12/16/2017 0 Comments Comfortable & Challenging: Higher Order THinking and Discussions in the classroom
The students know my favorite questions are "why?" and "how do you know?" I always teach them how to listen to each other, follow up someone else's statement, disagree respectfully, and make the conversation go deeper. We discuss what it takes to make each other feel safe during discussions, because we debate ideas, not people. Then I spend the majority of my time asking probing questions to deepen the conversation. I make them go back to the text for evidence. I don't give them the answers, I give them more questions. On a good day, we all leave feeling like our brains hurt from thinking. We love it! They always tease me that for someone who needs structure and organization, I sure do change things a lot. I use a variety of discussion strategies to get them all to have a voice in the conversation. These are some of my favorites, with links to more options for you to try as well.
Finally, I shared this great resource with my teachers about different discussion strategies. Check it out from Cult of Pedagogy! Any time you can get students talking and thinking hard about academic things and justifying and questioning ideas, it's a win/win for all. The time will pass by so quickly and they will love every minute of the struggle. Set up the class environment to be safe for taking risks, teach them how to talk academically, then throw great questions at them and let them soar!
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12/13/2017 0 Comments Know your learners, know yourself
Today, I sat in a meeting. You know the kind... an expert is paid to come in and teach us what to do with our students to make them learn more than we've been able to in the past. Except... you already know everything that they are "teaching" you. Ugh. Then, we had a leadership meeting with the most amazing teachers and admin that I've had the privilege to work with. I truly love these people. We debriefed, we planned, we debated, we created. Yet, the meeting to discuss the strategy and implementation and professional development plan and goal setting...etc... went awry. We all left feeling slightly confused and totally frustrated and not quite sure if we took any steps forward, while fearing we might have actually fallen two or seven steps backwards. Do you have those kinds of meetings in your district, too? So my big take-away (expect for the solidification that I hate meetings) was that our teachers truly don't have enough time and information readily accessible to know our students and teach accordingly. High-stakes assessment scores aren't enough. A language level for our ELLs is not enough. IEP accommodation pages are not enough. We need a systemic communication system that conveys the necessary, appropriate information about our students to our teachers so that they can do their jobs.
I sit here, at my kitchen counter, feeling defeated because I don't have any answers for my colleagues. My own elementary age children are peacefully sleeping, and as a parent I pray that their teachers know their strengths and weaknesses and are working to address those. But as a secondary teacher, I worry that we don't have the data (or access to the data) to make the best instructional decisions for our students. I'd welcome any comments, suggestions, inspiration, or thought-provoking ideas to propel us forward in our thinking. We want our teachers to know themselves and be reflective. We want our teachers to know their learners and be pro-active. But what information do we need, and how do we get access to it, to make this all truly as effective as it can be? What has worked for you as a classroom teacher or a district to truly know your learners without killing your teachers with data analysis or paperwork? How do you, or how does your district system, clearly and effectively communicate needs for your learners? Please comment and share your insight so that others who might be facing the same dilemma are able to learn and grow. #teachcomfort |
AuthorA midwest teacher in love with creating awesome opportunities for students to think, communicate, and produce. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Comfortable-Classroom
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