Three Rs

I still remember doing a WHOLE lesson on the difference between slavery and indentured servitude. And then, the long-answer question on the test asked the kids to explain the difference. And THEY ALL BOMBED THAT QUESTION!!!!

WHAT THE HECK??!?!? I TAUGHT MY BUTT OFF!!!!

It can’t be that they’re ALL stupid (although I might have said something along those lines, purely out of frustration!).

And then, the inevitable question of “what do I do now?” arises. Do I review the concept quickly and hope that sticks when the “real” lesson didn’t? Do I go back and reteach the whole thing? Do I say “oh well” and move on with pacing?

Well, first, let’s talk about the difference between Review, Reteaching, and Remediation.

Review is spending a shorter amount of time just looking at the content again (re-view). It’s that study guide before the test, the review packet before the exam. It’s a game where we get to look at content from a while back. It’s where you tackle 3 months of content in one class period. Everyone needs review.

Reteaching is where the majority of kids didn’t get a concept and you need to try to teach it again, another way. Maybe you tried the first time with a reading and now you’re going to try a concept map. Maybe the first lesson was video-centered. This time, try a graphic organizer. Most kids probably need that lesson retaught.

*Note: Reteaching requires teachers to make pacing decisions. You WILL have to determine if you take less time on another topic to reteach this one.

Remediating is where you fix a problem, particularly student-by-student. To remediate is to try to address a problem -- like, if Student A didn’t get Concept B. Remediation is more student-specific and attempts to target a problem with a specific piece of content or a skill.. Remediation isn’t the same as reteaching, although they’re often mixed up together. Remediation is more targeted and more clearly defined.

Let’s look at the difference when we look at a one benchmark.

If I were going to REVIEW Civics Benchmark 2.4 (Bill of Rights), I would go back over the Bill of Rights, maybe including it in a review game or playing a video and asking kids to reflect after the video.

If I were going to RETEACH Civics benchmark 2.4, I might start with teaching the hand signals for each amendment (to engage tactile learners) and help the kids organize slips (with one amendment written per slip) into categories. I think I would finally give kids scenarios that had them applying the amendments to a particular topic.

If I were going to REMEDIATE Civics Benchmark 2.4, I would first check my data to see which kids struggled with that benchmark. Then, I would use formative assessment data from my class (I might need to make one) to see WHAT PART of the benchmark (or which benchmark clarification) the kids missed. Then, I would specifically create a lesson or a mini-lesson to address and fix that deficit. Maybe we would look at just the amendments they did NOT get -- maybe they got the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 10th. So we will work on the others (4, 5, 6, 7, 8)  in a small group, using the hand signals and having the kids illustrate those particular amendments.

So what do we do after the main teaching?

It depends on IF kids bomb, how MANY kids bomb, and HOW they bomb.

We adjust from there.

There’s no silver bullet. But there are plenty of ways to adapt to moments where kids don’t learn what/as much as you want.

Think about using review, reteaching, and/or remediation to help your kids tackle stuf they need to tackle.

As always, let me know how it goes!

Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org

-Tracy

Maps and 10x2

I hope you had a great spring break! Boy, it’s hard to come back to work, the real world, and the time change!

Do you remember what a “double take” is? In cartoons and the movies, the character often exaggerates this by turning his or her head more than once toward the thing they are double-taking on. They look and then they look again.

Man, don’t you WISH sometimes that your students would look -- and then actually look again -- AT CONTENT IN YOUR CLASS?

Let’s see how we can make this actually happen!

Here’s another great “Artful Thinking” strategy from Harvard’s Project Zero. It’s called “Looking Ten Times Two”. Those of you who went to February DWT at the James museum of Museum of Fine Arts had a chance to try this out last month.

I want to dig into the “how to” of this and then I want to talk about some places that you could use this strategy -- hopefully some that will work for you and your kids!

So, here’s what you need. An image -- a painting, a photograph, a drawing, a political cartoon, a map, or a picture of a sculpture.

Try THIS or THIS or THIS or THIS or THIS?

Here’s how it works:

1. Look at the image quietly for at least 30 seconds. Let your eyes wander.
2. List 10 words or phrases about any part or aspect of the picture.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2: Look at the image again and try to add 10 more words. Or phrases to your list.

This strategy helps students slow down and make careful, detailed observations by encouraging them to push beyond first impressions and obvious features. It can be used with any kind visual art. You can also use non-art images or objects. The routine can be used on its own, or to deepen the observation step of another routine. It is especially useful before a writing activity because it helps students develop descriptive language.

What about using this with a map?

Try this map of when states abolished slavery or this map of the Korean War or this one of Alexander the Great’s empire or this one of the Great Migration in the US.

Now, have your kids use the “Looking Ten Times Two” strategy with the maps. Do they get more out of the maps this way?   

It’s hard to get and keep the attention of students. It’s hard, OURSELVES, to slow down and look at things more closely.

Try “Looking Ten Times Two” in order to look more closely at art and maps. See if it helps your kids dig into the visual in a better, deeper way.

Let me know how it goes! As always, email me and let me know how it goes!

-Tracy

 

Out Loud

Do you have a loud class? One that never shuts up? Especially this week before spring Break?

Some kids need to talk. Some kids never shut up. Some kids who are normally more quiet are loud this week  as they prep for Spring Break. Believe me, I feel for them. It’s probably no surprise that I was one of those kids. (sorry, again, to all of my teachers when I was a kid!)

I know you probably think this is a weakness of that group. And, in many lessons, that’s true. But could we turn it into a strength?

I think there are ways to teach that are more open and helpful for these types of kids. We can harness the energy of the shout-out kids. (It’s true!) It’s not a complex reading strategy and it requires little, if any, preparation.

It goes like this:

1. Teacher and students all have copies of the same reading.
2. Teacher reads aloud, pausing strategically at certain words (you might underline or highlight those words on your TEACHER COPY ONLY ahead of time so you know what words you want to make sure they get)
3. When the teacher pauses, the kids say (shout?) out loud the word that goes there.
4. The teacher continues reading the selection out loud, pausing at the words he or she wants the students to say (or shout) aloud.

Now, why would I WANT to have my kids shout out loud during reading? I have a couple of benefits I can notice...

• It helps them stay engaged with the reading.  
• It helps kids who normally “tune out” during reading to stay with it.
• It helps with fluency of struggling students.  
• It helps me-the-teacher to chose important terms and make sure the kids stay with me for those.
• It’s more fun.
• It helps use that LOUDNESS for good reasons and not for off-task reasons.

It’s not hard and requires less than a minute of preparation. How can you use this strategy to keep your kids engaged and to emphasize important terms?

As always, let me know how it goes! I love to hear from you all!

And I hope you have an awesome Spring Break full of whatever you like to do in your free time! WE’re ALMOST THERE! HANG IN THERE!!! Enjoy the beach, or your TV, or your beer, or your kids, or your gardening, or your gym, or whatever you get to do!  :)

-Tracy