
I recently read Robert Ward’s exceptional article for KQED’s In the Classroom blog “Teaching Film as Literature” and was immediately struck with the simplicity of the implementation. While there is undoubtedly a great deal of background work that goes into designing, implementing, and assessing a lesson such as this one, this strategy can be differentiated for students of all abilities.
Accept Every Student as They Are
Building a relationship with a student takes time and patience, allow it to happen organically. If you force it, you’ll have to start all over and the relationship may or may not bloom
Getting Comfortable with Saying No
Turning down a new responsibility at work can be tough, here's some advice for how to do it and not feel guilty!
Teacher Writer
The opportunity to share my writing experiences with students takes the mystery out of the process. Writing, for the most part, is not innate. It is hard work that starts with a purpose, moves toward a plan, and proceeds to a process. It is seldom, if ever done, but, is reclaimed, re-purposed, and recycled.
Read: TEACHER WRITER